Entercom to Buy KUFX/ San Jose from Aloha Trust

[kenrayc]

yeah, you can hear all your classic rock, but can't hear pop songs from the 60's, 70's. 80's and 90's without having to deal with music from today

That's for sure, nothing like KRTH (K-Earth) in LA.

 

[Madmansam]

Has there ever been a market where there was 2 classic rock stations?

Modesto. Then KVFX @ 96.7 had Classic Rock from 1989 until 1997. In 1996, 104.1 The Hawk entered the picture. The Fox was a Class A 3000 watt station while The Hawk was a Class B 50000 watt station. A year later, The Fox bit the dust.

 

[DaveBayArea]

yeah, you can hear all your classic rock, but can't hear pop songs from the 60's, 70's. 80's and 90's without having to deal with music from today

I don't know exactly how heavily this skews, but I know lots of people in their 20's who enjoy music by The Who, Blue Oyster Cult, Led Zeppelin, Bob Seeger, & similar bands, even though they weren't even alive when these songs were recorded. But they don't care about The Supremes, Elton John or Captain & Tenille. Could it have to do with that all-important demographic group?

Dave B.

 

[sfradio]

yeah they are great on one station but 3 damn channels playing the same music? why wonder more people like Pandora or mp3 players

 

[mikecroaro]

Has there ever been a market where there was 2 classic rock stations?

Modesto. Then KVFX @ 96.7 had Classic Rock from 1989 until 1997. In 1996, 104.1 The Hawk entered the picture. The Fox was a Class A 3000 watt station while The Hawk was a Class B 50000 watt station. A year later, The Fox bit the dust.

I used to listen to The Hawk (104.1 Modesto) circa 1998-1999. It had, back then, a much much better playlist that San Jose's K-Fox.

Mike

 

[Madmansam]

Has there ever been a market where there was 2 classic rock stations?

Modesto. Then KVFX @ 96.7 had Classic Rock from 1989 until 1997. In 1996, 104.1 The Hawk entered the picture. The Fox was a Class A 3000 watt station while The Hawk was a Class B 50000 watt station. A year later, The Fox bit the dust.

I used to listen to The Hawk (104.1 Modesto) circa 1998-1999. It had, back then, a much much better playlist that San Jose's K-Fox.

Mike

But the old Modesto Fox @ 96.7 had an even better & bigger playlist than 104.1 The Hawk.

 

[travisl5678]

I noticed that in the most recent arb book K-Fox tied with The Band in the SF Market, and that was with 98.5 only!

 

[davideduardo]

yeah, you can hear all your classic rock, but can't hear pop songs from the 60's, 70's. 80's and 90's without having to deal with music from today

That's for sure, nothing like KRTH (K-Earth) in LA.

KRTH is "classic hits" and not "classic rock." While stations can call themselves whatever they want on the air, the terms have very specific meanings in the radio sales and media buying communities.

 

[kenrayc]

yeah, you can hear all your classic rock, but can't hear pop songs from the 60's, 70's. 80's and 90's without having to deal with music from today

That's for sure, nothing like KRTH (K-Earth) in LA.

KRTH is "classic hits" and not "classic rock." While stations can call themselves whatever they want on the air, the terms have very specific meanings in the radio sales and media buying communities.

David, I know KRTH is a Classic "Hits" station, the point was that there are 3 Classic "Rock" stations and no Classic "Hits" stations playing the Pop Hits from the 60s and 70s without hearing it mixed with todays music in the Bay Area.

 

[Mediaace]

Wouldn't be a bad move on Clear Channel's part - they could do very well financially in this 25-54 underserved demo. I just hope they will consider a different music delivery. I have a hard time listening to The Band for any extended period of time with all the data reduction in the music. Many titles sound like they are bad MP3's. For example, "Wish You Were Here" from Pink Floyd sounds like a balloon releasing air through various parts of the song. If they were to actually have live personalities (including a morning show team and regular news updates) with aggressive marketing and promotions, I could see them doing well.

