KKSF joining a band?

[DToTheJ]

Wow! The Bay Area used to be a premier radio market??

Clear Channel's idiotic move leaves a huge hole in the market.

A station like The Wolf or Alice would do well to jump in right now with a "Smooth AC/Jazz" type of hybrid. Kind of like what The Wave is doing in L.A.

Why let KOIT, which is enormously boring, ride the AC ratings wave, uncontested? Someone has got to see this??

For now, what a loss for the Bay Area!

Hey, let's not forget about the other dying breed of radio... the classical music format.

I bet KDFC, big ratings and all, will be the next to go. Start the clock!

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

Hey, let's not forget about the other dying breed of radio... the classical music format.

I bet KDFC, big ratings and all, will be the next to go. Start the clock!

Oh no...Here we go again... This is NOT something to look forward to...

That would be horrbile for the Bay Area. There isn't a viable non-commercial frequency to take on the format. The only station I see taking on the format would be KALW....a class B1.

I'd love to see a strong arts organization take on KDFC from Entercom, much like WFMT in Chicago.

I cannot imagine San Francisco and the Bay Area without a classical music station. What does that say about our culture?

This is what happens when you eliminate music programs from schools.

At least the San Francisco Symphony is thriving.

 

[RadioStarOne]

Never Fear Everyone: Q102 is on the way! On the change at KKSF Clear Channel Shoots It's Foot Off Again! With Both Barrels! Sad Day For SF Radio.

 

[Bowler Bob in Brisbane]

What I'd like to know is... what bowling alley has a smooth jazz station playing in the background?

Certainly not ours, lol!

At my front desk day job in downtown S.F, I bounce around to a few different Bay Area Stations, starting with "The Gary Radnich Show" on KNBR 680 AM from 9:00 am - 10:00, and then it's onto "The Morning Show" on KFOG 104.5 FM from 10:00 - 11:30 am (gotta get my 10@10 fix, lol), followed by Steven Seaweed's "World Famous Hot Lunch" on KSAN 107.7 The Bone from 11:30 - 2:00 pm.

After that it's time to mellow down with "Jazz in the Afternoon" on KCSM 91.1 FM from 2:00 - 3:00 pm, and then starting this afternoon I'll try out the new KKSF 103.7 FM from 3:00 - 4:00 pm just to see what the new (?) format is like, and then I'll take in some oldies with Scott Shannon on KFRC 1550 AM from 4:00 - 5:00 pm, from there I'll finish out my radio listening day with some classical randomness via "The Surprise @ 5" on KDFC 102.1 FM from 5:00 - 6:00 pm.

And there you have it, my weekday radio listening habits.

Now at the bowling center we don't have music on during league matches (7:00 - 9:00 pm), because all of the TV's are tuned to sports programing until open play begins after league is over, and then it's time to rock the sound system with whatever the front desk guy puts on.

And now ya know...

 

[radio dx]

Didn't KFRC do "classic rock" format and look what happened to them. This sounds like the same old tired format. C/C acts like they are onto something new.

Don't bet on them having live jocks The idea now is to save money. Someone I am sure will fill the "lite jazz" fare. My guess is you wont make a ton of money but you'll have a loyal following but then again who is making ton of money today.

 

[DavidKaye]

THIS is a sad day in the history of San Francisco radio. I can remember that important day two decades ago when Steve Feinstein put KKSF on the air. It was a bold move and unique for its time. The Wave in Los Angeles could never hold a candle to KKSF in terms of approachable smooth jazz.

Under Steve Feinstein, KKSF was unique and very listenable. But as time has gone on and Clear Channel finally got it, the format became bland and at times annoying. Playing Kenny G every half hour (which they literally did at times) does not a station make.

It's not that people burned out on the "smooth jazz" idea; it's that CC ruined it and drove listeners away by increasing the spot load and not paying attention to the music. There is plenty of great music in the genre, but I hadn't heard it on KKSF in years.

 

[LKellerIII]

Wow! The Bay Area used to be a premier radio market??

Clear Channel's idiotic move leaves a huge hole in the market.

A station like The Wolf or Alice would do well to jump in right now with a "Smooth AC/Jazz" type of hybrid. Kind of like what The Wave is doing in L.A.

Why let KOIT, which is enormously boring, ride the AC ratings wave, uncontested? Someone has got to see this??

More likely KBLX will tweak their playlist and pick up the displaced KKSF listeners.

Exactly what I was thinking. For those of us old enough to remember, KRE, then KBLX was a "jazz fusion" format - the term "Smooth Jazz" hadn't been coined yet, but that's essentially what the station was. When KKSF showed up , KBLX's ratings dropped and they morphed into "soft and smooth R&B" or whatever they call it.

It wouldn't take much tweaking to take the station back in that direction, while retaining the focus on R&B and African-American artists.

 

[airpab]

KJZY/Santa Rosa.....Great station in the wrong city!

Take that format and playlist to a large Bay Area signal and you've got a winner!

Good AC, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, some lite R & B and some lite jazz!

Smooth 95.7 or 97.3 !!

