K-DAWN o the rise!

[icebreaker]

Since Beasley purchased KDWN, they have really woke up the sleeping giant! The most recent 12+ rating of a 3.2, is probably the highest number they have had in almost 10 years!

KXNT is also up to a 4.3, so it is safe to say they haven't lost listeners to KDWN, however I'm sure the sampling is happening.

I'm an ole timer of Vegas radio, and really glad to see KDWN get back up on its feet! It really represents Vegas on AM with the flame throwing signal!

Kudos to Bealey, well played!

 

[Holland Cooke]

"Second!"

I agree.
'Heard 'em lately, and they sound good.

Heidi Harris -- who pops up often on "Hardball" and other cable shows -- is a pistol.
PD/news voice Charlotte Burke is ex-CBS News.
I also heard Dorothy McIntyre, late of ABC News.
And their traffic reports -- a REAL issue in that market -- ROCK.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[nic]

i think they have the best board ops in town!!

;D

 

[Holland Cooke]

Oh you josh...BUT...

i think they have the best board ops in town!!

Listen to as much radio as I hear market-to-market and you'll appreciate that!
ESPECIALLY on the weekend, when dead air and double-audio make TOO MANY stations utterly unlistenable...

 

[icebreaker]

Cheers to you Holland! You've racked up enuff frequent flyer miles to know what's up! ~lol

P.S. WDAY is a GREAT sounding station!

 

[Holland Cooke]

"Cheers to you Holland!"

You've racked up enuff frequent flyer miles to know what's up!

But WAIT!
There's MORE!

Or as California's governor used to say, "I'll be Bach..."
Next month, in fact, for the HIGHLY recommended New Media Expo, in Vegas 8/14-16: http://newmediaexpo.com/

If you're in radio-or-what's-left-of-it, you would find this conference time-WELL-invested...as we witness society's continuing media consumption transition from the broadcast to broadband.

 

[Jay F]

Re: Oh you josh...BUT...

i think they have the best board ops in town!!

Listen to as much radio as I hear market-to-market and you'll appreciate that!
ESPECIALLY on the weekend, when dead air and double-audio make TOO MANY stations utterly unlistenable...

While I appreciate the lack of dead air/double audio, running non-stop infomercials all weekend long makes KDWN unlistenable in their own way. At least they still have news twice an hour inbetween all the paid programming.

 

[Holland Cooke]

"Infomercial" doesn't have to be a-four-letter-word...

No question, paid weekend longform has become fundamental to the business plan of many, perhaps most, News/Talk AMs.

And what-comes-out-the-speaker DOESN'T have to be tear gas.
Listeners understand that ALL programming is paid for, and they don't "sort by" whether it's paid-by-the-minute or paid-by-the-hour.

I'm working with law firms in several markets (other than Las Vegas), to use radio to generate leads for the firm.
Fundamental: "bedside manner," the attorney's ability to translate Latin-to-English.
"The-lawyer-is-in, the-meter-is-off" is the premise; and, properly executed, these shows can have real value.
And radio can be a superb way to drive traffic to online assets that give prospects a chance to touch-and-feel.
(Thus my recommendation for http://newmediaexpo.com in an earlier post.)

Another HOT category: pets.
Those critters aren't "animals," they're FAMILY MEMBERS.
So Americans spent $41 billion on pet supplies last year (compared to $21B spent on radio commercials).
If THAT doesn't say sell-radio-commercials-about-pet-supplies, what does?

I haven't heard K-Dawn's weekend warriors; but am impressed that they're plugging-in local news on the weekend.
Most stations only play a network on-hour.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

PS:

WDAY is a GREAT sounding station!

UN-consultant-like as it is NOT-to-accept-credit-for-someone-else's-work, I must demur.
Thanks for the thought, but my deal @ WDAY/Fargo wrapped-up almost two years ago.

 

[mred]

must be on those sex pill ads they have

 

[DToTheJ]

Re: "Second!"

Heidi Harris -- who pops up often on "Hardball" and other cable shows -- is a pistol.

Both of us met her at the New York Talkers convention! Ain't she a hoot?

 

[Holland Cooke]

NEW NEWS (unless you've read this in the trades already)...

Heidi goes to morning drive.
(She had been doing mid-mornings, vs. El Rushbo.)

 

[laitguy]

on the rise....how about in the can!
It is bad enough to have such a hatefilled and down right mean person like Savage on the air but to listen to that hoot Heidi Harris say he was right with what he said about autistic kids made me sick.
Maybe she was towing the company line and supporting a fellow host on her station but either way it was some of the worst ignorance I have ever heard on radio. Spend 5 minutes with an autistic kid(not stand next to one) and you will known it is no made up condition.

 

[Holland Cooke]

Yikes. Tough room...

Rush Limbaugh is probably GREEN-with-envy that HE'S not the center-of-attention.

