Dxing Opportunities with Disney Stations going dark at least temporarily

[rbrucecarter5]

Crainbebo, your "wish those elementary school kids could learn about AM radio" reminded me of a scenario I wish could have happened.

Fear not - a friend of mine in Austin has a creative approach to introducing school kids to AM radio through the wonder of crystal radio: http://www.tompolk.com/crystalradios/cedarcreek.html I am sure if you or others really wanted to volunteer to start similar programs in local school districts, the schools would welcome you with open arms! Science and math education is sadly lacking in schools, as the educators are overwhelmed by state-mandated curriculum that prepares kids to pass standardized tests so they can move on to the next grade - nothing else. I don't intend for this thread to become a political statement, but teachers lack the time to include anything but preparation for these tests. Anybody coming in with after school programs that are fun and educational and capture kid's imaginations are welcomed in as heroes almost anywhere. Of course you got to pass background checks and all that stuff.

As for the demise of Radio Disney - it was a grand experiment, and I applaud Disney for trying to revive the glory days of top-40 AM. I certainly did my part, I talked to the president of the network about HD radio - telling her it was a bad idea, and telling her how Disney could market cheap C-Quam Disney branded AM stereo radios to kids. That was when Radio Disney was headquartered in Arlington TX and KMKI was its flagship station. Within two years she was gone, Radio Disney moved its headquarters to LA, and the fun remotes in Dallas with major artists stopped, as did most localism in other markets. Frankly - I think that more than anything else killed the network. When kids could connect with Disney artists and Radio Disney locally in their markets, several times a year, they came out in droves. I saw thousands of kids at Dallas events. As in THOUSANDS selling out large venues. Not the largest venues in town, but large venues that held 5 or 6 thousand. When those local events stopped, the kids could no longer see Jump 5 or Hoku or Play or whoever else Radio Disney was playing at the time - I think the kids quit caring. This lack of localism mirrors what went wrong with radio in general. It is hard for people to connect to a satellite dish on the side of a building bringing in programming from 1000 miles away. It just isn't personal any more. All of the sudden Radio Disney concerts were no longer accessible - they became ticketmaster / scalper / too expensive / sold out in minutes disasters kids couldn't get into. It wasn't Hannah Montana they loved on Disney Channel. It was Miley Cyrus they couldn't get tickets to. Or Jonas Brothers they couldn't get tickets to. Or Selena Gomez they couldn't get tickets to. Disney raked in much more money on concerts, but they forgot their fans, and the fans reciprocated. So when Disney wanted their fans to embrace China Ann McClain or Ross Lynch or Bidget Mendler - the fans issued a collective - yawn. Radio Disney, and Disney music, had become just another mainstream outlet the same as any other mainstream outlet. Just as inaccessible. My two cents worth on the rise and fall of Radio Disney and Disney music in general.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Bruce, your mention of C-Quam reminded me. One of these days I'd like to go through my various hard drives, and find my numerous airchecks of Radio Disney from my SRF-42 off of KDIS when it was C-Quam. (It'll take quite a bit of work, though - many of the original recordings still have their default generic filenames from the recording device like LINEIN000004.WAV or 20040826172453.WAV :/

 

[cyberdad]

Relevant Radio (a Catholic talk radio network from Wisconsin) bought the station recently.

Thanks, ftballfan.

Makes perfect sense. Milwaukee has a large Catholic population, but is in an area that's been a gap in Catholic radio (Relevant Radio) coverage. I wouldn't be surprised to see Relevant Radio also pick up the former Disney signal in a few other cities.

 

[crainbebo]

I've logged pretty much every Disney on the west coast.
KKDZ 1250 Seattle
KDZR 1640 Lake Oswego
KMKY 1310 Oakland
KIID 1470 Sacramento
KDIS 1110 Los Angeles/Pasadena
KMIK 1580 Phoenix
KDDZ 1690 Denver
KWDZ 910 Salt Lake City (it's gone now)

Have tried for WQEW for many years to no avail. It's over 2300 miles however, and even with 50KW it still doesn't make it through the 2 WAs and KNZR.

-crainbebo

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I've logged pretty much every Disney on the west coast.
KKDZ 1250 Seattle
KDZR 1640 Lake Oswego
KMKY 1310 Oakland
KIID 1470 Sacramento
KDIS 1110 Los Angeles/Pasadena
KMIK 1580 Phoenix
KDDZ 1690 Denver
KWDZ 910 Salt Lake City (it's gone now)

Have tried for WQEW for many years to no avail. It's over 2300 miles however, and even with 50KW it still doesn't make it through the 2 WAs and KNZR.

