KFRC-AM IS BLAH BLAH, KFRC YA DA YA DA

[skyrocker]

I got irritated enough to stop visiting this site when the last batch of jocks --all my friends--lost their gigs, BUT FAILED TO NAME NAMES.

Ladies and gentlemen, Goddamnit! C'mon now. The persons responsible for
(a) selling the AM, and
(b.) puttind that juvinile --no, pre teen-- playlist on San Francisco
fog-enriched air and calling it KFRC should, nay, must be NAMED.
(Some say mocked)

It was NOT Dave Sholin, or Celeste (good sport of the year, giving up
her midday slot to Sue Hall), they weren't management, they were "talent."
Also: not Sue, Mr. Coffee, Ben Fon-Torres (see page 91 of "The Hits Just Keep
On Comin!"), John Mac or any of the other jocks. (but they probably know.
C'mon, you gals/guys show us your eggs!)

It was someone in management. Not the PD, everyone knows he's a unich; even the GM is a Corporate Yessir Parrot. No, give us a name or names.

How 'bout Doug Harvil? I'm asking, I wasn't there. It's the only name I can think of, I'm stoned. You were there, tell us. There's some voyaristic RadioInfo peeper that was there and knows the roster of truly guilty participants.

KFRC was a genuine rare legend. Won Station Of The Year, 6 years in a row, and scatered other years as well. Most talented jocks in the nation. Had it's day, sure, but deserves a much better send off (good luck Scott Shannon; I'll be listening to YOUR knock off.) than some stooge created playlist only listenable when one song would jingle into another, bold-faced lies disguised as promos, and an inept Image Voice so completely without direction that it mocked its own listeners, who, BTW were never on the non-broadcaster corporate owner's priority list. We deserve to know the names of the persons responsible.

Validate this thread. Name names.

 

[sfradio]

ahhh man I am sick of all this complaining, you got your oldies station, just leave it as that, who cares about jocks, its a sucky am signal

 

[skyrocker]

OOooh, "who cares about jocks," that sounds like the kind of thing one of them would say... You deposit checks from CBS, boy?

Aaah man, perhaps that was too hasty. --Could be another oft-ignored wannabe..

Cheer up, complain-shy SfraidIO, jocks'll all be just about gone by 2011 and you can be alone with your playlists..

But this thread is for the more fearlass type, who are not afraid to look a little deeper. This industry has been subject to the same mismanagement the rest of this county's finacial industry has. And it's FAILING.

And it doesn't have to. So, who are these entrenched power players that keep sinking ships? You one of 'em? Fess up.

Oh, and, one of the biggest successes I ever laid eardrums on was once heard over a really sucky signal, some illegal stick out of Tijuana, I was told. Called himself Wolfman Jack..

Happy gripe-free New Year.

 

[LKellerIII]

OOooh, "who cares about jocks," that sounds like the kind of thing one of them would say... You deposit checks from CBS, boy?

Aaah man, perhaps that was too hasty. --Could be another oft-ignored wannabe..

Cheer up, complain-shy SfraidIO, jocks'll all be just about gone by 2011 and you can be alone with your playlists..

But this thread is for the more fearlass type, who are not afraid to look a little deeper. This industry has been subject to the same mismanagement the rest of this county's finacial industry has. And it's FAILING.

And it doesn't have to. So, who are these entrenched power players that keep sinking ships? You one of 'em? Fess up.

Oh, and, one of the biggest successes I ever laid eardrums on was once heard over a really sucky signal, some illegal stick out of Tijuana, I was told. Called himself Wolfman Jack..

Happy gripe-free New Year.

Huuuhh? 1090 AM was a "really sucky signal?" We're you listening to XERB from Boise, or something? That signal was a monster! During the daytime, XERB came in loud and clear from the Mexican border all the way to the Tehachapi Mountains - taking in all of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties, at minimum. I lived in LA in the Wolfman era, but I've been told that the signal could be heard at night all the way up the west coast to Vancouver, BC.

And it wasn't "illegal" either - it was licensed by the Mexican government, as were a number of popular stations serving states along our southern border.

 

[skyrocker]

Sorry about that discrepancy, El Killer, you're right. It was everywhere.

