K-Surf 1260 going partial classical??

[davideduardo]

At last check, "sol" is the currency of Peru or spanish for sun. At least he should give respect to the man by spelling his name correctly, but it's 2020.

Yeah, and California should learn to spell "Monterrey" correctly, too.

 

[oldies76]

There are many words with multiple meanings. Every "Salomón" I knew in Latin America was nicknamed "Sol" or "Saúl". And where I have lived and worked, there were many Survivors and refugees with that name.

Best case, the biggest mortgage banker in Puerto Rico in the 70's and 80's, Salomón Levy, was always called "Sol". The alternative, "Sal", I have never heard since it means "salt" and I always thought that the biblical significance of salt, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, is a bit of a turn-off.

Remember, too, that what is usual in one Latin nation is not used in others and what means one thing in one of them may be downright offensive in another.

"Bus" in Puerto Rico means "Baby" in Ecuador. "Twenty nations divided by a single language"..

I don't care, the main definition of "sol" which I'm familiar with is that, it's the currency of Peru, since 1991. I don't need a four paragraph story explaining the alternatives, which are easily available on the web.

You seem ungrateful. One of my threads from the last 17 months was a personal thanks to you for the Radio History website and the data I was able to acquire from it. But yet, my input here is trollish, blatantly wrong and garbage according to you. Such appreciation from someone who's been in the business for a half century. Wow!

 

[davideduardo]

That's all well and good, but Saul Levine still spells his own name Saul, or at least that's what it says on the business card he handed me when I met him a couple of years ago.

I'd be reprimanded, rightly, by my editors and bosses, if I wrote about someone and spelled their name wrong. ("Wrong," in this case, being "any way that's not the way they spell their own name.")

And just because I write in American English doesn't mean I can turn "Esteban" into "Steve" when I'm writing about them. If they go by "Esteban," I call them "Esteban."

That's the problem of generally having my spell check defaulting to Spanish and being very dyslexic. Simply, "Sol" looks right to someone who mostly lives in Spanish. I'll remember to double check it in the future and not rely on the spell checker which dyslexics tend to do much more than others. You make a good point which is all the more poignant for polyglots.

Sometime I'll describe the technique I used to be able to correctly read resistor color codes! That is one of the worst challenges, yet I know several magnificent engineers who have had to find their own personal compensation system!

 

[oldies76]

Actually it does. Because when stations don't make money, their owners are more likely to flip them away from that format.

And that's what's happening to 1260. If it inconveniences a few folks, too bad.

And there is absolutely no need to change anything. If it's working, why fix it?? Don't piss off the listeners you've already attracted to your station, and that left another decades ago, by changing to a format so antiquated.

You've said that Saul has money, so this is a hobby station. There is some advertising on that station, so some money is being earned. It's a dumb move, period. It inconveniences me, since I tend to tune in later at night. That's what streaming is for.

 

[TheBigA]

And there is absolutely no need to change anything. If it's working, why fix it??

As we said, it's NOT working. It's not making money. If it doesn't make money, it goes away. Or it changes to something else.

It's HIS hobby, not yours. He likes classical music.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Here are the facts - he doesn't like what KRTH becomes and believes KSURF is a better product. It is not for you to tell him otherwise, regardless of the fact that 99% of the listening public doesn't agree with him as measured by Nielson. They are not "right" and he is not "wrong"; lots of people listen to low powered niche radio stations. They exist for people like him, and it doesn't matter a whit whether the station he likes makes money or shows up in the ratings.

Actually it does. Because when stations don't make money, their owners are more likely to flip them away from that format.

And that's what's happening to 1260. If it inconveniences a few folks, too bad.

Actually, it doesn't. One of my favorite stations of all time was KMPC-FM/KEDG. Its format was doomed from the day it started broadcasting and only lasted a few years. But in my opinion, it was the best thing going and to this day recall fondly how much enjoyment I got out of the station. It was the soundtrack to a very important part of my life. And to the personalities that brought it to me, and Mr. Gene Autry himself, I will be forever thankful.

Many people have favorite stations that fit the same profile. It is only a cynical insider that thinks radio is nothing but a medium to get ratings and earn money. If that is your job, fine, do your job to maximize them both the to the best of your ability. But to put down other people's use of other radio stations that are less successful is the height of arrogance and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of why many people use radio in the first place.

 

[davideduardo]

You need to get a better spell checker and a better grip on life outside of you Spanish language worldview.

I have my spell checker to determine by context whether the text is in English, Mexican Spanish, Argentine Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, French or Italian. In such situations, proper names that are not "native" to any one of those tongues or dialects can be hard to figure out. Add in the fact that I do not easily "see" errors you have the reason why I have a lot of trouble with names. In this case, I really don't think it effects the core issue, which is Oldies' spamming incessantly.

His name is Saul Levine, clearly a Jewish name and he is almost certainly named after the Saul of the Old Testament and possibly other Sauls in his family. Your Spanish dictionary has not a damn thing to do with it and you are dishonoring a man by repeatedly writing his name incorrectly after you have been told multiple times of the error. Now you owe him an apology too.

I come from a background where multi-cultural names and derivative names are common. Puerto Rico where I worked for more than 3 decades and lived for over two of them has a mix of Spanish, Basque, American and Catalán names. Argentina has huge German, Russian, Italian and Polish as well as Yiddish influences. At some point you try your best and adapt when wrong, Scott explained this well and I'll try to pay more attention.

As I said, from the experience when Lcdo. Levine wanted the KSOL calls for his 540 AM station, I got the impression he thought that was his nickname and thus the interest.

