KAAM - New Ownership?

[Bill Cherry]

What's the deal. Did the family spin off their stations that don't program the Christian format? Who's running the local one now?

 

[MikeShannon914]

I believe it was spun off from Crawford Broadcasting directly to Don Crawford, the son (grandson?) of founder Percy B. Crawford. Last I heard, Don is running the Dallas operation himself.

 

[VOXPOP]

Don jr. bought a couple of stations in Colorado Springs from his father last summer and has added KAAM to his group. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette last August: "Although he worked for the family business for more than 17 years, Crawford Jr. said he and his father, Crawford president Don Crawford, had their share of disagreements."

 

[Bill Cherry]

Thanks for the information. I wondered what was going on there.

Bill Cherry

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

I'd bet KAAM is actually safer than it was now. Nice that there's still some music on AM down in Big D still!

 

[VOXPOP]

Thanks for the information. I wondered what was going on there.

Bill Cherry

You're welcome, Bill. Thanks for asking the question. I knew that Don Jr. was buying some of his dad's stations but I thought it was probably estate planning by Don Sr.
I didn't know father and son had "differences" until I googled around to accurately answer your question. I tried to buy KAAM once upon a time; I learned that the Crawfords dance to a different drummer than most people when it comes to business.

 

[Bill Cherry]

There is a very interesting book --- can't for the life of me remember the name and author ---- about the advent of Christian radio. The Crawford Family, for all practical purposes, had the first station. And the first guy to broadcast a sermon was an Episcopal priest. Good grief, as an Episcopalian myself, you can imagine I was horrified when I read that. So un-Episcopal. (Now if it were a remote from a hotel bar, I'd reconsider my opinion)

Anyway, back to the first Christian station. It was some bailing wire junker that operated in the back of a hardware store. Don, Sr.'s mother was apparently the business brains while her husband was the preacher. She bought the station and they started selling time on it to preachers. Got rich.

I personally think Don, Jr. has done a remarkable job of zeroing in on his audience and the allusion that the station is there to serve all of their needs. That business of "call Gloria" at the station and she'll patch you in to Dr. Quack or Maude's Cruise Line or the guy with the organ pipe voice who's an annuity salesman, is an ingenuous idea. Just think, the station is able to measure its success and the advertiser is able to quantify the value of his spots. Don, Jr.'s dad could learn some lessons from him...he really could.

And I like the mix of personalities. All old radio guys who learned when I learned and the same way I learned, playing the same mix of music. Guess it's more nostalgia for me than anything. I sometimes wish I worked there.

 

[oaktree]

The book is entitled: Air of Salvation: The Story of Christian Broadcasting

It is available in paperback and makes quite an interesting read with insight into the Crawford family and the beginnings of Christian radio.

 

[Bill Cherry]

That's it! Thanks for reminding me. Grandma Crawford must have been a pistol. I probably would have liked her.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

The book is entitled: Air of Salvation: The Story of Christian Broadcasting

It is available in paperback and makes quite an interesting read with insight into the Crawford family and the beginnings of Christian radio.

It is really "Christian" of them to jam neighboring frequencies. If I owned an AM, I would have more respect for people who own stations on adjacent frequencies, their need to have coverage, too, for their listeners.

 

[jbishop]

There is a very interesting book --- can't for the life of me remember the name and author ---- about the advent of Christian radio. The Crawford Family, for all practical purposes, had the first station. And the first guy to broadcast a sermon was an Episcopal priest. Good grief, as an Episcopalian myself, you can imagine I was horrified when I read that. So un-Episcopal. (Now if it were a remote from a hotel bar, I'd reconsider my opinion)

Anyway, back to the first Christian station. It was some bailing wire junker that operated in the back of a hardware store. Don, Sr.'s mother was apparently the business brains while her husband was the preacher. She bought the station and they started selling time on it to preachers. Got rich.

I personally think Don, Jr. has done a remarkable job of zeroing in on his audience and the allusion that the station is there to serve all of their needs. That business of "call Gloria" at the station and she'll patch you in to Dr. Quack or Maude's Cruise Line or the guy with the organ pipe voice who's an annuity salesman, is an ingenuous idea. Just think, the station is able to measure its success and the advertiser is able to quantify the value of his spots. Don, Jr.'s dad could learn some lessons from him...he really could.

And I like the mix of personalities. All old radio guys who learned when I learned and the same way I learned, playing the same mix of music. Guess it's more nostalgia for me than anything. I sometimes wish I worked there.

All of the things Bill taked about were being done before Junior took over the station.

 

[Bill Cherry]

Well, Jack Bishop knows if anyone knows.

On the subject of pay and profits. Has someone just decided that everyone there makes 6 bucks an hour and it, therefore, became a believable fact on this blog? I was making much more than that in New Orleans in the late '50s. Why would anyone but a green kid work for 6 bucks an hour? And a couple of those guys plus Mr. Bishop, when he was there, are real pros, for goodness sakes.

Secondly, other than payroll, in reality it doesn't cost beans to operate a radio station like that one. The thing's got to be making a respectable profit...in fact, I'll bet there are any number of stations AM & FM in the area that would kill for KAAM's balance sheet and P&L.

Of course, I don't know anywhere near as much about it as you guys do. I've just been a bidniz man for 40 years and I picked up a pretty good nose that way.

 

[pro4aa]

Well, Jack Bishop knows if anyone knows.

On the subject of pay and profits. Has someone just decided that everyone there makes 6 bucks an hour and it, therefore, became a believable fact on this blog? I was making much more than that in New Orleans in the late '50s. Why would anyone but a green kid work for 6 bucks an hour? And a couple of those guys plus Mr. Bishop, when he was there, are real pros, for goodness sakes.

Somebody who doesn't need radio as a profession will work for a few bucks an hour. They may be retired, bored housewives, doctor's sons, something along those lines. They don't need the money; they may enjoy the attention from the old folks, or they may just enjoy the music. Personally, I don't understand why anybody like that would want to help enrich somebody who's already wealthy, rather than volunteer their time or skills where they could be put to better use, but whatever floats your boat. Besides, I don't think they really pay $6 an hour, it's probably more like $10.

 

[Bill Cherry]

Now you and I absolutely agree on that! And the irony is that without those old dudes -- and there are so few of them left -- who are remarkably talented at that format, the whole thing would crash and burn.

I never worked where there everyone was union, but as I've grown older, I've decided that in some areas union membership had/has big pluses, irrespective of whether the officials have their hands in the tills. Radio and television definitely fit that bill.

 

[pro4aa]

Now you and I absolutely agree on that! And the irony is that without those old dudes -- and there are so few of them left -- who are remarkably talented at that format, the whole thing would crash and burn.

I never worked where there everyone was union, but as I've grown older, I've decided that in some areas union membership had/has big pluses, irrespective of whether the officials have their hands in the tills. Radio and television definitely fit that bill.

A lot of people in a right to starve state like Texas will play the "unions are corrupt and don't do anything for the jocks" card, but the net result is that they do benefit employees. Just ask anybody who's been a member of a union. They certainly won't make any jock rich; that's up to the individual. But they will prevent the wholesale firing of a jock simply because they force management to think about their actions rather than allow management act on a whim. A union would also probably raise the wage from about $30K for middays in a market the size of Dallas.