• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

KVI: Back to Talk?

In their defense...when oldies launched on KVI their local-based hosts were expensive, KJR-F had not made it known they were going to brand as "oldies" and KMCQ was not encoding and were courting buyers (including FM counterpart for KVI-A).

I still think the bigger overall question is: Do we NEED two radio bands anymore? What if we migrate to one radio band the same way we finally moved TV all-digital.
 
A couple thoughts here:

First, what a waste of time KVI flipping to Classic Hits was. I mean why flip to a format you're only going to be in for a year, if you really wanted to compete in that format.

Frankly i'm a bit sad that KVI is flipping back to Talk, because we already have like 9 or 10 talk stations in the Seattle area and surrounding cities, so another one doesn't make much sense.

Actually, if Fisher had put more time and money into the station it could have been just as good as the original KVI oldies format. What other oldies station in Seattle played Little Richard, or Elvis, or Buddy Holly? Currently, none except for KMCQ and of course KVI.

I think in those respects, the Seattle area is losing a good station in KVI's Classic Hits format.

They actually dared to play stuff rarely heard in the market, and that to me made them a station I actually sought out, and listened to on a regular basis. And this is coming from a 26 year old(yes, i'll admit it: I am a 26 year old who listens to oldies music).

As for KVI's programming choices for a new talk format... Phil Hendrie, whose best years are waaaay behind him, Imus in the Morning, ditto, and Clark Howard, among others. While I don't fault KVI for picking up these shows, with some of the choices they made, I really don't see them making any inroads this time around as talk either.

As for that comment on the link about local morning and midday shows.... that makes me wonder.

KOMO is also owned by Fisher, so would KVI bring on the hosts of KOMO's newsline shows to make 1000 AM a pure all news station again? That might be something KVI could look at, considering they probably want to save money again, or not.

I also wonder what's going to happen to the KVI DJs. Mark Christopher, Ric Hansen and Tom Hutyler all have experience on music stations in the market, so why not bring them over to KMCQ?

Sure, the station is still building up a reputation, but they are close to streaming, and they have American Top 40 the 70s already, so Mark and the others would be great on the station. With 104.5's playlist, they would all have the freedom to play what they want and nobody would complain.

Plus Mark's already had a short stint on the station, so maybe he'll come back again. You never know....
 
I doubt if Mark, Ric, and Tom would work for free trade at the issaquah pizza hut.

Chances of seeing them on KMCQ anytime soon are ZERO.
 
From an email sent to clients.


Beginning January 3, 2012, KVI Greatest Hits will flip to talk radio, called Smart Talk 570 KVI. The positioning will be “Smart Talk for a Sound Life”, featuring lifestyle, health, local and entertainment news. We anticipate the core audience will be adults 35-64. Hosts Mark Christopher and KOMO 4 TV’s Elisa Jaffe will start out the day with “Sunrise Seattle,” (a Good Morning America-type program) and other hosts including Clark Howard, Phil Hendrie (comedy-oriented), The Buzz featuring Scott Carty, and a WSJ Daily Wrap will inform and entertain listeners.

In the early 90s, KVI was America’s first conservative talk station. And now Fisher is proud to create a lifestyle format like none other. A press release will be sent to the media in the coming weeks.

From Thanksgiving through January 2, 2012, KVI will celebrate the holidays with traditional Christmas music. More information is attached via PDF. If you have ANY questions please let me know. Thank you!
 
dialspinner said:
From an email sent to clients.


Beginning January 3, 2012, KVI Greatest Hits will flip to talk radio, called Smart Talk 570 KVI. The positioning will be “Smart Talk for a Sound Life”, featuring lifestyle, health, local and entertainment news. We anticipate the core audience will be adults 35-64. Hosts Mark Christopher and KOMO 4 TV’s Elisa Jaffe will start out the day with “Sunrise Seattle,” (a Good Morning America-type program) and other hosts including Clark Howard, Phil Hendrie (comedy-oriented), The Buzz featuring Scott Carty, and a WSJ Daily Wrap will inform and entertain listeners.

In the early 90s, KVI was America’s first conservative talk station. And now Fisher is proud to create a lifestyle format like none other. A press release will be sent to the media in the coming weeks.

From Thanksgiving through January 2, 2012, KVI will celebrate the holidays with traditional Christmas music. More information is attached via PDF. If you have ANY questions please let me know. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Interesting. Although I know Mark as more of a DJ, I have heard him do some stuff for KCTS so it will be interesting to see how someone like him would do in a talk format.

Also, them saying Phil Hendrie is a comedy oriented show is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, Phil still does his voices over the phone, and the whole shtick he's done for most of his syndicated run is still featured on the show, but it's not as good as it once was.

Any idea what the weekend lineup will be like BTW? So far, only a few of KVI's infomercials from their first talk format are still around on Saturdays and Sundays, so there's room for a lot of programming.

My suggestion, even though they're going for a lifestyle type format is maybe picking up some Yahoo Sports Radio programming(ehh... on second thought, that won't happen, but it's a shot).
 
Ought to go all X-mas right now. Guru was right. AM is only good for spoken word. Under age 50, hardly any know it exist. Good luck to KVI!
 
Yes this is not a rumor, my rep called me today.

Pure 100% speculation on my part is that Fisher jumped the gun either thought they had a deal to acquire KMCQ a while back and at the time having an AM in place would have made for an uber powerful AM/FM combo - or if KMCQ went another way then they could also win - cause the oldies audience would have a place to go - big enough segment to chase. But then when I heard a couple weeks ago that Clear Channel did an LMA for sales w/ KMCQ at that point they gotta go a different direction - and with annuals coming down you don't want to miss out like CLICK did last year not having it in place in time- so you gotta make the move NOW for next year.

