KATH-910AM

[MikeShannon914]

No, this is not a station that plays only old songs from "Chicago" (you know, the late Terry Kath...ha.) No, I guess it's short for KATHolic.

This one passed me by (the call change, not the format change the calls were changed Jan 23. Of course, this is the former Air America affiliate, KXEB.

And, contrary to our earlier conversations on here, and contrary to what the station's billboards say, KATH and their sister station KJON-850 are NOT broadcasting identical programming, with one in English and the other in Spanish. KATH is primarily Catholic talk in English, and KJON is Spanish Catholic with about 60% talk and 40% music.

The stations are owned by the Guadalupe Radio Network. And don't worry about polishing up your resume...apparently they only use volunteers and interns. Must be a nice moneymaker for the corporation to not have to PAY someone something. Expect that to start a trend elsewhere.

 

[AlanB]

IIRC, both stations are leased from Border Media. Did they buy them outright?

Also remember that there is no commercial time on either station, so there's no money being made on the stations (I know, non-coms make money all the time, etc.)

 

[317C50KW]

Same funding scheme as KERA or KNON you can underwrite but you can't "advertise." Or you can donate.

What I like about the stations is that they are independent of the Dallas and the Fort Worth Catholic diocese.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Looking at the schedule, the shows they have are:
"Breakfast with Pope "eggs" Benedict"
" The Best of Father Guido Sarducci"
" The Travel show with your host the Flying Nun"
"Music all night with The Signing Nun"
"How to play Chess with the Bishop"

 

[charles123]

KPLEXCOMPLEX you are hilarious!

 

[romanradio]

Thanks, Mike, for bringing attention to these great stations. I'm a bit biased, being the General Manager of the stations. Believe me, we're not running soley on volunteers and interns. I'm a paid employee and we have a full time Operations Manager, a full time Chief Engineer and another full time employee on the way. We do run much tighter than your average DFW station, that's for sure, but not entirely salary-free. We have dozens of volunteers in both dioceses and interns from the University of Dallas with some high school interns soon, we hope. And yes, we do follow the Public Radio mode of having underwriters and no advertisers with the FCC guidelines followed.

From a DFW radio history perspective, these stations are the first and only Catholic Radio stations in the market, a market that has had many Protestant Christian stations. So this is the first foray by us Catholics into Radio Evangelization. So far, it' going very well. Not sure how many listeners we have but those who are listening love it!

We have one live, local show which I host every Monday and Tuesday from 1-2 p.m. The show is called 'GRN Live.'

Hope ya'll get a chance to tune us in some time. I'm a regular to this site and enjoy reading what ya'll have to say about the local radio market.

God bless,

Dave Palmer
General Manager
Guadalupe Radio Network
KATH 910 AM, KJON 850 AM
Dallas Fort Worth

 

[MikeShannon914]

Thanks for the info, Dave, and I apologize for jumping the gun and not being informed about the non-com status. Hats off to you and your group for finding an unfulfilled niche here, and good luck with it!

Far as ownership goes, these stations were once indeed part of the Border group, right? I see references now to the Guadalupe Radio Network...are they the actual owners, or leasing time from elsewhere? Also, the FCC shows "Chatham Hill Foundation" as the owners.

Glad you're here, and PLEASE, post anytime when you've got news or happenings like this. The format may not be in everyone's interest level, but we all like to know when changes on the dial come up!

And anyone that can shed light about the Border group's dissolution, I'd like to know the details. If I'm on the right topic here, I believe this was the group that bought up a whole string of stations along IH-35 through Texas to capitalize on the future Trans-Texas Corridor and the current NAFTA truck traffic. Did the group go belly-up? Or why did they divest? Are they still around? And clarify that they have no connection to the old Borders Media, owned by Johnny Borders (aka Johnny Dark on KLIF of yesteryear) if that's correct.

 

[Steve Eberhart]

No offense Mike...but this is a prime example of why posts should not be made on this site (or anywhere for that matter) unless you are certain what you are saying is factual. If it is speculation, duly note that, otherwise FIND OUT before declaring something that, as is proven in this blog, is inaccurate.

This wasn't that big of a deal...but, it is an example of how incorrect information begins to be disseminated as the truth. We all know that a lot of people, some important or influential within the industry, see a lot of this and it is very possible inaccurate information can do harm.

What have we learned today class?

 

[SeanRuadh]

I was excited about the idea of Catholic Radio, and I don't want to come across as critical of the efforts by Guadalupe, but I have a few ideas.
One is a comment relayed by a previous Catholic radio operator. He divested his stations, saying Catholics will sit through an hour of being talked at on Sunday, but don't have much patience for being lectured the rest of the week.
My vision for a catholic station is one based on the traditions and liturgy of the faith. If I was the boss, I would broadcast live Mass (duh) plus the angelus, the rosary, the benediction, and other liturgical presentations, live from a local church. The concept would be to hook into the church PA, and broadcast everything that happens there. I would fill with classical liturgical music, i.e. Bach mass, Mozart mass, etc etc etc.
I'm not a fan of the E.W.T.N (Eternally Weird Television Network), and have little use for being lectured. Likewise, Christian pop music does nothing for me. (although John Michael Talbot has some interesting recordings)...But that's just me. Having said that, Congradulations, Mr. Palmer, and much success to you and your operation.
sr

 

[romanradio]

Thanks for your well wishes and your comments, Sean. I'm surprised with your tastes in Catholic programming that you're not a fan of EWTN. You sound pretty traditional to me! We do play the Mass (7 a.m. each day), the Rosary (twice a day, 6:30 a.m. and 10 p.m.), the Angelus (most every day after morning Mass) as well as the daily Divine Mercy Chaplet (3 p.m.) daily.

