Kevin & Bean

[Theo_Huxtable]

Forgive me if this has ever been covered before. Can someone explain to me how Kevin & Bean are not syndicated? Do they not care about it? Having listened to them for some time now, I find that they are very talented, and they (unlike many morning shows) tend to not make everything about themselves, and more towards entertaining the audience. I've always wondered and this is as good a place as any to tap into someones brain on this stuff.

 

[Nik2.0]

Well they are they're on (at least they were) in Fresno for a while. Im not sure they did anything there but my guess is that being a top rated morning show in Los Angeles is enough for them. A HUGE feat considering that they are also on an alternative station too yet they're right up there in terms of competition with the Seacrests of the world etc.

 

[david]

Can someone explain to me how Kevin & Bean are not syndicated? Do they not care about it?

Even when they were "syndicated" to Fresno, the show remained KROQ focused in brand and profile. Many local LA shows have not matched their local success when syndicated - KFI's John & Ken in the 90s, KABC's Michael Jackson in the 80s, etc. Other hugely successful local hosts have remained local only despite aspirations to go national - Rick Dees comes to mind here.Some local shows that have gone national - Larry Elder tend to lose their edge when they do. Seldom do I see their local popularity soar even further when they begin to syndicate.I think part of K&B's local success is that they are local. They would not be able to talk about the "909" or the inland invasion, or the Weanie Roast, Acoustic Christmas and all the other things that make their show so wonderfully local if they were being heard in Omaha, Orlando, Denver, and elsewhere.

 

[bobbybooey]

A lot of what I've heard of the show would seem to translate pretty well to other markets. Whenever I've listened online, their show hasn't seemed nearly as LA-centric as the rest of the station. For example I don't think you could put KROQ on anywhere other than LA and have it be as huge as it is... the station has a cool too-hip-for-the-room vibe that's perfect for LA but I don't think would play too well outside of SoCal. Kevin and Bean, on the other hand, come across as just a couple of really funny guys screwing off for 4 hours, and generally in a way that would work anywhere. Like in TV, Letterman and Conan are in NY and talk about NY all the time... I have absolutely no desire to go to NY or hear about NY, but that doesn't lessen my enjoyment of their shows.On the flip-side, if it ain't broke, why mess with it? If I was making boat-loads of cash at my dream gig I don't know that I'd be hell-bent on risking it all blowing up by messing with syndication. I think their show would work as a syndicated product, but I don't blame them for not going that route.

 

[Nik2.0]

Can someone explain to me how Kevin & Bean are not syndicated? Do they not care about it?

Even when they were "syndicated" to Fresno, the show remained KROQ focused in brand and profile. Many local LA shows have not matched their local success when syndicated - KFI's John & Ken in the 90s, KABC's Michael Jackson in the 80s, etc. Other hugely successful local hosts have remained local only despite aspirations to go national - Rick Dees comes to mind here.Some local shows that have gone national - Larry Elder tend to lose their edge when they do. Seldom do I see their local popularity soar even further when they begin to syndicate.I think part of K&B's local success is that they are local. They would not be able to talk about the "909" or the inland invasion, or the Weanie Roast, Acoustic Christmas and all the other things that make their show so wonderfully local if they were being heard in Omaha, Orlando, Denver, and elsewhere.

This is essentially what I was trying to say David, you just said it a lot better. I doubt they really want or need syndication. Problem is sicne Stern did it years ago everyone got the bug and not everyone is synidcation worthy or able to adjust the course of the show to a more broad geographical sphere and still entertain the core. Look at Mancow who has been sort of floundering with his syndication attempts for years. Although Im sure K and B would do that with little problem broadening to more than just LA,, again if you're kingpins in a market like LA, most sensible hosts see that as enough. Many of the shows you've described allowed their egos to write checks that their arses could not cover if ya know whhat Im sayin'

 

[Doctah]

At the very least, I think west coast syndication would make sense. (Not sure how you'd do it on the east coast). Especially California, where even people in Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and San Diego are a part of Southern California, get L.A. TV stations on their cable system, etc.

 

[Theo_Huxtable]

All very valid points. I love their show although I don't get to listen as much as I would like. They just don't come off as full of themselves. I don't know what they're like in person, but at least they're not always talking about themselves on the air... which is a nice change compared to most morning shows.

 

[researcher]

"Free FM" in San Diego and KITS/SF would be nice stations for them. Both stations are really struggling after losing Stern - and Kevin & Bean would likely work real well there...

 

[Sgeirk]

I wholeheartedly agree that Kevin and Bean would work well on the other Free-FM stations in CA.

That said, Kevin and Bean put on one of the best "local" morning shows in the country. They make the metropolis of Los Angeles sound like a city, not the vast entity that it is.

If I were them, I'd turn down syndication...and just keep doing what I'm doing.

 

[Demodave]

Another example of syndication ruining a show....Mark & Brian. I remember listening to them on KLOS back in the day and they were really funny with great chemistry. When they spread their wings to take their show out of LA and in to other markets, it got much "safer" and......boring. Mark & Brian were on in Vegas two different times; and were failures in the Vegas market both times.