 

[sandwix]

KKSF’s “Smooth Jazz” format was originally called “New Age” when it first hit the air under the direction of Steve Feinstein. He left his job as the AOR reporter for Radio & Records in L.A. to move to SF to begin putting together what would become a “very San Francisco" format, though it was modeled after The Wave in L.A., the first “New Age” station. The “Smooth Jazz” moniker came later.

Steve Feinstein’s probably rolling over in his grave now.

 

[1069_KIFR]

FRESH and Smooth 95.7 or 97.3!

 

[airpab]

Like it 106_KIFR !!

 

[SFStatic]

1. Paul Goldstein, who followed Steve at KKSF left the station several years ago, and has successfully been programming the LA Smooth Jazz station. He left when they dropped the anywhere in the world trip a day and cut the TV budget.

2. I bet CC brings Greg up from the Fox for a live morning show and that the rest of the Band is tracked from outside the market.

 

[atwater kent]

Atwater Kent says: “The Bone has been playing the long, live version of Freebird for years. And Green Grass and Inna Gadda Da Vida have been played occasionally long before KKSF flipped to Classic Hits.”

The infamously side-long Iron Butterrfly and Outlaws’ tunes must be heavily day-parted on the Bone because I’ve never heard them get airplay in the past 10 years on any terrestrial station. Even when I’m commuting to work in the middle of the night—4am—I still hear the same, extremely tired Bone playlists with Aerosmith, the Stones and The Eagles. That goes for KFOG, too, with more contemporary “classics” repeated ad nauseum.

“Mike” states: “KFOG has…become boring as [bleep]”

Agreed. It is wholly stale and predictable, (Dave Matthews, anyone?), uninspired (they’ve been running the same promotions like clockwork for years, if not decades), and their jocks have always come across as pretentious snobs.

Atwater Kent says: “Neither the Bone or KFOG was adjusting their playlist last week in anticipation of KKSF changing formats.”

Conventionality, resting on laurels and playing it safe is not a benefit, especially if owned by the same company. From what I’ve heard on the ex-KKSF, they’re playing a lot of the same tunes from both The Bone and KFOG playlists. Time and the PPM will determine if no playlist adjustment is the way to go.

According to BDS, the live version of Freebird has been played 42 times in the past 90 days. Green Grass - 12 times, Inna Gadda Da Vida - 7. Your problems with KFOG don't seem to be shared by the folks who continue to tune to the station in strong enough numbers to keep the station a constant top 5 adult winner. My original point was that neither station was adjusting playlists BEFORE the KKSF switch because no one knew about the format change and neither the Bone nor KFOG has a program director right now. Both the Bone and KFOG have had multiple competitors sharing large lists of song titles over the years and both are still here to take on the latest one. If Cumulus ever decides to hire a program director for either station maybe there will be adjustments. Maybe not.

 

[NoMoreLurking]

There are tons of comments, mostly against the change, now on the kksf.com web site. 112 pages of them. Thats right, 112 pages.

 

[Bowler Bob in Brisbane]

There are tons of comments, mostly against the change, now on the kksf.com web site. 112 pages of them. Thats right, 112 pages.

It's up to 118 pages now with 2,945 comments.

And those are just the ones that the moderator deemed appropriate enough to post.

You can just imagine the more vitriolic messages that were not posted.

Sad, sad, sad...

But then again, this is the state of commercial radio in 2009.

 

[goriajk]

KKSF’s “Smooth Jazz” format was originally called “New Age” when it first hit the air under the direction of Steve Feinstein. He left his job as the AOR reporter for Radio & Records in L.A. to move to SF to begin putting together what would become a “very San Francisco" format, though it was modeled after The Wave in L.A., the first “New Age” station. The “Smooth Jazz” moniker came later.

Steve Feinstein’s probably rolling over in his grave now.

I knew Steve Feinstein over twenty years ago when I was in college and I learned great pointers from him. Man, I miss him very much...along with KKSF. Very sad week to say the least. Joe G

 

[jprg]

Yes The Wave in LA was the first NAC station in the country on Feb 14, 1987 but on March 10, 1987, the first "true" New Age station goes to the now defunct KLRS in Santa Cruz at 99.1. I worked there in 1988. KKSF wnt on the air in August in 1987 and played a lot of pop vocals like The Wave does but KLRS was really the first to play heavy synthesizer and space music which the other stations didn't touch.

 

[tripton99]

KKSF was the first approachable station of its kind. The Wave was, originally, far too-hip-for-the-room, as they say....too abstract and experimental even for its time.. It took The Wave nearly two years to warm up. KKSF hit the ground running with an easy listening instrumental lite jazz approach. I remember that from sundown to sun-up there were no vocals on KKSF.

 

[NoMoreLurking]

KIFM was doing "Lights Out San Diego" each evening, though not full-time, before KTWV signed on. And KIFM could very well be the last one standing when all is said and done.

 

[goriajk]

KIFM was doing "Lights Out San Diego" each evening, though not full-time, before KTWV signed on. And KIFM could very well be the last one standing when all is said and done.

YOU ARE CORRECT... KiFM was the station that turned me onto contemporary jazz when I was 18 years old, back in 1985. Art Good hosted "Lites Out" and I have airchecks dating back from '86 thru '94 with Good and former overnight/turned current KiFM MD/PM personality Kelly Cole. Hit me up if interested. Joe G