KOMO: News Vs. Talk

[multiplex]

I probably have a minority opinion, but generally, and particularly as a KOMO listener, I tune to news stations for news and talk stations for talk (and I don't listen to talk often since I don't prefer it.)
Thus I was sorry to see KOMO drop its 9tonoon news magazine show, one of the most interesting news programs anywhere, expanding to six hours of talk with each of The Commentators doing solo 3-hour time slots.
Nothing against John or Ken; they're good at what they do, but how do I say this politely? I wish they were doing it somewhere else, so I can rely on KOMO for news.
From a business perspective, I can see some logic in the move, but it's disappointing to me as a listener.
I don't know about anyone else, but I sure don't like the change.
It does seem that they're trying to lean the shows to more news-oriented interviews than straight opinion, which is a plus. I'm not sure it's enough of one, but it's a good start.
But if I could wave a magic wand, I'd put the best local talk programming on KVI that I could, and the best news programming I could on KOMO. I wish that was Fisher's philosophy.
Most stations that bill themselves as news/talk really have little news.
And now KOMO, which bills itself as a news station, has 25 percent talk on weekdays. And I, for one, wish it didn't.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

I'm with you. I completely understand that this stuff is "business first" ... but one of the adages of programming used to be "consistency" -- that mantra that no matter when someone tuned your station, it was essentially giving the same product that you expect. Harder to do in news, of course, when habits are different in drive times vs. other times.

It bothered me when Mariners were on that the station had to sacrifice the news positioning to meet the contract...but again, business reasons behind that (that strategy did, after all, really put KOMO back in the AM leader mix in this market).

I too am a fan of a grand-strategy for the broadcast properties, even though it hasn't worked well in other markets where one owner tried different variations of the product on different stations (CBS in LA with KFWB & KNX comes to mind first, similar deal in NYC). Have been a fan of keeping KVI calls and focusing on the "VI" for something like "Very Informative" or "Vital Information" or something which you could build depth and keep KOMO on the "newswheel" mindset.

It's easier to do from armchair ... but I wonder if there are other models that might be used to keep midday & weekend product consistent while not having to have huge cume to set rate for individual spots -- maybe hour-long sponsorships or something along those lines? Just spitballing it...

 

[SRP]

I've been listening too and it sounds terrible. Clearly there was no pre-planning before separating Carlson & Schram into their own shows. Carlson sounds like a fish out of water doing "news-talk", and Schram sounds only marginally less uncomfortable. Production value is non-existent. But what do you expect when TV's running the show?

Over on the blathering one's site someone compared Fisher to the Mariners & Seahawks - they called them "organizations that had a chance to win it all and always blow it". Couldn't agree more.

 

[TVradioguru]

But what do you expect when TV's running the show?

"organizations that had a chance to win it all and always blow it". Couldn't agree more.

Yes indeed, that is what you get when you "wing" it without research, or frankly even much forethought.

 

[searadiofreak]

True, there are few successful all-news formats that exist today. Sure, KNX, WINS, WCBS, WBBM, WTOP, but almost everyone else offers talk programming with news blocks where warrented. KFWB in LA is only partially all-news...they now offer talk throughout middays and evenings. I give credit for KOMO giving it a shot, but when they lost the M's, the writing was on the wall to go back to talk for most of the day. All-news is probably a dying format, probably due to the web, but as mentioned, KNX and WTOP still do it quite well. And NYC is so big, it will probably support WINS AND WCBS for many years to come. The successful platforms will be those who reach deeply into the web, and other apps.

 

[Bongwater]

I will say this much for KOMO, when the power's out, AM 1000 is on.

It's the little things in bad weather or (heaven forbid) a natural disaster that make KOMO's news programming so vital. The wall to wall "driver to driver, neighbor to neighbor" coverage really makes KOMO stand out. If KOMO goes back to talk, the problem here is we'd probably lose that.

There's always room for an all news station. Bean counters may disagree, but thousands of listeners who've come to depend on KOMO in these situations beg to differ.

I say KVI can be a much better talk station. Improve the talk lineup on KVI (maybe cut back on the conservative blabber and balance it out a little), but keep KOMO all news.