Cheap Shots, the method to the madness.

[nuzguy]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

> I think AC 1 and staff is just scared of all the negative
> publicity they will get if they do flip KYKX. Even in its
> sorry state it is a "Longview Tradition" and still has a
> small loyal local audiance. If they flipped it to urban or
> rock, all those (racist) country fans and the newspaper
> would throw a fit, even the ones that havent listened to
> KYKX in years. But lets face it, country aint a big as it
> was in the early 90's when Garth ruled, and even the
> "legendary" Rio Palm Isle is now a Hispanic club.
>
> In the old days a new owner would have immediatly cleaned
> house and got the wrecking ball out, the old audiance be
> dammed.
>
> As for KFRO-AM I'd flip it back to ESPN or Oldies (and get
> that AM STEREO exciter back on). Put a consistant format on
> there, and stick with it.

Logical action to take, but logic and Access 1's way of running its Longvoew stations don't have anything to do with each other.
>

 

[C414]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

> I think AC 1 and staff is just scared of all the negative
> publicity they will get if they do flip KYKX. Even in its
> sorry state it is a "Longview Tradition" and still has a
> small loyal local audiance. If they flipped it to urban or
> rock, all those (racist) country fans and the newspaper
> would throw a fit, even the ones that havent listened to
> KYKX in years. But lets face it, country aint a big as it
> was in the early 90's when Garth ruled, and even the
> "legendary" Rio Palm Isle is now a Hispanic club.
>
> In the old days a new owner would have immediatly cleaned
> house and got the wrecking ball out, the old audiance be
> dammed.
>
> As for KFRO-AM I'd flip it back to ESPN or Oldies (and get
> that AM STEREO exciter back on). Put a consistant format on
> there, and stick with it.
>


Interesting viewpoint. I'll have to admit I hadn't thought along those lines until you bring them up. Of course with your thoughts in mind, it would make perfect sense that they're torching and tanking it. At least that way, they could say that there was no revenue being generated by the current format and a change was necessary. It sounds like a good job of "Cover Your Backside" now.

What format is AM1370 these days?

 

[scottm1025]

I don't believe in throwing out cheap shots just for the heck of it. That's kind of like tossing a rock out of an airplane and trying to hit a tiny target two miles down on the ground. Regardless of how hard that rock hits the ground, the chances of it actually landing on the target and inflicting damage are slim to none.

What I do believe strongly in, however, is a well thought out and carefully executed "gorilla warfare" strategy. No station is invincible, they all have their weaknesses. The trick is finding those weaknesses and exploiting them.

Make EVERY shot count!!

And I have no problem mentioning my competitor by name... Especially if my competitor has a weak kneed PD.

Just my .02

> I thought I'd throw this out there since we are having the
> discussion about KYKX's cheap shots aimed at KNUE.
>
> #1. Cheap shots are almost always used by the lower ranked
> station. It would be stupid for a heritage #1 ranked station
> to give life support to its weaker competitor by drawing
> attention to them. In most markets I have worked in, the #1
> station would simply act as if they were the only station in
> that market. With this in mind, I would not expect KOOI to
> start shooting at "The Breeze" simply because KOOI is the
> dominant station in the market, and "The Breeze", despite
> its 1st class airstaff and good management is still
> considered a newbie. KYKX on the other hand, needs all the
> help they can get in trying to keep up with KNUE. I really
> expect "The Bull" to gain traction in this market and
> improve their ratings.
>
> #2. Cheap Shots should be witty, short, and should never
> outright name the competition. When I worked at KJ 103 in
> Nacogdoches, we took shots at Kicks 105/Lufkin (aka "The
> country leader"). Kicks (then owned by gulfstar) had begun
> to use voicetracking. We shot at Kicks with a top of the
> hour positioner that said "24 hours live and local from East
> Texas, we're 'the leader' defeater, The Country Authority,
> KJ 103". We later added phoners into that promo of callers
> telling us where they listened and how much they loved us.
> We even injected DJ pledges. It sounded awesome. We did not
> bore the audience with how we were at Blue Berry fest, or
> how Kicks Voicetracked. (We had sales people to spread those
> rumors.) Furthermore, other than the wordplay with their
> positioner, we never named Kicks. We were too afraid our
> listeners would accidentally write their calls into an
> arbitron diary.
>
> #3. Cheap shots should be used sparingly. As we saw in the
> 2004 election, you do not win by telling everyone how bad
> your opponent stinks, but selling yourself and rallying
> people around your vision. At KJ, we only shot at Kicks once
> an hour, and only during book. The rest of the hour was
> spent positioning "40 minutes of today's country" and "KJ
> Country Rewinds" and "The Country Authority" and promoting
> "The Morning Zoo with Buck and HArley." (I kind of miss
> those days. I spent the rest of my career looking for
> another KJ to work for, but found none. Even KJ is not KJ
> anymore).
>
> Just a few thoughts there. What are yours.
>

 

[billyg]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

> What format is AM1370 these days?

