ESPN Radio Spanish on 105.3 and La Indomable Music on 930

[Watercooler]

The Switch has happened

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Ceeeeee Senor! Circus hits continue on 930 and 105.3 is the new home of mexi sports. Not a bad idea, except I don't know if many of the musica audience will move over to AM. Something tells me 106.7 won this one.

 

[Kent]

106.7 has been winning this one for quite some time. KINB 105.3 doesn't have the signal to be competitive. WKY has a much better signal, but, as you mentioned, it's on AM. Hispanics listen to AM less than the general population. So, it's definitely an uphill fight.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Exactly Kent. There is a very big misconception that Mexicans will listen to AM. Truth is in many markets (OKC included) the first Spanish language station in the market was on AM. Like the rest of us they'd rather have FM fidelity so 106.7 was and still is a big hit. Too bad 105.3 couldn't have gotten another signal south to pair up with somehow. The idea of running Spanish sports is pretty unique and progressive. Hopefully that will work out for them.

 

[billyg]

Spanish didnt work on WKY in 2007, why expect it to work now? :-\

 

[Radio55]

That's because the people who own WKY and the FM have no clue what do to with it. These kind of owners always put ESPN or some similar easy format choice on their station(s) when they have no idea what to do. And I suppose they can sell sports easier (more likely as a "buy this, and we'll give you that" type of deal.)

 

[billyg]

That's because the people who own WKY and the FM have no clue what do to with it. These kind of owners always put ESPN or some similar easy format choice on their station(s) when they have no idea what to do. And I suppose they can sell sports easier (more likely as a "buy this, and we'll give you that" type of deal.)

Absolutely, throw a cheap satellite format and maybe you can make some money with it. I'm tired of these gutless corporate broadcasters who won't take a chance and try to shake things up.

I'm listening to WBBZ in Ponca City internet broadcast right now. They just started playing James Brown's "The Big Payback" right after the 6' O Clock news. How many Oklahoma City or Tulsa broadcasters have the balls to program that?

 

[Kent]

Spanish didnt work on WKY in 2007, why expect it to work now? :-\

While I agree that it's probably not going to work, it's really not fair to say regional Mexican didn't work on WKY in 2007. When Citadel had to divest 105.3 into the Last Bastion Trust per FCC rules after taking over ABC Radio, the same FCC rules required them to discontinue the simulcast on WKY. As I recall, KINB was put into the trust not too long after the simulcast with WKY began. So, La Indomable never had much of a chance to prove itself on 930.

 

[billyg]

While I agree that it's probably not going to work, it's really not fair to say regional Mexican didn't work on WKY in 2007. When Citadel had to divest 105.3 into the Last Bastion Trust per FCC rules after taking over ABC Radio, the same FCC rules required them to discontinue the simulcast on WKY. As I recall, KINB was put into the trust not too long after the simulcast with WKY began. So, La Indomable never had much of a chance to prove itself on 930.

If Citadel heavily promoted the station to the Hispanic community it might gain an audience, but considering their weak promotion of both Supertalk and Jox 930 I doubt they will do much. And I also wonder if OKC has enough of an Hispanic population now to support 4 stations?

 

[GeneSavage]

I'm listening to WBBZ in Ponca City internet broadcast right now. They just started playing James Brown's "The Big Payback" right after the 6' O Clock news. How many Oklahoma City or Tulsa broadcasters have the balls to program that?

I bit my tongue yesterday but can't hold back today...

How about if James Brown's "The Big Payback" doesn't test well and that's why Tulsa & OKC radio don't play it?

According to Wikipedia, "The Payback, pt. 1" didn't even break the top 20 on the pop charts when it was released in 1974. The album it came from didn't break the top 30.

In 20+ years of radio across multiple formats, I have not gotten ONE request for "The Payback."

I really don't think this have anything to do with the number or size of the broadcaster's cojones & more with their desire to attract & maintain an audience. It's not about "The Payback" it's about "The Paycheck."

 

[Kent]

If Citadel heavily promoted the station to the Hispanic community it might gain an audience, but considering their weak promotion of both Supertalk and Jox 930 I doubt they will do much. And I also wonder if OKC has enough of an Hispanic population now to support 4 stations?

Keep in mind that speaking Spanish is not a precondition of being Hispanic. However, I believe OKC has mostly Spanish-dominant Hispanics. I seem to remember seeing Arbitron designated Oklahoma County as a high density Hispanic area.

