Q104- Done Sunday. Beginning Friday, promos every hour telling listeners to tune to KJR The Jet to find the oldies. Best wishes to team Ohana for a great job all the way to the end - a class act all the way around. Hope whatever is next for each of you is only good. What a long, strange trip it's been for this Columbia Gorge transplant.
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Good Bye KMCQ
- Thread starter CarAgencyGuy
- Start date
No matter how anyone on the Seattle board may view KMCQ, it's been very interesting to see their journey over the years. And of course, it is also sad to see it disappear after such a tremendous amount work went in to make KMCQ what it is today.
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KMCQ is a classic case on how to totally botch a move into another market. Yes, some things were out of the original owner's control (like the great recession) but overall they really blew it.
I have two takeaways from this (which I fully understand people may not agree with):
1. The greed behind the move-in scenario blew it for everyone. Stations were shifting frequency, the Dalles lost an FM, Seattle gained an FM that wasn't assessed at a value they thought it would get. Never really got legs as a viable station, even though Ohana did their role very well to preserve value so it could be sold for SOMETHING -- but not what was being asked with buyers like Fisher were kicking the tires.
2. It had an awesome format for awhile because there was no centralized corporate-mindset oversight of "this station needs to sound like the other 800 we own in the same format". It was great to listen to .... UNTIL the concept of "commercial assessment" came along and the playlist got thrashed into the format-acceptable 400 or so library entries. I remain convinced there would have been a happy medium...especially since Ohana could answer to their own conscience if they owned it....but they had fiduciary responsibility to generate value, so went with audience lowest common denominator solution.
BOTH of these, in my mind, have a lot to with why so many stations keep doing the "tap tap tap .... is this thing ON?" with their signal.
1. The greed behind the move-in scenario blew it for everyone. Stations were shifting frequency, the Dalles lost an FM, Seattle gained an FM that wasn't assessed at a value they thought it would get. Never really got legs as a viable station, even though Ohana did their role very well to preserve value so it could be sold for SOMETHING -- but not what was being asked with buyers like Fisher were kicking the tires.
2. It had an awesome format for awhile because there was no centralized corporate-mindset oversight of "this station needs to sound like the other 800 we own in the same format". It was great to listen to .... UNTIL the concept of "commercial assessment" came along and the playlist got thrashed into the format-acceptable 400 or so library entries. I remain convinced there would have been a happy medium...especially since Ohana could answer to their own conscience if they owned it....but they had fiduciary responsibility to generate value, so went with audience lowest common denominator solution.
BOTH of these, in my mind, have a lot to with why so many stations keep doing the "tap tap tap .... is this thing ON?" with their signal.
See LBB's first point above. He explains it better than I could.
And I agree Ohana did the best they could with what they had to work with, but things were doomed well before they took over operating the frequency.
I think they thought it would be a simple and VERY profitable move and grossly underestimated how complicated it actually was. I'm sure they weren't factoring in a massive recession, an international frequency switcheroo, a grossly limited power output and general market stagnation. And higher tech listener options. They did make waves with their original oldies format, but they just couldn't overcome 104.5's limited signal. I'm sure if they could do it all over again, they would never have left The Dalles.
I think Larry summed it up well.
Okay, well I don't want to agree or disagree with the 'corporate radio' or format tie-in as a value judgement on whether First Media, later Ohana were right in what they attempted to do from a business perspective. Frankly I don't think this deal ever had anything to do with formats or who the ultimate owner was going to be.
I remember when First Media was working on this move-in and about four other similar across the country at the same time. As you may recall, First media was essentially created and funded by a large Private Equity/Hedge Fund firm (who, yes could be considered corporate with lots of shareholders), at a time of over-inflated-radio values and even ridiculously-ridiculous 'stick values' being had in other similar move-in projects. Clear Channel, Entercom, Emmis, CBS, and alike, were in a buying mood and First wanted to be there with a fresh, virgin 'stick' in the Seattle market. The bottom line was just about the time First Media started to get traction in carrying out their KMCQ part of the move-in plan, the bottom fell out of the radio values with the economy. All these potential buyers dried up in a flash, switching to concentrating on just staying above water. That, and KMCQ wasn't a full market station anyway with an original assumed stick value of $21million+, now worth less than $4million (down hill with a tailwind). So Ohana has something they feel is worth $10million, cutting their losses and settling for a closest offer. I would bet that even with the adoration garnered here about their music choices, (Kokomo?) they were probably losing money by even programming that station. The deck was stacked against them with no chance of owning their target demographic with only one station up against the big guys with multiple stations. They got what they could with what was left of their skin on the bone.
