Changes At KBEZ?

[GeneSavage]

Matt,

You guys gonna try to capture Big Country's audience, huh? ;D

 

[mattbradley]

Heck no! Our goal is to make everybody on this board happy!

 

[stacker]

N-Aire, Matt:

Here's the new big deal. Not Bob, but Knob. Basically Knob (AM or FM) is just radio for the "Strange Brew" lovers in the population. I can hear the liners now..."Hey you hoser's, this is knob-FM, we're fresh as a daisy."

Of course if you want to go local and reach the country audience you would not call your format Bob or Knob, but "Billy-Joe-Bob-Ed-Gene". Lawzee, that would be fine radio. ;D

 

[Kent]

Of course if you want to go local and reach the country audience you would not call your format Bob or Knob, but "Billy-Joe-Bob-Ed-Gene". Lawzee, that would be fine radio. ;D

My country format would be "Billy Bob FM!"

 

[GeneSavage]

...I'm kinda waiting to see if they're going to use the "turn your knob to Bob" liner so many of the other Bob-FMs do... I don't think they've risked it, yet.

I'm also looking for that all-important first person I can find who actually LIKES what they're doing. I haven't found them, yet.

Did anybody notice somebody grabbed up 929bobfm on Twitter?

http://twitter.com/929bobfm

Only one post so far... but this could get fun. I assume the station would have the right to force whoever grabbed it to give it up, but til then the fireworks may fly.

I was going to try to not judge too quickly, but... Bob blows. Sorry to whoever green-lighted this one... I think it stinks. You have at least two good formats you could make out of your current station; until you lose one or the other you won't hold your cume & eventually the cume will drop as people start losing hope that the NEXT song will be good.

Feel free to prove me wrong by winning in the ratings or the advertising dollars... I LOVE being surprised! ;D

 

[billyg]

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.

Amen! When you look at 92.9's history it's been an automated station for most of it's lifespan. :

I listened to KAKC-FM a lot growing up in Bartlesville when I was in Jr High in 74-76. I heard a lot of oldies for the first time as a teenager with the Drake-Chenault "Solid Gold" automated format, then caught the latest hits when it started simulcasting with the AM at 6 pm. Good move because 970 and most Tulsa AM stations (except for 1430 & 1170) disappeared in B'ville at night.

IICR in July-August 1976 KAKC-FM dropped the oldies and AM simulcast to become all-automated Top 40 "KC-93" which lasted until August 1, 1977 when it flipped to Beautiful Muzak KBEZ. A few years ago someone on this board (please take credit) sent me a Mp3 of the KAKC-FM to KBEZ format flip promo. At least they went out with some class with a weekend of "goodbye" special events instead of a ASAP flip.

http://www.divshare.com/download/11687881-f48

 

[stan]

Billy, that might have been me that sent you the mp3 of the end of KC93 promo from when I was going through my radio related tapes a few years ago and converting to mp3. At least this one was on cassette; I still have several reel to reel tapes and that is not a popular medium to use these days. I have some Kc93 on tape where it was live (jocks) and not automated, and playing album rock in an attempt to emulate KMOD.

 

[KRXOEngineer]

"
Did anybody notice somebody grabbed up 929bobfm on Twitter?

http://twitter.com/929bobfm

Only one post so far... but this could get fun. I assume the station would have the right to force whoever grabbed it to give it up, but til then the fireworks may fly..."

There won't be anything like that with the 929bobfm.com domain. I noticed it had not been registered yet and spent 10 bucks to make sure someone with ill intentions DIDN'T get it first. I'll contact some folks at Renda soon to get it tranferred (without cost) if they even want it. Several of my broadcasting friends have not inicially registered a domain that is more identifiable to their listeners. I've grabbed it and passed it over to them. It's better for me to get it right then than for them to put up with those companies that seem to grab up any domain with traffic for their own use.

Patrick Roberts
former engineer at Renda-OKC

 

[Watercooler]

Kinda like that time someone took the Kbull1049.com and fowarded it to the twister website haha I will never forget how mad Citadel was over that.

 

[billyg]

Billy, that might have been me that sent you the mp3 of the end of KC93 promo from when I was going through my radio related tapes a few years ago and converting to mp3. At least this one was on cassette; I still have several reel to reel tapes and that is not a popular medium to use these days. I have some Kc93 on tape where it was live (jocks) and not automated, and playing album rock in an attempt to emulate KMOD.