But, as you said, it was licensed by the Mexican government, whose broadcast standards differed from those in the States. Every station in America would've liked to do with their transmitters what XERB and XFRB did, kick it up a notch, and overpower one another, but we got laws. [on a more personal note, I've heard quite a few horror stories from gringo jocks commuting. 'course, that was back in the day...] And Wolfman, selling those vinyl LPs was completely wack.

I believe the Wolf is still on satellite radio; he was when I worked XM.

It's bothersome that few discuss the real problem here. Radio's product is entertainment. That or information. Either way, it is made more enjoyable with an obviously cared-for presentation, an integral facet of any audio product. Obviously, that involves people.

For the past decades, owners have been inappropriately denying the entertainment side of their business its honest consideration or respect. Under their watch, extremely valuable experience has been lost, entertainment has eroded badly. This is most hurtful to owners themselves, although they seem oblivious to the damage.

Radio people know: To think you can do it yourself is delusional. They respect their audience.

Inexperienced people with jobs in broadcasting are completely unaware of this -- never occurred to them. That's because they don't know how it's done. What they learn about the business is mainly how to do it more cheaply with less people; nothing about entertainment. They're probably about to announce a station outsourced to Korea any day now.

Similarly, impersonating a larger entertainment staff with fewer people, or prerecorded ubiquitous clone audio is like putting up a pop-up page, that not only blocks your product from view, but says, "What you are about to hear is available anywhere, thus you don't HAVE to listen here. Anyway, what you're actually listening to is the genuine Big Brother of fables, interested only in numbers that represent you, but never interested in you personally, like it used to do."

Meanwhile, instead of any hint of leadership, owners and their yes-men puppets display, with no hint of shame, the plain and simple pursuit of greed. Everybody watches. Most imitate. Fear abounds. Ratings deteriorate. The Yes-men play power games to position themselves to where they think they're most safe --for when it's time for one of them the be scapegoat.

As that drama rolls on, those whose responsibility of ownership should lead them to a recognition that their most critical piece of inventory is their listeners, instead, ignorantly stare transfixed at their all powerful Bottom Line, with the result that their interest blossoms in the one arena guaranteed to lose their prime base, focusing with an "all eggs in one basket" mentality on their facility's finances, on making cuts, on cheapening their own entertainment. To paraphrase: shooting themselves in the foot. Except now we're down to a headless torso, one arm and a leg with three toes. But, of course, as you've been listening, the genital area is intact.

Oh, and yeah, I listened to XERB in Walnut Creek with one of those radio kits you attached to something metal that acted like an antenna. Wonder whatever happened to that thing.

 

[DavidKaye]

But, as you said, it was licensed by the Mexican government, whose broadcast standards differed from those in the States. Every station in America would've liked to do with their transmitters what XERB and XFRB did, kick it up a notch, and overpower one another, but we got laws.

BS. 100% BS. XERB's signal was 50kw just like KGO's and was fed into a directional array just like KGO's and was heard up and down the coast just like KGO's. End of story.

 

[DavidKaye]

But this thread is for the more fearlass type, who are not afraid to look a little deeper. This industry has been subject to the same mismanagement the rest of this county's finacial industry has. And it's FAILING.

Uh...CBS, the owner of the various incarnations of KFRC, has a positive cash flow, one of the few large broadcasters that does. I have a feeling they know what they're doing. I think putting automated oldies on 1550 was an excellent idea. You folks complained about the lack of an oldies format; now you have one. And what's more, by running an automated format, the newest KFRC has more of a chance of actually making money and thus sticking around for awhile.

Gotta give CBS credit for allowing the two experiments they ran on 1550, the podcasts and the personal music casts. These were both innovative ideas that nobody else was trying. You people talk about innovation, well, you got your innovation, but that's not good enough for you. You're all a bunch of whiners.

 

[skyrocker]

Sounds like a press release from Blagojevich's office, DK. Although, I imagine KFRC's cash flow isn't all you make it out to be right now.

With your continued emphasis on money, your evident blind faith in corporate pap (even while CBS experiments with their major market audience instead of broadcasting with any kind of consistent professionalism, all the while abusing and abandoning earnest, talented employees) and your irritating side-stepping of this thread's topic of entertainment value in radio, while simultaneously promoting automation over real people, I've come to the conclusion that your mind is closed on the subject, and you're just not going to even try to go there. You're going to stay on the subject of money.

