Granato will be leaving soon

[hadenough]

Granato is calling other stations asking for a new home by the new year. He is using the words "reaching out" when he calls Pat Fant, Eddie Martini, and, yes, believe it or not, Laura Morris, but the word from inside one of those buildings is that he is frustrated and sees the end is near. Zerlein continues to meet with the other boys in town, and there are contradictions as to whether he has officially accepted Clear Channel's offer or if they can't talk yet.

The writing is on the wall. The days of the independent station are sadly past.

I like John, a great deal, and I feel bad that he can't make a go of it with The Game. Their afternoon lineup is terrible. Pendergast was a great caller, but a talk show host he is not. I almost wish they'd have the other host and let Sean call in. Maybe it would liven things up.

Ken Hoffman is an embarrassment, and the poor guy knows it. It's as if he can tell he is terrible but he soldiers on.

Word is that Pat Fant is feverishly working to land Granato to keep him away from KBME. Money talks, Pat. Cut Jerome Solomon and Jesus Ortiz and get real talent. Good luck.

 

[Mediafrog+]

KGOW has been snakebit since it hit the air. Their inability to have the 50kw transmitter ready for launch, along with no night signal, were very bad signs, and they have yet to recover. Sort of like moving into a house that is only half built, with no electricity or running water.

You don't get a second chance to make a first impression, and "The Game" blew their opportunity--it was probably one of the most publicized new stations I've seen launch here, and was an instant disappointment.

Sadly, KGOW may go down as perhaps the biggest misfire in Houston radio history. Is the clock ticking already on the return of brokered ethnic on 1560?

 

[purpledevil]

The funniest part is that those same engineers that are supposed to get KGOW fired up to 50kw and have failed so far, amazingly has KBRZ/Freeport running 5kw daytime already, and the signal sounds tremendous all the way up to the North Belt. Priorities, priorities.

 

[adguy]

Looks like the original post on the thread is bogus, but I have to agree with Purple and Frog, KGOW is killing itself with the poor signal. I listened from day 1 and was happy to see the signal improvement through the first couple of weeks, but now the signal is crap again. It fades along the West Loop, disappears on Mem Drive altogether and is almost unlistenable in The Heights, all inner-loop and near loop locales. It's almost reverting back to week one levels. There is no way that signal is 50K watts. They should look into hiring better engineers that can point that signal with the allotted strength in the right direction. If they can't do any of this Granato and others MAY actually sprint toward the door.

 

[jd]

KGOW is killing itself with the poor signal.

I think the original post may not be far off the mark, but some of the details may have been embellished. You've got to sense John's frustration and if he thinks threatening to bail might get things going I could certainly understand. When the 50,000 signal from Rosharon is blasting toward downtown it should be able to peel paint; it really does throw that much power to the north-northeast. But unfortunately every day since the switch is a crap shoot, and the engineers and listeners never know what to expect with the signal. This is beyond sad.

 

[DToTheJ]

Could be worse... Does KGOW have IBOC?

 

[Mediafrog+]

amazingly has KBRZ/Freeport running 5kw daytime already, and the signal sounds tremendous all the way up to the North Belt. Priorities, priorities.

Not sure if the 5kw is on full time, if that is indeed what you heard. Signal seems the same at my Cy-Fair location as of mid-Friday afternoon. Perhaps in the testing phase? Anyone close to the situation let us know!

 

[Mediafrog+]

They should look into hiring better engineers that can point that signal with the allotted strength in the right direction.

This probably points out a weakness with stand-alone ownership. If KGOW was part of a large group, there would be plenty of engineers in the fold (including some with high-power AM experience) who could be brought in to help set things straight. I'm not knocking small or single owners, but nonetheless, a consideration.

 

[purpledevil]

amazingly has KBRZ/Freeport running 5kw daytime already, and the signal sounds tremendous all the way up to the North Belt. Priorities, priorities.

Not sure if the 5kw is on full time, if that is indeed what you heard. Signal seems the same at my Cy-Fair location as of mid-Friday afternoon. Perhaps in the testing phase? Anyone close to the situation let us know!

Yep, I believe they are testing. Heard the 5kw from KBRZ on Thursday, Friday I couldn't catch 1460 at several checks during the day. Then on Saturday there it was again. Loud and clear in North Houston. KGOW? :0 I've caught the signal clearly once. Yes once.

 

[RADIOGM]

Just go find some of my earlier posts -

1. korean brokerage - (probably now less than 3 months away)

2. You can't get ratings if you can't be heard

Good try guys, but with 3 other so called Sports Stations who have much, much better talent and signal, this was not the format to try on a weak AM signal. It won't take but a few weeks for the owners to figure this out. No listeners=no revenue!

