-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
KBRC/KAPS Radio Tour
- Thread starter Bongwater
- Start date
Interesting video. Its a shame that KAPS and KBRC are not live and local all day long. However, it sometimes makes more financial sense to bring in a network I suppose.
Pretty interesting video, I notice that they haven't cleaned the satellite dish because it looks DIRTY and RUSTY! Fun to see that old reel to reel tape of the Emporium/Mount Vernon commercial from '94. Used to be a department store chain that operated over 30 locations in the west - and then got shut down in 2003.
I just wonder what other goodies are in small town stations like this...old carts?
-crainbebo
I just wonder what other goodies are in small town stations like this...old carts?
-crainbebo
It seems to me like one of the best things KAPS/KBRC could do is bring in some live and local talent from 6am to 6pm at the very least. That would provide Mt Vernon some real local radio. However, that is difficult in small market radio sometimes.
Oh yes! I'd bet money that every small town station has a rack of cart tapes!
I'd bet low....You'd be surprised these days.
Personally, I really appreciate Kirk Tollefson's honesty in admitting both stations are syndicated 21 hours a day. But then again, it's not like even the most casual Skagit County radio listener doesn't already know that.
I don't think all that syndication is the best or ideal thing exactly for small market music radio either. And let's face it, those empty, liner card reading syndicated "personalities" sound like a joke. There might be some hidden benefit to that Bill might be able to explain, but I certainly don't hear it.
There is probably a pretty significant cost savings that comes with network radio. Not to mention, network radio also allows for minimal office staff at the radio station. When you have a live and local station, you need to have fill in personalities, a promotions team, and perhaps newsreaders. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Tollefson can get by at KAPS/KBRC without anyone else being at the radio station on a typical day. From what I see, he seems like a "one man show" around there.
So, in short, I suppose the benefit to network radio is the cost/hassle savings that come with pulling off the "one man show". But then again, I think KAPS/KBRC could greatly benefit and improve if they did try and be a local station.
So, in short, I suppose the benefit to network radio is the cost/hassle savings that come with pulling off the "one man show". But then again, I think KAPS/KBRC could greatly benefit and improve if they did try and be a local station.
Last edited:
You decide.
I had the opportunity to check out the operations of a few small town radio stations a while back. You are sure to run across a lot of interesting relics, such as real to real machines, cart tapes of music and spots, and radio boards that feature the old school dial and toggle switch design. You never know what you might see. Didn't they have a closet for all of the old equipment that no longer served a purpose over at KMAS?
Last edited:
Not only difficult, but not even possible. If I ran my four primary stations totally live and local from 6a-7p, my on-air staff would go from 4 to 12, and I would be out of business in the first month. If I only added two to my staff and ran even one of my stations live and local 13 hours a day, I might last a few more months. While one can (and should) criticize major market stations for voice-tracking and unattended nights and weekends, when their revenues per station dwarf the total market revenues in rural markets, small market stations simply do not have the necessary local retail sales to support what many of us would prefer to do.
This has always made perfect sense to me...smaller markets, especially, adapt to the appointment opportunities they are fed. If your audience knows you'll be talking about their community in the morning...they'll likely show up for the date and then go on about their day with the bird-fed service you provide as an accessory. Don't have all the traffic, developing story kinds of issues that pop up in larger population centers throughout the day. Even large market stations who choose to track (or just be a jukebox) are OK if that's the expectation they set for their role in the market.
What does NOT make sense to me is any market that is 100% tracked/automated/bird-fed, unless we're talking about a service such as Sirius/XM. They don't CLAIM to be a local service...their offering is (supposedly) depth in the niche channel they are providing.
That certainly makes sense; you can only do what you can do to keep your business profitable. One great thing about your cluster is that you keep a live and local on KSWW morning show (which you know listeners want). Last time I checked in with KAPS it didn't sound like there was anything local about their morning show (but perhaps I caught them on an off-day, or they don't have a morning fill in).
Last edited:
Remember how the old KNBQ 102.9 used to air the same exact morning show that Bill uses now on KANY? For iheartmedia, "The Big D and Bubba Show" actually was a pretty good choice on their part because it is a fun and entertaining show for morning listeners. There are other syndicated morning shows that are so bad that you are better off automated.
- Status