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SeattleRadioPro
Guest
Methinks it's either the Mariners rights announcement or that they've renamed 1820 Eastlake in honor of Dave Ross's 30th anniversary with the station. We'll be listening...
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searadiofreak
Guest
Yep, Seattle Radio Pro got it right...
By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER
The Seattle Mariners will be moving back down the radio dial to KIRO-AM/710 for the 2009 season, the Seattle P-I has learned.
Sources say the two sides will announce the signing of a three-year deal today at noon, a deal that will bring the Mariners about $5.5 million per season from Bonneville International, the company that owns KIRO.
For the past six seasons the Mariners have been heard on KOMO-AM/1000, part of a deal that brought the Mariners about $10 million per season. For 18 years before the switch in 2003, the Mariners had called KIRO home.
By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER
The Seattle Mariners will be moving back down the radio dial to KIRO-AM/710 for the 2009 season, the Seattle P-I has learned.
Sources say the two sides will announce the signing of a three-year deal today at noon, a deal that will bring the Mariners about $5.5 million per season from Bonneville International, the company that owns KIRO.
For the past six seasons the Mariners have been heard on KOMO-AM/1000, part of a deal that brought the Mariners about $10 million per season. For 18 years before the switch in 2003, the Mariners had called KIRO home.
A
AQH
Guest
searadiofreak said:
Was Bill Virgin too busy sorting through Sunday morning Public Affairs programming releases to report this truly newsworthy event?
Well, this is hardly "new" news or "breaking" news since it has been pretty well confirmed for several months---however it is significant to both stations, KOMO and KIRO. And what does this mean for KOMO and its news staff AND their Mariner KOMO staff (the ones paid by KOMO, not the M's staff).
KOMO built this all-news product on the backs of getting the Mariners for $10 million a year, raiding KIRO and other stations and getting retired folks back on the air. Now the M's are gone, so will KOMO go news/talk or blow it up altogether? What happens to Shannon Dreyer? (Methinks she will actually join the Mariners staff in some capacity) Tom Hutlyer? He'll stay on as Safeco fiend announcer, of course, but no more pre or post game shows. Tom Glasgow? Who knows?
And I would speculate that because of the M's move, Dennis Kelly will tell the staff that cuts are coming in all areas: anchors, reporters, producers, newswriters.....everything. Names will be posted daily on a message board. They can automate the overnights. If I'm working at Fisher, I would be worried, very worried. There's just nowhere to go work if you're cut.
As for KIRO, this is all good news. Dori will get even more sports exposure, and with the Seahawks AND the Mariners' KIRO will once again be the dominate station in Seattle. It doesn't matter how bad the M's are; if you have a major pro team on your station (and KIRO has the #1 Hawks and #2 M's), people are going to listen and the M's can only get better from 2009 on. This will really have an impact on R&D and To Butt To Listen at 7 PM during the summers.
KOMO built this all-news product on the backs of getting the Mariners for $10 million a year, raiding KIRO and other stations and getting retired folks back on the air. Now the M's are gone, so will KOMO go news/talk or blow it up altogether? What happens to Shannon Dreyer? (Methinks she will actually join the Mariners staff in some capacity) Tom Hutlyer? He'll stay on as Safeco fiend announcer, of course, but no more pre or post game shows. Tom Glasgow? Who knows?
And I would speculate that because of the M's move, Dennis Kelly will tell the staff that cuts are coming in all areas: anchors, reporters, producers, newswriters.....everything. Names will be posted daily on a message board. They can automate the overnights. If I'm working at Fisher, I would be worried, very worried. There's just nowhere to go work if you're cut.
As for KIRO, this is all good news. Dori will get even more sports exposure, and with the Seahawks AND the Mariners' KIRO will once again be the dominate station in Seattle. It doesn't matter how bad the M's are; if you have a major pro team on your station (and KIRO has the #1 Hawks and #2 M's), people are going to listen and the M's can only get better from 2009 on. This will really have an impact on R&D and To Butt To Listen at 7 PM during the summers.
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SeattleRadioPro
Guest
CorporateSuit said:
I'll bet one of the first "cuts" will be Mr. Kelly himself. But don't worry - he's probably kept his previous relationship with Bonneville alive (but quietly) so he'll land on his feet.
Budget cuts? Think deeper than that. Methinks this may very well mark the end of Fisher's radio ownership in Seattle.
As for names - here goes: Yeend will probably re-retire and Slocum will likely leave the biz for his poetry writing. Factor & Brooks will get picked up, but as for the rest - like CorporateSuit said - they'll have to begin planning for life outside of Seattle or else make a career change.