Also, remember that WKY, KZUE, KINB and KTUZ aren't necessarily direct competitors simply because they're Spanish-language stations. KINB apparently plays no music and is probably doing what an English-language sports station would do, which is going after 25-54 men. Regional Mexican, which is what's on WKY, KZUE and KTUZ, actually comprises 5 or 6 different formats, and no single regional Mexican station plays music from more than 3 of those formats. So, it's possible to have two regional Mexican stations with completely different formats. There was a classic case of this in Dallas not too long ago. Before it switched to Recuerdo, KLNO 94.1 played regional Mexican aimed at those from the border area while its sister station KESS 107.9 played regional Mexican aimed at people from areas around Michoacan and central Mexico. There was very little overlap among the two stations.

 

[billyg]

I really don't think this have anything to do with the number or size of the broadcaster's cojones & more with their desire to attract & maintain an audience. It's not about "The Payback" it's about "The Paycheck."

So true. Go ahead and flame me, I just thought it was amusing that WBBZ would play that in Ponca City. About 10 minutes later they played (the radio edit of) "Rappers Delight". I don't know if the DJ picked it or it was programmed into their computers, but I miss this kind of small town variety programming.

Like most JB hits, it was a bigger R&B hit than on Top 40, hitting #1 in 1974. And it's been sampled in many R&B and Hip-Hop records since then. And I don't remember hearing it on KAKC or KELi back then, though I bet K-Kool (KKUL) gave it a few spins.

 

[GeneSavage]

billyg, sounds like you "get it," & if I was flaming you, I apologize. I will only admit to aggressively stressing my point.

You're right, some of the most (intentionally & unintentionally) entertaining radio around comes from the smallest markets. Picking up "Countypolitan Stereo KITO" from Vinita has always been interesting, especially some of the announcers who end up on the air.

K-Grand 107.5 out of Vinita on the other hand was a genuinely amazing station in their last days. I don't know if they were shipping in the format on reel tape like the good ole days or what, but it was exceptionally well scheduled music... we're talking one song ends in one key, the next song starts in the same key, or at the very least the same note, tempos slowly crept up & down without any "jolts," a very even distribution of eras & intensities as well... it was really phenomenal & if it WAS a format - on - a - disc, I'd sure like to know who was providing it... and if it was a local music director, I'm even more shocked, and somebody should have snapped him up!

The format was what I would call gold based light AC, and even the track to track fidelity was exceptional. They'd go from an early 60s track (Johnny Angel, for example) into a more recent track (maybe something by Richard Marx), & they both seemed bright, crisp, clear, smooth, undistorted, full, rich, and deep. I'm pretty sure they were running a barefoot Optimod 81000A, so it's hard for me to believe that it was the processing... they weren't the loudest station on the dial, but they were sure the cleanest and the most consistent!

I was actually kinda miffed when KOSU bought it and turned it into a translator for the Stillwater NPR affiliate.

...No, I don't remember their jocks being anything special, but in that format they didn't really have to be... it was great to leave on for hours at a time, rotation seemed really, really slow, & sounded like what Soft Oldies 94.1 or KBEZ might have been if the planets had aligned differently...

I'll say one more thing, and that is that I like The Payback... if I heard it on the radio, I'd grin, and probably turn it up. Same thing on Rapper's Holiday... thank goodness they played the edit! And yeah, those were both much bigger R&B hits than pop hits. If I were doing dustys, they would be required, I think.

Desperately trying to drag this thread back on topic after I derailed it, I think it's interesting that in Tulsa we have a Spanish-language FM (101.5, La Preciosa, regional Mexican oldies I THINK), and a locally programmed AM (1530 Que Buena) whose format I have no clue how to describe other than "talk all over 90 second versions of songs." Not knowing the language or the formats, I really don't know how else to define it, it sounds very energetic and very interactive, but beyond that I have nothing in English to compare it to. Both have survived, but I'm not always sure why.

Would those who know better than I do say the FM survives because it's low cost to operate and the only Spanish language FM in the area, & the AM survives because it's so plugged in to the local community? I'd love to hear other perspectives.

 

[billyg]

I used to listen to KQTZ in Hobert in their "KQ-106" days when everything was home programmed. They'd played mostly Hot AC and 80's hits but because they were still reel automated even into the early 00's something weird would slip in. Sheryl Crow segued right into Tony Orlando & Dawn! Unfortunately they became "Mike FM" about 3 years ago.

KTAT is a tiny 250 watt daytimer in Frederick Oklahoma at 1570 that manages to put a fairly strong signal in the Lawton Area. They play mostly Standards but they will play some lite adult contemporary hits from the 70's that surprise me.