Your idea about the live broadcast of a local Mass is a good one and it is something we've spoken about (perhaps from the downtown Cathedral?). Our problem right now is manpower to do it, now to mention the time and money. We've got three people running two stations so we're all stretched pretty thin. Adding something like this would be a bit too complicated at this stage in our development of the stations. We've only been on the air for about four months. We're moving slowly with all local programming but we want to phase additional live, local programming in gradually. I'm sure your idea of live liturgical broadcasts will not be long in coming.

If you (or anyone else) have any other suggestions concerning programming you can email me directly at [email protected].

Thank you and God bless- Dave

 

[txchipk]

And anyone that can shed light about the Border group's dissolution, I'd like to know the details. If I'm on the right topic here, I believe this was the group that bought up a whole string of stations along IH-35 through Texas to capitalize on the future Trans-Texas Corridor and the current NAFTA truck traffic. Did the group go belly-up? Or why did they divest? Are they still around? And clarify that they have no connection to the old Borders Media, owned by Johnny Borders (aka Johnny Dark on KLIF of yesteryear) if that's correct.

Yes, they are still around. The still have clusters in Austin, San Antonio, Laredo, the Valley. They only seem to be pulling out of D/FW. They are buying news/talk KTSA 550 and "Jack" KJXK 102.7 San Antonio from CBS (as part of CBS exiting smaller markets), so they don't seem to be dissolving. In SA, they will own KTSA, KSAH 720, KZDC 1250, KTFM 94.1, KLEY-FM 95.7, KJXK, and KRIO-FM 104.1. KLEY-FM and KRIO-FM are marginal signals, so KJXK will be their first full power, full market FM there. Wonder if the KLEY regional Mexican or KRIO Spanish top 40 format will end up on 102.7?

In Austin, they apparently will pick up "the Beat" format from KXBT 104.3 (which is being sold from CBS to Entercom and now to Univision and will change to regional Mexican next week) and put it on their KXXS 104.9 facility. In Austin, they have several Spanish-language stations plus Air America KOKE 1600.

 

[Radioguy75067]

;D Hi, I'm new here but I can tell you a little about BMP. I used to work for BMP from Mar, 06 till the Sale of 910AM KXEB and 850AM KJON. I did all the Imaging, Station Production, Morning News Production and Commercial Production for all three AAR stations owned by BMP. (910AM KXEB in Dallas, 1600AM KOKE in Austin and 103.1FM KTXX in San Antonio) I also was the Weekend Producer over all Weekend Programming for all three stations and The Remote Engineer for 910AM KXEB. I also helped out with Van Hits for the Promotions Department for 910 KXEB. I was with the company up to the time that the LMA took effect.

As far as I know the purchase of 910AM and 850AM was part of a package deal for the purchase of some stations down south. (Austin and San Antonio area) Two of them being 1600AM Austin and 103.1 FM San Antonio. I always got the feeling that BMP did not have all that much interest in the Dallas Market. It was more of a purchase agreement and/or fishing excursion than anything else. You know, just to see if they would get any bites this far north from their corporate offices. I do know that they still employ some people (3-7 employees) here in Dallas. (mostly cause they don't want to move to Austin, and that they hold corporate positions) I think that the VP of operations is still here in Dallas, but as far as that goes, BMP has no other interests in the Dallas market anymore as far as I know.

??? I do know that I have tried to get another radio job in this market since BMP sold, but with no success. I do thank BMP for giving me the chance of a lifetime, but I also wish that they would have given it a little bit more of a shot and tried harder to do something with the station. 910AM went from NOTHING to a 0.5 in the books (and a 0.7 in one area once) within the time I was there and started doing something with the imaging. Before that, they were just running the raw AAR feed from the satellite (to include the music) and a PSA from time to time. There was even a rating increase across all three stations once I was able to start imaging them to their local markets. I was even projecting at least close to a 0.5-0.7 across the book in the Winter Arbatron ratings if they would have kept it up. We were at least heading somewhere with the stations after a year of nothing cause they would not set any of the AAR stations to any type of priority.

