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Changes At KBEZ?

Glen, the comments on Channel 6's article about the departure tells a completely different story. If you think your iPod is better than my iPod, you're wrong.

At last check, only about 6% of radio users subscribe to Sirius / XM. It's competition, sure... but not much. It's also NO indicator of what typical listeners want... especially as it continues to sound more and more like (surprise!) broadcast radio. http://applegatemediagroup.com/blog/?p=240

Billy, I'm not convinced KBEZ had a downward spiral. That's part of what makes no sense to me about this. They may not have been a top 5 station, but they always had about double the numbers of Mix. I agree that your link shows drops over the past two years (as they moved from light AC to more mainstream AC, BTW), but their last book showed a slight increase. Remember, they were also battling Spirit 102.3 during part of this time, which certainly siphoned off some of their audience.

I haven't seen their sales numbers, but I would expect them to be good with their target & their numbers. (Admittedly, I've been looking 12+, but I assumed they were doing well 25-44 females.)

Over at KRAV, they have to be popping champagne corks today. KBEZ just handed them a couple of shares of audience, minimum, maybe more.

This is either a long-term "stunt" in preparation to go to something else, or it's something to keep the station on the air as they prepare to sell the stick, or... or somebody over there thinks the listeners are IDIOTS.

I'm not going to even try to guess which it is. This whole thing is baffling to me.
 
NightAire said:
Billy, I'm not convinced KBEZ had a downward spiral. That's part of what makes no sense to me about this. They may not have been a top 5 station, but they always had about double the numbers of Mix. I agree that your link shows drops over the past two years (as they moved from light AC to more mainstream AC, BTW), but their last book showed a slight increase. Remember, they were also battling Spirit 102.3 during part of this time, which certainly siphoned off some of their audience.
Click to expand...

When it comes to 12+ numbers, KBEZ most certainly did have a downward spiral. For the previous year, not only did it not have double the numbers of Mix, but Mix beat it hands down in every book except one. In that one book, the best KBEZ could muster was a tie. It wasn't long ago that KBEZ did have roughly double the numbers of Mix, but it certainly wasn't recent times either. Maybe KBEZ simply became the victim of a fragmenting format. More and more markets that previously had AC battles are now down to one station. Maybe these stations like Bob and Jack have been bleeding the younger demos of AC dry? It certainly seems plausible when you look at the numbers and the timing of these AC defections.

Something else to keep in mind is that the website for 92.9 Bob FM was actually registered in December. This leads me to think KBEZ was stunting to a format change when it went to all Christmas last Halloween. However, they probably knew KOOL 106.1 was going to flip when it went all Christmas, too, and either were afraid the new format would compete too heavily with Bob FM or figured they stood to gain the most with KOOL's flip and decided to give it a book or two to see what would happen. When it was either clear that Gen X radio wouldn't be a big competitor to Bob or that the KOOL 106.1 audience wasn't going to KBEZ, they went ahead and pulled the trigger.
 
I stand corrected; Mix did indeed surpass KBEZ last spring & has tied or beaten them in every book since. Mea culpa.

I need to make another correction: I thought the male "Bob" was coming from satellite; however I just heard a liner about Uncle Zeb, so the liners at least are fully from here. Still not sure about the music. Don't know if it matters, I guess. Still don't understand the female voice on a male personality/

That they knew so long ago that they were going to do this & never warned staff... it just seems cruel to me. "Just business" & blah-blah-blah, but you still have to sleep at night...
 
NightAire said:
I need to make another correction: I thought the male "Bob" was coming from satellite; however I just heard a liner about Uncle Zeb, so the liners at least are fully from here. Still not sure about the music. Don't know if it matters, I guess. Still don't understand the female voice on a male personality/
Click to expand...

Bob is programmed locally. Joel Folger, formerly of KJYO and KEGL, used to consult for it. I'm not sure if he still does, tough. There was a satellite offering of Bob from Waitt Radio Networks, but it went away after Dial Global, which distributes Jack for SparkNet, took over Waitt. All of the satellite Bobs flipped to Jack.

That they knew so long ago that they were going to do this & never warned staff... it just seems cruel to me. "Just business" & blah-blah-blah, but you still have to sleep at night...
Click to expand...

I suspect the staff probably got a 6-9 month reprieve thanks to the change at KOOL. I also suspect they decided to re-evaluate things after KOOL left the air. The staff probably would still be there had KBEZ been able to get some of the KOOL 106.1 audience. It is a shame, though, that some really good people who had been there for a long time got shafted.
 
Sgeirk said:
Bob isn't a Star/Sound hybrid. It's different than the OKC "Bob"....much.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't implying that it sounded like OKC's "Bob" at all actually. But, you're right...It's more like a Star/Sound/Mix hybrid.

I'm not one to make predictions normally, but I can't see how this will succeed or be any better ratings-wise than the former format. Someone else here said it...they're popping corks at Mix right now. I mean, Mix has never been a true Hot AC station...does Mix program a little bit softer to even things out or does another station try to take the soft format?

