The earlier thread about KFYI got me to thinking...
KFYI is a lot like MASH. If you watch the first few seasons of MASH with Trapper and Henry, etc., you see just how funny they were. Almost every episode is good for some genuine laughs. Then you have BJ and Potter come on board, and with Frank there to play the fool, the show is still pretty dang funny. Then you get to the last five or six seasons, and oh, wow, the show just wasn't the same. The laughs are few and far between. But...
It had HUGE ratings! In fact, the ratings were better in the last few seasons of MASH then they were at the beginning.
My point?
KFYI was an outstanding talk station in its prime (not its ratings prime, which is now, but its entertainment prime.) Hosts like Barry (whom I think is still great, BTW), Mohan, Ed Walsh, Tom Leykis, etc., really entertained. Heck, even Jack Cole, deranged as he was, was still a lot of fun. This era, right about 1987-90, was the peak of KFYI's entertainment greatness.
Now they are a ratings powerhouse, but back then they were sucking KTAR's fumes. As a result, they tried harder to stand out and be heard. That's not necessary anymore. They just keep cruising. Hey, I've got no problem with that, but they aren't on the cutting edge like they were 15 years ago.
People like to say it's because they tapped into conservative politics. Maybe. I think it's more of a general era of political awareness nationwide that coincides with the 24 hour cable news cycle that accounts for some of it. And the highest-rated cable shows have the biggest mouths running them. That just naturally holds true for radio as well.
What KFYI is missing is fun; the ol' "Hey, we're just crazy enough to say anything, but no one's really too angry around here" attitude. Barry still has it, and maybe Bruce, too. But really, it's all too serious now.
Just like MASH became in its final years.
KFYI is a lot like MASH. If you watch the first few seasons of MASH with Trapper and Henry, etc., you see just how funny they were. Almost every episode is good for some genuine laughs. Then you have BJ and Potter come on board, and with Frank there to play the fool, the show is still pretty dang funny. Then you get to the last five or six seasons, and oh, wow, the show just wasn't the same. The laughs are few and far between. But...
It had HUGE ratings! In fact, the ratings were better in the last few seasons of MASH then they were at the beginning.
My point?
KFYI was an outstanding talk station in its prime (not its ratings prime, which is now, but its entertainment prime.) Hosts like Barry (whom I think is still great, BTW), Mohan, Ed Walsh, Tom Leykis, etc., really entertained. Heck, even Jack Cole, deranged as he was, was still a lot of fun. This era, right about 1987-90, was the peak of KFYI's entertainment greatness.
Now they are a ratings powerhouse, but back then they were sucking KTAR's fumes. As a result, they tried harder to stand out and be heard. That's not necessary anymore. They just keep cruising. Hey, I've got no problem with that, but they aren't on the cutting edge like they were 15 years ago.
People like to say it's because they tapped into conservative politics. Maybe. I think it's more of a general era of political awareness nationwide that coincides with the 24 hour cable news cycle that accounts for some of it. And the highest-rated cable shows have the biggest mouths running them. That just naturally holds true for radio as well.
What KFYI is missing is fun; the ol' "Hey, we're just crazy enough to say anything, but no one's really too angry around here" attitude. Barry still has it, and maybe Bruce, too. But really, it's all too serious now.
Just like MASH became in its final years.