They are a strange mix of conservative Talk during the day with MYOL standards for fill-in. Few if any local programming besides church service broadcasts on sunday.

 

[nuzguy]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

> > What format is AM1370 these days?
>
> They are a strange mix of conservative Talk during the day
> with MYOL standards for fill-in. Few if any local
> programming besides church service broadcasts on sunday.


The station is a place mark on the 1370 frequency, as it has been for several years now. Question on everybody's mind of course relates to whether anyone will ever do anything definitive with the frequency--at least definitive with respect to what can be done with AM nowadays.

JR Curtis at least kept some degree of life in KFRO-AM, although the FM was his only real concern. When Sunburst bought it as part of the KYKX-KFRO-AM-FM bundle, the AM fell into neglect and was left twisting in the wind. Access 1 offers no promise of doing anything productive with it, either. It's just burning electricity--at least the power company derives some benefit from the station's continued presence, but nobody else.

 

[snoman]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

>
> JR Curtis at least kept some degree of life in KFRO-AM,
> although the FM was his only real concern. When Sunburst
> bought it as part of the KYKX-KFRO-AM-FM bundle, the AM fell
> into neglect and was left twisting in the wind. Access 1
> offers no promise of doing anything productive with it,
> either. It's just burning electricity--at least the power
> company derives some benefit from the station's continued
> presence, but nobody else.
>

Poor JR is probably spinning in his grave. God rest his soul. I'd love to get my hands on KFRO-AM. It has such a rich history in Longview, and to see it reduced to this. It is beyond sad. <P ID="signature">______________
KVIL Highland Park
KVIL-FM Highland Park/Dallas-Fort Worth
Thanks for the memories Ron Chapman!</P>

 

[Chuck]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

> > What format is AM1370 these days?
>
> They are a strange mix of conservative Talk during the day
> with MYOL standards for fill-in. Few if any local
> programming besides church service broadcasts on sunday.
>
I don't know for sure, but I'm told they've dropped the MOYL Standards when their contract ran out. At least, I haven't heard any music on the station in quite some time. Whenever I've tuned in recently, it was either conservative talk, or sometimes just dead air.

 

[nuzguy]

Re: KYKX = Nothing Positive.

> >
> > JR Curtis at least kept some degree of life in KFRO-AM,
> > although the FM was his only real concern. When Sunburst
> > bought it as part of the KYKX-KFRO-AM-FM bundle, the AM
> fell
> > into neglect and was left twisting in the wind. Access 1
> > offers no promise of doing anything productive with it,
> > either. It's just burning electricity--at least the power
> > company derives some benefit from the station's continued
> > presence, but nobody else.
> >
>
> Poor JR is probably spinning in his grave. God rest his
> soul. I'd love to get my hands on KFRO-AM. It has such a
> rich history in Longview, and to see it reduced to this. It
> is beyond sad.

The shoddy condition of the station would make it a prime candidate ripe for the picking. Seems that Access 1 would want to dump it, which begs the question of why they wanted KFRO-AM in the first place, unless Waller wouldn't sign off on the sale agreement unless the step child AM was part of the package.

JR, Jr. would have taken even less care of the property were it not for his father who worked so hard and invested so heavily to put KFRO-AM on the air in the 1930s, and proceeded to make the station a player in East Texas radio over the years. There's a definite coincidence between JR senior's unfortunate death in the late 1990s and the sale of the AM and FM to Sunburst Media. Sunburst and later Waller gave the AM no attention and Access 1 has left it hanging by a thread. Wish you could gain control of KFRO-AM--it deserves much better than what it's getting now.
>

 

[MisterHonesty]

There's probably more ground to be gained by being self-deprecating...much like Avis did in the 70's. Remember "We Try Harder?"

Taking shots at the competition isn't necessarily a bad thing...just depends on the format, but I think it falls on deaf ears in the country format. Those listeners are God, America, and Apple Pie kinda folks. They don't go in for negative attacks.

Perhaps KYKX should continue to sell the fact that they're live and local, but add a little humility along the way. "We're not #1, but we cover East Texas like we are." Just a thought.