-crainbebo

You should try for KMKI before it is gone. It is a MONSTER, even at night!

 

[MarioMania]

When I lived in Vallejo

KMKY 1310 Oakland
KIID 1470 Sacramento
KDIS 1110 Los Angeles/Pasadena
KMIK 1580 Phoenix

KDZR 1640 Lake Oswego under KDIA Sunset

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Bruce, I would LOVE to get KMKI here while it's still Disney. But, even before my local spanish 620 signed on, KTAR pretty much owned the channel. Now that the local blows out KTAR (except on rare peaks), I think my chances of KMKI are essentially none.

in Houston there, are you able at all to DX KMIK (1580) or KDIS (1110)? You'd need to try KDIS on day pattern - I think they have a lobe aimed approximately that direction, and KMIK probably daytime too although one of their smaller night lobes does go E/SE, I think.

I already posted on another board (linked above), but I'll re-list (without the details in the other post) the Disney stations I've heard here...

710 KDIS Los Angeles
910 KWDZ Salt Lake City
1110 KDIS Los Angeles
1240 KSON San Diego
1240 KALY Albuquerque
1290 KKDD San Bernardino
1310 KMKI San Francisco
1580 KMIK Phoenix
1680 KAVT Fresno
1690 KDDZ(?) Denver

 

[crainbebo]

KPOJ, CKRM or KWAL - your choice on 620! Even with that 3-foot loop I still couldn't hear a trace of Disney at night from Dallas. On the other hand, 1700 KKLF is a blaster...

Sad to hear the story of the live remotes just fading away from these Disney stations. In the late 1990s it seems as though kids WANTED to hear WQEW, or KDIS, or whatever Disney was on AM in their market. With great ground conductivity, it would have been a Disney from 100, even 200 miles away they wanted to hear. I hardly EVER hear live requests anymore on that network - years ago that would have been different, with dozens of tweens calling in for chances to get free tickets to a concert.

-crainbebo

 

[davideduardo]

I hardly EVER hear live requests anymore on that network - years ago that would have been different, with dozens of tweens calling in for chances to get free tickets to a concert.

Of course, the target was always 6-11, not tweens or teens. With the advent of tablets and even kids with smartphones (motivated in a large part by security concerns) AM radio is no longer a good platform.

 

[kenglish]

KWDZ 910 in Salt Lake City is on the air right now, keeping the license alive (they've been silent for 364 days).
They are playing a bunch of show tunes, with ID's between.
Not sure if they'll be on the air overnight tonight, or if they are just on for the weekend.
I think you could send a verification report to the old studio street address .

 

[Icangelp]

Relevant Radio (a Catholic talk radio network from Wisconsin) bought the station recently.

Off topic, but Relevant Radio is all over Wisconsin...FM& AM.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

David, are you sure their target is exclusively 6-11? The maximum age to win a prize on RD is currently 16, I've seen a LOT of teens at a couple Radio Disney NBT concerts I've been to (and their video of this year's RDMA concert which I didn't attend shows a lot of teens in the audience too), I've often heard moms call in around late morning / midday when Ernie D is on, and toward the other end of the age spectrum I've heard a couple youngsters call in who said they were 2.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

David, are you sure their target is exclusively 6-11? The maximum age to win a prize on RD is currently 16, I've seen a LOT of teens at a couple Radio Disney NBT concerts I've been to (and their video of this year's RDMA concert which I didn't attend shows a lot of teens in the audience too), I've often heard moms call in around late morning / midday when Ernie D is on, and toward the other end of the age spectrum I've heard a couple youngsters call in who said they were 2.

It was pretty much all girls at that pool in Lubbock - they heard my GE Super 3 playing Radio Disney from Dallas and I was immedately surrounded with new friends wondering what that radio was! They were considerably older than 11 - and a gentleman, of course, learns the art of looking from the neck up, especially when the girls are hot and under-aged! My experience at Radio Disney concerts in Dallas was about the same - a lot of kids were driving themselves there, that means at least 16. I'd estimate the median age was more like the early 20's, with Radio Disney being a "guilty pleasure" they would never admit to except in the presence of other fans. I saw people up to their 50's and 60's at least - who didn't have a kid with them at all. There were a lot of them - they weren't just a few. Our resident 19 year old houseguest is a huge Austin and Ally fan - along with most other Disney shows, especially the classic ones she grew up with.

