Jack Swanson Leaves KGO Today

[oaktree]

After some 30+ years as Operations Director and three ownership changes, KGO Operations Director, Jack Swanson, bid a "Goodbye" in a staff-wide email this morning, as anticipated changes take place for the new Cumulus ownership of KGO & KSFO.

Moves triggered by the end of the 3rd quarter and anticipated changes from Citadel to Cumulus Media have been accurately predicted.

News of other changes have not been, if any, disclosed as yet, but Swanson's late morning email to staff suggests that he and his wife, former KSFO morning talent, Melanie Morgan, are "off to a distant island to rethink and reinvent" before getting back into another position. However, "I will be popping up somewhere soon," according to Swanson's email simply entitled "Farewell."

Through over 30 years of consecutive number one Arbitron ratings throughout the Bay Area, under former GM Mickey Luckoff, Swanson who also saw service at WIL in St. Louis, pieced together than nation's arguably top News/Talk station and a powerful combo ... without benefit of an FM, which ABC had long ago dumped as the climbing fortunes of KGO and, later, KSFO, soared with the talent that still sees several over decades at the former Citadel powerhouse.


No other details of other changes, if any, announced ... yet.

 

[baywest]

KSFO PD Ken Berry, production director Craig Bowers and several support staff are also gone.

 

[Gregg]

As the old saying goes, don't mess with a good thing. But unfortunately, radio ownership can't seem to keep their hands off a good thing.

As mentioned above, KGO was an amazing radio station for 20+ years. Consistantly #1 book after book in SF and San Jose. And what's even more amazing, KGO was an AM station that was consistantly in the Top 5 in the 25-54 money demo. Even some of the most successful AM stations in the nation have trouble staying in the Top 10 in the 25-54 demo.

Then there was some tinkering when ABC sold to Citadel. A couple of years ago, KGO fell out of the #1 position in San Francisco. (It still is #1 in San Jose.) KSFO suffered even more of a drop, down to #14. Yes, People Meters have hurt many Talk stations. But it's clear Citadel ownership didn't help. Now it looks like Cumulus is also tinkering with a good thing. They've acquired enough underperforming stations that they shouldn't be making changes at KGO/KSFO.


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[DavidKaye]

As the old saying goes, don't mess with a good thing. But unfortunately, radio ownership can't seem to keep their hands off a good thing.

A good thing? A GOOD THING? KGO's ratings have plummeted in recent years. Their ratings among the most important demographic, 25 to 49 has sunk to #17 or 18. That's very poor in a world where most ad buyers will usually buy just the top 3 or 4 stations in their desired demographic.

Have you ever noticed how many of the underwriters on KQED and the advertisers on KCBS and KOIT are never heard on KGO? There's a reason. Most advertisers don't want to touch KGO.

 

[SFStatic]

@David- KGO certainly has lost ground, but 25-49 is the most important demo? On what planet. The "Money demo" is and has been 25-54 for quite a while. Most major market programmers, sales managers, & sellers know this. You don't have to hype to make your point.

 

[oaktree]

Actually, in "the PPM" world, with the "perception" that younger demos are more apt to carry meters than older people, the 25-49 demo is rapidly becoming the "money demo" as "over 50" becomes less relevant in the economic buy world of advertisers and agencies.

Today's "sweet spot" for the demo is squarely in the mid-30s and 37-year-old females, especially, hit that requirement, with men, slightly younger.

Under the diary system, as in non-PPM markets, 25-54 still reigns supreme, but the numbers there are shrinking as well as the economy continues its stranglehold.

It costs much more money in "chasing" or trying to change brand loyalties in those over 50+ -- and agencies have long proven that by ignoring the 55+ demo and, now, the 50+ demos with people who don't spend as much as we'd like to think they do. Plus, that demo doesn't change it's loyalties, especially to more costly goods and services as they once did.

 

[JEREMIAH]

I had a feeling Jack wouldn't survive the new owners. I'm sorry it had to be.
Jack hired me to do fill in business reporting and talk in the 8o's during and after my Shadow gig on channel 7(which ended in '88) I did that as well as fill in airborn traffic until leaving for Las Vegas in '96.

