KABC with a .9

[westfield60]

The problem is that we are all comparing KABC to what it used to be in it's glory days. It hasn't been KABC in well over a decade as one incompetent program director to another came on board and did nothing except mess it up even more. They never listened to the LA audience and instead spoon fed whatever they read in their trade magazine. Idiotic Jack Silver brings back the same joker that destroyed the ratings in the afternoon and now expecting him to gain ratings? Give me break. I honestly think program directors (particularly the ones at KABC) are the most idiotic clowns I have seen.

The result is the destruction of the once respected and almighty Los Angeles treasure. But you know maybe those idiots over there are happy with the .9. Look at stations KIEV (or whatever it is called today) and some of the others that register even lower on the scale and yet they make no effort whatsoever to change. Maybe KABC enjoys being where it is.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I think larry has a good show on and much better then the new rick dees on hot 92 i mean most of that show sounds voicetracked at least larry is live. I loved kabc when i moved here in summer of 2000 you had john and ken in the mornings and dennis prager and al rantell mr kabc and they had coast to coast but then got rid of it and red eye radio gave birth. But it is just sad to think what has become of them i hope and pray when citadel takes over they fire everyone in mgmt at that station and start from scratch. Keep larry but get rid of levin and sports does not belong on a talk station in los angeles!!!

 

[Big E]

I hope and pray when citadel takes over they fire everyone in mgmt at that station and start from scratch.

I think you mean Cumulus. They will probably give raises to the incompitent management, and they will probably fire the people that actually do the work like the board ops, producers, and traffic/news people.

 

[GenXRadio]

I still say that KABC should be turned into a TRUE sports talk station.
You already have Dodger baseball, with fans wanting to stay away from the park because of McCourt it's a great way to keep up on the Dodgers without having to spend money that goes into Frank's pocket.
KLAC does zero local programming unless you count PMS as a local show only because it's broadcast from the LA area & the only actual local programming that KSPN does is mason & Ireland.
True they both are flagships for USC & UCLA but other than that there really is no "live & local" sports station in Los Angeles and that's a shame!
You have the Dodgers, build on that, bring in some hosts to give you some notoriety and are a known commodity to So cal sports fans - Andrew Siciliano would be a great choice to start with and put him on mid days so he can still do any TV stuff in the afternoon, maybe bring John Fricke in depending on his contract situation with Fox - I know he's only doing weekends now I would imagine a Mon-Fri full time gig in LA would be better than a weekend only gig on the national network.
You could have Yahoo Sports radio as your network (ex SNR) I see Craig Shemon is working for them part time he would be a heck of a morning host guy maybe bring he and JDub back together but Shemon is a Pro and he'd anchor that spot well.
Charlie Steiner might also be up for a talk show too, give him a good co host who can host the show on their own or with a fill in when Charlie has a late night on Dodgers broadcasts but with his ESPN & Journalistic backghround he gives you immediately credibility.
There is no shortage of talent in the L.A. area and even nationally with our industry having so much cut back across the board so the pool is there.
You can then look to compete for any of the broadcast rights contracts to USC or UCLA football or basketball when they come up and once LA gets an NFL team you go all out and wow everyone with a bid for the broadcast rights for the games AND simulcast them on KLOS to get even more exposure for the games and give that FM sound I mean what else are you going to do on a Sunday? Have a weekend jock or maybe a voice tracked show?
I know many people will say that LA sports fans aren't as fanatical as other cities but I don't buy that, they're just accustomed to the programming that's been given to them and I think they would embrace a full time sports talker.
If you got the rights to the NFL team, have the rights to the Dodgers and perhaps UCLA hoops or football or USC football you would be a powerhouse though I don't see ESPN letting USC football leaving KSPN.
Given the ratings we're seeing out of KABC why not give it a shot? Put everything you can into it and if I'm Citadel I cozy up to AEG as much as possible since they will be the next owners of any NFL team in LA.

 

[emailfailed]

While I do agree with the thinking that KABC has nowhere to go but down or up at this point...so why not try something new... as we've mentioned on this board many times over an all sports format is very difficult to have any success in this market, even if it's all or nearly live and local.

In the early 1990s KMPC tried it and it didn't really work out.

As those of us in the business know syndication is very cheap, while having "live and local" will have a lot overhead that most corporations who own radio stations these days want to keep as low as possible.

