Format Question...Is there a need for "All News" here In SD?

[Young Grasshopper]

I'm not an expert about the market, but I know many of you are.

I live in the south bay and at times during the day, I'm looking for news anywhere on the dial and can't find any.
KOGO is considered "talk" correct? Whenever I tune in there to get news it's a talk show.
In this day and age of Crisis, Emergencies and "Breaking News", Wars, Financial collapses and other disasters (Plane Crashes!)
Would an all news format work here in SD?
Has it been done before?
Cable News has seen an increase in ratings since 9/11.
Couldn't SD radio benefit from people's thirst for news and information these days?

Just curious, Thanks!

 

[Bob_Hudson]

Couldn't SD radio benefit from people's thirst for news and information these days?

Isn't that why we have KNX

I was thinking about this this afternoon as I listened to the KNX coverage of the plane going down in the Hudson River. Flipped over the KOGO and they had Dr. Laura with the same ol same ol. They did of course have their regular scheduled news breaks with one of their news readers but apparently Dr Laura's 89,000th scolding of some tramp was more important than the fascinating breaking news of this incredible once-in-a-lifetime story of an airliner ditching in the water without loss of life.

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

Couldn't SD radio benefit from people's thirst for news and information these days?

Isn't that why we have KNX

I was thinking about this this afternoon as I listened to the KNX coverage of the plane going down in the Hudson River. Flipped over the KOGO and they had Dr. Laura with the same ol same ol. They did of course have their regular scheduled news breaks with one of their news readers but apparently Dr Laura's 89,000th scolding of some tramp was more important than the fascinating breaking news of this incredible once-in-a-lifetime story of an airliner ditching in the water without loss of life.

It is sad that KOGO and KFMB are all talk with news breaks. Even Clear Channel owned KFBK in Sacramento has retained their morning and afternoon news blocks.

 

[pocketgopher]

So KFBK in Sacramento retained their morning and afternoon news blocks. Why the need to report who owns the station? It doesn't matter that the station is owned by CC or Ether Mining or CBS Radio or ________ (insert your ownership of choice). I am sure hundreds of stations around the country did not break into their regular programming to report the plane accident. Clear Channel ownership has nothing to do with it.

 

[davideduardo]

...was more important than the fascinating breaking news of this incredible once-in-a-lifetime story of an airliner ditching in the water without loss of life.

80% of water "ditches" result in no loss of life. It's not a once in a lifetime event, although the actions of the pilot are amazing and heroic... but that story did not come out as a breaking news event.

 

[SDRadio]

80% of water "ditches" result in no loss of life. It's not a once in a lifetime event, although the actions of the pilot are amazing and heroic... but that story did not come out as a breaking news event.

I disagree -- rarely -- but I disagree with you David. It was not breaking news for the aircraft in question; it was breaking news on the wires .... and it was a "good" story that all survived the water landing on the Hudson River -- when is the last time folks went into the Hudson River and WALKED OUT alive ... but I digress.

My iPhone was full of news reports of the crash, rescue and the survival of all. Plus there is a California tie; as the pilot lives near the Bay Area. For myself, a white-knuckle flier, it was good news to read and hear.

Thanks David; I hope your Birthday Was GREAT!

 

[RadeoEngineer]

...was more important than the fascinating breaking news of this incredible once-in-a-lifetime story of an airliner ditching in the water without loss of life.

80% of water "ditches" result in no loss of life. It's not a once in a lifetime event, although the actions of the pilot are amazing and heroic... but that story did not come out as a breaking news event.

Where do you get this statistic? Are you applying this to large aircraft (airliners that seat more than 20) or to total aviation incidents?

 

[Bob_Hudson]

80% of water "ditches" result in no loss of life. It's not a once in a lifetime event, although the actions of the pilot are amazing and heroic... but that story did not come out as a breaking news event.

Yes, I'm sorry, that really was the kind of thing that happens all the time and I guess that most people are tired of the same old "no one killed as airliner lands in the river" story......so cliche.

 

[syvjeff]

I'd like to bring this discussion back to the original question of all news in SD.

It really depends on the market to support all news or not to support all news. I'm saying support in both ratings and in revenue. There are a few mid markets like Sacramento that supports it, but KFBK has a sister News-Talk KSTE with better younger numbers to sell in a package. I've heard rumors for years that KCBS up in San Francisco has a real problem with it's demos getting really old and there's really no fix for that when you are in a market saturated with other strong AMs and an extensively strong NPR station.

From what I'm saying is that each market is unique and TSL is king when it comes to the News-Talk format. If you are in a competitive situation talk keeps the the TSL up and if you look at the LA book, KFI has a 4.0 M-F 12+ and KNX has a 1.7. Since I haven't worked in the SD market for almost 10 years, all I'll say is that a full time news station would not be successful. Nice to have, but not a good business decision.

In TV terms look how CNN Headline News has become Headline Talk. CMT has become redneck weddings and MTV has become Cribs and Pimp My Ride.

Also as a point of history in 1981 KGB-AM flipped to all CNN then a couple years later became KPQP with adult standards and around 1983 or 1984 KOGO was all news for San Diego and lasted only about two years before becoming KLZZ-AM then KKLQ-AM.