 

[davideduardo]

It was pretty much all girls at that pool in Lubbock - they heard my GE Super 3 playing Radio Disney from Dallas and I was immedately surrounded with new friends wondering what that radio was! They were considerably older than 11 - and a gentleman, of course, learns the art of looking from the neck up, especially when the girls are hot and under-aged! My experience at Radio Disney concerts in Dallas was about the same - a lot of kids were driving themselves there, that means at least 16. I'd estimate the median age was more like the early 20's, with Radio Disney being a "guilty pleasure" they would never admit to except in the presence of other fans. I saw people up to their 50's and 60's at least - who didn't have a kid with them at all. There were a lot of them - they weren't just a few. Our resident 19 year old houseguest is a huge Austin and Ally fan - along with most other Disney shows, especially the classic ones she grew up with.

The format target is pre-teens... it's in all the sales material they issued. They made the point that the pre-teen audience would bring parents, particularly women, to the station as a benefit.

The attendance at concerts is not limited to the target audience of the radio stations. Like all formats, they have spillage.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

The format target is pre-teens... it's in all the sales material they issued. They made the point that the pre-teen audience would bring parents, particularly women, to the station as a benefit.

The attendance at concerts is not limited to the target audience of the radio stations. Like all formats, they have spillage.

Past tense - they seem to have really attempted to skew older as time went on. I heard the contest cutoff go from 12 to 14 to 16 as time went on, they obviously became aware that they were reaching an older audience than originally intended. And still do, because the alternative media they are embracing are not used so much by pre-teens. Parents are nervous about kids that age going online because of safety concerns. So in going after an online audience, they are essentially abandoning the younger demographic almost completely. The last vestige is a noontime pre-K program that I expect to go away after the abandonment of OTA stations.

I do think selling the Orlando station is really foolish, because they can brand Disney locally out there and have a fully functional studio in their Hollywood studio theme park for promotions. Of course, they can link it by satellite - but a lot of theme park attendance is Florida resident and they could use the station for local promotions. They are getting hammered by Universal right now, they need all the local promotions they can get. I have to admit that I am visiting Universal at least as much as Disney when I am out there for extended periods of time. While construction is going on at Downtown Disney, Citywalk is just a more pleasant experience!

 

[MarioMania]

Is Disney going to switch it off on Friday at 12 AM on the 26th or the 11:59 PM on the 26th?

 

[ContinuousWave]

Don't the Disney stations simply run the national format 24/7? What expenses would they be saving that requires them to turn off the transmitters till new owners take over?

The original story said apx. 8 people in each market will be laid off. Huh? What were these people doing for a station that airs network programming around the clock? Doesn't Disney have a deal with Cumulus to co-house the Disney stations from the days when Disney and ABC Radio were co-owned? I believe that in NYC, Cumulus' production staff and scheduling staff handle WQEW's spots and inventory, which probably wasn't very much. But again, if you're selling the stations, you're not selling spots or scheduling commercials anymore. So why not just run the network feed till the new owners LMA the station as they await the transfer of the license?

Electricity cost for the transmitters is $$$...so turning them off means no outlay for them....(the tower lights still need to be lit where applicable)....as to employees, there usually was a GM and local sales staff....I am not aware of any Disney/Cumulus agreement...Houston's KMIC was in a different location than Cumulus KRBE and other operations....

Electric cost saved is $$$$ in Disney's pockets....in some cases, the land the site is located on may be worth MORE than the station itself....Houston's KMIC is in the middle of apartment locations...so someone may want the land and not the station...same with Dallas's 620..(which was looking for a new Chief Engineer recently...whoever took the job is probably regretting it now...the station will be off the air by the end of the month unless someone else picks it up and even then, the engineer may not be kept if the new owners is an existing group in the area)

 

[TheBigA]

the station will be off the air by the end of the month unless someone else picks it up and even then, the engineer may not be kept if the new owners is an existing group in the area)

That's the part of this thread that bothers me. DXers are thinking about their hobbyist "opportunities" while hundreds of innocent employees are out of work.

 

[ContinuousWave]

Fear not - a friend of mine in Austin has a creative approach to introducing school kids to AM radio through the wonder of crystal radio: http://www.tompolk.com/crystalradios/cedarcreek.html I am sure if you or others really wanted to volunteer to start similar programs in local school districts, the schools would welcome you with open arms! Science and math education is sadly lacking in schools, as the educators are overwhelmed by state-mandated curriculum that prepares kids to pass standardized tests so they can move on to the next grade - nothing else. I don't intend for this thread to become a political statement, but teachers lack the time to include anything but preparation for these tests. Anybody coming in with after school programs that are fun and educational and capture kid's imaginations are welcomed in as heroes almost anywhere. Of course you got to pass background checks and all that stuff.