So the short answer is we're not going to see an all sports live and local format on KABC or anywhere on the dial anytime soon, because it costs a lot and all sports has proven to be lackluster in the ratings in this market.

 

[westfield60]

I hope and pray when citadel takes over they fire everyone in mgmt at that station and start from scratch.

I think you mean Cumulus. They will probably give raises to the incompitent management, and they will probably fire the people that actually do the work like the board ops, producers, and traffic/news people.

Isn't that how it is always. The incompetent boobs that did this to KABC have all moved onto other stations, but the countless "little" guys that always seem to pay the price have had their lives trounced upon.

I think the Dodgers is the only thing keeping KABC afloat, not ratings wise given their dismal season but whatever money it is giving KABC is probably more than any of their regular idiots are generating for them. Do you really think Peter Tilden or Mr Glee John Phillips bring in any advertising dollars into that bunker? However despite the Dodger, do we really need a third Sports station. Aren't there two stations just within a stone's throw on the dial next to KABC? and I don't see either one of them burning up the ratings.

 

[flyonthewall]

I doubt Cumulus is going to keep any of the present managment at any of the stations around the country. I read an article that says Cumulus has bean counters to watch the bean counters.. I think there will be massive blood letting at both KABC and KLOS.

 

[Big E]

I think there will be massive blood letting at both KABC and KLOS.

Thats for sure...lets just hope its the people causing the problem that get let go.

 

[flyonthewall]

Let's hope it is not the button pushers, button pusher!

 

[radioman148]

Do you guys think Cumulus will make radical changes to all their stations nationwide? Even the ones making money?

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Do you guys think Cumulus will make radical changes to all their stations nationwide? Even the ones making money?

At KFOG in SF, they basically pushed Dave Morey out the door, although I don' t think he was ever terminated outright. He was essentially the voice and face of the station for years, so clearly heritage doesn't mean very much to them. No one should feel safe.

 

[david]

How to Fix It: KABC with a .9

While I do agree with the thinking that KABC has nowhere to go but down or up at this point...so why not try something new...

Actually, IMO, the answer is....why not try something old - which is, to be what KABC once was - the station of record for Los Angeles: Live and local news focused talkradio serving The LA/OC region with personalities that can leverage the platform to bring newsmakers and thinkers on air here. The reason that Red Eye Radio is the most dominant show in its time-slot that airs on 790 is because it is the closest thing the station has to being topical, newsworthy, with a host who is educated, fair, and interesting.

To see KABC's fortunes rise again, I would find a partner for John Phillips - perhaps Peter Tilden, install a dynamic morning show, and part ways with Larry Elder and Mark Levin. I would keep Hannity only because his national presence is so strong; not because he is a wonderful fit here. I would install fresh, local, young, and dynamic talent in the three most important shifts on the station - morning drive, 9a, and 3p shifts.

Weekends are cluttered with crap on 790, whereas they should be much more like WABC on weekends who offer up news commentators like Monica Crowley, Mark Simone, Larry Kudlow, John Batchelor, and even Mancow. WABC has unfortunately started to stray as well from its former position as a 24/7 station of record, and its numbers have softened as a result, but it still retains enough of that position and identity and approach to serve as a template for what KABC can grow back into.

Like KFI, I would remove ALL paid informercials. A station of record needs to be just that - the station of record 24/7. That is what KABC was in its prime, and that is what KFI is today (and what KPCC is very much like today as well). Any compromise from that philosophy and KABC will remain in the 0.9 neighborhood.

 

[GenXRadio]

