Looks like John Granato and Ken Hoffmann will be on the new station.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4850805.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4850805.html
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KILE news
- Thread starter stan
- Start date
Sounds like this will be a "guy talk" format. This sounds like a station that I will want to check out--might have talk that is entertaining and not just right wing ranting. It will be interesting to see what the programming line-up ends up looking like. If they emphasize sports, I don't see how this market can support 4 sports stations.
This rush to put sports-talk formats everywhere reminds me of a panel discussion I saw on Denver's local access cable channel one night about ten years ago. Some radio executives and consultants were talking about the direction radio was going in the mid 90s, and not one of them had anything positive to say. Sports-talk was still in the future, but one of the consultants said something about audiences I'll never forget, because it seems to get more true with each passing year.
This guy said just about every major market "personality" driven radio station in the country appeared to be going after a demographic he called "Stupid Young Men" age 15 to 30.
It was true then, and it's still true now.
This guy said just about every major market "personality" driven radio station in the country appeared to be going after a demographic he called "Stupid Young Men" age 15 to 30.
It was true then, and it's still true now.
No one else has addressed this but is this really the time to launch a new AM format? With the declining listenership of terrestrial radio especially among the younger demographics and the much-discussed competition from satellite and ipods, what can a local AM-talker add to the already mundane set of options we presently have? It's tough competing in news against KUHF/NPR during drivetimes as KTRH has demonstrated by curtailing its afternoon news, not to mention the failure of KFNC...and how much more sports (guy) talk can we absorb?
Don't get me wrong...I wish the folks at KILE the best of luck...and Granato/Hoffman are both interesting and entertaining hosts with an established following...I just am not sure about long term economic prospects of AM broadcasting unless the format is a spectacular break from the usual humdrum mediocre offerings we are used to...
Don't get me wrong...I wish the folks at KILE the best of luck...and Granato/Hoffman are both interesting and entertaining hosts with an established following...I just am not sure about long term economic prospects of AM broadcasting unless the format is a spectacular break from the usual humdrum mediocre offerings we are used to...
radiobop said:
This is why I have the feeling that KTCK in DFW will be the model for the revamped 1560. KTCK has been a huge success with its sports/guy talk format. In fact, the only DFW AM ahead of it is 50kw blowtorch WBAP.
The downside: I don't think Houston is anywhere as passionate a sports market as DFW (and DFW is less passionate than, say, Boston, NYC, Philly, etc) so that could spell trouble. But the new 1560 management may be hoping that their Guy Talk format wil do enough damage to either 610/790/97.5 than one or two might throw in the towel.
Gonna be a radio death match, and someone definitely won't survive. Should be interesting. 1560 needs to get the night array built and operational before November, as a 5:30pm sign-off is not a good thing for for a new station in drivetime.
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snoman
Guest
My guess is 790 won't survive. The only thing they really have going for them is Pallilo. Fox Sports Radio is terrible. KFNC's ridiculous signal is its enemy in the battle, but they have the best programming with ESPN Radio. And KILT's ties with the Rockets and Texans will keep them afloat.
I've listened to KTCK a few times when I've been up in the Metroplex. I find it annoying and juvenile. I said their slogan should be "puberty radio". Hoffman and Granato are good though, so I am looking forward to it.
I've listened to KTCK a few times when I've been up in the Metroplex. I find it annoying and juvenile. I said their slogan should be "puberty radio". Hoffman and Granato are good though, so I am looking forward to it.
Radiobop: KFNC as a news station was not some kind of big failure. It was an experiment. Now: Let me get this straight: KTRH has cut back it's drivetime news because KUHF/NPR is doing so well? What?
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snoman
Guest
KFNC would have worked, had the signal been better. I enjoyed it, I just didn't enjoy the tropo interference of KWTX 97.5 bleeding all over it in West Houston, where I live. The talent was definitely there. KTRH's cuts have nothing to do with competition from KUHF. They were strictly cost-cutting moves by Clear Channel. They have done that with most of their News/Talk stations across the country, including their flagship WOAI in San Antonio.