They did set a SMALL budget to 910AM when it first launched, but the GM spent it on TV and billboard ads instead of doing something more productive with it. After that, there was very little budget to work with. I think that if the station was budgeted more carefully and had a little more creative or even some local show programming instead of all that "Bush Bashing" all the time, the format would have worked. That is just my two cents worth though..... :-X

 

[MikeShannon914]

Thanks for all the info, guys. I was under the impression that BMP was a good idea gone bad. I'm glad to see there's some method to their madness. But like most corporations, there's always some key element that's forsaken for something else they perceive as having more importance. You CANNOT run a station without marketing and promotions. We've seen so many fail, come up short, miss the mark, etc because they refuse to get the name out there. Ones that come to mind right off the bat are KVCE-1160, the various incarnations of 990, KSKY since the format change, Sunny 97.1, ESPN-103.3, most of the Mortenson properties, etc. I understand that not everyone has a CBS or a CC budget, but good God, marketing should be factored in as a major part of your start-up cost. It's like any business that doesn't advertise. You can't expect word-of-mouth to take care of everything. There's just too many choices now, and you HAVE to make your station stick out.

My take on Air America is that they were using some of the same techniques that Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, etc use to their advantage...whoever screams the loudest and acts the most radical is who people listen to. It shakes up the listener's little world and wakes them up to the issues. While I think a more moderate approach would have worked better in the long run, AA went overboard to attract attention. But when they started, most people still liked what Bush was doing, and although they had many good points to talk about, the mainstream media wasn't ready to embrace them, and a lack of credibility of the hosts and the organization made AA great fodder for Limbaugh and company to rip up. There was also a softer approach of sorts at AA, with many issues just being 'discussed' and no force exerted to make the listener take action or to choose a side. When you listen to Limbaugh, you know there's no leeway for fence-riders...you're either in the clique, or you're locked out. AA's people, God bless 'em, gave it a good shot, and it worked well in a lot of cities, but DFW was a special case that would require extra promoting and careful, targeted marketing to get it into the ears of the right people. Reeling in that base first, THEN working on drawing in others thereafter, might have gone a long way in KXEB's success. Putting out an inferior, static-rattled sound for the first year like they did...there's no excuse for. It sounded like any other leased time station...full of PSA stopsets, dead air, missed marks with ID's, etc.

Steve Eb...I know you meant well, and I see what you're talking about...BUT when I use words like "apparently," that should HOPEFULLY lead one to believe that there is conjecture or incomplete facts about the statement that follows. You can check my myriad of posts...I'm always careful about those little caveats, and especially since my name is signed next to them! But point well taken...and no offense taken.

 

[davideduardo]

Your idea about the live broadcast of a local Mass is a good one and it is something we've spoken about (perhaps from the downtown Cathedral?). Our problem right now is manpower to do it, now to mention the time and money. We've got three people running two stations so we're all stretched pretty thin. Adding something like this would be a bit too complicated at this stage in our development of the stations. We've only been on the air for about four months. We're moving slowly with all local programming but we want to phase additional live, local programming in gradually. I'm sure your idea of live liturgical broadcasts will not be long in coming.

When I was PD of Spanish secular talk KTNQ in Los Angeles, we did a live Mass every Sunday from our studios. Several priests rotated in the celebration of this mass, and it was authorized by the LA AD. In addition, we had a particularly personable priest who did a Satrurday talk show about applying religion to everyday life. Both had ratings that performed at least at partity with other weekend shows.

When I was associated with Radio Omega in Lima, Peru, the AM was pastoral (the FM was secular and paid for the AM's work). We would set up an easy to operate remote gear kit in different churches and broadcast live... one of the lay staff of the church did the set up and testing. Omega often did the Mass from the Cathedral when Cardenal Rickets Landazuri was in Perú... very exciting to have the Cardenal on the air.

Perhaps one of these alternatives would allow you to do mass for shutins and those unable to attend church, a very valuable service for your listeners.

May the Lord bless you in this endeavor.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes, they are still around. The still have clusters in Austin, San Antonio, Laredo, the Valley. They only seem to be pulling out of D/FW. They are buying news/talk KTSA 550 and "Jack" KJXK 102.7 San Antonio from CBS (as part of CBS exiting smaller markets), so they don't seem to be dissolving.

BMP announced that they would keep the Jack format. Of course, they always say that...

In Austin, they apparently will pick up "the Beat" format from KXBT 104.3 (which is being sold from CBS to Entercom and now to Univision and will change to regional Mexican next week) and put it on their KXXS 104.9 facility. In Austin, they have several Spanish-language stations plus Air America KOKE 1600.

It already happened. Univision took over 104.3 on Monday, and BMP put a new version of The Beat on 104.9 over the weekend.

 

[grantchester]

In 1980, I assisted the creation of a radio mass in San Antonio. There were actually two of them, one in spanish and one in english. The spanish mass was the first, from Our Lady Of Guadalupe. We tapped into the p.a and fed it on a phone loop. I thought it sounded pretty bad, but the people at the church and in the hispanic community loved it. Then we set up the english version at a convent chapel about a half mile from the studios of 930 am. We paid for a 5k loop, but it was so close, it sounded more like 10 k. Dick Shue was the engineer for the station. He spent a little bit of money on a mixer and some extra mics. It really sounded good.
I moved away a couple years later, and wasn't aware of the end of the english mass, but the spanish mass moved to the Cathedral and added a video version for cable. Then they added a satellite feed, and from what I understand it's still going strong.
Pope John Paul came out with a teaching about that time, insisting the mass be broadcast live.
Good luck KATH. Hope you find the support and the inspiration to continue your mission.
g