The old saying goes : "You have to spend money to make money"
Yes, live and local would cost money as opposed to network/syndicated programming which would be less costly but really has a live and local station actually been tried in LA? did KMPC REALLY have a live and local sports station?
Did they also put together a great marketing plan including traditional and guerella marketing tactics?
Did they have talented engaging hosts who kept listeners listening and offer compelling content?
It MUST be an all encompassing plan, you need to invest in the talent which given the state of our business right now with high unemployment I think you could get talented people cheaper than usual with them receiving raises as their contracts got into the more mature years which by then your revenues should be up to cover those rising salary costs.
You have the crown jewel in LA sports - Frank McCort mess be damned, build on it, spend money, bring in talent and not just the high cost talent but the producers, reporters and stringers that do the daily work that gives the sports station it's content.
Scoop the other stations, get those stories, at UCLA & USC football games bomb the parking lot with your literature, during college bowl season air as many bowl games as you can thus branding yourself as THE place for sports, use your website and social networking 1000000x better than KLAC & KSPN do, make it so locally focused instead of the cookie cutter, template driven site that KLAC & KSPN use.
You need to be bold, you need to take a chance which I know is easy to say when it's not my money but it CAN be done it just needs someone to make that commitment and do the hard work that would be necessary to make it work.
I also think that if you gave LA sports fans a station as good as WFAN in NY, WEEI in Boston, KJR in Seattle, if you gave them something like that instead of this mostly national programming and gave them jocks they could embrace and gravitate to they would say to themselves : "THIS is what we've been waiting for! THIS is what other cities have had? why have we not gotten this sooner!?"
When you see what others get and what you receive and see the disparity it's GOT to get you to ask questions as to "why?".
I would also go after the best salespeople I could find, people who knew the city, who hustled, worked hard and made sales, i'd also invest in new media salespeople too and exhaust every avenue of revenue possible to soften the financial blow.
Incentivize those people to bring in the dollars and you'll be successful.
Like I said it CAN be done but who is brave enough to actually do it? Who's going to do the work necessary?

While I do agree with the thinking that KABC has nowhere to go but down or up at this point...so why not try something new... as we've mentioned on this board many times over an all sports format is very difficult to have any success in this market, even if it's all or nearly live and local.

In the early 1990s KMPC tried it and it didn't really work out.

As those of us in the business know syndication is very cheap, while having "live and local" will have a lot overhead that most corporations who own radio stations these days want to keep as low as possible.

So the short answer is we're not going to see an all sports live and local format on KABC or anywhere on the dial anytime soon, because it costs a lot and all sports has proven to be lackluster in the ratings in this market.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Re: KMPC 710 sports.

I don't remember the whole line-up, but they had Jim Lampley on in the mornings (and he did an excellent job, more on that below) Joe McDonnel and Doug Krikorian in the afternoons (at the height of their popularity) and the must-listen-to sports show of the day, the late, great, Jim Healy on at (when else?) 5:30 pm. I believe Scott St. James was involved at the time too and he was iconic in this town for having opinions and not being afraid to share them. At night they had the syndicated "Fabulous Sports Babe" which was instant tune out time. As bad as Petros and Money are, they are radio magic when compared to "the Babe". Ugh. Plus the usual Golden West properties of Rams, Angels, and UCLA basketball and football.

But Lampley's show was so well done he could easily have had a career in syndicated sports radio if he wanted. He is/was energetic, knows what he is talking about; didn't need a sidekick to prop him up; equally at ease discussing both about the players on the field and the business side of sports off of it; came with great topics every morning; and his rolodex for guests is second to nobody. And what always impressed me is that he came so prepped for a show that started at 6:00 am. Late baseball games from the night before? No problem. He had them all down. He was then and still is a true professional.

The old saying goes : "You have to spend money to make money"
Yes, live and local would cost money as opposed to network/syndicated programming which would be less costly but really has a live and local station actually been tried in LA? did KMPC REALLY have a live and local sports station?
Did they also put together a great marketing plan including traditional and guerella marketing tactics?
Did they have talented engaging hosts who kept listeners listening and offer compelling content?
It MUST be an all encompassing plan, you need to invest in the talent which given the state of our business right now with high unemployment I think you could get talented people cheaper than usual with them receiving raises as their contracts got into the more mature years which by then your revenues should be up to cover those rising salary costs.
You have the crown jewel in LA sports - Frank McCort mess be damned, build on it, spend money, bring in talent and not just the high cost talent but the producers, reporters and stringers that do the daily work that gives the sports station it's content.
Scoop the other stations, get those stories, at UCLA & USC football games bomb the parking lot with your literature, during college bowl season air as many bowl games as you can thus branding yourself as THE place for sports, use your website and social networking 1000000x better than KLAC & KSPN do, make it so locally focused instead of the cookie cutter, template driven site that KLAC & KSPN use.
You need to be bold, you need to take a chance which I know is easy to say when it's not my money but it CAN be done it just needs someone to make that commitment and do the hard work that would be necessary to make it work.
I also think that if you gave LA sports fans a station as good as WFAN in NY, WEEI in Boston, KJR in Seattle, if you gave them something like that instead of this mostly national programming and gave them jocks they could embrace and gravitate to they would say to themselves : "THIS is what we've been waiting for! THIS is what other cities have had? why have we not gotten this sooner!?"
When you see what others get and what you receive and see the disparity it's GOT to get you to ask questions as to "why?".
I would also go after the best salespeople I could find, people who knew the city, who hustled, worked hard and made sales, i'd also invest in new media salespeople too and exhaust every avenue of revenue possible to soften the financial blow.
Incentivize those people to bring in the dollars and you'll be successful.
Like I said it CAN be done but who is brave enough to actually do it? Who's going to do the work necessary?

