?Is there anyone on this board from KOKC?"
Rarely from what I hear.
"I really have tried to continue to be a listener (yes, I do like some of the syndicated talk shows), but it seems like the station isn't even listened to by the staff."
I think you're right. The people at their music stations aren't interested in that format for the most part and 1520 doesn't have but a couple people on it's payroll. Even those guys probably aren't listening all that much. "Programs keep getting switched up half an hour in, multiple commercials playing simultaneously, it is almost like they are trying to push me away." Can you say horrible automation and no one single dedicated person to correct the way things run? To really get an automated station running right you really need one dedicated (VERY DEDICATED) guy or gal to spend a ton of time getting timing and closures working 100 percent right. I've seen it done, but it requires a full time person. "Does it cost that much to have just one person sit in the studio in the evening and listen to the broadcast to make sure the correct item is playing?" To pay someone to sit there 24/7, it does start to add up. Would it add up to, lets say, the cost of doing HD radio then not liking the results and turning off the sytem? Not even close. It's all about precieved priorities and finacing though. Common sense can be clouded at times in larger broadcasting groups.
"Of course there are other options." That's true. 1000 comes to mind. I hear they make a nice showing many times in the upper part of the ratings heap unlike the station further up the dial you are discussing that has 10 times the power output. "I can listen to the programs online if I am not in my car or somewhere else away from a computer. Or I can listen to another station altogether. Either way, it is one more set of ears not hearing your local advertisers, although local advertising is pretty thin on KOKC anyway, so it may not even matter." In this day and time good automation with a few souls that are dedicated to making it run correctly can make a station like 1520 sound better than a station manned by a person. 1520 certainly doesn't sound that way. Even when there was a fleet of board ops there, it had some rough spots in it. A lot of it comes back to a poor quality automation system that is well past it's prime, and when it was in it's prime is sucked too. I wouldn't wish Computer Concepts junk on anyone.
"I have to ask, why even bother with keeping the station on the air at all?" I think the real question is why, when something clearly is a failure, changes aren't made to take the station in a totally different direction. Many changes were made under the station's former program director (in the news-talk format) which futher ruined the station. That's really not the change I'm talking about. The change I speak of is totally flushing the format and doing something else with it. Many opportunites over the years have been lost on what 1520 COULD have done and had success. Before all the other Spanish-language stations came online in the city, 1520 should have taken that opportunity. Next, when it was clear 92.5 would have to modernize due to demographics required for a full-power 100kw FM station, the older demo should have been served on the AM. At the time part-timers in the building could have done a lot of voice tracking and smoke and mirrors to make that work economically and work great. There was fear of erroding 92.5 though. Now there's 99.7. Game over on going with oldies on 1520. What's left? That's a damn good question really. If that station was mine, I'd consider finding someone who actually cared about it enough to rent it to them. I feel someone could do sports or some other format on that stick that would be meaningful and useful. There are several smaller operators out there that could actually use a better signal. But, instead we have automated garbage that barely even plays out right. Oh well. If a guy wants to buy a brand new hotrod and fail to change the oil in it, I guess it's his right to ruin it. It's still enough to make a guy sick watching him do it though.
