KJUL - The Little Engine That Could

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

Does anyone know who the local manager is? Is this station programmed locally or coming off satellite? Their trends appear to be good and they are now top 10 12+. They must look even stronger 35-64? Anyone have a ranker??

 

[MusicMaestro]

Does anyone know who the local manager is? Is this station programmed locally or coming off satellite? Their trends appear to be good and they are now top 10 12+. They must look even stronger 35-64? Anyone have a ranker??

This is great news! I just wish that their signal was stronger for receiption on the southeast side of clark County; it can be better picked up in the Summerlin/northwest areas, from my experience. This was ALWAYS a good town for standards on the radio, DESPITE what some "consultants" think! There will ALWAYS be an audience for Sinatra, Bennett, Ella, Dean, Connie, etc. Way to go, KJUL!!! ;D

try Scott gentry, I think.

 

[Rockin Rob]

IIRC, the former/original KJUL (on 104.3, owned by Beasley) was a constant Top 10 12+ performer. I believe the only thing "piped in" are the John Tesh vocal tracks. Otherwise, the music is programmed locally.

 

[donoflv]

Scott Gentry is the Owner, PD, and Morning Show Host of KJUL. Duke Morgan has a very loyal following in the afternoon and John Tesh has become extremly popular at night. The Production Director for the station is in actuallity too good for this market. With help in programming from David Allen former PD of KJUL why wouldn't the station be in the top 10??? The signal just shows that if the format is solid you keep things lean and mean and have fun at a station you will win. There is no consultant at this station and everyone is encouraged to have fun.

In fact if other stations in the market would like to come down and see how to do radio KJUL would be the model you should look at. Quit wasting your money you morons and get back to the basics. Put trust in the people you have hired and quit dicking around with some hack from out of market who has no clue what Vegas is all about.

Summits sister station KDOX also went up 12+ to a 1.0 which hasn't been seen since it was spanish 4 years ago. Once again no consultant just solid programming and great changes to news, traffic and the addition of O'Reilly. It just shows you if your staff is having fun you will win.

 

[kgbsamfm]

I could not agree more. One of the posters here once said (paraphrasing) 'nobody wants or needs old people or oldies and they should go away'. That really pissed me off because there are stats that show baby boomers have more disposable income than any other demographic in the country. Problem is, all the marketers have created this thing about youth, youth, youth. What a crock! That bunch at KJUL have shown how basic consistency in programming and continually giving your target audience what THEY want pays off in the long run every time. I would venture a guess the Gentry's don't have as much in the bank as CC, Citadel or CBS. But they have something those behemoths don't, a genuine love of radio. The others don't care about anything but the return on investment and to hell with what the listener wants. You know, that "bottom line" thing. They might just as well be manufacturing screens. The proof is what comes out of my speakers when I tune into 104.7...........people having fun playing good music. I don't have to wonder who or what's going to be there when I punch up KJUL. I know there's a bunch of you out there who look upon those of us that have been playing the hits for more than a few years as "old farts who should just fade away", but as long as some of us can still draw a breath, one of us somewhere will be doing our best to keep a vestige of real radio alive. You won't find a lot of sex and toilet humor on KJUL, and I know society has changed and I've heard all those other arguments that allegedly justify packing consultants pockets with mega bucks and no-talents using a microphone, but all of those debates are moot when a radio station with sporadic coverage of a populace the size of Las Vegas, a format some say is dead provides a good income for the owners and a decent wage for it's staff, and at the same time entertains a so-called lost generation. I've been poo-poo'd for my little Internet station and the "antique" music I play, and for doing my show "the way most people don't care about anymore", but if I had listened to any of that garbage I would have shut it down 10 years ago. But I didn't and I'm still having fun entertaining people................a lot of people. According to some critics, KJUL should have gone under the minute the Gentry's turned the transmitter on, but it didn't and they're still having fun entertaining people.............a lot of people. Enough of my rambling, suffice to say KJUL has provided a nice meal of crow for some folks. Good on ya mates! The only negative about KJUL I can come up with is when I wrote Duke Morgan a nice complimentary e-mail, I never got a thank you, kiss my patoot or any kind of reply at all. Other than that, I think the station sounds great and I'd like to see them laugh at the skeptics all the way to the 24/7 private vaults.

Bob Morgan
KGBS AM/FM - TenQ - KRLA, Los Angeles
www.thebobmorganshow.com

 

[newsperson]

Newsperson responds:

Las Vegas seems to be one of the few remaining markets in the west to have an adult standards station left.

Up north in Reno 1230KHz. ran the "AM Only" format from Westwood One (now Dial Global). 1230 later went to sports and now is liberal talk as KJFK. It was also on 1320 KHz. in Sacramento which is now sports.

Would this format work in Reno or Sacramento today?

I will look for your replies.

