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Klein Ally Show PM replay
- Thread starter Jstnpspck
- Start date
We discussed this at the time. Audacy was trying to do national programming without infrastructure. They did the morning and evening shows as though they were still local, without any standardization of break structure. That's why the rejoins were so sloppy. The other big companies have that infrastructure in place.
Also I would say that Audacy was more affected by the financial losses during covid than the other companies. They really weren't prepared for the amount of loss they incurred. I remember their first investor conference call was filled with panic. I think they said they lost like 50% of their revenue. That panic led to the other departments making massive staff cuts, and alt was one of the formats hit hard.
The format has improved by mainly playing a lot of older alt. I looked at the playlists at KVIL and KITS. They each just added one new song, and they're mainly playing a Top 10 of currents along with a lot of more familiar music by major stars. But it's no longer a dynamic format built around new music. As we've said earlier in this thread, the real strength of these stations is focusing on a couple of air talents, and posting YouTube video to social media.
Excellent point. As a senior corporate programmer (for lack of a better descriptor), shouldn't he have shown a sense of urgency to fix those issues?
He was going current heavy (including some pop titles that had no business being on an "alternative" station) at a time listeners were seeking aural comfort food.
It's not easy to build infrastructure. Ultimately they made a deal with United Stations to handle it for the country shows. These problems didn't just affect alternative, but country as well. Truthfully, there were similar problems when CBS Radio started syndicating Howard Stern and Imus. All the people with that institutional experience were fired when Entercom came in. Dealing with multiple stations can be like herding cats. Cumulus and iHeart had all of that infrastructure in place and were better prepared.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You presume that those issues' solutions could be implemented at the snap of a finger, and in the meantime he still had a station to run.
I get it. You don't like Kaplan. But you're also introducing unreasonable demands into your reasoning.
I don't know the guy personally; he may be a wonderful human being.
I just don't like the way he ran multiple radio stations into the ground. I respect the fact he did have some good success stories earlier in his career.
How is it that asking for effective station imaging, good stopset management, acceptable air talent, and good playlist formulation for the market being served are "unreasonable" expectations?
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K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Please allow me to again dip into the "unforeseen circumstances" file.
He started right before the first pandemic in history to claim over a million lives, then had to cope with the lack of infrastructure to manage programming under the restrictions forced by that pandemic, and probably was trying to push a rope uphill or put the toothpaste back into the tube ... and still you harshly criticize?
Presuming you work in the industry, I'm glad I don't have a consulting or programming agreement with whatever organization you work for. If you don't, we should all be saying a prayer that you don't.
Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine? Every other programmer had to deal with COVID. We will have to agree to disagree. He made multiple unforced errors, in my opinion. Perhaps in hindsight he would even acknowledge he made some errors and would do things differently if he had a do-over.
For which he got demoted and then fired. Would you prefer he got shot?
He also hired John Allers, which has proven to be a good decision.
I wish no misfortune whatsoever upon him.
I am unsure who was responsible for hiring John Allers, but yes, that was absolutely a good move.
I didn't personally care for Kaplan's format as executed, or the music. I've also known people who have worked for him, and I'll just leave that to say what I'm not going to elaborate on regarding his tenure at Audacy.
That being said, the logic of it in some ways made sense. The implementation obviously didn't. Never could get the appeal of Cane and Corey either. A lot of people on this board don't care for Lazlo as an air talent and I take their point, but as a PD had they tapped into his formula for KRBZ musically, they wouldn't have done any worse than they did with Kaplan.
Instead they regionalized a local show, and took programming of his own market out of his hands and gave it to Kaplan. THAT was an unforced error.
That being said, the logic of it in some ways made sense. The implementation obviously didn't. Never could get the appeal of Cane and Corey either. A lot of people on this board don't care for Lazlo as an air talent and I take their point, but as a PD had they tapped into his formula for KRBZ musically, they wouldn't have done any worse than they did with Kaplan.