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searadiofreak
Guest
Or, looking at the glass as "half full", KOMO-AM is still a daytime non-directional 50,000 watt blowtorch. It has promotional tie-in with their tv station. Perhaps they will stay committed to all-news and keep a solid staff.
They could even try to fill the void of the M's by going after the Sonics. Oh, wait...
They could even try to fill the void of the M's by going after the Sonics. Oh, wait...
Why not put KOMO TV audio on KOMO AM 24/7? ;D
All you need is a cable, put one pot up on the MC board, walk away.
I should be a GM!
All you need is a cable, put one pot up on the MC board, walk away.
I should be a GM!
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SeattleRadioPro
Guest
This is too funny: http://www.komonews.com/sports/25766809.html
It's darn nice of KOMO to promote the move to KIRO...
It's darn nice of KOMO to promote the move to KIRO...
This was the worst kept secret in Seattle 
Now here's the questions to be answered: what do ya do with KOMO? what do ya do with KVI? what do ya do with KBSG? What do ya do with KTTH? What do ya do with KIRO? Does Fisher sell? What about the END (oops wrong thread) ;D
Now here's the questions to be answered: what do ya do with KOMO? what do ya do with KVI? what do ya do with KBSG? What do ya do with KTTH? What do ya do with KIRO? Does Fisher sell? What about the END (oops wrong thread) ;D
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radioprofessor
Guest
Am not in Seattle much anymore but this is easy:
1. It was the worst kept secret in Seattle
2. KOMO retains the all news format parameter and uses that as a point of differentiation with the Talk/news stations and sports/news stations. Cut costs and make money.
3. KVI is a non-factor and will remain a non-factor
4. KBSG stays Oldies and increases ratings under the PPM or shifts AC or Talk.
5. KTTH is a non-factor outside of Rush
6. KIRO is a powerhouse news, talk and sports station.
7. Fisher sells if the price is right. No one is buying right now
8. The END refocuses on the music and increases ratings under the PPM
Not much change in my humble opinion, except the summer Mariner cume goes to KIRO. Not that big a deal in radio today compared to a decade ago. The bigger changes are happening on the FM dial with the decline of MOVIN and the growth of KBKS in the CHR format parameter. Country could experience rough times ahead in the PPM world while KRWM and KPLZ grow with the AC PPM bubble. The Mariners move is pretty much a non-factor except for a minor adjustment on the AM dial in my humble view.
1. It was the worst kept secret in Seattle
2. KOMO retains the all news format parameter and uses that as a point of differentiation with the Talk/news stations and sports/news stations. Cut costs and make money.
3. KVI is a non-factor and will remain a non-factor
4. KBSG stays Oldies and increases ratings under the PPM or shifts AC or Talk.
5. KTTH is a non-factor outside of Rush
6. KIRO is a powerhouse news, talk and sports station.
7. Fisher sells if the price is right. No one is buying right now
8. The END refocuses on the music and increases ratings under the PPM
Not much change in my humble opinion, except the summer Mariner cume goes to KIRO. Not that big a deal in radio today compared to a decade ago. The bigger changes are happening on the FM dial with the decline of MOVIN and the growth of KBKS in the CHR format parameter. Country could experience rough times ahead in the PPM world while KRWM and KPLZ grow with the AC PPM bubble. The Mariners move is pretty much a non-factor except for a minor adjustment on the AM dial in my humble view.
I would think the group doing a LOT of "hiney-puckering" is Salem. You have a bunch of AM's with marginal numbers doing also-ran programming (for the most part). They had Spanish as differentiation until Bustos came in and did it WELL. KKOL is third horse in a fractional conservative talk space. Would you focus on finding a decent "Exit Strategy" at this point? Try to sell all the stations with hopes of landing ONE FM signal with the proceeds? Convert the focus to a new media content provider where costs are significantly lower (and could more easily leverage the expenses that are national right now)??
I suspect both Bonneville & Fisher kind of wish they didn't have those "secondary" AM's that bascially pick at each other's audience. The market could probably do well with one STRONG Conservative talk station ... which is why KVI used to be such a strong player (it had that space to itself, much like KMPS had the space to itself for many years and was ratings giant).
I am hopeful that Mariners move to KIRO just MIGHT mean less adenoid-focused local radio on SOME afternoons when gametime is 1p.
I suspect both Bonneville & Fisher kind of wish they didn't have those "secondary" AM's that bascially pick at each other's audience. The market could probably do well with one STRONG Conservative talk station ... which is why KVI used to be such a strong player (it had that space to itself, much like KMPS had the space to itself for many years and was ratings giant).
I am hopeful that Mariners move to KIRO just MIGHT mean less adenoid-focused local radio on SOME afternoons when gametime is 1p.
