Jack Swanson Leaves KGO Today

[DavidKaye]

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

For the most part, yes. There are small stations in small towns where the owner and sales manager have close relationships with the prominent business owners of the community. I once worked for a 500 watt daytimer which was licensed to Concord. The owner, who was also the sales manager, pushed and prodded business people to buy ads. He was the chair of the local chamber of commerce, and used that position as a way to browbeat the business owners into buying time. The station was too small to show up in the ratings. For the most part he shamed the business owners into buying time in order to "support the community."

There was no other way. The 3 previous owners and the 3 subsequent owners all lost money on the station. In 1994 the lease expired, the station torn down, and today it's a housing development.

 

[DavidKaye]

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

Oh...dear...I sometimes have watched late night cable TV and the ads are downright depressing! The Fonz is selling questionable life insurance! Some woman is selling adult diapers. Another is selling an emergency telephone dialer. Some guy is pushing a motorized seat that goes up and down stairways. Others are selling pills for aches and pains.

Okay, it's a matter of fact that many/most late night TV viewers are elderly, but jeez, this looks like age 90+ to me.

It's bad enough that KGO has 5 mattress clients and two lawyers pushing wills and trusts; I'd hate to start hearing ads for incontinence remedies and burial plots.

 

[LKellerIII]

Oh...dear...I sometimes have watched late night cable TV and the ads are downright depressing! The Fonz is selling questionable life insurance! Some woman is selling adult diapers. Another is selling an emergency telephone dialer. Some guy is pushing a motorized seat that goes up and down stairways. Others are selling pills for aches and pains.

Yeah, what is it with Winkler, Robert Wagner, and a few other 'senior' actors? It's been 35+ since Fonzie, and Winkler never became a huge star - but he's worked steady and has been a successful producer for years. The ads must make viewers question his integrity - and you wouldn't think he'd need the money.

 

[semoochie]

David, I have thought for years that the money demo would drop to 25-49, when enough of the baby boomers moved over age 55. This appears to be happening now. My thinking is that at some point, the 60s songs that don't appeal to those under 50 will disappear from the radio and because of the upper limit being moved back to 50, the 70s won't be far behind. When do you think this will happen?

 

[JEREMIAH]

Re: Winkler.....don't laugh he's working!

When I was at KSFO(Autry era) we played a softball game against the Happy Days cast at candlestick park....I said Hi! Fonze and he quickly replied....It's Henry! I forget who won the game.

Re: 5 mattress companies and lawyer spots for wills on KGO. It sounds like they are going in the right direction in making money
advertising to older demos. Remember Magic 61 and all their cruise line spots. With the resession I don't know if the cruise thing would still work....a lot of folks have seen their portfolios shrink.

Jerry Gordon

 

[flakunkel]

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!

There's not a damn thing new about this. It's been going on for decades. You just didn't notice it back then because....wait for it....YOU WERE YOUNGER!

 

[RadioStarOne]

We all were younger then and in ten years we'll all be saying the same thing! If we're all still here cause everyday is a gift from God! Live well and prosper!

 

[MC]

Younger people spend free (or at least they did) and have not become set in their buying patterns.

Sex pills, gold, beds and baldness. Swansong was used to a high budget radio station. I bet they dump Owens, Watenburg, ans Burns a long with Karel and Simpson. They need infomercials in off hours, so Taliafaro will be dumped too.

 

[LKellerIII]

Younger people spend free (or at least they did) and have not become set in their buying patterns.

Sex pills, gold, beds and baldness. Swansong was used to a high budget radio station. I bet they dump Owens, Watenburg, ans Burns a long with Karel and Simpson. They need infomercials in off hours, so Taliafaro will be dumped too.

Hold on there, pard. I can say from experience that younger people need baldness remedies, too. When you're my age now, who gives a damn.

I would guess the changes at KGO will be more surgical. I'd expect them to cut the news department way back - maybe to a small staff, and probably put talk shows where the news blocks are now. In my opinion, the time is way overdue for KGO to decide whether they're a Talk station or a News station. They can't compete with KCBS and KQED in that arena, so why keep trying?

I think they'll keep Owens - he's a multi-decade Bay Area institution, after all. Though he's getting on in years (over 60 probably), he doesn't sound it. I can see Taliaferro going. As for the others, if they're eliminated too quickly, management would alienate a lot of long-time listeners. Why do that, if you can avoid it by going slower? Instead, replace one host with somebody younger, wait a few months, rinse, repeat...etc.

But I would think any big changes in talk hosts would mean they've also decided to go for an FM simulcast. If they don't go FM, they won't pick up many younger listeners anyway, so why not keep the hosts you have to retain the current (older) audience?

