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kmel. radio suckssssssssss

djfrresh said:
what. happen to good mussic kmel.used to play.
Click to expand...

they. stilllllll play.it but may be it doesn.t. apppeal to. you.
 
[EDIT]

also, about KMEL.. i believe their ratings are higher than ever.. 18-34 overall they were first with a double digit share (not sure of how far the rules of posting go, so mods, if this is TOO detailed, feel free to edit.)

apparently. someone isss listening.to them.

[EDIT-inflammatory]
 
I think most people are too young to remember the REAL KMEL when it was rock. You know "KMEL 106, ROCKIN' THE BAY!!!" When KMEL switched to top 40 in 1984, they sucked ever since then. Bring back KMEL 106 ROCKIN' THE BAY!!!"
 
When RKO General sold KFRC-FM 106.1 (about 1977, I think, but somebody will fill in the exact date), the call letters became KMEL, and they called it "Camel 106." Their logo was...not surprisingly - a cute cartoon camel, and it said "Rocking the Bay" below the camel. It was on billboards all over the Bay Area for a few years. The station played album rock, and it was a popular station for awhile. Alex Bennett made a big splash with his morning show - his first big break in the Bay Area, after returning from the East Coast...I think.

Somebody else said it switched to Top 40 in 1984 ("All Hit" K-M-E-L, no more "camel"), so I guess the rock format lasted about 7 years
 
maybe their sister station down the hall can learn a thing or 2 from KMEL. they dont seem to be trying that hard and still pull off great ratings, even with the heavy books in san jose (which should pull them down but doesnt) where as KYLD seems to be trying too much and isnt doing so stellar right now.
 
wasnt KMEL's postioning statment Power 106 at one time? I remember the "69 thousand watts of music power".


As a kid I listened to KMEL in San Jose, however all my friends would listen to KHQT
 
They did not go by Power 106. I believe they were in the position to do so if they felt a strong competitor would have flipped to a Power (insert frequency). KMEL could have beaten them to the punch.

You are correct, they did liners that stressed their wattage POWER
 
Music is music. Bay Area/West Coast music is what made KMEL the powerhouse in the 90's. You don't have that same dominance today because of the music out there.

Maybe it's ownership? Evergreen's tenure seemed to fit the mold... that was when Rick Chase (RIP), Davey D, Renell, etc. were all part of the team. I believe KMEL reached it's peak back then. Remember when you could turn on 106, late on a Saturday night and catch the Wake-Up Show playing un-edited versions of tracks. Now all you hear in T-Pain and that stupid "Supa-man" track.

We all know playlists are bias now!
 
Lkeller said:
When RKO General sold KFRC-FM 106.1 (about 1977, I think, but somebody will fill in the exact date), the call letters became KMEL, and they called it "Camel 106." Their logo was...not surprisingly - a cute cartoon camel, and it said "Rocking the Bay" below the camel. It was on billboards all over the Bay Area for a few years. The station played album rock, and it was a popular station for awhile. Alex Bennett made a big splash with his morning show - his first big break in the Bay Area, after returning from the East Coast...I think.

Somebody else said it switched to Top 40 in 1984 ("All Hit" K-M-E-L, no more "camel"), so I guess the rock format lasted about 7 years
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They tried to make a go of KFRC FM - as an automated continous countdown of the Top 40 songs of the week, but as I understand it, some wise consultant told RKO that due to terrain issues, SF will always be an AM town and that FM will never make it and that they should unload it. They sold it with a non compete clause and I think it was Century who bought it, but I'm not positive, but they put on a Top Tracks AOR format on it. As soon as the noncompete ran out, they segued the format slowly to a rythmic Top 40.
 
Yes - RKO's sale of 106.1 was not one of the swifter moves in SF radio history. One can only speculate, but I think KFRC as a Top 40 format would probably have lasted through the 80s as a hit station, instead of giving up in 83 under the FM competition from KMEL, KYUU, KITS, etc.

I'm not knowledgable enough about the various nuances of rock music formats to describe the first format on KMEL, and I didn't listen that much anyway - but I'd describe it as a slicker, more hit driven version of the album rock format at K-San at that time.
 
Lkeller said:
I'm not knowledgable enough about the various nuances of rock music formats to describe the first format on KMEL, and I didn't listen that much anyway - but I'd describe it as a slicker, more hit driven version of the album rock format at K-San at that time.
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I was a big KMEL fan from about '80 - '84, until they switched to Top 40. Their approach was indeed hit-driven album rock, with big personalities in almost all dayparts. They were very "talk-y" compared to other AORs, which I believe led to the hiring of a consultant around '82 or so who imposed a "6 in a row or $5000" type of format. This led to Alex Bennett's departure, and the station, in my opinion, wasn't the same after that.

Around that same time, the Bay Area was flush with rock stations, with KMEL, KFOG, KRQR, KQAK, KOME, and KSJO all doing some variation of the format. KQAK evolved to Alternative ("Rock of the 80s") in early '83, and KMEL gave up AOR in '84.

To the best of my recollection, the personalities were Bennett/Rigelski, Tony Kilbert (who also did VO at Channel 20), Paul Vincent, and Mary Holloway.
 
VMan said:
Lkeller said:
I'm not knowledgable enough about the various nuances of rock music formats to describe the first format on KMEL, and I didn't listen that much anyway - but I'd describe it as a slicker, more hit driven version of the album rock format at K-San at that time.
Click to expand...

I was a big KMEL fan from about '80 - '84, until they switched to Top 40. Their approach was indeed hit-driven album rock, with big personalities in almost all dayparts. They were very "talk-y" compared to other AORs, which I believe led to the hiring of a consultant around '82 or so who imposed a "6 in a row or $5000" type of format. This led to Alex Bennett's departure, and the station, in my opinion, wasn't the same after that.

Around that same time, the Bay Area was flush with rock stations, with KMEL, KFOG, KRQR, KQAK, KOME, and KSJO all doing some variation of the format. KQAK evolved to Alternative ("Rock of the 80s") in early '83, and KMEL gave up AOR in '84.

To the best of my recollection, the personalities were Bennett/Rigelski, Tony Kilbert (who also did VO at Channel 20), Paul Vincent, and Mary Holloway.
Click to expand...
I don't remember when Bennett started, but I believe before him they had a chick on named Nadine Mars.
 
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