How is it that KIXI has survived this long? My wife listens to them (we are NOT in the ambulance crowd) and I keep telling her not to be surprised if one day the adult standards are replaced with full time sports or some other talk format. What exactly is their business model having high age demos? Are they co-sold with KRWM?
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KIXI
- Thread starter KXA
- Start date
Stations like this and WHLI in the metro New York market are able to continue due to the economies of cluster operation where such stations really don't add much overhead, but can be a nice option or add-on for local direct advertisers who do appreciate the over-55 audience.
In other words, this is one of the cases where consolidation brought positive benefits in the market.
Actually, KIXI is one of the few SURVIVORS of consolidation that hasn't been altered too dramatically. And that's pretty damn amazing for an AM music station.
KIXI is also heritage, like what KISW is to rock or KING-FM is to classical. It would be unconscionable to put a bullet in it. They have even kept up with the times by targeting the retro-hipster (yes, it's a thing) demographic of 20somethings who enjoy lounge music and exotica and playing cuts from newer orchestral pop bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers, Brian Setzer, Combustible Edison and Cherry Poppin' Daddies along with smooth vocal standards by Michael Buble and Norah Jones. But that wasn't the inevitable result of consolidation itself. Any smart programmer in that genre would listen to the new music and know what time it is.
KIXI's only major Achilles Heel is of course, it's AM. And if there were ever a format that DESERVES to be on FM, it would be KIXI. But the trouble with that then is, someone would likely come in and completely wreck it within a few years, gradually adding more Boomer Oldies, then full blown '70s and '80s Classic Hits, that kind of thing. It happens all the time everywhere else. And then it wouldn't be KIXI anymore. So maybe it's only real protection this far is that it's on AM.
KIXI survived consolidation only because a cluster can afford to have a station that attracts essentially no 25-54 listeners. Were this a stand-alone, it would likely have long ago gone the brokered/religious/ethnic route to stay afloat.
Consolidation took place starting 20 years ago when standards, as exemplified by "Music of your Life" was still delivering a somewhat viable audience. That Hubbard has kept the format even as the listening base has declined; in 1996 KIXI had a 5.7 in the Winter book. The average for the fall period of 2015 is a 0.7.
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AQH
Guest
"Heritage" doesn't pay bills. As long as KIXI is profitable, (read: has low overhead and funeral homes continue to cut checks), KIXI will be around.
When I travel to Seattle, KIXI is one of three stations I tend to listen to for music. I am a 56 year old white male. I also like alternative. I know I'm not the average listener, but sometimes advertisers need to look beyond their first stats. (My other two are Jack, and Jet).
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AQH
Guest
Right, let's get Poulsbo RV, Evergreen Washelli and all the Indian Casino spots over to KUBE 104.9, just for laughs and to "look beyond their first stats."
I used to listen to KIXI when I was a kid, mainly because we didn't have a car with an FM radio and the only AM stations that played music where KIXI, KNTB 1480 (classic rock), KMAS 1030 (oldies) and KGHO 920 (oldies).
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Radio-X
Guest
The SXM model is not entirely fair to use in this instance. SiriusXM is based on subscribers. If enough listeners feel not having Escape on satellite is enough to stop subscribing, that directly translates to lost revenue. Even though running the radio station Escape costs SXM money, not running it equates to less paying customers.
KIXI, like most terrestrial stations, does not operate on a subscriber model. Hubbard knows that if they were to pull KIXI, a few folks would scream bloody murder, a facebook page with a hundred or so 'likes' to 'Save KIXI', and that would be it. Advertisers and Bulldog basketball goes to 1190 or stay with the new format. Hubbard knows nobody else will attempt to operate a major-market signal (AM or FM) with this format as they probably couldn't make it financially solvent. When the day comes when KIXI can't pay the bills with the format (or even afterwards, Hubbard likes AM music formats even if they're not really viable...see "820 The Gamut" in DC) they will unplug the automation, switch it to whatever, tell all the big band/standards fans to deal with it, and move on.
I can only think of two instances out of thousands of format flips (WNCN--WQIV--WNCN New York in 1974-75, and WXXM in Madison, WI with its Progressive talk format) where the listeners actually were able to change the course of a station's formatics. In both cases, it was not right away...the owners had to see a major dip in revenue (or less than projected) before it happened.