Instead they regionalized a local show, and took programming of his own market out of his hands and gave it to Kaplan. THAT was an unforced error.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
There, I can agree with you, because there isn't anyone in this business who hasn't made mistakes along the line, some serious, others easily recovered from.
The true measure of someone is if they own their mistakes and see them as a learning opportunity.
No discussion about how iHeart and Woody have dropped the ball?
They went too heavy into syndication. Woody's ego gets inflated and got more MAGA. They fired Ravey. Now, are starting to lose in one of their key markets. The bits are stale.
They lost me the very first time I heard their show. I can see why KROQ wins in mornings
I have no idea how KYSR's morning ratings have fared over the past 6 to 12 months, but excellent point regarding the departure of Ravey. Would not surprise me if that has harmed the numbers in Los Angeles.
The syndicated version of the show I heard years ago that aired in east coast & midwestern markets stunk. The non-live portion of the show was garbage. That was seven or eight years ago. I have no idea if that same, ill-advised approach is followed now.
Now, I will say the last time I heard KROQ's morning show, which was probably 18 to 24 months ago, I found it very boring.
I think Heidi and Frank on KLOS do a pretty good job.
Klein and Ally are ok, haven’t heard Heidi and Frank since Lisa May and I tried listening to the Woody Show once (I don’t remember if it was the syndicated version or not) and didn’t like it.
Two months ago, people freaked out about this move by KROQ. It was viewed as "the beginning of the end." Instead, it led to a jump in ratings:
Plus it's being reported that Klein & Ally are now #1 in mornings
The station is now Top 5 in all three key demos: 25-54, 18-35, and 25-49 according to Research Director.
researchdirectorinc.com
As I've said, a lot of alternative stations have found new life in focusing on shows instead of music. That seems to be the case here.
| 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.2 | KROQ-FM | 106.7 K-ROQ | Alternative | Audacy | 1,017,000 |
Plus it's being reported that Klein & Ally are now #1 in mornings
The station is now Top 5 in all three key demos: 25-54, 18-35, and 25-49 according to Research Director.
RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP, September 2025, Part I | Research Director, Inc.
Though this series of roundups are focused on the NIELSEN version of SEPTEMBER, the reality is that this survey traversed two distinct worlds. It ran
As I've said, a lot of alternative stations have found new life in focusing on shows instead of music. That seems to be the case here.
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An update about The Woody Show's former cast member Renae Ravey:
iHeartMedia and Jeff Fife were slapped with an employment lawsuit on Sept. 2 in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The suit was brought by King Holmes Paterno & Soriano on behalf of radio personality Renae Ravey, who contends that Fife wanted to replace her with someone younger and who he found found 'more appealing.' The plaintiff also argues that Fife publicly defamed her and disclosed constitutionally protected private employment information about her to falsely blame her for the firing and attack her competency on nationwide radio broadcasts. The case is Ravey v. Fife.
Word on the Woody Show subreddit is she's suing for $5 million. Does iHeart cut their losses and just flip 98.7 to KFI?
iHeartMedia and Jeff Fife were slapped with an employment lawsuit on Sept. 2 in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The suit was brought by King Holmes Paterno & Soriano on behalf of radio personality Renae Ravey, who contends that Fife wanted to replace her with someone younger and who he found found 'more appealing.' The plaintiff also argues that Fife publicly defamed her and disclosed constitutionally protected private employment information about her to falsely blame her for the firing and attack her competency on nationwide radio broadcasts. The case is Ravey v. Fife.
Word on the Woody Show subreddit is she's suing for $5 million. Does iHeart cut their losses and just flip 98.7 to KFI?
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As silly as this might sound. I never thought Woody was ever any good. I was surprised they ever got good ratings. Any morning show in the alternative format that’s “organized” or sounds anything like a “morning show” are just bad. Listen to Stern, or KROQ now (not putting the shows on same level), but they can relate to their audience - unorganized, done on the fly, real humor, probably stoned
That will never happen alt 98.7 ain't going anywhere
That's odd cause I thought they were good friends. Something doesn't sound right. Shocked that woody would do that to Ravey