 

[MC]

The news is traffic and earthquakes. Owens OK, they might keep him. Maybe they can get Bernie to broadcast from his bunk, I bet he would work for cheap. Watenberg is about to blow a gasket. Swanson has run out of steam, he likes to spend big money. His kind of radio is dead. he had the first right wing station with KSFO.

 

[Questor]

Oh well, so much for the marketing line that
"60 is the new 40."

At least obsolescence comes quicker in the digital age.

 

[MC]

Is SWANSONG 60? or is KGO/KSFO's demographic 60? The fact that 60+ people are out of money (home equity) means they can't spend like their 40 on cosmetic surgery to make them look 40.

 

[DavidKaye]

Is SWANSONG 60? or is KGO/KSFO's demographic 60? The fact that 60+ people are out of money (home equity) means they can't spend like their 40 on cosmetic surgery to make them look 40.

It is amazing how many people age 60 look to be in their mid-40s. I used to be able to judge age fairly easily, not anymore. I'm not sure if it's the water, the cell phone radiation, the use of corn syrup sweetener, or sitting in front of a computer all day, but something is definitely causing people to look less aged than they did in years gone by.

 

[davideduardo]

Is SWANSONG 60? or is KGO/KSFO's demographic 60? The fact that 60+ people are out of money (home equity) means they can't spend like their 40 on cosmetic surgery to make them look 40.

Home equity is only an issue if you are going to sell; if you are living in a house that has declined in value, it does not affect your spendable income.

 

[LKellerIII]

Is SWANSONG 60? or is KGO/KSFO's demographic 60? The fact that 60+ people are out of money (home equity) means they can't spend like their 40 on cosmetic surgery to make them look 40.

Home equity is only an issue if you are going to sell; if you are living in a house that has declined in value, it does not affect your spendable income.

Well - prior to the financial meltdown, a lot of people were borrowing against their home's equity to buy luxury items...including cosmetic surgery, I'm sure.

But how much equity you have depends on where and when you bought your home. If you purchased it 2002 or after in Antioch or Stockton, you're probably under water. But if you bought your home in San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, or the nearby East Bay - over a decade ago, your home is probably still worth WAY more than you paid for it.

 

[MC]

I think if people had $100K HOME EQUITY for example, they had more consumer confidence and would spend more. They also could sell and move, now they can't if they are upside down. Also, people would refi the home to pay off cards or buy big ticket items. With depleted home equity there is less of a sence of financial well-being, especially if people are underwater. Sell the expensive Bay Area home, move to Phoenix or Vegas and put the extra in a retirement account was a common behavior. KGO/KSFO is a victim of this tanking personal wealth of older people.

 

[LKellerIII]

I think if people had $100K HOME EQUITY for example, they had more consumer confidence and would spend more. They also could sell and move, now they can't if they are upside down. Also, people would refi the home to pay off cards or buy big ticket items. With depleted home equity there is less of a sence of financial well-being, especially if people are underwater. Sell the expensive Bay Area home, move to Phoenix or Vegas and put the extra in a retirement account was a common behavior. KGO/KSFO is a victim of this tanking personal wealth of older people.

I work with people who have retired to Vegas and Phoenix. Ugh! Just what I want to do when I'm elderly - live somewhere where it's 120 degrees in the summer. I like Sedona, but buying a home there is just about as expensive as the Bay Area because it's actually a nice place to live. Same with Grass Valley, Tahoe, or any of the places I'd consider retiring to.

Besides, I love the Bay Area, and I'm going to grow old and die here, thanks - even if it costs me. The key for me was to STOP borrowing against the equity in my house - which I did about 15 years ago. My mortgage will be paid off about the time I plan to retire, and if I ever need it for emergencies - the equity will be there to tap into.

 

[DavidKaye]

I work with people who have retired to Vegas and Phoenix. Ugh! Just what I want to do when I'm elderly - live somewhere where it's 120 degrees in the summer. I like Sedona, but buying a home there is just about as expensive as the Bay Area because it's actually a nice place to live. Same with Grass Valley, Tahoe, or any of the places I'd consider retiring to.

When I'm too infirm to drive I plan to move to downtown SF to the theatre area and play my musical instruments on the streets or in cafes should I need to make extra money. There is easy walking everywhere one would want to go, Muni and BART nearby, and reasonable SRO hotels. I couldn't imagine living in Vegas or Phoenix, or even in a suburb. I once owned a couple suburban houses until I realized that I hated that lifestyle. (I made a profit on one, and just broke even on the other, thanks to dry rot, roofing problems, a broken sewer line, and an illegal live-in unit I had to bring up to code.)

 

[TedL]

Now a bunch more are gone

I bet they dump Owens, Watenburg, ans Burns a long with Karel and Simpson. They need infomercials in off hours, so Taliafaro will be dumped too.

Hmmm.... you got a few right.