Newsperson

 

[kgbsamfm]

I honestly believe it would. One of the things I noticed when the Beasley's hacked the old KJUL and the Gentry's picked it up was the large number of local radio critics and sideline PDs who stated emphatically the format would die a long and miserable death on 104.7 because there was no longer enough of an audience here to support it in the Vegas Valley. The point I'm making insofar as the standards format is concerned is if a station presents the format properly it will, given enough time, succeed just about anywhere except maybe in die-hard country markets like Jackson, Wyoming or Billings, Montana, et.al. Proper presentation consists of a staff of fun and personable on air personnel who like the music as much as the audience and avoidance at all cost of a narrow playlist. I think one of the reasons standards have been abandoned in some other markets is because the station owners didn't believe in the format to begin with, they automated or VTd it to the degree that it was obvious to the listener there was nobody in the studio listening with them. Baby boomers love to know somebody is actually playing the music for them and listening to it with them. The other key element KJUL has on it's side is how obviously local the station is. With the exception of Tesh, the on-air staff knows what's going on in this valley. The Tesh show is sanitary in that he doesn't even acknowledge any music is being played at all. I hate that. In short, local, live personalities, proper music, enough time (not 8 months), ignoring the critics, putting your collective noses to the grindstone, believing in what you're doing and making sure that's reflected on the air will most likely result in success.

Bob Morgan
www.thebobmorganshow.com

 

[davideduardo]

Does anyone know who the local manager is? Is this station programmed locally or coming off satellite? Their trends appear to be good and they are now top 10 12+. They must look even stronger 35-64? Anyone have a ranker??

It's 20th or 30th in billing, and in no place in the sales demos is it above 27th. Even 35-64 which is not a sales demo, it is 19th.

 

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

David:

While you have ratings handy, any chance you can post top 10 25-54 for adults, men and women?

Thanks in advance!

 

[davideduardo]

One of the posters here once said (paraphrasing) 'nobody wants or needs old people or oldies and they should go away'. That really pissed me off because there are stats that show baby boomers have more disposable income than any other demographic in the country.

Advertisers do not want people over 55, and, in a growing trend, over 50, as targets. This is because it generally has been proven that such consumers have more firm buying patterns, and the cost of swaying them is greater than the profit on the sale.

While there are some local businesses that can make money on 55+, the transactional business is not going to ever use this staiton. And that is why, after about 3 years, the station ranks around 30th in billings, with less than 1/15th the billing of the #1 staiton and an awful 0.15:1 power ratio.

Enough of my rambling, suffice to say KJUL has provided a nice meal of crow for some folks.

$40 k a month may indeed produce some profit for an owner-operator, if costs are restricted, staff is paid conservatively, etc. But to say that "Baby Boomers" are flocking to this station is hyperbole. The first year of boomers was '46, and anyone born then came of age with Little Richard and Elvis and Danny & The Juniors, not the big bands, crooners and such... those belong to the over-65 crowd for the most part, and that group does not include boomers.

 

[davideduardo]

David:

While you have ratings handy, any chance you can post top 10 25-54 for adults, men and women?

Thanks in advance!

Trends in the diary survey do not include gender on 25-54. The Persons 25-54 is... 6A Mid M-Sun Aug.Sept.Oct 08

KMXB, KLUC, KISF,KWID, KVEG, KKLZ, KSNE, KOMP, KWNR, KXPT, KKJJ, KXNT, KPLV, KRGT, KXTE, KOs, KCYE, KFRH, KQRT, KWWN, KRRn, KDWN, KVGS, KJUL, KBAD, KBET, KENO

 

[kgbsamfm]

All Those numbers mean nothing to a station owner who is getting all the bills paid and meeting payroll comfortably whether it's KJUL or some other station. Obviously the Gentry's are content with where the station stands and with what they're doing. I admire their tenacity in the face of a society that idolizes the dollar and an industry that has completely abandoned any desire to entertain. I also reviwed the posts here and can't find the phrase "baby boomers are flocking to the station" anywhere. I'm not here to apologize to anyone for anything I've said. Okay, so the boomer thing may not apply, but that isn't my point at all. Like I said, I've heard all the arguments.

 

[LasVegasRadioJunky]

David:

While you have ratings handy, any chance you can post top 10 25-54 for adults, men and women?

Thanks in advance!

Trends in the diary survey do not include gender on 25-54. The Persons 25-54 is... 6A Mid M-Sun Aug.Sept.Oct 08

KMXB, KLUC, KISF,KWID, KVEG, KKLZ, KSNE, KOMP, KWNR, KXPT, KKJJ, KXNT, KPLV, KRGT, KXTE, KOs, KCYE, KFRH, KQRT, KWWN, KRRn, KDWN, KVGS, KJUL, KBAD, KBET, KENO

David, you are a scholar and a saint! THANKS!!

