KRTH, KCBS-FM and Wikipedia

[dgordon]

There is some strange information about the future of KRTH and KCBS-FM at Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, some CBS radio staff is saying that around August 30, KRTH will switch to ARROW 101.1 as a world class rock station and KCBS-FM will drop JACK and switch to classic hits.

 

[MusicMaestro]

There is some strange information about the future of KRTH and KCBS-FM at Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, some CBS radio staff is saying that around August 30, KRTH will switch to ARROW 101.1 as a world class rock station and KCBS-FM will drop JACK and switch to classic hits.

Have you tried to contact either station and confirm that infomation? I would do that before believing that kind of stuff. You could probably get the contact info from their websites.

 

[radiohistory]

I've never really trusted Wikipedia as an academic source or reliable source of facts on radio stations and radio history, and possibly other topics as well. I won't comment on the KRTH/KCBS-FM information that Wikipedia has published, but a month or so ago, I looked up KFWB-980 history and Wikipedia had at least 4 untrue/false statements about KFWB history that I know are completely wrong! I also found some mistakes/wrong facts about KHJ history. But, I don't have enough free time these days to even write or finish some articles I want to complete this year, let alone find time to correct these incorrect/false statements about KHJ and KFWB history.

Jim

 

[LKellerIII]

"There is some strange information about the future of KRTH and KCBS-FM at Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, some CBS radio staff is saying that around August 30, KRTH will switch to ARROW 101.1 as a world class rock station and KCBS-FM will drop JACK and switch to classic hits."

I realize that KRTH's format skews 'old' - but it still gets respectable ratings. as does KCBS-FM. If CBS wants to get a younger demographic for 101.1. why not just adjust the play list forward a decade, slap on the "Classic Hits" label, and keep the historic K-Earth pedigree? The frequency swap doesn't make any sense.

In the Bay Area, CBS killed Classic Hits on KFRC/99.7 so they could bring in the MOViN format, then realizing their mistake, brought KFRC back about a year later on another frequency (106.9) after Free-FM tanked. Neither MOViN 99.7 or the new KFRC gets decent ratings. I would hope CBS would learn from their mistakes, not repeat them in Los Angeles.

 

[oldies76]

Eliminating K-Earth 101 would be a tragic mistake for L.A., along the lines of WCBS changing to Jack in 2005 (thankfully CBS-FM returned in '07).

KRTH needs to play more songs and cease the over-repetition. If any changes are going to be made in Aug '08, just update the playlist, not the darn frequency. KRTH 101 is a staple for L.A. for many, many years!

Arrow 101.1, give me a break!! It won't work and will fail.

 

[radio124]

I could see CBS doing something like this if they were really desperate to cut costs. This way they could eliminate the entire staff of
either WCBS or KRTH and just simulcast a classic hits format on both stations using the CBS-FM identity.

 

[davideduardo]

There is some strange information about the future of KRTH and KCBS-FM at Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, some CBS radio staff is saying that around August 30, KRTH will switch to ARROW 101.1 as a world class rock station and KCBS-FM will drop JACK and switch to classic hits.

Jack in LA is one of the top 5 billers in the market. That alone should be enough to destroy this rumor.

 

[airpab]

Could CBS be that dumb and clue-less to even think about touching KRTH?

 

[romer979fm]

any of us could change the story since it's on Wikipedia...
many times Wikipedia is accurate...other times you get this nonsense.

 

[davideduardo]

Could CBS be that dumb and clue-less to even think about touching KRTH?

Yes, that one is still in the vulnerable position. Dropping revenues, flat 25-54 numbers. It's better than many in the market, though, and it owns an image position. Rather than becoming a 98.7 or My FM with mid-one shares, they ought to keep working at lowering the average age instead of blowing it up.

 

[jonbruce]

KRTH should have dropped the 60's years ago. The same can be said for oldies stations elsewhere including Palm Springs and San Diego. The big researched hits of the late 70's and 1980's are the key to getting into the top 5 25-54.

 

[airpab]

JON BRUCE-

You've got it! A few choice 60's cuts here and there wouldn't hurt, but they need to focus on the 70's and 80's. KOLA down in the IE has done a better job than KRTH of making the shift.

It would be a monumental mistake on CBS' part to blow up KRTH. Most stations would kill for the deep-seated position/stature they have in L.A....Not to mention the signal!