> I don't believe in throwing out cheap shots just for the
> heck of it. That's kind of like tossing a rock out of an
> airplane and trying to hit a tiny target two miles down on
> the ground. Regardless of how hard that rock hits the
> ground, the chances of it actually landing on the target and
> inflicting damage are slim to none.
>
> What I do believe strongly in, however, is a well thought
> out and carefully executed "gorilla warfare" strategy. No
> station is invincible, they all have their weaknesses. The
> trick is finding those weaknesses and exploiting them.
>
> Make EVERY shot count!!
>
> And I have no problem mentioning my competitor by name...
> Especially if my competitor has a weak kneed PD.
>
> Just my .02
>
> > I thought I'd throw this out there since we are having the
>
> > discussion about KYKX's cheap shots aimed at KNUE.
> >
> > #1. Cheap shots are almost always used by the lower ranked
>
> > station. It would be stupid for a heritage #1 ranked
> station
> > to give life support to its weaker competitor by drawing
> > attention to them. In most markets I have worked in, the
> #1
> > station would simply act as if they were the only station
> in
> > that market. With this in mind, I would not expect KOOI to
>
> > start shooting at "The Breeze" simply because KOOI is the
> > dominant station in the market, and "The Breeze", despite
> > its 1st class airstaff and good management is still
> > considered a newbie. KYKX on the other hand, needs all the
>
> > help they can get in trying to keep up with KNUE. I really
>
> > expect "The Bull" to gain traction in this market and
> > improve their ratings.
> >
> > #2. Cheap Shots should be witty, short, and should never
> > outright name the competition. When I worked at KJ 103 in
> > Nacogdoches, we took shots at Kicks 105/Lufkin (aka "The
> > country leader"). Kicks (then owned by gulfstar) had begun
>
> > to use voicetracking. We shot at Kicks with a top of the
> > hour positioner that said "24 hours live and local from
> East
> > Texas, we're 'the leader' defeater, The Country Authority,
>
> > KJ 103". We later added phoners into that promo of callers
>
> > telling us where they listened and how much they loved us.
>
> > We even injected DJ pledges. It sounded awesome. We did
> not
> > bore the audience with how we were at Blue Berry fest, or
> > how Kicks Voicetracked. (We had sales people to spread
> those
> > rumors.) Furthermore, other than the wordplay with their
> > positioner, we never named Kicks. We were too afraid our
> > listeners would accidentally write their calls into an
> > arbitron diary.
> >
> > #3. Cheap shots should be used sparingly. As we saw in the
>
> > 2004 election, you do not win by telling everyone how bad
> > your opponent stinks, but selling yourself and rallying
> > people around your vision. At KJ, we only shot at Kicks
> once
> > an hour, and only during book. The rest of the hour was
> > spent positioning "40 minutes of today's country" and "KJ
> > Country Rewinds" and "The Country Authority" and promoting
>
> > "The Morning Zoo with Buck and HArley." (I kind of miss
> > those days. I spent the rest of my career looking for
> > another KJ to work for, but found none. Even KJ is not KJ
> > anymore).
> >
> > Just a few thoughts there. What are yours.
> >
>

 

[scottm1025]

"I think it falls on deaf ears in the country format. Those listeners are God,
America, and Apple Pie kinda folks. They don't go in for negative attacks."


I disagree with that statement.. mainly because I've executed a successful gorilla campaign against a country giant more than once. It all boils down to how well you plan and execute the campaign (and making sure you know what you hope to achieve before you even start). You can't just run in guns blazing.. you have to stategarize!!

 

[arklatexradioguy]

It also would help if KYKX was anywhere near a good radio station.
Instead of attacking KNUE they need to straighten themselves out THEN they can attack


>
> I disagree with that statement.. mainly because I've
> executed a successful gorilla campaign against a country
> giant more than once. It all boils down to how well you plan
> and execute the campaign (and making sure you know what you
> hope to achieve before you even start). You can't just run
> in guns blazing.. you have to stategarize!!
>

 

[edwardrmurrow]

> It also would help if KYKX was anywhere near a good radio
> station.
> Instead of attacking KNUE they need to straighten themselves
> out THEN they can attack

Negative attacks are just pointless,disruptive,and childish rolled into one. If you had a completely neutral survey conducted in your listening area, the response would most likely be in the majority of listeners who hate the negatism. Why give the competitor free advertising by mentioning them, having YOUR listner tune into them, to find out why they reek, and risk losing them, when your allegations ( in the listener's mind) is wrong? You take your energy, provide a better service to the listener by making yourself visible at events, etc, better contests, better music selection, better personalities and go from there. Chances are you will win a majority of the time.

 

[nuzguy]

> > It also would help if KYKX was anywhere near a good radio
> > station.
> > Instead of attacking KNUE they need to straighten
> themselves
> > out THEN they can attack
>
> Negative attacks are just pointless,disruptive,and childish
> rolled into one. If you had a completely neutral survey
> conducted in your listening area, the response would most
> likely be in the majority of listeners who hate the
> negatism. Why give the competitor free advertising by
> mentioning them, having YOUR listner tune into them, to find
> out why they reek, and risk losing them, when your
> allegations ( in the listener's mind) is wrong? You take
> your energy, provide a better service to the listener by
> making yourself visible at events, etc, better contests,
> better music selection, better personalities and go from
> there. Chances are you will win a majority of the time.
>
Logical, true, and workable. But KYKX doesn't function in any of those realms. However it is dysfunctional in these respects as well as many others.