 

[davideduardo]

All Those numbers mean nothing to a station owner who is getting all the bills paid and meeting payroll comfortably whether it's KJUL or some other station.

The point is that this station is marginal at best, today, and likely produces a farly poor return on the capital invested. It certainly does not produce much of an income for the owners, considering the billings this year are likely to be under a half-million. Even sharing with the similarly low-billing AM they also operate.

In such a situation, a format that has no growth potential, and which loses listeners every year and whose average age is beyond "geezer" and into "senile" just makes no sense today. If it is marginal today, it will be a big looser tomorrow.

 

[kgbsamfm]

I guess you'd have to ask the owners to open their books to prove how senile they really are. I don't see that coming about very soon. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this David. You have a bottom line view and that's okay, you have every right to see it that way. I have over fifty years of love invested in the business and more than likely won't change my perspective. I don't think the Gentry's are 'geezers', nor do I see them as 'senile'. Scott sure doesn't sound like it in the mornings, neither does Duke. And I certainly am neither (unless you view anyone over 60 as such). They've been doing what they're doing for around three years now and seem content to continue. I also don't think postings on a discussion board will sway their business decisions one way or the other. They're surely giving some of us a pleasant listening experience. I'm just happy to have a radio station around that appears to be run by people who have as much love for radio as I do. If that puts me in the minority then so be it. But then again, maybe I just don't have enough experience in this business to know any better. Thanks for the little sparring session. For a while there, I thought I might be getting senile.

 

[Jay F]

The way I look at it they are making the most of a very poor signal. If they were doing a younger targeted format, no one would listen. (does anybody remember WILLIE ?). They found a niche with older listeners. It's not a demo popular with advertisers, but it's better than being a no-show.

 

[newsperson]

Newsperson responds:

I had heard that Summit Media was billing more around 2.0 Million with 1.5 M on KJUL and .5M on KDOX which sounds more like a Las Vegas Market station. Remember this in not a small market.

Yes this music is older than the oldies market so you really have to believe in it and have the passion to make it work.

The problem with oldies is that the music is so burnt out, whereas adult standards has not been run into the ground as much.

So I don't know where all these very low figures come from. The number ($500,000.00) sounds more like a stand alone AM.

Please let me know your sources.

Newsperson

 

[donoflv]

Fact of the matter is listen to the damn station Eduardo. The entire morning show is sponsored by the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa. We are not talking a couple of sponsorships throughout morning drive. We are talking 4 full hours of sponsored content. Then you have Duke live every friday from the South Point and not to mention Stations Aliante picking up a Wednesday remote. No advertiser wants seniors? It's the complete opposite... who do you think fills these businesses during the day? While the beloved 25-54 audience is working. Seniors!

I know a few of you are unemployed on this board so just watch television during the day and tell me who the ads are catered to from 10am til 5pm? You've got the mixture of senior geared ads and ads for young losers who have no ambition. David Eduardo you have your head so far up your ass its incredible. Thank god you are not in this business or we would all be in more trouble than what we already are. Doing everything by the book or acting verbatim as to what some assclown wrote in FMQB. This is the problem with the business no more free think.

Fact of the matter is there's a niche for every demographic. Done correctly and to quote a great movie; "If you build it they will come." Damn good words to live by. So stop with what R&R said. Or "I had a PD once who said this is the correct way to win." Start thinking for yourselves people or pretty soon you are just jumping through hoops to stay employed and who wants to live that way? How bad are you willing to lower yourself for a business that you love that further slides beyond repair. 12+ is a huge number! Think about what they have accomplished with that signal and instead of bashing hold them up on your shoulders and shout to the lord!!!!

 

[Jay F]

Summits sister station KDOX also went up 12+ to a 1.0 which hasn't been seen since it was spanish 4 years ago. Once again no consultant just solid programming and great changes to news, traffic and the addition of O'Reilly. It just shows you if your staff is having fun you will win.

Who are they going to replace O'Reilly with now that he is now longer going to do his radio show?

Also, I have been monitoring 104.7 since this thread started. I would almost call KJUL a soft oldies station instead of adult standards. They play some Rat Pack type music (after all this is Vegas) but the bulk of their library is 60s/early 70s MOR. I recently heard them play these 3 songs in a row...

Barbara Lewis-Baby I'm Yours
Herb Alpert-This Guys In Love With You
Brasil 66-Fool On The Hill

I love this style of music and hope KJUL keeps moving in this direction.

 

[Rockin Rob]

The move to soft oldies/MOR has been present with most, if not all, former standards stations in the new millenium. Just like oldies stations have added 70s and 80s, some getting classified as "Classic Hits" (and this presentation I call Generation II). Eventually, they'll have to add soft 80s titles to "keep up with the Joneses".

In fact, there's only ONE national format that is strictly old school standards, and that is New Music Of Your Life.