The KFOX calls are on a ethnic AM in Los Angeles, I think this will force The Band to go full on Classic Hits

 

[Mediaace]

The Wolf wouldn't be in such dire condition if Entercom was to recommit to the station. The past year Entercom has become very cheap with this operation. When they launched in 2007 they were sounding great and on top of their game. The morning show was entertaining. Eddy King, their promotions guy was a big add to the show. Lola with her rhaspy country delivery was excellent for the format. Jojo "Cookin" Kincaid who I have enjoyed for many years before back at Kiss 108 in Boston made afternoons fly by with his high energy delivery. The intensive music in the evening made this the perfect formula. Country music listeners are way to often stereotyped as 'not too bright'. The reality is they are bright intelligent people who have a passion for the music and do not want 'canned' or 'out-of-town programming'. They have a BS meter and believe me they know when they are not getting their money's worth. The problem with the Wolf is Entercom's obsession to use sydnicated programming via their other stations. The morning show is a joke and nobody in the Bay Area gives a rip about Seattle. The second issue and a major one is Entercom's inability to shut the motor-mouth from Portland off in the evenings. This Alan Cable guy is not talented and sure as hell not a fit for country radio. When I can drive 4 miles from downtown Pleasanton back to my driveway a total of 8 minutes and 5 traffic lights later and this idiot is still rattling his jaws, it's gone on far too long. And people wonder why The Wolf's ratings are down???

I hope either KUFX evolves into a different flavor of rock, or either The Band or The Bone flip.

I cannot think of any Top 50 market that is able to support not 1, not 2, but 3 (!!!!) classic rock stations on full-market signals.

So -- who is least likely to persevere? Bone, Band, or K-Fox?

I would have to believe The Wolf is on death watch, too. I don't see how an adequate profit can possibly be made with ratings as poor as theirs.

An all-sports format on FM might be interesting. I also cannot help but wonder if a Gen-X format would fly locally. Personally, I think that format will be a flash-in-the-pan. In the markets where it's been around a little while, the ratings are already starting to retreat.

 

[Mac Daddy]

From what I've heard. Atleast three Entercom country stations are dropping Kabel's show for local talent. Will that end up happening in SF, I don't know. In my opinion, I think the wolf is probably the best sounding country station I have ever heard. The local talent is top notch in my opinion. Eddie King, Micki Gamez and Joey V Do a fantastic job representing country in the bay. Adding Dave Foxx for VoiceOver work was great.. He really seems to fit country radio.

Except for dropping Ken & Corey, Mike Krinik has been doing a fine job at the wolf. I really do hope that they stick around for many years too come.

 

[KimmiKat]

At least in the Tri-Valley, you can dial over to 103.3 KATM (Kat Country). That station has been around since early 90s, although it's owned by Citadel.

 

[Geek-O-Rama]

From what I've heard. Atleast three Entercom country stations are dropping Kabel's show for local talent. Will that end up happening in SF, I don't know. In my opinion, I think the wolf is probably the best sounding country station I have ever heard.

Allen Kabel going away would be a godsend. He isn't terrible, just a boring egotist. Eddie King would be great in the evening

 

[Mac Daddy]

According to the wolfs website. Kabel's show is no longer on the station.

 

[LKellerIII]

