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KHHO stunting ahead of new network launch
- Thread starter xmtrland
- Start date
It's been a long time ago now (over 40 years), but I remember when this was the dominant station in Tacoma and the South Sound area as Top 40 KTAC. Of course I also remember how quickly the signal for then-KTAC would fade as you drove north from Tacoma to Seattle, so once Seattle and Tacoma really became integrated as a single radio market, there was no way this station could be anything other than a minor niche player. Add the misfortune that has largely befallen the AM broadcast band and I can sadly understand how this once successful station is now just a D-O-G.
I've listened for maybe an hour or so a week, just out of interest. The positives: a lot of vignettes about African American history and historical figures. The negatives: too much "news" that is little more than soundbite reports of some social media, cellphone video post reminiscent of the ones that go viral on FB and the like. I don't hear that sort of thing on CBS Radio News, NPR, or even Fox Radio News. They generally stick to actual news reports, not repostings of viral cellphone videos. Maybe that's the future of news radio.
It's great to see that a network like this is breathing some new air into a frequency that has struggled for quite some time. I agree with the post above about 850 being a tricky frequency. The only other format I could have imagined would have been some sort of news programming targeting Tacoma, and I highly doubt that we would ever see anything like that.
You hit on the big factor: Aribtron, using a mailable diary, could expand metros. Pulse and Hooper stayed in the toll-free central city zone for their surveys.
Dallas and Fort Worth were separate until Arbitron merged them... killing all but a couple of AMs in the process. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale is another example. And where markets did not combine, counties were added. So those AMs that were not very low dial or very high power just could not compete.
They did that years ago ... which is when the station transitioned from KTAC to KHHO calls.
It was expensive. Even KBTC-TV considered South Sound news focus awhile back ... they even had the News Tribune as next-door neighbor and couldn't come up with the resources to make it fly.
Internet regional coverage by journalists has somewhat negated the need for regional broadcasters as it is far less expensive to generate & distribute the content.
Tacoma Rainiers baseball, which had been on KHHO 850 for many years as local content, is off terrestrial radio for the 2021 season. Radio broadcasts still exist, but only streaming on the Rainiers site or the Minor League Baseball app.
While I'm not surprised, it's still sad to see the broadcast leave terrestrial radio.
And that was back when people still listened to AM.
The ad play is pretty simple, do an annual with us and we'll include this as added value- everyone wins, clients get some "woke" exposure that looks good on their corporate PR, I Heart uses otherwise worthless stations to help "bring in" the buy and these underserved markets get something they may potentially listen to and even support. Seems pretty well thought out to me.
Another sports broadcast tradition coming to an end...first it was Seafair ending TV a few years back, and now the Rainiers. But at least you still get to pay mucho $$$ to watch a Mariners game on Root Sports...
Also, I don't believe the Rainiers have a TV crew, even on a public access channel, if I recall.
Also, I don't believe the Rainiers have a TV crew, even on a public access channel, if I recall.
Interestingly, they do have a TV feed. If you were to walk out of the stands as Cheney Stadium and enter the concession area, you would notice that there are TVs showing a feed of the game, complete with an electronic scoreboard and commentary. With that being said, I don't think this footage ever leaves the stadium.
Ironic that the AAA Mariner's affiliate doesn't have a radio contract, but the lowly single A Everett Aquasox still do (KRKO.) Wonder if there was any thought about putting the Rs on 1090...it IS technically a sports station, and god knows they could use a little local content.
One of the problems may be that many of the lower level sports teams (i.e. anything that isn't Seahawks, Mariners, or Sounders -- and now I guess you could add the Kraken) don't apparently have a large enough customer base to merit broadcast if they can't get enough advertisers. For example, how many people go to Rainiers games, as opposed to the number of radio listeners in this market? The number is fairly low. Same thing with T-Birds hockey, WNBA, etc.
Looking at the Rainiers' website, it appears that they're just going to put the play by play (for free, it looks like) on a phone app.
Looks like they've determined for themselves the power of radio.