These are my hopes, not my predictions:
KOMO stays with all-news. A five-year investment in ANY format is nearly unherard of these days. It almost qualifies at 'heritage.' As I've posted before, check the winter books for the past five years, and you'll notice a nice upward trend.
The home of basic radio elements? Uh, yeah. Traffic and weather every ten minutes (or seperate every ten minutes) is a cume-maker. And if I know I can depend on those reports at EVERY hour of EVERY day, I be listening more often.
Cutting costs? How about $10mil right off the top in rights fees going back to the bottom line. Maybe (again, hopes, not predictions) some of that could be invested in the product (another couple of reporters, live broadband gear in the cars, something resembling a real assignment desk, etc).
Dreyer, Hutlyer, Glasgow? You still need a decent sports staff, and that's a lot of experience. If cuts come, I would talk to Hutlyer about becomming a news anchor.
Improvements? Uh, yeah. KOMO needs to get much better at going with breaking news. The format is the structure, not the Bible. When nothing else is happening, go with the format. When ABC does a special report on, let's say, two dozen people getting gunned down in a college classroom, I humbly suggest you take the special report.
Bottom line: KOMO went all-news for a reason, and the reason is still valid. Seattle is big enough, the traffic is bad enough, the weather is unpredictable enough and the breaking news is plentiful enough to justify sticking with the format. The weaknesses are fixable. The strengths that five years of committment to the format have yielded are irreplacable.
KOMO stays with all-news. A five-year investment in ANY format is nearly unherard of these days. It almost qualifies at 'heritage.' As I've posted before, check the winter books for the past five years, and you'll notice a nice upward trend.
The home of basic radio elements? Uh, yeah. Traffic and weather every ten minutes (or seperate every ten minutes) is a cume-maker. And if I know I can depend on those reports at EVERY hour of EVERY day, I be listening more often.
Cutting costs? How about $10mil right off the top in rights fees going back to the bottom line. Maybe (again, hopes, not predictions) some of that could be invested in the product (another couple of reporters, live broadband gear in the cars, something resembling a real assignment desk, etc).
Dreyer, Hutlyer, Glasgow? You still need a decent sports staff, and that's a lot of experience. If cuts come, I would talk to Hutlyer about becomming a news anchor.
Improvements? Uh, yeah. KOMO needs to get much better at going with breaking news. The format is the structure, not the Bible. When nothing else is happening, go with the format. When ABC does a special report on, let's say, two dozen people getting gunned down in a college classroom, I humbly suggest you take the special report.
Bottom line: KOMO went all-news for a reason, and the reason is still valid. Seattle is big enough, the traffic is bad enough, the weather is unpredictable enough and the breaking news is plentiful enough to justify sticking with the format. The weaknesses are fixable. The strengths that five years of committment to the format have yielded are irreplacable.
Good points Rich. Another consideration: websites are a big part of any electronic media conglomeration nowdays and nothing drives web traffic like news due to the constantly changing content. The more traffic the site gets, the more money it brings in since many web campaigns are sold on a cost per thousand basis. By sticking with the news brand on radio KOMO can drive that much more web traffic to their news site and thereby increase revenues for their online department.
Besides, what else are they going to do...go back to full service radio?
Besides, what else are they going to do...go back to full service radio?
Personally, I was amused by the photos on the KIRO site showing the Moose running around the building. Two favorite shots; the first was Moose with Dave Ross, Dave looking as if underwear had just shrunk two sizes. The other was the Moose with Ron & Don and that clown Don in a "we want to pump you up" pose, looking all mach and like Hulk Jr.
Puh-leeeeeeze.
I don't think I could be in the same room as that guy for more than a few minutes before either breaking out laughing or feeling queasy. I'm sure all his "good friends" would disagree.
Puh-leeeeeeze.
I don't think I could be in the same room as that guy for more than a few minutes before either breaking out laughing or feeling queasy. I'm sure all his "good friends" would disagree.
AZJoe said:
There has been talk for awhile (tongue-in-cheek) about a Fisher Curse! Fisher bought rights when team was at an all-time high...team tanked while that deal was in effect...and in the process brough the broadcast rights down to an affordable level again. Will be interesting to see if their performance goes up next year ... adding more fuel to the "Curse" lore.
L
LAallnews
Guest
Does KOMO have a future as a news station?
I'd ask you weigh whether the station -- over the last five years -- has sucessfully taken and owned any of the significant news images? Such as traffic, weather, breaking news, local news.....
And if they haven't -- why not? Especially in a climate where KIRO has been doing almost everything it can to transform to talk as its dominant image.
Sounds like those news images are up for grabs. I'd also suggest KOMO would need to make a significant investment -- which is going to be very difficult in this economy. It sounds like they just don't have the horses -- too many kids -- or inept leadership.