Jack is a prince of a guy and a sweetheart to work for. He was also a fine air talent but was too busy for that anymore,he did the fill in business stuff before he hired me.

He encouraged the staff to do what they do best, never micromanaging. His only advice to me about business reporting: do the stories that appeal to you.

I hope my friends that are still there will survive.

Jerry Gordon

 

[LKellerIII]

Everything good comes to an end, and nobody or anything stays on top forever. KGO's dominance lasted many years, but it started losing ground a couple of years ago. Sure, being on AM only is a factor, as is PPM...and Citadel ownership arguably made things worse. But in my opinion, KGO would only be doing marginally better with an FM simulcast. No knock on the talk hosts - they're great - but they're mostly older white men. If you were 30 years old, would you want to listen to somebody close to your Grandpa's age on the radio? I don't think so.

As for me - I'm older, so I'm not in any advertiser's desirable demo, but except for the occasional tune-in, I stopped listening to talk radio about a decade ago. My political and social views are as strong as they ever were, but talk radio gets me all worked up and upset about things, and I really don't want to go there anymore. Life is too short. So I don't listen to talk radio, or pundits on TV - whether left wing or right-wing. I stay current by reading news and opinion on the internet, and listening to NPR. I much prefer their approach to both news and feature stories.

 

[1069_KIFR]

Is Cumulus' plan, shake out the people they do not want before tinkering with formats or simulcasting KGO on FM?

 

[davideduardo]

@David- KGO certainly has lost ground, but 25-49 is the most important demo? On what planet. The "Money demo" is and has been 25-54 for quite a while. Most major market programmers, sales managers, & sellers know this. You don't have to hype to make your point.

The money demo has been increasingly 18-49 or 25-49. Remember that 18-49 is the "sales yardstick" we see used in evaluating the success of TV shows, not 25-54. This is rubbing off on radio. For decades the sales demo for ethnic radio buys... Black and Hispanic... has been 18-49 and now general market is increasingly 18-49 oriented.

I repeatedly asked for the diary market trends to include 18-49 as a breakout demo, but that was not done. Yet, when the PPM debuted, 18-49 is one of the select demos available in weeklies, an obvious response to changes in buying patterns.

 

[DavidKaye]

@David- KGO certainly has lost ground, but 25-49 is the most important demo? On what planet. The "Money demo" is and has been 25-54 for quite a while. Most major market programmers, sales managers, & sellers know this. You don't have to hype to make your point.

I'm talking reality here, not fantasy. Most of us here are too old to fit into the "desired demographic", and wishing won't make it so, either. Older people are harder to sell than younger people. Also, younger people tend to make more purchases overall. Older people usually have more possessions than they know what to do with, and aren't as likely to go out to concerts, movies, or other entertainments. They're less likely to buy video games or iPhones.

But even if you raise the demo from 49 up to 54, you're still missing much of KGO's audience. Just listen to the callers to the various shows. They're typically in their 60s.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this at all. What I'm saying is that stations such as KGO are commercial stations, relying on advertising for their profits, not on listener donations.

 

[RadioStarOne]

Gee, I hope he was at least given his gold watch. Radio's new rules to operate under from certain poster's on this thread! It's not for everyone, just a bunch of wet behind the ear's children with no money to spend! The rest of you 50+ OLDSTER'S just go get in your rocker's in the corner with your blanket's and shut up like your told to by a bunch of wall street kids wet behind the ears!! The radio's not for you anymore! Thats right Granny and Gramp's just sit there quitely with your knitting and your coin and stamp collection! What a bunch of BS you guy's are spewing! Radio is for all of us always was always will be! The problem is a bunch of fat asses to lazy to hit the street and do some real selling and get away from the desk waiting for the phone to ring! You programmer's aren't any less guilty either! You get out what you put in your stations to make them interesting to any age listener's. I started listening to KGO back in the late 60's and still do so! I found it interesting then and now without any regard to how old the caller's or the host's were or sounded! Perhap's it's time for everyone working in radio today to quit looking for the easist job or way to earn that paycheck! Get out there and sweat a bucket or two doing so for a change, rather than sweating over when it won't be there any longer because the next larger company bought your station. One thing is for sure the new owners already have a management team in place in the city with a bunch of bright new ideas ready to put into place at the new stations and as contracts expire a lot of familar voices are going to be gone and that's sad but unavoidable. The exchange of ideas and opinions are everywhere even without radio at all. The times and thing's change, so what else is new? I bet in his early days in radio David sweat a lot more than just a bucket or two! Care to enlighten us David E?