While I do agree with the thinking that KABC has nowhere to go but down or up at this point...so why not try something new... as we've mentioned on this board many times over an all sports format is very difficult to have any success in this market, even if it's all or nearly live and local.

In the early 1990s KMPC tried it and it didn't really work out.

As those of us in the business know syndication is very cheap, while having "live and local" will have a lot overhead that most corporations who own radio stations these days want to keep as low as possible.

So the short answer is we're not going to see an all sports live and local format on KABC or anywhere on the dial anytime soon, because it costs a lot and all sports has proven to be lackluster in the ratings in this market.

 

[radioman148]

Do you guys think Cumulus will make radical changes to all their stations nationwide? Even the ones making money?

At KFOG in SF, they basically pushed Dave Morey out the door, although I don' t think he was ever terminated outright. He was essentially the voice and face of the station for years, so clearly heritage doesn't mean very much to them. No one should feel safe.

So basically every Citadel employee should be worried?

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Do you guys think Cumulus will make radical changes to all their stations nationwide? Even the ones making money?

At KFOG in SF, they basically pushed Dave Morey out the door, although I don' t think he was ever terminated outright. He was essentially the voice and face of the station for years, so clearly heritage doesn't mean very much to them. No one should feel safe.

So basically every Citadel employee should be worried?

I didn't say all would be terminated. But all should be prepared with a plan B. It's not like they haven't been given plenty of notice.

 

[cyberdad]

I get into So-Cal a couple of times a year on business. I always thought that the reason KABC always struck me as a crashing bore was because I'm from out of town and must be missing something. Now with a .9, I guess a lot of of natives get the same impression as me!

As for the signal.... As has been noted, I'm sure 5kw going up against a 50kw blowtorch in KFI doesn't help matters. But the 790 signal isn't exactly chopped liver, either. IME...which takes in more than 25 years, the signal seems decent enough in most of the metro.

 

[excinciradio]

Just an interesting note on KABC's .9 rating. According to Chris Huff here on the radio-info.com site, KABC remains in the top 20 highest cumeing news-talk stations in the country. Perhaps that plays a role in Citadel not reacting to the low rating?

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Just an interesting note on KABC's .9 rating. According to Chris Huff here on the radio-info.com site, KABC remains in the top 20 highest cumeing news-talk stations in the country. Perhaps that plays a role in Citadel not reacting to the low rating?

The 20th place in cume in a such a narrow format is not acceptable for a full market signal in the #2 market. You just damned them with faint praise.

 

[GenXRadio]

From what I've read and through my research KMPC didn't "fail", they were sold to ABC who then flipped format to regular talk programming.
I've always heard good things about the McDonnell-Douglas show, didn't Lampley have Todd Christensen as a sidekick for a while?
I still think a full time live & local sports station would do well in L.A., there's so much talent around to choose from, lots of programming to choose from to make a bid for including the soon to be in LA NFL team (Which will NOT be the Raiders but that's another topic) and you've already got the biggest jewel in LA sports in the Dodgers, build on it.
Why should sports fans in the # 2 market in the country be subjected to only national programming or part time live & local coverage? It just doesn't make sense! I know some people will say that LA sports fans aren't as passionate as East coast fans to that I say bull! As a Bostonian living on the west coast i'll tell you there are PLENTY of passionate, rabid sports fans who if you gave them a sports station of their own that catered to them 80-90% of the programming day (overnights & night times having national programming or PXP) and you got out there and told the fans "This is your choice, live & local vs. national only or national mostly programming" they'd flock to you.
Add in hosts who know the sports scene, that people know, who are passionate, get an aggressive marketing campaign out there using EVERY form of outreach to fans you can get including being at Dodger stadium EVERY home game in a big way and even sending a street team crew to Angels games to talk up the station, hand out goodies and such.
Hire a killer sales staff, compensate them well with lots of incentives, yes even in these tough economic times!
There's so much you can do to differentiate yourself from the rest of the landscape in LA sports radio, how about talking to the stations on the Dodgers network & see if any of them could be persuaded to simulcast your programming to expand the reach of the station which is a low cost way to "improve" your signal without having to apply for a power upgrade with the FCC and all the rest that goes with it.