With regard to Oldies, you are the moderator of a board not the fact-checking police. Nobody believes this site is a repository for all things factual, and you have been doing your part to demonstrate that just today. What you should be doing is THANKING Oldies for having a love of radio and sharing it with others on this board, which I greatly appreciate. I and most others, couldn't care less if he is right or wrong, and he is definitely not trolling in any sense of the word. Many people with varied opinions makes this site a better place, regardless of whether or not they fit your (and Big A's) worldview. As he said above, all he was doing was sharing and voicing his displeasure regarding a programming decision.

A moderator has the obligation to stop spamming. Oldies is spamming.

Here are the facts - he doesn't like what KRTH becomes and believes KSURF is a better product. It is not for you to tell him otherwise, regardless of the fact that 99% of the listening public doesn't agree with him as measured by Nielson. They are not "right" and he is not "wrong"; lots of people listen to low powered niche radio stations. They exist for people like him, and it doesn't matter a whit whether the station he likes makes money or shows up in the ratings. They broadcast for people like him, he is using the product and sharing what he likes with the rest of us. if Saul wants to lose money broadcasting to "outliers" like Oldies, that is their business and neither require your permission or approval.

But Oldies uses lies to make his point: wrong data on the latest ratings levels being a huge drop (actually the month prior was a big and non-typical upwards wobble), making claims about the 107.9 station not having audience, etc., etc.

He also failed to take into account the effect of the pandemic on all stations: Occam's Razor says "Saul cut back expenses due to the virius". Oldies took us through a winding road of misinformation based on dis proven facts and somehow getting his snipe at ultra-successful KRTH in in the process.

You have made this personal with him and it is very unprofessional.

After years of the same stuff from him, nearly all of it based on distorted or inaccurate "facts" I found this last attempt to convert a simple cost saving by Levine into a conspiracy against millions of listeners to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[oldies76]

As we said, it's NOT working. It's not making money. If it doesn't make money, it goes away. Or it changes to something else.

It's HIS hobby, not yours. He likes classical music.

And more people enjoy classic hits.

And you think more people will tune in to the hits of 1846 with Mozart and Beethoven?? Good music, but that's what 105.1 (HD-4) and KUSC are for, in stereo.

It's not a smart move, sorry!

 

[davideduardo]

And there is absolutely no need to change anything. If it's working, why fix it?? Don't piss off the listeners you've already attracted to your station, and that left another decades ago, by changing to a format so antiquated.

As said, it sounds like a reduction of costs in the least listened to hours due to the current economic situation. As simple as that.

You've said that Saul has money, so this is a hobby station. There is some advertising on that station, so some money is being earned. It's a dumb move, period. It inconveniences me, since I tend to tune in later at night. That's what streaming is for.

A little bit of income is not an "earning"... it is revenue. Only when revenue exceeds expenses is there an "earning".

And while Saul has money, he is not going to waste it when his "big" station is probably, at best, breaking even. After 8 months of the pandemic, with dreadful losses in radio revenue, at some point station owners have to reduce costs to the point that they can survive. Nobody has so much money that in a bad radio economy they don't have to trim the expenses.

 

[davideduardo]

And more people enjoy classic hits.

And you think more people will tune in to the hits of 1846 with Mozart and Beethoven?? Good music, but that's what 105.1 (HD-4) and KUSC are for, in stereo.

It's not a smart move, sorry!

He already has the classical content. All he has to do is plug it into the AM feed. Zero cost

Savings: 11 hours a day of original programming on the AM.

 

[oldies76]

A moderator has the obligation to stop spamming. Oldies is spamming.

But Oldies uses lies to make his point

Oldies took us through a winding road of misinformation based on disproven facts and somehow getting his snipe at ultra-successful KRTH in in the process.

Not at all. Absolutely not. You are just finding a way to intercept my posts, since 'you' disagree.

So the FACT that 1260 is going partially classical is spamming???

Right.....and it snowed in Key West, Florida while you're at it.....

 

[frankberry]

I have banned Oldies76 for his total disrespect and for his trolling.
This thread is closed.

 

[davideduardo]

AIt is only a cynical insider that thinks radio is nothing but a medium to get ratings and earn money. If that is your job, fine, do your job to maximize them both the to the best of your ability. But to put down other people's use of other radio stations that are less successful is the height of arrogance and demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of why many people use radio in the first place.

Radio is a classic case of a bimodal product where the user is not the party that pays.

So commercial radio's job is to attract listeners with an interesting, entertaining, informative product and then sell advertisements to those listeners.

You can make more money if you attract more listeners. You make less money with fewer listeners, and you lose money if you have so few that nearly no advertiser will pay to be on your station.

There are many listener groups that can't be served because they want something that will not attract enough listeners to be salable to advertisers. Classic Country or AAA in LA are examples of such formats. All salsa in Spanish would be a prime example of a limited appeal format targeting Spanish dominant Hispanics.

What Oldies wants is a format that can not make money. Yes, the owner can give some bonus spots to big FM advertisers, but there is no way, form or shape to make money with that format.

Radio owners, managers and programmers do plenty of research to find out what formats and music and songs will create a mass appeal station. Even then, a significant percentage of formats do not succeed.

The departing manager of KSCA told us that there was no way that "that signal" could get more than a 1 share in LA. The AAA format had "done as well as any format can do". In fact, the format was a failure, not the signal. Look at Amp. Or the reincarnated KROQ. Over the decades, there are lots of attempts to deliver what listeners said they wanted, only to have them fail.

Half of P&G's new products fail, too. They don't get out of test markets, or they roll big and fade. Same in radio. We try to find the right formula, but do not always succeed... but the idea is to please as many listeners as we can in the age groups advertisers want to reach.

But you have to understand that there are some things commercial stations can not even try to do as the target is too small and the advertiser interest is not there.