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CBS Radio News Closure: Effects on KCBS and San Francisco

TheBigA said:
This discussion about replacing the KCBS calls seems to ignore all of the mourning that was done about the replacing of KGO.
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Seems to me that this move by Bari Weiss has the potential to put Audacy in the unenviable position described in the old proverb: Stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is potential for audience damage no matter how they play the hand they have been dealt.
 
K.M. Richards said:
I must admit, I had not considered that aspect of the situation. Bari has been driving a steamroller through CBS News so hard, you'd think it was Elon Musk in one of his cybertrucks. If the "CBS Evening News" brand has not already gotten to the brink, it likely will very soon.

I can see Audacy thinking "why should we stick with the brand when the most recognizable part of it is going away?". I can even see them abandoning the calls in L.A., where they are just a throwaway at the TOH on Jack, just to be rid of the connection to Bari's war on those three letters.

But as I type this, I begin to wonder if the damage extends to the branding of 101.1 in NYC ... :unsure:
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I'd argue that Bari's destructive actions are restricted to news, but CBS Entertainment fired Stephen Colbert, whose last show is the day before CBS Radio ends (May 21 for Stephen, May 22 for radio).

The brand is tarnished at a minimum, and we don't know how much worse it might get.
 
K.M. Richards said:
Seems to me that this move by Bari Weiss has the potential to put Audacy in the unenviable position described in the old proverb: Stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is potential for audience damage no matter how they play the hand they have been dealt.
Click to expand...

The brand is the other 55 minutes. Not the top of the hour. The locals listen because of the local news. Not the other stuff.

Just like in NYC, the people of SF don't care about what's happening at some corporate office. They just want local news. That's why they listen.
 
TheBigA said:
The brand is the other 55 minutes. Not the top of the hour. The locals listen because of the local news. Not the other stuff.

Just like in NYC, the people of SF don't care about what's happening at some corporate office. They just want local news. That's why they listen.
Click to expand...

So. are you saying that "KCBS" is a different brand than "CBS News"? I feel like I'm on a bungee cord trying to keep up with this!
 
K.M. Richards said:
Seems to me that this move by Bari Weiss has the potential to put Audacy in the unenviable position described in the old proverb: Stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is potential for audience damage no matter how they play the hand they have been dealt.
Click to expand...
To Audacy's credit they have been very upfront with the ending of CBS News with their All News listeners. For example, in the main thread about this, someone posted a clip of "KNX Explains". It was a lengthy explanation of what, why, and how they will replace it with either a new source, or provide world/national news on their own.
 
K.M. Richards said:
So. are you saying that "KCBS" is a different brand than "CBS News"? I feel like I'm on a bungee cord trying to keep up with this!
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Yes, absolutely.

As recently as before 10 or 15 years ago, it seemed like they were more strongly associated with the CBS brand (which shouldn't be surprising, given I believe they were still a network O&O station back then), but nowadays, they've become more associated with Audacy than anything else. So, if KCBS adapted a different top-of-hour news instead (such as, say, a generic news network with Audacy branding), so long as it's reasonably generic, as has been pointed out, most listeners might not actually notice too much, as long as the content is more or less the same. Probably the biggest change would be the absence of the CBS network "ding" and the news sounder that people have been hearing since forever (I miss the old one, too!)

Mess with the calls, though, and I think listeners might revolt. The calls themselves are actually a huge part of the station's brand, and I'm not sure KFRC would be so well received.

That said, if they change the calls to KFRC and somehow come to an agreement to license back "KCBS" as part of their branding, people would probably be happier knowing that the one station that has barely changed in over 40 years (most every other station I remember growing up with is either defunct or has changed so much that they're unrecognizable) isn't going away.

I don't know if I'm too off base here, but having grown up as a KCBS listener (I remember when they were "All News 74"), I should think that I'd know something....

c
 
TheBigA said:
This discussion about replacing the KCBS calls seems to ignore all of the mourning that was done about the replacing of KGO.
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I would argue that the two situations are different. KGO was on a long, slow decline and then there was the shift to the sports-betting format. The call letters remained, but nothing else did. (Some of the mourning was also about the loss of a three-letter call.) When the KSFO format was shifted over to 810, KSFO had an identity; KGO stood for nothing. KCBS, on the other hand, has been successful for a long time and is unlikely to make radical shifts. In KCBS's case, the calls might change but little else would change. The change of the KGO call was entirely within Cumulus' control; if the KCBS calls were to change, it would be due to factors entirely outside Audacy's control.
 
Seems that the concern about KCBS call sign is more about identity than what they call it at the top of the hour. If Audacy is concerned about the ongoing degradation of CBS, they could phase out of the KCBS identity gradually. They could simply go by "Bay Area Newsradio" and take the gradual way out. They could still keep the KCBS call letters, but de-emphasize them. But they'd still be there as a fallback. That might mitigate the fear of major change.