As for the demise of Radio Disney - it was a grand experiment, and I applaud Disney for trying to revive the glory days of top-40 AM. I certainly did my part, I talked to the president of the network about HD radio - telling her it was a bad idea, and telling her how Disney could market cheap C-Quam Disney branded AM stereo radios to kids. That was when Radio Disney was headquartered in Arlington TX and KMKI was its flagship station. Within two years she was gone, Radio Disney moved its headquarters to LA, and the fun remotes in Dallas with major artists stopped, as did most localism in other markets. Frankly - I think that more than anything else killed the network. When kids could connect with Disney artists and Radio Disney locally in their markets, several times a year, they came out in droves. I saw thousands of kids at Dallas events. As in THOUSANDS selling out large venues. Not the largest venues in town, but large venues that held 5 or 6 thousand. When those local events stopped, the kids could no longer see Jump 5 or Hoku or Play or whoever else Radio Disney was playing at the time - I think the kids quit caring. This lack of localism mirrors what went wrong with radio in general. It is hard for people to connect to a satellite dish on the side of a building bringing in programming from 1000 miles away. It just isn't personal any more. All of the sudden Radio Disney concerts were no longer accessible - they became ticketmaster / scalper / too expensive / sold out in minutes disasters kids couldn't get into. It wasn't Hannah Montana they loved on Disney Channel. It was Miley Cyrus they couldn't get tickets to. Or Jonas Brothers they couldn't get tickets to. Or Selena Gomez they couldn't get tickets to. Disney raked in much more money on concerts, but they forgot their fans, and the fans reciprocated. So when Disney wanted their fans to embrace China Ann McClain or Ross Lynch or Bidget Mendler - the fans issued a collective - yawn. Radio Disney, and Disney music, had become just another mainstream outlet the same as any other mainstream outlet. Just as inaccessible. My two cents worth on the rise and fall of Radio Disney and Disney music in general.

Bruce, was that Lynn Andrews you talked to?? RD was NEVER HQed in Arlington..it was in Dallas at the ABC RN HQ on Montfort (in N Dallas just north of the Galleria) and then operations/sales moved to LA in 1998...though the studios stayed in Dallas for a few years until it finally moved to LA..Lynn was a very open and honest woman...I enjoyed working under her....at one meeting, everything was on RD slanted until I spoke up (I figured if you are gonna screw yourself, might as well be honest about it)...I started talking about how the other formats at ABC RN felt they were step children to RD...she started taking notes and everyone else finally spoke up about the REAL feelings...at the end of the meeting, Lynn walked over and shook my hand saying she had NO idea what the real feelings were and thanking me for bringing it out in the open and getting everyone else to speak up...she wanted that!! I then told her I could make the phone system show Bob Callahan's name and number on her phone in Dallas when he called her and she LOVED the idea...told me to write it up and if noone would sign off on it, she would...my boss said "we dont have time for that" yet overall I could have saved the Dallas operation about $2000 a month in telephone costs and improved it....when I got a job offer from local stations as CE, I took it (hell at 26% increase of salary, why wouldnt I??? WELL, it was Jacor at the time..and we all know where that headed....the GM CC brought up from Houston to replace the GM I was hired under was a total jerk...(he is now a SRVP)..The former GM cared about the workers and let us do our job....the new one brought payola and sexual harassment by a PD he brought with him yet cut him loose when the truth came out at corp..I ended up on his sh*t list and ended up getting canned 3 weeks before 9/11 (2 days after my birthday...which NOONE at the station remembered thank you)...

 

[ContinuousWave]

That's the part of this thread that bothers me. DXers are thinking about their hobbyist "opportunities" while hundreds of innocent employees are out of work.

8 employees at the RD stations is much less than what Clear Channel did in 2009 and since 1996 overall!!! However, most of them are sales folks and will find work somewhere else....There were few if any local talent folks...promotion folks will be hurt the worst....even competition doesnt do that or has openings anymore...but most promotion folks are in their 20s...they can bounce back...the employees in the 40-50s are the ones who will get screwed...(hopefully Disney will give them a decent severance package....I will say Disney treated their employees decent though the 401K match sucked; only 35 cents per dollar...but other benefits like health, etc were good)