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KMPS Mornings?

S

SandyG

What are they thinking? Are they really going to have a sidekick and a part-timer hosting the show? I went to the site and they have a video that says it's going to be "your morning show" and "you decide what the show is...you want more traffic? more weather? more songs....whatever"

Really? This is how a morning show in the #13 market is going to run? He also said "it's not about our personality" or something like that....again I say...really? Then why would people listen to you? Why not have listeners come in each day and do the show themselves?

They want it to be a family friendly show? What is their demo? 6-12 or 25-54?

The old morning show was there like 20 years, right? I give this one 20 days, tops.

I may actually have to listen to Fitz now for my country fix. (hey, that almost rhymes!)

This seems like a train wreck waiting to happen.
 
Thanks, Ichabod. It was a great run. I listen to Fitz mostly nowadays.

-crainbebo
 
We just have to accept the fact that mediocre talent or in some cases no talent is the way of the future. I mean here you have KMPS in the tightest country battle they have ever seen, and they replace a morning legend with those 2 guys. Then you look at the Mountain and their new show. I mean it is horrendous. I just wish that management would be honest and say we made this move to cut cost, as opposed to the "we wanted to move in a different direction." If you haven't already, take a moment to listen to the Mountain's new morning show. There is absolutely no way it is an upgrade from Marty Riemer and Jodi. If you are going to get rid of quality talent and go with cheap second rate talent, at least be honest and let your audience know that.
 
I had to go see the video for today....they are outside talking about how important it is to be live and local...and how much they love Seattle, and Randy is wearing a Boston Red Sox sweatshirt....again I say, REALLY? Is management on vacation over there? Do they really know this is happening, or is this a practical joke or stunt of some sort?
 
Supposedly this is a stopgap until the new year when the KMPS brain trust will decide what direction to take the morning show in.

Come back in a month and let's see what happens.
 
SandyG said:
What are they thinking? Are they really going to have a sidekick and a part-timer hosting the show? I went to the site and they have a video that says it's going to be "your morning show" and "you decide what the show is...you want more traffic? more weather? more songs....whatever"

Really? This is how a morning show in the #13 market is going to run? He also said "it's not about our personality" or something like that....again I say...really? Then why would people listen to you? Why not have listeners come in each day and do the show themselves?

They want it to be a family friendly show? What is their demo? 6-12 or 25-54?

The old morning show was there like 20 years, right? I give this one 20 days, tops.

I may actually have to listen to Fitz now for my country fix. (hey, that almost rhymes!)

This seems like a train wreck waiting to happen.
Click to expand...

Calm down. Ichabod gave about six minutes notice of his decision before he split for good.

Give them some time to find someone. Like you bellowed, it's market number 13, and despite plenty of talent out there, finding the right one, and for the right dollar amount takes time.
 
come on cowboys. Oldest stunt in the bookk ;D While you search for a morning show you tell all the listeners you want them to help "create" the new morning show. hah. Old trick but it works every time :eek: CBS corporate is handling the search and two of my buds in Phoenix got a call last week to see if they might leave the sun and come to the great Northwest :eek: Trust me, Compass is a top station in their chain and this decision ain't bein done locally. They need a major talent or team to take on Fitz who has turned into quite the king of the country race just as this poster predicted one year ago 8) Dumb and dumber will not be the morning show but they will send the morning ratings of da wollllfffffff through the roof. ;D
 
I find it highly ironic that we have such awesome and legendary talent such as Norm Gregory, Steve Slaton and quite a few others, who are PROVEN winners and ain't nobody tapping into this resource.....Shame.......
 
What are you all talking about? KMPS' new morning show debuts Monday. Randy Scott and Stephen Kilbreath are the new hosts, you know, the other 2 guys who had been part of the Waking Crew for years? Becky Brenner, the local PD has already made the decision.

They want the show to be family-friendly, as they do the entire station. The demo reflects the ages of the parents in any said family, not the children. Family friendly is a term that means safe for children to overhear, it's not a mandate for targeting the core. Are any of you in local radio programming? It seems odd to me that so many people on this board don't seem to have a clue about the very basics of how radio works yet feel free to make such vehement criticisms. An opinion is one thing, but this is beyond.