All they need to do is tweak the music little, add titles and they've got it!

 

[Big E]

"K-Earth 101...LA's Classic Hits" It could work for me.

 

[MusicMaestro]

Eliminating K-Earth 101 would be a tragic mistake for L.A., along the lines of WCBS changing to Jack in 2005 (thankfully CBS-FM returned in '07).

KRTH needs to play more songs and cease the over-repetition. If any changes are going to be made in Aug '08, just update the playlist, not the darn frequency. KRTH 101 is a staple for L.A. for many, many years!

Arrow 101.1, give me a break!! It won't work and will fail.

Ditto to that! KRTH 101 is one of America's legendary stations, & to mess with that would be tragic! Yes, they desperately need to UPGRADE/FRESHEN UP their playlist, but too many times corporate management just doesn't get it! You drive away your core audience by changing format, especially with a station with the track record/longetivity of KRTH 101! We've had enough of that over the last two decades! Why do you think that places like slacker.com, pandora.com, etc. are gaining in popularity?? Wake up, management!

 

[calguy]

Ditto to that! KRTH 101 is one of America's legendary stations, & to mess with that would be tragic! Yes, they desperately need to UPGRADE/FRESHEN UP their playlist, but too many times corporate management just doesn't get it!

Before Jhani Kaye took over KRTH these boards were filled with posts about how stale KRTH sounded and how tight the playlist was. Since then KRTH has enjoyed increased ratings and there's a much broader playlist, so I don't quite understand your statement that "they desperately need to UPGRADE/FRESHEN UP their playlist". Listen to any station for more than 5 hours a day and you'll tire of listening to it, but I don't really see where there's a great need to add to the playlist at K-Earth. What the programming department is doing is playing the hits, and knowing how Kaye works I'm sure they've been researched well. It's also obvious that he's rotating song categories on a weekly basis to stay as fresh as possible. That way you'll hear a song several times over a week or two and then it's rested for a while. He's also counting on getting some freshness out of the specialty weekends where many songs are played that haven't seen the light of day for many, many years. But my original point is, KRTH sounds so much better, but is that ever enough?

 

[oldies76]

calguy Before Jhani Kaye took over KRTH these boards were filled with posts about how stale KRTH sounded and how tight the playlist was. Since then KRTH has enjoyed increased ratings and there's a much broader playlist

You're right...Increased ratings and broader playlists go hand in hand. A playlist even bigger than it currently is (like CBS-FM's) would...think of the potential here. KRTH is much better than it used to be (1990's), no doubt in my mind, but it can cut down on the repetition and add more songs and hits and expand it's specialties to feature these "lost oldies".

 

[ercjncpr]

The bogus info has been removed from both the CBS-FM and KRTH entries as of 5:30pm today (when I looked)

 

[davideduardo]

Since then KRTH has enjoyed increased ratings and there's a much broader playlist, so I don't quite understand your statement that "they desperately need to UPGRADE/FRESHEN UP their playlist".

Winter 2005 25-54 3.0
Winter 2008 25-54 2.8

Huge increase... not.

 

[davideduardo]

You're right...Increased ratings and broader playlists go hand in hand.

Generally, the opposite is true. As proven over and over and over and over in direct format competitive battles.

 

[LKellerIII]

You're right...Increased ratings and broader playlists go hand in hand.

Generally, the opposite is true. As proven over and over and over and over in direct format competitive battles.

No doubt, David is right...he usually has the research to prove it. But speaking only for myself, and as somebody who visits LA only for a week or two every couple of years - the old Mike Philips' KRTH with its 300 song play list was unlistenable after a couple of days. I found the repetition frustrating just from listening a couple of hours a day for two days. Last summer, I spent a week in LA, and had the Jhani Kaye KRTH on for a few hours a day while we traveled around the southland on those famous freeways. I thought KRTH sounded terrific.

I didn't write all the songs down, but I believe the only song I heard more than once was Tambourine Man (Byrds) which I heard 3 times, for some odd reason. Other than that, the repetition was not detectable to me. It was a good mix of hits, I thought, and the station is formatted well, and fun to listen to.

If I lived in LA, I might feel differently, or get bored after awhile, but I tend to listen to about a dozen stations on a regular basis, anyway. If I lived in LA, KRTH would definitely be one of them.