The Wolf wouldn't be in such dire condition if Entercom was to recommit to the station. The past year Entercom has become very cheap with this operation. When they launched in 2007 they were sounding great and on top of their game. The morning show was entertaining. Eddy King, their promotions guy was a big add to the show. Lola with her rhaspy country delivery was excellent for the format. Jojo "Cookin" Kincaid who I have enjoyed for many years before back at Kiss 108 in Boston made afternoons fly by with his high energy delivery. The intensive music in the evening made this the perfect formula. Country music listeners are way to often stereotyped as 'not too bright'. The reality is they are bright intelligent people who have a passion for the music and do not want 'canned' or 'out-of-town programming'. They have a BS meter and believe me they know when they are not getting their money's worth. The problem with the Wolf is Entercom's obsession to use sydnicated programming via their other stations. The morning show is a joke and nobody in the Bay Area gives a rip about Seattle. The second issue and a major one is Entercom's inability to shut the motor-mouth from Portland off in the evenings. This Alan Cable guy is not talented and sure as hell not a fit for country radio. When I can drive 4 miles from downtown Pleasanton back to my driveway a total of 8 minutes and 5 traffic lights later and this idiot is still rattling his jaws, it's gone on far too long. And people wonder why The Wolf's ratings are down???

I would have to believe The Wolf is on death watch, too. I don't see how an adequate profit can possibly be made with ratings as poor as theirs.

I listened to The Wolf a fair amount when it first came on the air. I thought it was clever radio - a lot of thought was put into the format and imaging, and the jocks were entertaining. It didn't hurt that they had Jo Jo Kincaid, who I had liked on KFRC...though I did notice that he'd suddenly acquired a southern drawl.

People posting here had been saying country music no longer worked in the Bay Area (or big city markets in general), until The Wolf came along and initially garnered some encouraging ratings, then people decided maybe it would work.

I probably would have stuck with it except for that pesky country music problem. I'm not against country music, and I even like some of it, but my ears rebel after about 4 songs. Dance music has the same effect on me - the first couple of songs are enjoyable, then it wears thin. I haven't listened in awhile, so maybe their problem is that they went cheap. I make no claims to being a typical Bay Area radio listener - but I have to wonder if the music is their problem.

 

[travisl5678]

Just so everyone knows, the flip will happen at Noon. Shall we start guessing what the first song will be? I'll say it'll be Roll Over Betoven. Thoughts?

 

[mikecroaro]

Just so everyone knows, the flip will happen at Noon. Shall we start guessing what the first song will be? I'll say it'll be Roll Over Betoven. Thoughts?

Following comments about "The Wolf", I naturally thought you were talking about "The Wolf".

But I assume by "Flip at noon" your're speaking of 102.1 and the switch to classic rock Monday at 12:00 PM.

Mike

 

[BossRadioDJ]

I'll say it'll be Roll Over Betoven. Thoughts?

[snark]
Thoughts? Yeah. Who, exactly, is "Betoven"? Was he a compozer, like Bock and Moe Zart?
[/snark]

Actually, I think Greg Kiln will play something else.

 

[Madmansam]

The Wolf wouldn't be in such dire condition if Entercom was to recommit to the station. The past year Entercom has become very cheap with this operation. When they launched in 2007 they were sounding great and on top of their game. The morning show was entertaining. Eddy King, their promotions guy was a big add to the show. Lola with her rhaspy country delivery was excellent for the format. Jojo "Cookin" Kincaid who I have enjoyed for many years before back at Kiss 108 in Boston made afternoons fly by with his high energy delivery. The intensive music in the evening made this the perfect formula. Country music listeners are way to often stereotyped as 'not too bright'. The reality is they are bright intelligent people who have a passion for the music and do not want 'canned' or 'out-of-town programming'. They have a BS meter and believe me they know when they are not getting their money's worth. The problem with the Wolf is Entercom's obsession to use sydnicated programming via their other stations. The morning show is a joke and nobody in the Bay Area gives a rip about Seattle. The second issue and a major one is Entercom's inability to shut the motor-mouth from Portland off in the evenings. This Alan Cable guy is not talented and sure as hell not a fit for country radio. When I can drive 4 miles from downtown Pleasanton back to my driveway a total of 8 minutes and 5 traffic lights later and this idiot is still rattling his jaws, it's gone on far too long. And people wonder why The Wolf's ratings are down???

I think The Wolf's ratings went down around the time pd Scott Mahalick left. Scott was also the creater of Kat Country 103 back when it went on the air in 1992.