How much of a bath has KOMO been taking spending $10M/year on the Mariners? I may be jaded -- but do any of you really think that money is just going to flow into the product?
I'd ask you weigh whether the station -- over the last five years -- has sucessfully taken and owned any of the significant news images? Such as traffic, weather, breaking news, local news.....
And if they haven't -- why not? Especially in a climate where KIRO has been doing almost everything it can to transform to talk as its dominant image.
Sounds like those news images are up for grabs. I'd also suggest KOMO would need to make a significant investment -- which is going to be very difficult in this economy. It sounds like they just don't have the horses -- too many kids -- or inept leadership.
How much of a bath has KOMO been taking spending $10M/year on the Mariners? I may be jaded -- but do any of you really think that money is just going to flow into the product?
I can't remember the last time I listened to KIRO.
KOMO is consistent with traffic, weather, breaking news, local news, sports and money news. And I don't have to put up with lame opinions and incessant blathering. The Mariners should be on a sports station and not interrupting my flow of information. In addition I would add that Fisher has a pretty strong news brand with the added benefit of Tv and a pretty good web site which is all constantly being talked about. That, I have to believe, is attractive to advertisers.
KOMO is consistent with traffic, weather, breaking news, local news, sports and money news. And I don't have to put up with lame opinions and incessant blathering. The Mariners should be on a sports station and not interrupting my flow of information. In addition I would add that Fisher has a pretty strong news brand with the added benefit of Tv and a pretty good web site which is all constantly being talked about. That, I have to believe, is attractive to advertisers.
Here are the figures:
KIRO has averaged 10th in morning drive (6a-10a)25-54 over the last four books, a bit bitter mid-days and afternoons and a bit worse at night. KOMO has averaged 12th 25-54 in morning drive (6a-10a) over the last four books. In the last two trends KIRO is sitting at 14th and KOMO at 20th on the rolling average. The Mariners deliver a solid number one or two at night, but it doesn't help the rest of the day on KOMO, which is probably why they let the team go.
My point is that baseball is not the answer for either one of these stations and probably belongs on a sports station, which may be Bonneville's long range plan, though they clearly state in their agency information that KIRO will remain as it is and the Mariners will be aired on KIRO.
Baseball's days of delivering cume to other dayparts is long gone, both in Seattle and around the country. If the team is winning it can create cross shift cume increases, but if it is not there is no percieved benefit. KOMO and KIRO make money on direct business and do not rely or ratings or agency dollars to make their living. To that end baseball has some cashe and may generate additional revenue.
To end the sales guy babbling, let me sum it up this way. KIRO and KOMO are not ratings dominant in mornings or in non-baseball shifts and moving the Mariners won't change that. KIRO can expect to see increased revenue (as KOMO did) with the return of Mariners and Seahawks and the direct marketing advantages they bring. The Mariners provide sales dollars, but no real ratings outside of the actual games at night.
Looking at the numbers it appears baseball fans come from KZOK, KMPS, KISW. KMTT and KJR-AM. When the games are on these stations suffer at night. When the games end fans return to these stations in morning drive and during the day.
KIRO has averaged 10th in morning drive (6a-10a)25-54 over the last four books, a bit bitter mid-days and afternoons and a bit worse at night. KOMO has averaged 12th 25-54 in morning drive (6a-10a) over the last four books. In the last two trends KIRO is sitting at 14th and KOMO at 20th on the rolling average. The Mariners deliver a solid number one or two at night, but it doesn't help the rest of the day on KOMO, which is probably why they let the team go.
My point is that baseball is not the answer for either one of these stations and probably belongs on a sports station, which may be Bonneville's long range plan, though they clearly state in their agency information that KIRO will remain as it is and the Mariners will be aired on KIRO.
Baseball's days of delivering cume to other dayparts is long gone, both in Seattle and around the country. If the team is winning it can create cross shift cume increases, but if it is not there is no percieved benefit. KOMO and KIRO make money on direct business and do not rely or ratings or agency dollars to make their living. To that end baseball has some cashe and may generate additional revenue.
To end the sales guy babbling, let me sum it up this way. KIRO and KOMO are not ratings dominant in mornings or in non-baseball shifts and moving the Mariners won't change that. KIRO can expect to see increased revenue (as KOMO did) with the return of Mariners and Seahawks and the direct marketing advantages they bring. The Mariners provide sales dollars, but no real ratings outside of the actual games at night.
Looking at the numbers it appears baseball fans come from KZOK, KMPS, KISW. KMTT and KJR-AM. When the games are on these stations suffer at night. When the games end fans return to these stations in morning drive and during the day.
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