Or...does someone swoop in and make a run at K-Hits and Mix with a TRUE Hot AC format?

Probably not.
 
My prediction is that it'll be a total flop.

"Joel Folger, formerly of KJYO and KEGL, used to consult for it. I'm not sure if he still does, though." All I can say is IF he's behind it, watch it fall on it's face even faster than if not. On a scale of 1-10 he's a programming rating of .5. But, if you need a tax write off.....
 
KRAV should tweak their music a little bit softer to get the maximium value out of this flip.

As for BOB. They moved into such a crowded area. This has the potential to be a disaster.
 
Jay F said:
KRAV should tweak their music a little bit softer to get the maximium value out of this flip.

As for BOB. They moved into such a crowded area. This has the potential to be a disaster.
Click to expand...

I think it was a disaster from Jump Street. Say what you will about KBEZ's numbers recently, but at least people knew who they were and what they were about. These hybrid formats that span several genres seem to turn people off. "BOB" isn't playing anything that you can't hear on about 4 or 5 other stations in town. Renda has thrown away a niche that they had to themselves in Tulsa.
 
They trade 3 shares with two salaries and some part timers for 3 shares (or more or less) with no payroll whatsoever. The real trick could be client education to get the KBEZ clients to stick and/or develop new advertisers.
 
I don't think they'll muster a 3. BIG error on their part IMHO... It's too bad they don't think things out better at Renda. What's kicking their butt in OKC (or at least taking away a good portion of their 107.7 audience)? Let's see... That's the new 94.7 The Brew, isn't it? There's a format that WILL work, and very nicely demographically in Tulsa. Even on the cheap, CC seems to be making it work here. I understand, in my mind, why they are trying "Bob" in Tulsa. It's working in Florida. Sadly for them, we're not in Florida here in OKLAHOMA. I don't see it working here...
 
Don't know a thing about the Brew. Will have to do a little homework, I guess.
 
I know Renda didn't do it, but I find an irony in KBEZ being returned to a non live station as in it's former life as KAKC-FM. It was indeed a dark day over 30 years ago when S. Carl Mark sold the station and it became a 'beautiful music' station with those godawful call letters.
 
Interesting perspective, Stan! Was KAKC-FM running one of the Drake-Chenault automation formats? (quick history: http://www.drakechenault.org/textpg.html )

My parents would argue it was a dark day when KBEZ dropped the Beautiful Music format; they had literally memorized some of the reels before they got them changed out! They could tell you what was coming up in the next 15 minutes based on the currently playing song. Easy 93 was sweet relief to them after KWEN dropped Beautiful Music.

--

The good on 92.9 Bob-FM: Running liners about Bob being on Uncle Zeb & about Bob finding his first girlfriend at Skateworld. Nice to have the local connections.

The bad on 92.9 Bob-FM: Running liners about Bob have so much variety you'll never hear the same announcer twice (off mic) "Do we have enough announcers to do that? O.K." when they have NO announcers... it's clearly a liner designed for OTHER Bobs around the nation that DO have jocks.

The music seems to have settled down a bit; maybe they were trying to make a point yesterday? Heard a really odd (to my ears, at least) edit / re-arrangement of "House Of The Rising Sun" last night that ended up fading instead of ending cold. Hard to imagine that splice & dice edit was the original single version, but maybe it was...
 
Jeeze, is this a sign of the times? Another bit of locally hosted programming gets hosed away?

Frankly, I was hoping that the Bob deal was a stunt.

Maybe this is a reflection on the media buyers in the market. "We don't care about anyone over 35...don't care if they listen at work....Don't care if it's "live and local."

ROI? Time to recalibrate your response mechanism.
 
NightAire said:
Interesting perspective, Stan! Was KAKC-FM running one of the Drake-Chenault automation formats? (quick history: http://www.drakechenault.org/textpg.html )
Click to expand...

Yes, KAKC-FM ran Drake-Chenault's automation formats in this order - Hit Parade, Solid Gold, Classic Gold Rock and Roll. After the foray into oldies, the station drifted into a semi automated mode, and then into what they called an album rock format toward the end. At 6 PM, KAKC-FM would simulcast the AM station since the AM signal was lacking at night and couldn't be picked up well at the studios at the Trade Winds West.

Aircheck link from Tulsa TV Memories - http://tulsatvmemories.com/wav/kakc1974.mp3
 
Here is why I think AC is in trouble and we may see more flips like this nationally. AC became hotter to attract younger demos. In the process they watered down the product. Instead of being the softest station on the dial they become more generic and lose having a clear position in the market. The younger demos never really come, afterall they have many, many other choices. They lose some offices. The core isn't as satisfied and listens less. The best thing AC could do is go back to being a little softer. Being strong in women 35-54 is better than being mediocre across the board, to the point where you flip formats.
 
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