Actually, for the last few months you've been sounding pretty prerecorded yourself.

To call the failed "experiments" on 1550 creditworthy is not only pure Carl Rovean BS but disguises the corp's actual motive - cheap, or free content. Again, that particular organization, once known as a great entertainer, but now owned by people only interested in money (such as yourself?), has openly displayed its arrogance, ignorance and self-imposed inability to comprehend its own business.

If you're not already, you'd be perfect fodder for the next KFRC Program Director. You have passed the corporate "Yes Test." You stated that you "have a feeling they know what they're doing," even as their expertise has driven that once giant among this City's call letters completely off of the San Francisco radio dial.

You people talk about innovation, well, you got your innovation, but that's not good enough for you.

"You people?" --you from another planet, David? Anyway-- CORRECT. Not good enough - for us whiners. Not even close.

We've heard the real thing, and it was composed of PEOPLE, not automation. And it was stupendous. Great connection hearing people supporting people supporting listeners. Money follows in the wake of thoe kinds of interesting performances, whether music, talk and even Dung Boy. That's why we call it Show BIZ.

You may have quite some experience selecting music for parties, but is that all you do? Do you ever speak to your dancing throngs? Ever held the attention of someone NOT at a party? Do you do shout-outs, use ID elements, relate to your audience in any way? Take requests? Or do you just play a string of records, put on the headphones and shut out the whiners?

 

[RadioStarOne]

My brief encounter with 1550: Windy by the Association, Over My Head By Fleetwood Mac, Do You Wanna Dance by The Beach Boys, Black Magic Woman by Santana. True Oldies? My A$$!

SkyRocker, perhaps RKO General should have Sold the KFRC Calls back in 1986? They sure would have gotten a lot more then than they're worth now! No Brag Just Fact!

Scott Shannon crawl back into the hole you crawled out of!

CBS perhaps its time for you to get out of the music side of the broadcasting business! Heritage Broacasting statiions ruined coast to coast by your stupidity and lack of imagination! Innovation = K-YOU Radio? Oh Please!

 

[dungboy]

Hey guys,

The Idiotshow will return Jan 18th live streaming on KYOU.Com! I'll be on from 6-8 as before. I'll be working to have my show offered on CBS's other streaming outlets. The true oldies thing on 1550 will not work, they're still trying to push that mid 70's ac/aor crap down people's throats as "oldies"or "Classic Hits" and it just doesn't work, does hearing Billy Joel or Elton excite you?, nobody cares about this music. Plus Scott Shannon is just a terrible jock.

Skyrocker: I agree with your position 100% I went through my "radio rage" period, it lasted around 10 years. I had to let it all go to actually be able to do anything again. I may fail and again leave broadcasting but at least I'm going to give it a shot. I realized that sitting around complaining or whining will get you nothing.

 

[bobgowa]

But, as you said, it was licensed by the Mexican government, whose broadcast standards differed from those in the States. Every station in America would've liked to do with their transmitters what XERB and XFRB did, kick it up a notch, and overpower one another, but we got laws.

BS. 100% BS. XERB's signal was 50kw just like KGO's and was fed into a directional array just like KGO's and was heard up and down the coast just like KGO's. End of story.

Gotta jump in here, as I was there: XERB was licensed to run 50kw with a three element array. However, it was usually kicked up at least one notch. My friend Adolfo, one of the engineers (mid-70s) told me so, and showed me the meters on the enormous rig to prove it. There are always some rules that are OK to bend; Things may have changed since, but at the time, Mexican stations could had a little more leeway than we did in the power department.

PS: The backup transmitter at XERB was an RCA Ampliphase that had previously been at KNX. You could tell it was running when you heard a persistent buzzing sound under KNX.

 

[dungboy]

But this thread is for the more fearlass type, who are not afraid to look a little deeper. This industry has been subject to the same mismanagement the rest of this county's finacial industry has. And it's FAILING.