 

[Bob_Hudson]

Also as a point of history in 1981 KGB-AM flipped to all CNN then a couple years later became KPQP with adult standards and around 1983 or 1984 KOGO was all news for San Diego and lasted only about two years before becoming KLZZ-AM then KKLQ-AM.

I worked at both of those ill-conceived attempts at all news: I was the morning anchor for KCNN and produced features for the KOGO "radio magazine." The failure of those two formats had everything to do with really bad programming decisions and generally bad concepts (KOGO at that time had more bad managers than you could count) and nothing to do with a lack of market for all news.

KSDO did a great job at being mostly news all the time and even when they started bringing in the Roger Hedgecocks of the world they still maintained a strong news commitment and when the stuff hit the fan you could always count on them being on top of it. KSDO morphed into KOGO and then began to chip away at the news department until they mostly ended up with news readers and give news about the same attention they give traffic reports.

 

[AM FM listener]

All News seems to fading away as a stand alone format. I understand that it is expensive to operate and attracts too many listeners older than 55, which makes it difficult to sell to advertisers. In a large market like LA, all news continues with KNX and KFWB but neither has big ratings, especially in the 25-54 age demo. Some markets, like Washington DC, have All News on FM, such as WTOP-FM, which does better with 25-54. Recently, CBS Radio in SF, decided to simulcast their successful KCBS-AM on an FM signal to improve (lower) its combined demographics. If the appetite for news is hearty enough in San Diego, maybe it could work on FM?

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

So KFBK in Sacramento retained their morning and afternoon news blocks. Why the need to report who owns the station? It doesn't matter that the station is owned by CC or Ether Mining or CBS Radio or ________ (insert your ownership of choice). I am sure hundreds of stations around the country did not break into their regular programming to report the plane accident. Clear Channel ownership has nothing to do with it.

First of all...I am commenting that San Diego (market 17) doesn't have a News/Talk station (one with news blocks). Since the question on this thread is whether there is a market for All News station in San Diego, I felt the need to point out that San Diego doesn't even have a station with news blocks. My comment about KFBK implied that in market 27, Clear Channel (the company that owns KOGO) has kept KFBK's news blocks intact. The decision to drop news blocks at KOGO must either be to the taste, culture, politics and demographics of San Diego or the financial situation of the station at the time the news blocks were dropped.

I guess I wasn't clear.

Of course this could all be moot after Tuesday for KFBK. Who knows.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

...was more important than the fascinating breaking news of this incredible once-in-a-lifetime story of an airliner ditching in the water without loss of life.

80% of water "ditches" result in no loss of life. It's not a once in a lifetime event, although the actions of the pilot are amazing and heroic... but that story did not come out as a breaking news event.

David,

Exactly what galaxy are you traveling around.....? It was a major story.

 

[sdwulfdawg]

I'd like to bring this discussion back to the original question of all news in SD.

It really depends on the market to support all news or not to support all news. I'm saying support in both ratings and in revenue. There are a few mid markets like Sacramento that supports it, but KFBK has a sister News-Talk KSTE with better younger numbers to sell in a package. I've heard rumors for years that KCBS up in San Francisco has a real problem with it's demos getting really old and there's really no fix for that when you are in a market saturated with other strong AMs and an extensively strong NPR station.

Any reasonable format can be successful if you put the bucks in promotion and having a decent sales staff.

KOGO and KFMB radios are an absolute joke....it is wall-to-wall commercials and that's when I turn to my CD collection or turn to LA stations where they have a better handle on commercial rotations. When KFBK bleeds in they are listenable....unlike San Diego's doddering right-wing Christian Lakeside trailer park spokesman-***-news director Cliff Albert.

 

[evalmaster]

Maybe not a fair comparison to the San Diego market but I was listening to the WCBS-FM stream when the crash happened and they even broke in with the news from a WCBS-AM anchor.
I would like to have a local all news here in San Diego. KNX is an excellent option but not too concerned with life south of the OC even though they have very good coverage in SD.

 

[SDRadio]

KNX is an excellent option but not too concerned with life south of the OC even though they have very good coverage in SD.

KNX was FIRST on the scene when the top of La Jolla tried to slide down to the 5 freeway. KCBS had a helo and there was a reporter on the ground. When David Hall was there, he said Southern California included San Diego county.

 

[LR]

I listen to KNX every day in the IE. It does a decent job of covering areas outside of LA, but a San Diego all-news station could serve listeners in that market so much better. That is, if anyone still cares about serving the listener.

 

[jprg]

It's sad to say that KNX-LA does a better job than KOGO. The earthquake we felt here last summer was reported by KNX in minutes while KOGO took 1/2 hour to say anything. I guess Rush is more important.

 

[SDRadio]

I guess Rush is more important.

Rush's loose change could pay the wages of a small cluster frack. Oh sorry, that's editorial comment and I'll be riding a donkey by sunset.

 

[RadeoEngineer]

...was more important than the fascinating breaking news of this incredible once-in-a-lifetime story of an airliner ditching in the water without loss of life.

80% of water "ditches" result in no loss of life. It's not a once in a lifetime event, although the actions of the pilot are amazing and heroic... but that story did not come out as a breaking news event.

Where do you get this statistic? Are you applying this to large aircraft (airliners that seat more than 20) or to total aviation incidents?

You're not going to respond to this David? I'd really like to know where you get this statistic.