RGM

 

[adguy]

Well, the talent observation is purely your personal taste and opinion. I happen to believe they have struck a chord with some good entertaining and informational talent. Granato is the best morning personality of the three stations hands down. KILT has turned into a boring Texans infomercial five days a week. KBME just canned Dukes in hopes that Craig Roberts will add something they didn't have before, but no matter what it won't be at Granato's level. Supposedly Lance Zurlein joins Granato Nov 1 and the best and longest running morning duo will be together again. Richard Justice is as equal to John McClain as far as radio columnists go. He is a credible talent and is hands down the best among the 3 stations during his run. Ken Hoffman, as quirky as he is, is extremely entertaining and unfortunately runs up agains the bellweather Jim Rome, but in my opinion he's number 2 in talent among the three during midday. Now at afternoon drive, KGOW has problems. The new guys are clearly immature rookies going up against Rich Lord on KILT and Charlie Pallilo on KBME, both of whom totally smoke KGOW. All that said, I wouldn't dismiss KGOW's overall talent, but Radio GM your point about their signal is a good one. If that signal isn't smoothed over soon they will fail, but it won't be three months, it will be more like a year. David Gow and his investors are loaded and have the resources to ride out the storm. I believe they will get their signal ship turned in the right direction by year's end. They'll make some noise then. The other reason they have such an uphill climb is no local sports franchise play-by-play. LSU isn't local. Without Rockets, Texans and Astros, they will always struggle, but with a signal improvement, they can hack it IN MY OPINION.

 

[mrtexmex2007]

Well Actually 1560 am has always sucked on their signal, even back when it was a spanish Christian station.

 

[RADIOGM]

I still believe that outside of the morning show, the station talent is horrible. Mr. Gow may have deep pockets, but sooner or later his buddies will want to see a ROI. I doubt this station will make it anywhere near 1 year in the present state.

RGM

 

[adguy]

I still believe that outside of the morning show, the station talent is horrible. Mr. Gow may have deep pockets, but sooner or later his buddies will want to see a ROI. I doubt this station will make it anywhere near 1 year in the present state.

RGM

I wholeheartedly agree with that. If there's no signal improvement in a year, this experiment might end. There is an answer should Gow be proactive. He really doesn't have a true GM. Richard Topper, who he hired to get to Granato and a host of sponsors is nothing more than a very good salesman/sales manager. It's obvious Topper is clueless as to the operational level. In addition to the signal problems they experience many periods of dead air and countless phone and email outages. This is on a daily basis. If Gow is smart he'll hire a real GM that can get the right engineering and other operational issues on the right track. There is someone in the market ripe for the picking. He should get on the phone today with Brent Clanton at BizRadio 1320. It's no secret that BizRadio is about to lose its lease and could be dark by the end of December. Clanton works for the biggest Bozo ever to grace the Houston airwaves in Dan Frishberg. He couldn't be happy about that and the fact he might be out of a job anyway at year's end. Brent is one of the brightest operational men in radio and no doubt would make lemonade out of the lemons 1560 is currently putting out. Dispite the haphazzardness of Frishberg, Clanton has managed to make 1320 loud with great quality. He didn't start with more than what 1560 has now. Gow should make Topper the GSM reporting to the owner and hire Clanton as his GM. And if Clanton won't come over, there has got to be a real GM type that can work all areas of the station, not just sales. That, I believe from what I hear, is the real issue over there. Now that's FREE advise worth the taking.

 

[RadioInsider]

This is probably the funniest thing I have read yet on the "We hate KGOW" boards. You people are hilarious, willing to buy anything that helps prove your point. Here we are, more than a year after the last post in the "Granato is leaving" thread and he is still here. And LZ is still here.

All of you ridiculous nay-sayers make me laugh. "It's gonna fail" "Why?" "Cuz nobody does it this way"

Your circular logic is working well for you.

If any of you had the slightest knowledge of the history of radio, you would know that every station has to start somewhere. Just because it wasnt vomited forth from Clear Channel or Infinity you kool-aid drinkers think it cant work.

With some minor tweaks to the line-up, KGOW now has a very marketable product.

John and Lance are the same as they ever were, only better, without the restrictions placed on them at their former employer.

Hoffy, while not my cup of tea, is entertaining, not to mention a very well-known name that attracts attention to the station from underserved demos.

RJ is doing what he does best, coming in as a guest to other shows.

But Sean and John are by far the success story of the station. Two guys with no radio experience but with a tremendous love of sports and a lot of knowledge have grown into their roles as drive time hosts. They are creating a unique hybrid of sports and pop culture talk that is extremely addictive to listen to.

Are there still tweaks to be made? Of course. Every worthwhile experiment requires adjustment. But these guys have done something mammoth in the history of Houston radio. And the December ratings will prove that.

End transmission, CPODS.

 

[oneof4listeners]

Psssst, here's one for the rumor mill: i heard Granato was in Green Bay over the weekend looking for a job. ;D

When is 610 going to call it quits? The only thing propping up that travesty is the Rome show, and they want to dump it. Goodnight, ladies.

 

[schmave]

The Rome-610 marriage is falling apart? Since when? That's the only thing I listen to on that station.

 

[thegame]

Well now we know. We have a lot of work to do but overall I am pleased.

 

[radiopropd]

Well...based on today's story in the Chronicle, all I can say is congrats to the folks over at 1560...

 

[Superman89]

Yeah, it is amazing what the ratings today show: local radio, with creativity can actually work! Why isn't this board celebrating one for the little guy?