Looking at the Rainiers' website, it appears that they're just going to put the play by play (for free, it looks like) on a phone app.
Looks like they've determined for themselves the power of radio.
When it comes to sports media, a lot has changed since the days of radio being the only way of carrying games. Now teams can stream games which allow them to own all the advertising inventory and track with far more detail than radio, who's listening/watching (aka analytics). This is all especially true if you have your own app built. An app allows for targeted visual advertising, along with live reads during the game. Previously, many small AA and AAA teams had to give away most, if not all the inventory to the local radio station.
Expect the more well heeled and popular High School Football teams to head in this direction too. Especially in Southern cities.
Here in Yakima, we don't have a Yakima Valley Pippins station, but HS football is aired weekly on KUTI ESPN 1460. They go to various schools in a rotation. So one week they'll do West Valley, another week it will be Selah, another week it's Zillah...it's mostly dependent on who is more competitive I believe. They will likely not air a homecoming game where a 5-0 team plays against an 0-5 team that ends up losing 42-7.
And so does KRKO *and* KKXA for that matter.
People still listen to AM in small towns for high school football, if they are unable to go to the game themselves. I can still DX on a Friday night in September (in a non-Covid world) and still hear 20 to 30 stations playing HSFB. Mostly on the graveyard channels (1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, 1490), where the small-town stations are often at. However, some of the broadcasts are so bad, it basically sounds like a play-by-play announcer talking into a cell phone. Still amusing to hear.
And so does KRKO *and* KKXA for that matter.
People still listen to AM in small towns for high school football, if they are unable to go to the game themselves. I can still DX on a Friday night in September (in a non-Covid world) and still hear 20 to 30 stations playing HSFB. Mostly on the graveyard channels (1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, 1490), where the small-town stations are often at. However, some of the broadcasts are so bad, it basically sounds like a play-by-play announcer talking into a cell phone. Still amusing to hear.
There is a future cottage industry for streaming companies approaching college and high school sports. The latest ones are proposing to provide the school rights to a streaming app with the school/team logos, swag page to sell team merchandise, viewing/listening analytics, and hear the games streamed live with ads. Revenue is split 60/40. 60% to the company, 40% to the school.
If the school pays for it, sure. But broadcasting school sports on any medium is expensive, and selling it to sponsors isn't easy. It can be tough even when sponsors get a tax break for a non-profit LPFM. And you still have to hire the staff and do the heavy lifting. iHeart has offered its streaming platform to the Oakland A's and the Phoenix Coyotes. In both cases, they realized they might as well put the games on an AM station and make money.
I'm guessing this is through organizations like NFHS, which already does a lot of pay-streaming of high school sports (Not just football), and even occasional HS graduations. They specialize in streaming video, however, which in many cases gives students an opportunity to run cameras and even direct the game.
I am guessing MiLB is going to be the same way for those that want to do it. I've been impressed reading what WRAZ Fox 50 in Raleigh does with one of their subchannels for Durham Bulls baseball. High school students direct, produce, handle instant replay, and operate multiple cameras for live games. However, they are Boy Scouts, and I don't know if WRAZ will continue to do that program after the organization's rocky last couple of years.
I am guessing MiLB is going to be the same way for those that want to do it. I've been impressed reading what WRAZ Fox 50 in Raleigh does with one of their subchannels for Durham Bulls baseball. High school students direct, produce, handle instant replay, and operate multiple cameras for live games. However, they are Boy Scouts, and I don't know if WRAZ will continue to do that program after the organization's rocky last couple of years.
As I understand it: Assuming the school/district signs up, the streaming company hires a freelance PBP announcer/engineer in or around that town/city and pays them per game (audio only). The announcer streams the game to their streaming distribution HQ via their smart phone. For the streaming company, as with any new on-line product, this is a quantity play. The more schools that sign up, the closer to making money they get. They sell regional or national spots and visual ads only, and take 60% of the gross revenue. The school gets 40% of the net, which may or may not offset the cost. If the school chooses to use the retail app to sell school swag, I believe the school gets something like 70% of the sales and the streaming company/app providers gets 30%.
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