I'm kind of out-to-lunch here because I like some of the tweaks that others don't seem to like. I'm a fan of the KBSG changes because it made the station much more attractive to me (someone who grew up admiring and working the "fun" stations when they still made a splash on the audience).
This is re-print of stuff I have said in the past but put it out here now because of this discussion.
In light of Fisher's new "synergy" (one GM covering all Seattle Radio/TV), I think this is a great time to revisit the KPLZ becomes "KOMO-FM" concept. Hard to do now because the station still has some legs and does well in billing ... but STRATEGICALLY I think it has a great future as a hybrid Music/Info station with 180% emphasis on PUGET SOUND COMMUNITY. K&A (and the station) already have that reputation, and would be awesome as adult station hosts.
If that happened, I would jump on the JACK bandwagon of turning that station a bit more contemporary (with some talent presence) and keep the imaging/attitude, etc. -- but less emphasis on 80's foundation (since KJR and KBSG creeping into that arena pretty heavily). Would give the market a decent adult contemporary station that is too old for KISS listeners, not as urban as Movin/KUBE, and doesn't TRY to be anything more than music provider. Let KIRO/KOMO duke out the expensive overhead newsrooms at this point.
Most of the other stations seem to be delivering OK ... with the exception of ones in trouble, and it appears some of those already on the way to being "fixed". I don't think Sandusky will ever have the mindset to be a foreground operator any more ... it's expensive and they seem to love the concept of running decent formats without a lot of marketing $$ and talent presence (not to imply anything wrong with the talent ... just all their stations put the music PRODUCT above all else). To suddenly run to corporate with a purchase order to "spend, spend" not in their future IMO.
CBS for the most part has stable properties...just need some adjustment, which according to these threads, they are already doing. They have done a nice job of making a collection of stations that don't step too much on each other and that means you mostly have to worry about external attacks. But their key stations are heritage (KMPS, KZOK) which means someone's first order of biz is to UNSEAT the leader and that's hard and very expensive to do (as WOLF is seeing).
CLEAR CHANNEL and ENTERCOM ... not sure what to make of these. They also have some heritage performers that carry the load, and also have some legacy product that needs refreshing and updating. I don't think either one is missing the ball game, their challenges are just like any other market where they are trying to balance competition and efficient operations.
As Bill Wippel pointed out ... that mindset will never create the kind of programming we once had, but like the comments about Sandusky, no one in those companies is going to run to corporate tier asking to spend money on any huge risk. So it's up to the other stations to try things, and it seems those operators (Fisher, Bustos, Salem, Crista, Bonneville, etc.) have done a good job of establishing a niche and milking it.
Next interesting move will be to watch what Riv does with KISS. If he can find a balance between getting kids and parents on board at the same time, it will be a home run. As a parent, though, I worry that those audiences are becoming a BIT more mutually exclusive, but I do know a lot of parents who are MUCH more "hip" than I am!!!!