Many morning shows take a week or two around the holidays off. Ichabod and Scallops' departures just happened to have come at a time when "a sidekick and a part-timer" were filling in for the holidays. These are not lesser talents simply because of their positions on payroll.

Jocks like Steve Slaton and Norm Gregory are out of full time work right now because the industry's changing. Money is scarce and companies aren't willing to fork over the big bucks anymore so the higher paid veterans are being cut. This has been going on for quite some time now and while sad and possibly in the long run will prove to be a bad strategy, it's SOP now and no surprise to anyone.

Maybe you could spend your energy suggesting what you think would make a great, affordable show, other than hiring two Classic Rock jocks to host a heritage Country station morning show. Not that it's not a constructive suggestion, I just don't see it happening, but that's JMHO.
 
Monkeygirl, WOW are you wAAAAAAAAy off. Who is more talented, the starting quarterback or the practice squad quarterback? The higher paid, higher position starter? There is a reason people get to a certain position or pay scale. Icky is a 30+ year vet that earned his status. These two just happen to be there when the S%*t hit the fan.

To say the Randy and Steven are ready to lead a market #13 morning show is absurd. Also to say this decision is set in stone is absurd. I am sure the PD has to answer to a market manager and they have to answer to a VP in New York...there isn't one person making this decision.

Like AQH said in an earlier post, this is a temporary fix. It keeps the audience familiar with the cast instead of an all new show, but there will be an all new show there....or they'll go with a "more music in the morning" show and just have a DJ like the End did when they finally replaced Carolla.

By February 1st, there will be a change.

As far as bringing in overpaid out of work hosts...you are right about that. They need a fresh, funny, likeable host that will make people want to listen every morning.
 
monkeygirl said:
Jocks like Steve Slaton and Norm Gregory are out of full time work right now because the industry's changing. Money is scarce and companies aren't willing to fork over the big bucks anymore so the higher paid veterans are being cut. This has been going on for quite some time now and while sad and possibly in the long run will prove to be a bad strategy, it's SOP now and no surprise to anyone.
Click to expand...
Well said.

No one particularly liked my idea last year of backing the "big name" strategy by investing in a station/format/personalities. If I were a big name jock like those mentioned above--and I wasn't living hand-to-mouth, cashwise--I'd certainly listen hard to the concept of working--at least, partially--for equity over cash comp. I realize these guys are used to multi-year, big cash deals, but, as Monkeygirl so aptly put it, times....they are a-changin'.

(And, before the "It takes huge bucks, corporate backing, high debtloads...." criticisms begin, I simply believe that investors--be it individuals or institutions--find ways to capitalize outstanding ideas. If the big name, big format approach can't get financed, then, well, that should say something.)
 
I'm wayyyy on the "you get what you pay for" bandwagon. And I don't mean hiring those will less-experience for less money is wrong --- I am finding the common thread is no one appears to be investing in media. Radio is cutting "name" talent (expensive) to "play the hits" -- sometimes with NO talent -- and it's paying off for many. No offense, but I am not on edge of my seat waiting for WARM talent to crack a mic -- yet their numbers are solid and that simply rewards the bankers with the purse strings.

NBC cut 5 great prime-time shows out of their lineup to put on Leno (not cheap, but MUCH less expensive than 5 produced shows) and it's not paying off for them. XM/Sirius pretty much has ALL formats "phoning it in" and not making many headlines.

But what concerns me is WEB sites are all taking the lazy way out too. Except for the people who passionately produce their own for-free product (e.g. Blatherwatch), same mindset is there ... it's expensive to generate fresh, stimulating content -- so we're seeing more shared, syndicated irrelevant content as a result. Generally the web may be getting richer content, but I also find it's harder to find RELEVANT content because it's not being generated -- except in user-contributed scenarios (most product support content worth a dang comes from other users writing in who have solved something -- the companies who have the support staffs are basically moderating stuff). Media-hosted sites rely heavily on the "community" (social media) comments part to keep the content coming back -- with exception of SOME news organizations that make an effort (P.I., Times, KOMO, KING ... and to a lesser degree, KIRO, KCPQ). Basically we're running news sites on "Letters to the Editor" mindset --- not that it's bad or wrong, it's just less expensive.

