• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Connoisseur Media acquires Bonneville’s San Francisco Cluster

From my (limited) experience working for Bonneville:

There are no problem formats, no attempt to impose LDS doctrine in office or on air (apart from whichever of their stations carry Music and the Spoken Word every Sunday).

That said, Bonneville is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and, I think understandably, does not want to prioritize money over church teaching.

I'm not Mormon, but I respect that, and I think that it's admirable that they (generally) find a reasonable path of not selling out their core beliefs and entertaining a wide audience.
On KTAR HD2 is a 24 hour Mormon Channel, that features Mormon Talk and sacred music. They pop up now and then in the PPM ratings (0.1 share).

 
The Phoenix area (especially Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert) has a significant LDS population.
Yes, especially Mesa. You can tell if it's a Mormon town by the very wide, clean streets. The most Mormon town I have seen in Arizona, is Joseph City. There is also the polygamy capital of Colorado City.(home of the Warren Jeffs sect).
 
I remember as a teenager listening to KOME. Still remember the slogan "Dont touch that dial, its got KOME on it!"

I remember in high school, some students would modify the stickers to say "COKE" and another word I will not repeat, but had to explain to my mother what it meant when she saw it on my younger brother's binder. SMH
 
On KTAR HD2 is a 24 hour Mormon Channel, that features Mormon Talk and sacred music. They pop up now and then in the PPM ratings (0.1 share).

It’s called “The Saints Channel”. It airs in Denver on KOSI-HD2. It hasn’t been carried on any current Bonneville station in San Francisco, though I’m thinking that it was carried on KOIT-HD2 during Bonneville’s first go-round in the market.

When Bonneville owned KLTH(FM)/KMBR(FM) in Kansas City, the service was on the station’s subcarrier; this was before HD.
 
As far as I know, San Francisco was Bonneville's only market where they didn't have a spoken word station (be it talk or sports). Even Sacramento has KHTK which is all-sports. That might have been a factor here.
 
As far as I know, San Francisco was Bonneville's only market where they didn't have a spoken word station (be it talk or sports). Even Sacramento has KHTK which is all-sports. That might have been a factor here.

I doubt that's a factor. They've operated in quite a few markets without spoken word stations (like Chicago and Cincinnati). And most of their spoken word stations has sports formats. I doubt spoken word formats are a big priority for them, except perhaps when they owned WTOP in Washington.
 
As far as I know, San Francisco was Bonneville's only market where they didn't have a spoken word station (be it talk or sports). Even Sacramento has KHTK which is all-sports. That might have been a factor here.
Which is funny, because their Seattle cluster is nothing but spoken word. Of cours, that cluster is small, with only 1FM and 2AMs.
 
How was "KOME" pronounced in that context? Was it pronounced similarly to "comb" or "home," or was it more like "comm-e"?

c

KOME was pronounced "come". They may have dialed it back as time went on, but in the mid-70s, nobody there was being subtle.

Liners included:

"You've got KOME on your radio."

"You've got KOME in your ear."

"Don't touch that dial---it's got KOME on it."

"You've got "KOME" oozing out of your speakers."

"98-point-5...the KOME spot on your dial."

 
Which is funny, because their Seattle cluster is nothing but spoken word. Of cours, that cluster is small, with only 1FM and 2AMs.
Bonneville also sold that Seattle cluster in 1997 and ultimately repurchased it in 2007; coincidentally the repurchase came in an asset swap that had them sell KOIT the first time.

Their Phoenix cluster is all spoken-word, too: talk KTAR-FM, sports KMVP-FM and Sports Parking Lot Six-twenty~ (channeling @DrAkbar )
 
He seems to have a blank check. So he's spending it while he has it. Reminds me of Lew Dickey in 2011. We know where that went.''

If radio really has an upside and a solid, steady future, now would be the time to buy. Obviously, most people don't think that (and most people are usually right), but, if most people are wrong, Warshaw will make out like gangbusters.
 
If radio really has an upside and a solid, steady future, now would be the time to buy. Obviously, most people don't think that (and most people are usually right), but, if most people are wrong, Warshaw will make out like gangbusters.

I compared Warshaw to Lew Dickey, but he could also be compared to David Field. After buying CBS Radio, Field tried to keep Entercom built around local radio sales. He really stuck to that approach while the rest of the industry was building alternate revenue streams.

I don't see Warshaw doing anything in the digital world. He's running these stations like he runs his cluster in Long Island. Local talent & local sales. I don't think that model translates to owning 200 stations.
 
I compared Warshaw to Lew Dickey, but he could also be compared to David Field. After buying CBS Radio, Field tried to keep Entercom built around local radio sales. He really stuck to that approach while the rest of the industry was building alternate revenue streams.

I don't see Warshaw doing anything in the digital world. He's running these stations like he runs his cluster in Long Island. Local talent & local sales. I don't think that model translates to owning 200 stations.
Great business model in 1995. Not so great in 2025.
 
I don't see Warshaw doing anything in the digital world. He's running these stations like he runs his cluster in Long Island. Local talent & local sales. I don't think that model translates to owning 200 stations.
You know where he could be right? IF the country sinks into a severe recession, or even a full-on depression, then the money to pay for streaming, or even cable TV premium-tier programming, is likely to be severely impacted. IF that happens -- and I won't even try to take odds on the likelihood -- so many people will be focused on the basic necessities, food, rent, clothing for the kids, etc. The occasional splurge will become happy meals at McDonalds, not $15/mo for HBO, Spotify or S/XM. If that comes to pass, the only media many will be able to afford will be free OTA broadcasting, and the way to reach viewers/listeners will once again be OTA spot ads. Some people already live like this, but I'm thinking a scenario akin to 1930's-style soup lines. Hopefully I'm wrong and it never comes to pass, but my respect and admiration for the Orange Genius is so high that it's at least a possibility.
 
It will also impact radio advertising. Not a good gamble.
That's where the logic behind such an argument fails. Any economic downturn—even a recession—would have a horrible effect on radio and basically doom a company like Connoisseur. Or any radio company.

Jeff Warsaw is far more likely stuck in the past. It didn't matter until now because Connoisseur was such a small company.
 
Last edited:


Back
Top Bottom