As said many times before, 97.5 belongs in the Beaumont market. It's not a Houston signal. I doubt there is anything they will ever be able to put on there, that will ever reach a 2 share in Houston. When they had Urban AC on, it was pulling 5's-7's shares in Beaumont.
As said many times before, 97.5 belongs in the Beaumont market. It's not a Houston signal. I doubt there is anything they will ever be able to put on there, that will ever reach a 2 share in Houston. When they had Urban AC on, it was pulling 5's-7's shares in Beaumont.
snoman said:
Agreed, snoman. In fact, I'd venture to say that gospel would have been a good choice if KROI hadn't come along.
More than five years have passed and it's time to get 97.5 back to where it should be. Overall the ratings in Houston for KRWP were never that good, but as you mentioned the Beaumont numbers were often pretty solid. A return to urban AC or a switch to hip hop targeting Beaumont would make sense. A check of the ratings for Cumulus' Majic 102.5 KTCX (which for over eight years has pulled anywhere from twice to three times what KRWP ever had in Beaumont) shows that the audience is there. KTCX is the only game in town and 97.5 could take them on. So forget Houston, forget the relicensing to Mont Belvieu, move the studios back to Beaumont and target the market where the signal is dominant. (Oh yeah, and get Steve Harvey on the phone.)
In a few markets around the country, news/talk (and a few sports talk) stations are either making the transition to FM or planning to do so, but it's not happening in Houston yet. With its awful coverage KFNC isn't part of the equation, so pull the plug and leave it to KILT, KBME and the new kid on the block, KILE.
Michael, at the expense of sounding like a politician, when I referred to the "failure" of KFNC, I am alluding to the fact that the format is no longer available to the listeners...I loved the station and was an avid listener and was sorry to see the plug pulled on the experiment...OK, so why did KTRH cut back on its commitment to local news and why do we have talk 75% of the time on the so-called NEWStalk station? A. It's an expensive format to do it right fulltime and we all know that CC and expensive (not to mention, "do it right") don't seem to go together; B. People can get news any minute of the day via cable and internet and by the time they get to their cars after 5, everything is a rehash; C. Younger demographics don't listen to terrestrial radio anymore (ESPECIALLY AM!) and go straight to satellite or their ipods every chance they get; or they if they really want the best news programming out there, they go to NPR...I don't know the answer but radio news for some reason has never been Houston's turn on. I am embarrassed for listeners in this market because there is no radio coverage of breaking local news or weather available after 6 pm and hardly none during the rest of the day...
Thanks Radiobop. You're right. It's not that KTRH has cut back its newsblocks because NPR is doing such a great job. Radio news has become an advertising tool that's also intended as public service. It's increasingly more of the former and less of the latter, though. KUHT and NPR do a great job, but there's always a place for quick headlines for busy people who can't go on the net or even get to a TV. If there's an emergency people absolutely need to have radio news. And you're absolutely right about the younger demos. It's interesting that KSL in Salt Lake City is experimenting with a high-budget nighttime entertaining news show that could be moved to FM mornings to serve the 18-36 demo -- and it's intended to be very much like FM NewsChannel 97.5's old format.
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snoman
Guest
KSL has the money to do whatever they want. They're owned by the Mormon Church. They make lots of money in Salt Lake. The fly in the ointment, is that all of their programming must be approved by the Church.
KTRH has the money to do whatever they want to, Clear Channel just wants to get the most bang for the buck. And, it's cheaper to put a bunch of syndie talk shows, that get high ratings and draw great revenue, like Rush
, than employ a full-time news staff. I must say, their ratings were way up. However, it's really splitting hairs, because KPRC's were way down.
I'd still like to see a News station, with a good signal here. This city is big enough for one, and there is always something going on. Either that, or do what WLW does in Cincinnati, which is called "Full-Service"... a combination of News/Local Talk and Community Service styled shows.