Ok thanks for the mp3. If you can ever get a good deck to play those old reels on, try to copy off some of the promos and local commercials.

I really wish I had recorded more of KAKC AM & FM back then. I had a cheap Panasonic stereo with matching 8-Track recorder back in 1975-6 and just taped off the radio for the hits. I still have some of those 8-tracks and deck but they haven't been played for decades.

 

[GeneSavage]

GREAT news for Carly Rush (and, in my opinion, Renda Broadcasting): Carly has been hired back as promotions director for the two stations (Bob & K-Hits)!

http://twitter.com/carlyrush

Well, good news! I start working as Promotions Director at Renda Broadcasting (106.9 KHITS/92.9 Bob fm) tomorrow. Thank you for prayers!!

Curiously, she followed that up with the following tweet:

My Program Director position at Renda is interim for now. We're trying things out!

...Say WHAT?

Did they fire Carly from mornings, only to make her PD of both stations? Isn't Tod Tucker over K-Hits? I've not seen him mention anything about any changes... did they just make her (interm) PD over the station they just fired her from???

She later credits a twitter / Facebook friend ("ItsmeBIGE," real name Eric Burns) as the reason it's happening... he responds that he pulled some strings, "that's what I do." They could obviously be teasing with each other, but does anybody know if Eric Burns is GM over there or something?

I have what's likely a crack-pot theory that this could be some kind of promotions stunt, & here's why I even consider that idea:

#1 - The KBEZ page hasn't been removed or even modified; the page simply redirects (right now) to 929bob.com. Remove the javascript "window.location" command from the HTML & the page pops right back up. Some of internal pages are still accessible (like http://www.kbez.com/blogs/stevecarly/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10117585 ) while others are still complete but redirect to Bob.

#2 - The Bob page asks "Miss KBEZ?" Is this typical for a new Bob station, to invite previous listeners to vent about the loss of their favorite station? Seems like you wouldn't want to hear it... unless you were going to mount a campaign for its return.

#3 - The e-mail address you mail "Bob" at is an @kbez.com address. They've been planning this since December, & they couldn't get a 929bob.com address set up?

#4 - As I just said: they have been planning this since December, & they haven't yet set up the template every other Bob station seems to use?

EXAMPLES:

Template #1 Stacks or Piles Of CDs / Tapes:
http://www.947bobfm.com/
http://www.953bobfm.com/
http://www.1029bobfm.com/

Admittedly, some variance. O.K., try this for IDENTICAL headers.

Template #2 March of the CD Covers:
http://www.971bobfm.com/
http://www.bob979.com/
http://www.bobfm1015.com/
http://www.1059bobfm.com/

Surely when you subscribe to the service, you get the website template... don't you?

#5 - Once more: if you've been planning this since December, don't you give your staff the courtesy of 2 weeks notice? I know we USED to blow out staffs, but I thought we'd gotten beyond that?

#6 - And yet again: if you've been planning this since December, don't you offer Carly the promotions job INSTEAD of letting her go, then coming back a few days later? And what of the "interim PD" position?

#7 - Why is it that every OTHER Bob I've seen has DJs except this one? Why not go with Jack if you were going to be jockless... unless maybe you were going to bring back the jocks? Maybe bring back the KBEZ calls & run a hot AC, too?

...I'd make a great conspiracy theorist, wouldn't I?

Carly claimed complete ignorance about any of this being a possibility ("if this IS A stunt, I'm going to be really mad!"), &, when NONE of what I've suggested comes true, I won't be shocked. It's quite a long shot, & it seems like a terribly awkward way to go about trying to get a ratings bump: by driving off much of your audience.

...It's fun to speculate about, though, isn't it? 8)

Back to reality...

 

[ionosphere]

I have what's likely a crack-pot theory that this could be some kind of promotions stunt, & here's why I even consider that idea:

#1 - The KBEZ page hasn't been removed or even modified; the page simply redirects (right now) to 929bob.com. Remove the javascript "window.location" command from the HTML & the page pops right back up. Some of internal pages are still accessible (like http://www.kbez.com/blogs/stevecarly/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10117585 ) while others are still complete but redirect to Bob.