 

[davideduardo]

I bet in his early days in radio David sweat a lot more than just a bucket or two! Care to enlighten us David E?

While I was not around in the early days of radio (that would make me about 110 years old at the youngest) I was around in the years when radio was completing a transition from the network drama and entertainment model to "music and news" programming.

But the sales model was always to provide a programming product that fit the age group that advertisers went after. In rated markets, the big money came from agencies, and they bought by the numbers and told you what ages they were after... generally 18-49. So you produced a product that delivered as many listeners somewhere in that age range and priced it in accordance with the size of the audience.

The only thing that has changed is that radio is more fragmented, and 18-49 or 25-54 has been broken into lots of subsets we never even thought of in the 50's and 60's. And radio has more competitors, both for listener attention and for ad budget allocation.

One thing has always been true: you can't sell an agency demos that their clients didn't specify, no matter how hard you try. If you had demo salability issues, such as MOR did, you changed format and went back to the agencies again with a fresh proposal.

 

[RadioStarOne]

So the only way to make money with a radio station is by selling to ad agencies?

 

[davideduardo]

So the only way to make money with a radio station is by selling to ad agencies?

In larger markets, most revenue for the "players" will be from local, regional and national agencies.

Local direct is all you will get in small markets or if you are a non-competitive station or signal in a large market.

The rates for local direct, in most cases, are much lower because you are dealing with businesses with only one or a couple of locations that truly don't benefit from full market coverage and the other things that drive the ad costs of major stations.

In Bishop, CA, local merchants sustain local radio, because the trading area is small and anyone can drive to any location with ease. In San Francisco, it's rare for a person to drive from Concord to Campbell to get a new muffler. So most of the audience reached is useless to the Campbell muffler shop that advertises on KGO. But a chain of shops will benefit, as the per-location cost is amortized among many. But the chain has an agency...

Of course, there are other ways to make money, as most of the AMs demonstrate. Brokered shows, paid religious shows, programs appealing to the smaller ethnic groups, etc. produce revenue... sometimes good revenue. But in the context of a discussion of KGO, we are talking about advertisers that can afford several hundred dollars a spot, and that, mostly, means agency business (or a few big direct accounts that have an in-house ad department that functions just like an agency in its operations).

 

[baywest]

Is Cumulus' plan, shake out the people they do not want before tinkering with formats or simulcasting KGO on FM?

All the departures could be considered "redundancies." The Acting PD is News Director Paul Hosley, and no on-air people were affected. Indications so far are that the company is committed to the formats. That's based on facts in evidence, not wishful thinking. Of course, anything can (and usually does) happen.

 

[JEREMIAH]

Why don't stations with older demos go after the pill pushers?....ever watch net news on tv? The spots are mostly for drugs.
The TV nets make a lot of donero with spots for older demos. If you don't believe me, ask your doctor.

Jerry Gordon

 

[JEREMIAH]

Why don't stations with older demos go after the pill pushers for business? Ever watch net TV News...lots of drug spots.
The TV nets make mucho donero with spots for older demos. Don't believe me? Ask your doctor.

Jerry Gordon

 

[davideduardo]

Why don't stations with older demos go after the pill pushers for business? Ever watch net TV News...lots of drug spots.

Most don't buy radio for two reasons. First, they feel they need the "appetite appeal" that only a visual medium gives, and, second, the disclaimers are quite extensive and can be done in part in the video.

That goes for everything from Viagra to Lipitor.

 

[davideduardo]

All the departures could be considered "redundancies." The Acting PD is News Director Paul Hosley, .

That's a contradictory statement. A talk station PD is hardly in a redundant situation if the station also has a news director. The two skill sets are, in fact, quite different. I'm sure there have been some news directors who became talk PDs of importance, just as a few music PDs become General Managers... but those would be exceptions.

"Redundant" is a euphemism for "cheap."