KTRH has the money to do whatever they want to, Clear Channel just wants to get the most bang for the buck. And, it's cheaper to put a bunch of syndie talk shows, that get high ratings and draw great revenue, like Rush
, than employ a full-time news staff. I must say, their ratings were way up. However, it's really splitting hairs, because KPRC's were way down. I'd still like to see a News station, with a good signal here. This city is big enough for one, and there is always something going on. Either that, or do what WLW does in Cincinnati, which is called "Full-Service"... a combination of News/Local Talk and Community Service styled shows.
C
CW
Guest
jd said:
Hmmm reading the above and especially the part "97.5 could take them on"....
NOW WHO do you think 102.5 AND 97.5????????? CUMULUS does....DUH!!!
IF you think after they spent MILLIONS in upgrading 97.5 to a 2000ft Class C, they intend to revert it back to the Beaumont market, you are nuts!!! Any share of the Houston market is more money than being #1 in Beaumont.....(KLVI only bills maybe a million a year....You can bill much more in the Houston market ever with a rimshot signal)...
ITs ALL about the money....and they wont stop while they have an investment (and a cheap one at that...103.7 costs them almost 10x as much!!! and that was BEFORE they built the 103.7 2000ft tower...which costs another 3-5 million)
CW said:
Easy there, CW! Yes, I'm aware that the stations are commonly owned and you don't compete against yourself. It was all (well, almost all) tongue in cheek. A joke, meant to point that their options are limited. Maybe I should have added smiley faces, and labeled it as satire.
Here are the parts that were serious: it's time to get 97.5 back where it should be, with a format that stands a chance of making some money. Competing with two (soon to be three) other sports/talk stations isn't where it belongs.
John Granatos and Ken Hoffman?? Together on one station? Destined to be yet another ill conceived sports/psuedo guy-talk format on AM radio? And no doubt, completely lacking originality and much needed personality?
At least I know what to listen to when I run out of Ambien.
At least I know what to listen to when I run out of Ambien.
C
CW
Guest
jd said:
Ok ok....I thought you had lost it jd!!
Yeah the smiley face would have helped........(like the Well almost comment above......)
True, it wont stand a chance against the other sports stations...it needs something else.... but back in Beaumont? there's no money in that anymore...(and CC and Cumulus pretty much split the market there anyway)
R
RADIOGM
Guest
I have recently spoken with some of the consulting engineers in Houston and you get back to the same old problem on KILE 1560. The same problem on 97.5. If you can't be heard, you won't get ratings and massive listeners. Looking at KILE'S nighttime coverage at the high end of the dial - you can say GOODNIGHT. If you live in downtown Bellaire, you might be in good luck if you have a good car radio for decent reception.
Radio listeners and commuters in cars will not tolerate static, hiss, and fading in and out. It is that simple. Also from the revenue billing standpoint, four sports stations...or a total of about 8 talk stations now in the houston market will never add up. Some of them will go! Expect KILE to become Korean brokered about 6 months after the new owners take over.
RGM
Radio listeners and commuters in cars will not tolerate static, hiss, and fading in and out. It is that simple. Also from the revenue billing standpoint, four sports stations...or a total of about 8 talk stations now in the houston market will never add up. Some of them will go! Expect KILE to become Korean brokered about 6 months after the new owners take over.
RGM
RADIOGM said:
That's right. From 50kW daytime all the way down to 1kW is almost like turning it off completely. The nighttime site is north of I-10 around Eldridge with a thin lobe running all the way to Bellaire. A new application for modification of the CP calls for using 19,000 watts at night from a different site way out northwest (we're talking Katy Prairie, folks). Granted, it's a sizable increase but KILE's coverage still wouldn't rival that of stations on the lower half of the band. That's providing the FCC approves it, and it's far from a done deal. Just because Mexico gave tacit approval to the current authorization for 1kW doesn't mean they couldn't apply the brakes on this one.
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