#2 - The Bob page asks "Miss KBEZ?" Is this typical for a new Bob station, to invite previous listeners to vent about the loss of their favorite station? Seems like you wouldn't want to hear it... unless you were going to mount a campaign for its return.

#3 - The e-mail address you mail "Bob" at is an @kbez.com address. They've been planning this since December, & they couldn't get a 929bob.com address set up?

You've caught some of the same oddities that I have. I too think this could very well be a publicity stunt of some sort. KBEZ could come back...perhaps with some modified format? I don't know, something seems very amiss and temporary about this change to me.

 

[ttowngeezer]

Think I just heard a liner: "Jack with your knob while you listen to BOB."

 

[stan]

Think I just heard a liner: "Jack with your knob while you listen to BOB."

Somebody's been mining this thread for ideas, apparently. How many radios still have knobs for tuning? Not many, although my GE Superradio still does.

 

[Kent]

#2 - The Bob page asks "Miss KBEZ?" Is this typical for a new Bob station, to invite previous listeners to vent about the loss of their favorite station? Seems like you wouldn't want to hear it... unless you were going to mount a campaign for its return.

For a Bob or Jack station, yes, this is very typical. At least a few of them have been known to air complaint calls and play liners making fun of the callers afterward. The Bob and Jack brands are built around a cavalier, "We're doing whatever we want and you can go to hell if you don't like it," attitude.

 

[Kent]

#6 - And yet again: if you've been planning this since December, don't you offer Carly the promotions job INSTEAD of letting her go, then coming back a few days later? And what of the "interim PD" position?

I think she means "Promotions Director" when she says she's working as an "Interim PD."

#7 - Why is it that every OTHER Bob I've seen has DJs except this one? Why not go with Jack if you were going to be jockless... unless maybe you were going to bring back the jocks? Maybe bring back the KBEZ calls & run a hot AC, too?

While at least the Bob FM's in Wichita and Huntington have jocks, they went jockless for quite a long time after signing on. While you occasionally hear a voice on Bob FM in Austin, you never hear anyone other than Bob and the traffic person after 10 AM. Most stations don't lead off with jocks from day one, anyway.

The reason Renda wouldn't go with Jack is because it can't be programmed locally in market #65. The deal SparkNet has with Dial Global gives Dial Global the rights to distribute Jack FM in markets 41 and smaller. So, if 92.9 were to go with Jack, it would have to run the satellite version of the format, which means a loss of local control plus ceding some commercial time to the network. I understand the SparkNet/Dial Global deal has some exceptions for stations in smaller markets whose owners have signed some sort of group deal to air Jack FM on multiple stations, but there is presently only one locally programmed Jack FM in a sub-40 market. It's the sister to a former CBS station that aired Jack FM, and phone calls are routed to the larger market Jack. So, it may just be simulcasting.

 

[Tower Lights]

Carly claimed complete ignorance about any of this being a possibility ("if this IS A stunt, I'm going to be really mad!"), &, when NONE of what I've suggested comes true, I won't be shocked. It's quite a long shot, & it seems like a terribly awkward way to go about trying to get a ratings bump: by driving off much of your audience.

Not a stunt, it is here to stay.

 

[Tower Lights]

#6 - And yet again: if you've been planning this since December, don't you offer Carly the promotions job INSTEAD of letting her go, then coming back a few days later? And what of the "interim PD" position?

I think she means "Promotions Director" when she says she's working as an "Interim PD."

She is Interim Promotions Director.

 

[GeneSavage]

That all makes sense; thanks for the clarification!

Tower Lights, how do you KNOW it is here to stay? Mind you, I don't know that it ISN'T, but I was curious where your confidence comes from...

One more screwball theory to throw out there, based on absolutely nothing:

Renda Tulsa isn't digital yet, are they? Are any other Renda markets digital yet?

Could Bob be moved to an HD-2, or KBEZ brought back on an HD-2?

KBEZ would be an AWFUL lot of money for a rarely heard HD channel, but if you wanted to get people hooked on Bob so that when he moved people would buy the radios...

...I'm just wondering out loud. I have no basis for any of that, just speculating out of thin air. For all I know, Renda doesn't plan to take ANY stations digital, or maybe none under market #50 right now, or or or...

Does anybody know Renda's HD policy?

 

[stan]

Why would anyone want to save KBEZ? I could understand saving a heritage station like KMOD, but EZ93?! Let it go.