What he and Savage do is seek-to-ATTRACT-attention; and Savage seems to be emulating El Rushbo's technique for either:
a.) intentionally saying-something-provocative, then riding-it-out; or
b.) saying-what-he-means clumsily-enough that it reverberates like the Savage statement is doing now.

Either way, P.T. Barnum would approve.
(And if I'm an advertiser in a show that is, temporarily, "hot" in this fashion, I'm getting more-than-my-money's worth.)

As long as Arbitron's diary-based unaided recall methodology is a memory test, incidents like this HELP.
These shows LIVE for controversy.

Next week, Rush will faux pas...or pretend to.
As the PD of Vegas' other talk station once told me, "worry when NOBODY'S complaining about you."

 

[Slurpee]

Hey laitguy, did you actually hear what Savage said, or are you offended over what you heard someone say he said? I heard the show, and HE IS RIGHT! He was NOT talking about truly autistic children, He was speaking of children that have been wrongly diagnosed as autistic in the name of putting them on drugs. No one would ever take a shot at someone who is truly autistic or has any other disability. I spent 2 years trying to "undiagnose" one of my kids who was wrongly diagnosed as autistic. She ended up with a PHD years later. So much for her "austism". It wasn't autism, it was a school district psychologist that wanted to keep every child she could in special education to increase the district funding. So before you blast Savage, make sure you heard the same thing I did. Thank you KDWN for carrying the program, I look foward to it everyday.

 

[laitguy]

yes I did hear it, he said 99 out of 100. That is not even close to what you wrote. You are just another ....
why waste my time. Enjoy the hate side of talk.

 

[Jay F]

I'm not sure what the final outcome of this autism controversy will be for the future of Michael Savage, but I can say that he is by far and away the most popular program on K-DAWN.

Here's how KDWN ranks 25-54 in the most recent trend.

Mornings #18
Middays #19
Afternoons #5
Evenings #14

I am impressed with how large KDWNs news operation is (although I heard they now have a hiring freeze), but it's Savage who's driving up the ratings. He is the star of the station. Now we'll have to see how advertisers respond to the controversy and if it blows over or not.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE "yes I did hear it"

he said 99 out of 100.

I heard him say [paraphrasing] "about half."

But WHATEVER-he-said:
a.) sure DIDN'T sound like "hate;" and
b.) sure IS helping Savage, at least B-to-B. After all, here-we-are-talking-about-him...still.

Yesterday's trades reported the predictable cancellation-by-a-small-market-affiliate, complete with the obligatory how-dare-he statement from management. Meanwhile, I just made a deal to put-him-ON a new station...because he attracts attention, which, after all, is what Arbitron measures.

Remember my prediction above: Next week, there will SEEM to be a Limbaugh faux pas.
He can't let Savage keep all this attention.

 

[Slurpee]

TOO FUNNY!!! I love it. Hate speech? It's only hate speech if YOU disagree, It's called freedom of speech! Even if Savage was attacking autistic children, which he wasn't, it's still freedom of speech.

 

[Holland Cooke]

"It's called freedom of speech!"

Laitguy seems, generally, not to be a K-Dawn fan.

He/she should try to strike-up a conversation with competitor KXNT's PD Jack Landreth.
I know Jack, and he's a canny programmer who "gets it."
It's all a show.
(You'd think people in Vegas would "get" THAT, eh?)

The present Savage episode is like the various times (including one I predict is soon-to-come) when Rush Limbaugh managed to attract coverage of whatever-he-did to which some took umbrage. How about that time El Rushbo got popped by U.S. Customs with Viagra-not-prescribed-to-him? Think that HURT Rush? Heck no! It was publicity!

In the words of a talented Talk host I coach, "If they're pickin' on me, they're leavin' someone else alone."

Having heard what-Savage-said, I actually think his network is over-apologizing.

Free consulting advice is worth every-penny-you-paid-for-it, but if I were KDWN, I'd be running SAVAGE PROMOS with clips from the controversial segment. MILK IT. Invite opposing viewpoints, then put 'em on the air in promos. They'll tell all their friends.

HC
http://hollandcooke.com/conservativeliberal.html

 

[laitguy]

What market did you sign him in...197? I agree with freedom of speech and I did think KDWN was an above average station but the reason that got me so mad was there cluster F of a morning program on 720. Savage made a remark that will get him press, he did not direct it at anyone of color or certain religon so he will lose some but not his job. The morning host on 720 showed no backbone for someone who claims to be religious, she backed him with an awlful response of "my husband stood next to an autistic child and they were...blah,blah" No one shows any truth to their beliefs anymore! I have a friend whose child is autistic and the hurt that showed on his face from those remarks,both Savage's and "that pistol" can not be measured. We all talk of how big Biz is hurting radio but no one will step up and say so.