Re: KMPC 710 sports.

I don't remember the whole line-up, but they had Jim Lampley on in the mornings (and he did an excellent job, more on that below) Joe McDonnel and Doug Krikorian in the afternoons (at the height of their popularity) and the must-listen-to sports show of the day, the late, great, Jim Healy on at (when else?) 5:30 pm. I believe Scott St. James was involved at the time too and he was iconic in this town for having opinions and not being afraid to share them. At night they had the syndicated "Fabulous Sports Babe" which was instant tune out time. As bad as Petros and Money are, they are radio magic when compared to "the Babe". Ugh. Plus the usual Golden West properties of Rams, Angels, and UCLA basketball and football.

But Lampley's show was so well done he could easily have had a career in syndicated sports radio if he wanted. He is/was energetic, knows what he is talking about; didn't need a sidekick to prop him up; equally at ease discussing both about the players on the field and the business side of sports off of it; came with great topics every morning; and his rolodex for guests is second to nobody. And what always impressed me is that he came so prepped for a show that started at 6:00 am. Late baseball games from the night before? No problem. He had them all down. He was then and still is a true professional.

The old saying goes : "You have to spend money to make money"
Yes, live and local would cost money as opposed to network/syndicated programming which would be less costly but really has a live and local station actually been tried in LA? did KMPC REALLY have a live and local sports station?
Did they also put together a great marketing plan including traditional and guerella marketing tactics?
Did they have talented engaging hosts who kept listeners listening and offer compelling content?
It MUST be an all encompassing plan, you need to invest in the talent which given the state of our business right now with high unemployment I think you could get talented people cheaper than usual with them receiving raises as their contracts got into the more mature years which by then your revenues should be up to cover those rising salary costs.
You have the crown jewel in LA sports - Frank McCort mess be damned, build on it, spend money, bring in talent and not just the high cost talent but the producers, reporters and stringers that do the daily work that gives the sports station it's content.
Scoop the other stations, get those stories, at UCLA & USC football games bomb the parking lot with your literature, during college bowl season air as many bowl games as you can thus branding yourself as THE place for sports, use your website and social networking 1000000x better than KLAC & KSPN do, make it so locally focused instead of the cookie cutter, template driven site that KLAC & KSPN use.
You need to be bold, you need to take a chance which I know is easy to say when it's not my money but it CAN be done it just needs someone to make that commitment and do the hard work that would be necessary to make it work.
I also think that if you gave LA sports fans a station as good as WFAN in NY, WEEI in Boston, KJR in Seattle, if you gave them something like that instead of this mostly national programming and gave them jocks they could embrace and gravitate to they would say to themselves : "THIS is what we've been waiting for! THIS is what other cities have had? why have we not gotten this sooner!?"
When you see what others get and what you receive and see the disparity it's GOT to get you to ask questions as to "why?".
I would also go after the best salespeople I could find, people who knew the city, who hustled, worked hard and made sales, i'd also invest in new media salespeople too and exhaust every avenue of revenue possible to soften the financial blow.
Incentivize those people to bring in the dollars and you'll be successful.
Like I said it CAN be done but who is brave enough to actually do it? Who's going to do the work necessary?

While I do agree with the thinking that KABC has nowhere to go but down or up at this point...so why not try something new... as we've mentioned on this board many times over an all sports format is very difficult to have any success in this market, even if it's all or nearly live and local.

In the early 1990s KMPC tried it and it didn't really work out.

As those of us in the business know syndication is very cheap, while having "live and local" will have a lot overhead that most corporations who own radio stations these days want to keep as low as possible.

So the short answer is we're not going to see an all sports live and local format on KABC or anywhere on the dial anytime soon, because it costs a lot and all sports has proven to be lackluster in the ratings in this market.