Uh...CBS, the owner of the various incarnations of KFRC, has a positive cash flow, one of the few large broadcasters that does. I have a feeling they know what they're doing. I think putting automated oldies on 1550 was an excellent idea. You folks complained about the lack of an oldies format; now you have one. And what's more, by running an automated format, the newest KFRC has more of a chance of actually making money and thus sticking around for awhile.

Gotta give CBS credit for allowing the two experiments they ran on 1550, the podcasts and the personal music casts. These were both innovative ideas that nobody else was trying. You people talk about innovation, well, you got your innovation, but that's not good enough for you. You're all a bunch of whiners.

I also agree with this statement. The Podcast thing IS an interesting approach for radio programing. It's not like I hate the "True Oldies" format, to me it sounds sterile and the random 1984 Orwellian vibe is disturbing. I really don't hate Scott Shannon either but being the ONLY jock on True Oldies is a little creepy. Like you said, they can't do any worse than the KYCY version (endless dull financial shows...oddball shows (like mine ) here and there....ect. The station had no real plan or promotion. The IDEA is great and with a talented PD to put to all together might have turned out differently not to mention a budget.

We'll see what happens with the new guy who's coming in...

 

[andreajesus]

I really don't hate Scott Shannon either but being the ONLY jock on True Oldies is a little creepy.

i just think the whole "True Oldies" thing is, well, NOT creepy, just "scary" 'cos what that's basically saying is that Scott and WHOEVER came up with the "True Oldies" concept in the FIRST place is trying to placate the people who say, "well, i still want to hear a DJ playing music...." while at the SAME time trying to make it sound impersonal enough for the bean counters...but believe me, people know what the REAL deal is when it comes to "personality radio" - THEY know - and what could happen from all this is "True Oldies" flopping on its you-know-what...:

BRING BACK REAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!

 

[pard]

Listened to KYOU Radio on play.it today. Enjoyed Coverville #451. I hope they keep my humble offering online. I will be uploading this week.

Cheers!!

 

[sfradio]

But this thread is for the more fearlass type, who are not afraid to look a little deeper. This industry has been subject to the same mismanagement the rest of this county's finacial industry has. And it's FAILING.

Uh...CBS, the owner of the various incarnations of KFRC, has a positive cash flow, one of the few large broadcasters that does. I have a feeling they know what they're doing. I think putting automated oldies on 1550 was an excellent idea. You folks complained about the lack of an oldies format; now you have one. And what's more, by running an automated format, the newest KFRC has more of a chance of actually making money and thus sticking around for awhile.

Gotta give CBS credit for allowing the two experiments they ran on 1550, the podcasts and the personal music casts. These were both innovative ideas that nobody else was trying. You people talk about innovation, well, you got your innovation, but that's not good enough for you. You're all a bunch of whiners.

AMEN!! and plus why waste good jocks on a station that barely that many people pick up?

 

[LKellerIII]

I really don't hate Scott Shannon either but being the ONLY jock on True Oldies is a little creepy.

i just think the whole "True Oldies" thing is, well, NOT creepy, just "scary" 'cos what that's basically saying is that Scott and WHOEVER came up with the "True Oldies" concept in the FIRST place is trying to placate the people who say, "well, i still want to hear a DJ playing music...." while at the SAME time trying to make it sound impersonal enough for the bean counters...but believe me, people know what the REAL deal is when it comes to "personality radio" - THEY know - and what could happen from all this is "True Oldies" flopping on its you-know-what...:

BRING BACK REAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!

I've got to give Scott Shannon credit...he's probably making some $$$ with his True Oldies format. If you check the True Oldies website, you'll find that the format is mostly carried by small market FMs and a lot of low power AM stations - generally high up the dial with no other prospects to get ratings or make much revenue.

There are a few exceptions: 94.7 WLS-FM in Chicago which runs some actual jocks (like veteran Dick Biondi)...I don't know if they're live or VTed. Scott is actually half of the "Scott & Todd" morning show there, which I assume is live. I believe WLS-AM was a heritage Top 40 back in the day, so the pedigree is there.