At least they need do nothing in New York or LA - WINS and KNX are not tied to TV stations. In a few other places, it could be trickier. The WCCO call letters are very heavily tied to the identity of both the Audacy-owned AM station and the CBS-ownéd TV outlet.
 
Mark Roberts said:
if the KCBS calls were to change, it would be due to factors entirely outside Audacy's control.
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That's why I say they shouldn't change the call letters. The station identity is about local news. This infatuation with CBS News is all inside baseball that matters to no one, especially given the fact that the TV national news audience is so small. My advice is to focus on what you can control. In this station's case, that is the local news product. Don't stress about something that doesn't matter.
 
TheBigA said:
My advice is to focus on what you can control. In this station's case, that is the local news product. Don't stress about something that doesn't matter.
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The most immediate needs are, in my opinion:

1) Figure out how to replace at least four minutes per hour (sometimes more) of content that was coming from CBS. Some of that could be added spot load.
2) Determine whether the top-of-the-hour remains nationally focused or whether they'll start leading with local stories at the top.
3) Adjust the news wheel accordingly.
 
Mark Roberts said:
The most immediate needs are, in my opinion:

1) Figure out how to replace at least four minutes per hour (sometimes more) of content that was coming from CBS. Some of that could be added spot load.
2) Determine whether the top-of-the-hour remains nationally focused or whether they'll start leading with local stories at the top.
3) Adjust the news wheel accordingly.
Click to expand...

My suggestions:

1) Local
2) Local
3) Local

If the station can present the local angle to a national story, great. Otherwise, leave it to KQED. I bet there's a lot of sharing anyway between the stations. They cover national and international better than anyone.

This is a great opportunity to get out of a deal that was probably forced on the local management by corporate. Take advantage of it.
 
TheBigA said:
My suggestions:

1) Local
2) Local
3) Local

If the station can present the local angle to a national story, great. Otherwise, leave it to KQED. I bet there's a lot of sharing anyway between the stations. They cover national and international better than anyone.

This is a great opportunity to get out of a deal that was probably forced on the local management by corporate. Take advantage of it.
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Not sure how "local" solves point #3....
 
K.M. Richards said:
Not much different than how they phased out "1070" on KNX's logo. This is the current version, only a little over four years since the simulcast on what was KGBS-FM, KHTZ, KLSX, etc. was implemented:
View attachment 11640
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SF could emulate LA's approach: KFRC AM and FM - with the branding of:
FRC
NEWS
106.9 FM and 740 AM
 
Holy cow.

Okay.

Let me pull rank provide insight and guidance as a former programmer.

@Mark Roberts is absolutely correct about the priorities:

1) Figure out how to replace at least four minutes per hour (sometimes more) of content that was coming from CBS. Some of that could be added spot load.
2) Determine whether the top-of-the-hour remains nationally focused or whether they'll start leading with local stories at the top.
3) Adjust the news wheel accordingly.
Click to expand...

Beyond that, you apply any change to a successful radio station with a medicine dropper. For those too young to remember---


bottle-drops-6935079.jpg.jpeg


So, if....and I mean IF...(screen goes all wavy, harp music plays):

1-There's too big an audience disconnect with KCBS having 100% less CBS.

2-Audacy wants to distance its brand from Bari Weiss' devaluation and destruction of CBS News' image and reputation.
Click to expand...

The simplest thing is to change only the call letters. And the logical time to do it is the same time CBS News goes away---otherwise, you're changing stuff twice.

A filing is made with the FCC to change 740 to KFRC, effective May 23.

Randy Thomas re-records the legal ID exactly as it was before, except for the four letters before "AM":


"When you need to know. KFRC-AM. KFRC-FM and HD-1. San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose. An Audacy station."


The music beds remain the same.

The traffic folks say "Your next update is at (time) on the traffic leader, KFRC."

The anchor lockout to traffic and weather on the 8s is "...on All News 106-9 and AM 740, KFRC."

The lead in to the story promo montage leading into the newscast at :59 is "Coming up on KFRC:"

The reporters lock out with "In (city), (reporter), KFRC."

There may be a few other "KCBS"s sprinkled around the hour, but not many. Those become "KFRC"s.

And all of it is delivered like you've been doing it since Marconi figured out the wireless.

The sound remains constant and reassuring.

Because.....


The station is #2 with an 8.3 and you don't want to f**k it up.


And before anyone suggests that a (retired) pro is mocking the ideas of the people who haven't worked in radio---nope. You've just read what I'd write in an internal memo.

Welcome to the inside.
 
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