Radio-X
KIXI, like most terrestrial stations, does not operate on a subscriber model. Hubbard knows that if they were to pull KIXI, a few folks would scream bloody murder, a facebook page with a hundred or so 'likes' to 'Save KIXI', and that would be it. Advertisers and Bulldog basketball goes to 1190 or stay with the new format. Hubbard knows nobody else will attempt to operate a major-market signal (AM or FM) with this format as they probably couldn't make it financially solvent. When the day comes when KIXI can't pay the bills with the format (or even afterwards, Hubbard likes AM music formats even if they're not really viable...see "820 The Gamut" in DC) they will unplug the automation, switch it to whatever, tell all the big band/standards fans to deal with it, and move on.
I can only think of two instances out of thousands of format flips (WNCN--WQIV--WNCN New York in 1974-75, and WXXM in Madison, WI with its Progressive talk format) where the listeners actually were able to change the course of a station's formatics. In both cases, it was not right away...the owners had to see a major dip in revenue (or less than projected) before it happened.
Radio-X
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Radio-X
Guest
Was that on top of that circular suite hotel (now apartments)? There is an antenna I couldn't put my finger on up there that has been disguised as a string of lights. I walk by it daily on the way to work. If so, I'd be curious what goodies remain up at the mechanical penthouse.
Radio-X
Never a hotel...just apartments. KIXI moved in there after leaving 3rd & University. KYYX moved into KIXI's old space @ 3rd & University and hopped to 801 Pine to make the STL link to Cougar...same path as KIXI.
Correct. Always apartments and/or condos. It was often confused with the Washington Plaza Hotel, also circular, (much bigger and about 10 blocks northwest). Tower 801 was KIXI's home until February 1983 when they moved to 113 Dexter, just down the road from the former KING Broadcast Center. I believe CBS radio took over the space for a time, but now is operating as a non-radio office and being surrounded by thousands of newer residential units. I would guess the old suite at Tower 801 was turned into a luxury apartment/condo.
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As I recall, WNCN listeners complained in mass to the FCC, at a time that the agency could still be involved with programing.
"As I recall, WNCN listeners complained in mass to the FCC, at a time that the agency could still be involved with programing."
My recollection is that the chairman of what is now BASF (I forget what they were called before) liked WNCN emphasis on baroque, so when it flipped he bought the station, and flipped it back to classical.
My recollection is that the chairman of what is now BASF (I forget what they were called before) liked WNCN emphasis on baroque, so when it flipped he bought the station, and flipped it back to classical.
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Radio-X
Guest
Yes. The "WNCN Listener's Guild" took Starr Broadcasting to court over the impending format change (which was announced months in advance right after Starr purchased the station). They got a stay for about a month from a lower court judge, higher court removed the injunction, off went WNCN, on came WQIV.
Listener's Guild wasn't done yet, though. Although the FCC stated they were not particularly involved with programming choices (therefore WQIV could have stayed rock), they did say that they would allow the license to be challenged by the Listener's Guild and GAF Broadcasting (financier) as a "strike application" where community standards were challenged, etc...potentially at every renewal application, ownership change (as Starr did) or CP app. Chances are, Starr would've lost that fight...meaning the millions they paid for a license would be for useless paper if it were challenged.
Starr realized the writing was on the wall and got rid of 104.3 like a bad disease. Until they could, they reinstated classical and WNCN calls. No license challenge, however, which meant they re-cooped the millions when they sold to GAF.
WHFS is a totally different ball of wax. As a person who spent a large chunk of time in DC during that time, losing mid-2000's HFS was no real loss for either market. It was a shadow of its former glory. Yes, CBS ended up branding multiple things as "HFS". A rock block on a talk station, two different webstreams, and two different translators. Basically all focused on Baltimore. None of them stuck around very long...its current incarnation is a flea-powered HD translator jukebox in Baltimore on 104.9. Don't think there was any significant organized listener reaction to any of these changes, however.
Radio-X
Back then, the FCC had a "protected" status for classical formats, and depriving a market of one was something they looked at under the guise of community service. Otherwise, there was little issue with format changes and such.
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