"True Oldies 105.9" in DC also runs other jocks. "True Oldies 106.1 in New Orleans doesn't even have a website, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

But most of the stations are on a strict budget, and plugging in this canned format saves them money. Low cost and low expectations. Nothing more...

http://www.trueoldieschannel.com/html/stations.html

 

[andreajesus]

I really don't hate Scott Shannon either but being the ONLY jock on True Oldies is a little creepy.

i just think the whole "True Oldies" thing is, well, NOT creepy, just "scary" 'cos what that's basically saying is that Scott and WHOEVER came up with the "True Oldies" concept in the FIRST place is trying to placate the people who say, "well, i still want to hear a DJ playing music...." while at the SAME time trying to make it sound impersonal enough for the bean counters...but believe me, people know what the REAL deal is when it comes to "personality radio" - THEY know - and what could happen from all this is "True Oldies" flopping on its you-know-what...:

BRING BACK REAL PERSONALITY RADIO!!!

I've got to give Scott Shannon credit...he's probably making some $$$ with his True Oldies format. If you check the True Oldies website, you'll find that the format is mostly carried by small market FMs and a lot of low power AM stations - generally high up the dial with no other prospects to get ratings or make much revenue.

There are a few exceptions: 94.7 WLS-FM in Chicago which runs some actual jocks (like veteran Dick Biondi)...I don't know if they're live or VTed. Scott is actually half of the "Scott & Todd" morning show there, which I assume is live. I believe WLS-AM was a heritage Top 40 back in the day, so the pedigree is there.

"True Oldies 105.9" in DC also runs other jocks. "True Oldies 106.1 in New Orleans doesn't even have a website, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

But most of the stations are on a strict budget, and plugging in this canned format saves them money. Low cost and low expectations. Nothing more...

http://www.trueoldieschannel.com/html/stations.html

Precisely my point - it's a money thing with "True Oldies"...and the listeners are the ones that lose out...

 

[DanStrassberg]

BS. 100% BS. XERB's signal was 50kw just like KGO's and was fed into a directional array just like KGO's and was heard up and down the coast just like KGO's. End of story.

Are you SURE that Cyril Brennan didn't work his magic of 250+% modulation on positive peaks at XERF and XERB before he tried it at any of his US stations (WAPE, WVOK, WQYK)? The practice then became popular at quite a few US AMs that Brennan didn't own or engineer, particularly on high-power AMs with decent skywave coverage at night. And in its day, it made almost as much of a mess of the AM band as IBOC is doing now. I don't know how many years such "supermodulation" was popular in the US before the FCC limited positive-peak modulation to 125%.

 

[djj]

I've got to give Scott Shannon credit...he's probably making some $$$ with his True Oldies format. If you check the True Oldies website, you'll find that the format is mostly carried by small market FMs and a lot of low power AM stations - generally high up the dial with no other prospects to get ratings or make much revenue.

I agree. Shannon is probably is making $$$ with the TOC...and though it's a network
of a lot of low-power signals, it may still run circles around Air America's patchwork of
(mostly) horrid-signaled affiliates...

..."True Oldies 106.1 in New Orleans doesn't even have a website, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Techically, this is WMTI 106.1's still-active website from the previous format,
with an audio link:
http://www.martini1061.com/uc/

A Wikipedia entry (take it for what it's worth) says WMTI switched to
Shannon's format in December 2007, adding that WMTI: "derives a portion of its programming from Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from ABC Radio."

Interestingly, WMTI is owned by Citadel...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
--jay

 

[sfradio]

I've got to give Scott Shannon credit...he's probably making some $$$ with his True Oldies format. If you check the True Oldies website, you'll find that the format is mostly carried by small market FMs and a lot of low power AM stations - generally high up the dial with no other prospects to get ratings or make much revenue.

I agree. Shannon is probably is making $$$ with the TOC...and though it's a network
of a lot of low-power signals, it may still run circles around Air America's patchwork of
(mostly) horrid-signaled affiliates...

..."True Oldies 106.1 in New Orleans doesn't even have a website, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Techically, this is WMTI 106.1's still-active website from the previous format,
with an audio link:
http://www.martini1061.com/uc/

A Wikipedia entry (take it for what it's worth) says WMTI switched to
Shannon's format in December 2007, adding that WMTI: "derives a portion of its programming from Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from ABC Radio."

Interestingly, WMTI is owned by Citadel...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
--jay

here is the new website
http://www.1061neworleans.com/