So no surprise if CBS decides to take a hybrid "more music"/"decent talent" approach when KMPS is retooled. It will just take that person that many years to build a steady following; and in the meantime WOLF get's an advantage to develop more loyalty (though I think it would help a LOT if their morning show involved a lot less of Mary White cackling).

I don't expect the trend of "make it work with bare bones investment" to change -- but I also don't think anyone should be expecting major rewards from minimal risk.
 
Sandy G, in general, you're correct and as another here put it; you get what you pay for. I was addressing, more, your implication that Tama Fulton and Randy Scott were lesser than ONLY because one is working part-time and another was a co-host to a bigger name. I feel all of them are talented. and don't see any need to compare degrees because they're not KMPS' new morning show. I don't disagree with the theory, just the manner in which you chose to refer to them. If you work in broadcasting, I expect better than that. I also did not say Norm Gregory and Steve Slaton were overpaid, just that companies aren't paying much in salary anymore and when they go to make cuts, that's where they begin. I feel both men earned well what they've been paid and deserve to be working.

I'll take you on that bet, that comeat least Feb. 1st the real morning show will debut on KMPS. What will I win?

Little Boy Blue, nobody IS investing in media. Is anyone investing in anything right now? I find your take on websites interesting! And I agree, these are my concerns about the future of the business, too, but my normal friends tell me this is how it's always been done in their businesses...money gets tight, they cut costs instead of looking of creative ways to invest back into their businesses. I've never owned a business, I have no credentials to tell others how to run theirs, so take that for what it's worth.
 
SandyG said:
To say the Randy and Steven are ready to lead a market #13 morning show is absurd. Also to say this decision is set in stone is absurd.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with this. They're being given a chance in order to give CBS time to find a real morning show. They are both talented people but not stars, and to go up against Fitz (who in my opinion is a star) you need something more than an Ichabod wanna-be and an overweight has-been news guy.
 
Why, yes, we all know how much one's weight makes or breaks a good morning show.
 
It seems to me like KMPS has been grooming Randy for the position for many years. He filled in for Icky many times and it always had the feel that he was their farm-team up-and-comer in training for the big spot when the day came. Seems like a good way for KMPS to minimize payroll without really losing a lot of what the show always was. Granted, it is going to take listeners a while to adjust to the idea and Icky will be missed definitely but seems like less of an adjustment than throwing some brand new talent in there. KMPS's listeners, historically, don't adjust well. Anyone remember when Phil Harper left? Took a couple of terrible years worth of horrible talent before they got Icky and the listenership could finally slowly transition. It took a while. I can't imagine it won't take a while again this time. With KMPS you're talking about mostly adult listeners who are loyal and who have listened for MANY years in most cases. No matter what you do it is going to be difficult and keeping things as much the same as before doesn't seem like a bad plan to me.

That said, might I just mention one name that I'd hope they might consider... SCOTT BURNS. I know a two-person (Randy Scott & Steven K.) show would be cheaper but it may not be enough. Would be great if they'd add Mr. Burns too.

We'll see! :)
 
So I tried to be fair and listen a few times....couldn't do it. I have never listened to a morning show where I can't wait for the commercials. I have a feeling CBS may be getting ready to do a flip of this station...anyone else think that? The Wolf is really doing a number on them in the ratings now. And I am sure when the next book comes out with this market 200 sounding morning show has some impact on the ratings...and not in the right direction. There is a reason a 23 year vet jumps ship. I am sure they are saving tons of money this way, but NBC saved tons of money with the Jay Leno Show and look how well that worked.
 
Anybody who really thinks KMPS will change format has been spending WAY too much time drinking the funky Kool-Aid.

PPM loves more music and less talk and management loves talent that work for peanuts. Maybe that's the direction KMPS will take the morning show.
 
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