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In other words, you're saying what Larry and Eric said, but in a more verbose version.
Also - let's be clear here: Ohana only handled operating the station - they were NOT the owners. CapitalSource (First's creditor) took over in 2011.
No, try keeping up Rob. Eric included terms like "greed", "corporate-mindset oversight" and a personal value opinion of: "awesome format". I didn't use any of those terms nor took that tact, instead addressing the purpose of what First Media intended in this move-in. Plus, unlike other opinions, I included the point that with the exception of KMCQ, the other move-in's were as profitable as estimated. First Media ultimately hit on four out of five attempts. Considering all the trouble, that wasn't a bad wager.
This board chooses to focus on music, jocks and promos as some form of a value, (which is fine), but none of that was of any real value in this particular "stick" business model. In fact, I think ultimately it was a burden. And yes, I think Larry came closest to summarize my point.
This board chooses to focus on music, jocks and promos as some form of a value, (which is fine), but none of that was of any real value in this particular "stick" business model. In fact, I think ultimately it was a burden. And yes, I think Larry came closest to summarize my point.
Sorry for not "keeping up", Kelly - guess I got mired down in the verbiage. 
Will anyone be recording the switchover and posting it?
Well, it's almost time for KMCQ to pull the plug on KMCQ. So, after all the allocation machinations and jockeying around, booting KMIH off of 104.5, relocating KASB, the seismic allocation shifts down in Portland, backfilling vacant allotments in Trout Creek to cover themselves, building a propane-generated transmitter site up on Radio Hill in Enumclaw, getting Industry Canada and KAFE to approve a frequency swap, and then finally moving to Cougar Mountain. And then, in just a few hours now, a new licensee coming on board with religious broadcasts with a non-local studio......I ask you....
.......was it worth it?
Is this allocation serving "the public interest"? Is it holding up to Section 307b of the Communication Act as First Broadcasting initially claimed?
And what did First Broadcasting get? Absolutely nothing. The ownership fell into receivership and FB lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe more.
And in a twist of corporate radio irony this allocation shuffle energized the LPFM movement....it's clear now. And because both WHHS and KMIH received 2nd adjacency waivers, hundreds more LPFM's were/are born in urban areas. And the urban "move-in" is much more difficult to get through the FCC.
So, again.......was it worth it?
.......was it worth it?
Is this allocation serving "the public interest"? Is it holding up to Section 307b of the Communication Act as First Broadcasting initially claimed?
And what did First Broadcasting get? Absolutely nothing. The ownership fell into receivership and FB lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe more.
And in a twist of corporate radio irony this allocation shuffle energized the LPFM movement....it's clear now. And because both WHHS and KMIH received 2nd adjacency waivers, hundreds more LPFM's were/are born in urban areas. And the urban "move-in" is much more difficult to get through the FCC.
So, again.......was it worth it?
I recorded...but it's anti-climactic.
LIGHTS by Journey ended...and that was it. No ID, no transition, etc. Just silence on a live signal.
Yep, looks like that's it... "FM" by Steely Dan, "Your Mamma Don't Dance" by Loggins & Messina, and "Lights" by Journey.
This was posted Friday on the Q's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Q1045Seatt...8840480879829/782878988475974/?type=1&theater):
"Dear Q Listeners,
We want to say Thank you and Goodbye. This is our last weekend on the air as Q104.5. We've been sold to another company who will change the format on Monday. We're sad to go, but thankful for the fun ride we've had with you. Our staff had a Celebration today. We celebrated the success we've had together at Q104.5 and that we were able to work with such a fun staff. We've made some wonderful memories along the way. Enjoy the music this weekend. We love you Seattle! - Heidi May"
"Dear Q Listeners,
We want to say Thank you and Goodbye. This is our last weekend on the air as Q104.5. We've been sold to another company who will change the format on Monday. We're sad to go, but thankful for the fun ride we've had with you. Our staff had a Celebration today. We celebrated the success we've had together at Q104.5 and that we were able to work with such a fun staff. We've made some wonderful memories along the way. Enjoy the music this weekend. We love you Seattle! - Heidi May"
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Fitting end for a frequency that has consistently flown under the radar and never had splashy programming.
I believe KGHP-FM used to occupy 104.5 along with KMIH before KMCQ moved in. Unfortunately for them, 104.5 was one of their better signals.
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