I think the lifestyle thing could be a good move for KVI it 's a nice way to leverage some of their KOMO family resources I bet you can see some cross over maybe even with of their KOMO AM personalities again this is 100% pure SPECULATION by me but at least it gives them the option (John Tesh on STAR is another resource/personality that comes to mind this is in the same wheelhouse) a lifestyle format targets women which fits their portfolio well compliments STAR on buys so overall a smart financial move.

Variations of this format have been tried in Seattle over the years (I think KING AM did it for awhile WAAY back and I know others have tried) it's all about the personalities and promotion and Fisher has the resources to do it right if they put their heart and mind into it. Anyone have any stats or info about other markets a lifestyle format like this has succeeded or floundered in?
 
This sounds like the KVI of 30 years ago. Jack Morton in the morning, middays were Jennifer James the radio psychologist followed by ... what was his name? ... followed by J Michael Kenyon reading the cricket scores in afternoon drive. Then Robert E Lee Hardwick came back and did mornings, Morton went to afternoon drive (if I remember correctly) and Kenyon did sports talk for four hours in the evening. And Larry King overnight throughout.

Lasted for a few years and then they went country.
 
KVI as an Oldies station was a button on my radio, but probably the fourth or fifth button. To be fair when KVI launched there was no Oldies station on the dial. KMCQ was not encoding and rumored to be sold at any minute, maybe to Fisher. The station launched, I thought they sounded pretty good and filled a hole. Then KJR flips Oldies, KMCQ stays in the Oldies game and encodes and there is no room for an AM Oldies station. Music on AM works in some markets, but not when two FM stations play the same music.

Not sure I understand the new format? A live, local morning show, local afternoon show mixed with Wall Street Journal report? Is this an attempt to go after the KUOW audience? With two news/Talk stations, two sports stations, at least three conservative talk stations, a liberal talk station, a business news station and NPR it will be a long road for KVI. You thought battling two Oldies stations was tough! You have to admire Fisher for doing live and local shows in mornings and afternoons. If you are going talk there are cheaper all syndicated options. Will miss KVI and maybe like others should have made it a more frequent button. Hard for them to compete once two FM's played Oldies.
 
Will anyone miss oldies on KVI? It never made the slightest dent in the market and was horribly done. How bad was it? They launched the format with paid talk barter programming on weekends. The format was a mish mash of bad music, news at the top AND the bottom of the hour, long pointless jock breaks, a truly lame morning show, cheesy TV commercials, etc. etc. etc. On a list of how to do it wrong, Kent Phillips was 10-for-10.
 
It's depressing watching a historical AM station struggle to find relevancy anymore.

The oldies? It wasn't going to last. AM's trends are unavoidable. For mainstream music, AM is almost completely dead short of ethnic or niche programming. Sure, you'll catch Montana or Wyoming AM's still playing country music. In major markets with the man made electrical noise destroying reception coupled with the lesser fidelity and abundance of full service FMs - and in KVI's case, the format being over on FM - forget it.

It's at least a positive to see Fisher giving it a whirl again. Trying to reinvent KVI and appealing to women is smart, repackaging talk radio towards them. With a high number of educated women in the market, I like it. Plus, as mentioned earlier, it gives them a nice sales opportunity with KPLZ/101.5.

Good luck to the folks who are making this happen. I hope KVI finds a profitable niche.
 
For an example of how to do music on AM, try out Magic 590 WROW. It's #10 in the Albany NY ratings. www.AlbanyMagic.com

First, they have live DJs in morning, midday and evening and voice-tracked DJs evenings and overnights so to a casual listener it sounds like they're always live. The last DJ of the day pre-records the weather and there's CBS News at the top of the hour around the clock. It's an investment but clearly to be top 10, it's worth it.

The format is a mix of Soft AC, Oldies and Standards. I'd adjust it slightly away from too many Standards that sound too old. The Way You Look Tonight by Sinatra makes more sense to me than playing 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford, among the Carpenters, Beatles and Barry Manilow. But the point is, music CAN be done on AM, if that music is not available on FM.

These days even Soft AC stations won't play soft music or music from even the 70s. I'm amazed at how uptempo the formerly Soft AC stations have become. And Classic Hits stations won't play anything pre-Beatles. In fact even the Beatles are getting squeezed out of most Classic Hits stations, in favor of 70s and 80s hits.

Too bad someone at Fisher in charge of KVI didn't had a passion for the music and wanted to make it work.


Gregg
[email protected]
 
It may be a smart but a short term format fix. Remember that 2012 is a big time election year and even with talk formats in plenty supply, the chatter box stations will pounce on this little advertising opportunity in a heartbeat. It will likely raise some sorely need cash..We all knew that pipeing oldies tunes through a mushed out, short range over limited AM signal wan't going to land anywhere except in the dumpster. The key to the format will be who's in the wheelhouse. Is Kirby Wilbur still looking for a gig..? :-X
 
Interesting that they would go to "Smart Talk". I think it is a lot like the FM News crap in Chicago and NY, only that they're all news, but they aim towards a female audience by having entertainment reports, lifestyle, etc. Interesting to see how a semi-blowtorch signal would go that way. I might tune in, but probably not for long.
 
I believe, according to our resident experts, the oldies on 570 kHz was merely a "placeholder" (whatever THAT means) and it wasn't going to be for long anyway. Until a sale. Or a flip to espanol. Something.

All I know is with all the weekend infomercial crap, KVI was doomed right out of the gate. Then came KJR-FM's rebranding and it all went to hell from there. Secondly, you just can't make such a radical flip from a 20 year run as a hard-boiled conservative talker to everybody's good time, feel good oldies station without SOME listener suspicion.

I'd go as far as to say most radio listeners weren't even aware 570 had even flipped to oldies in the first place. Over the last year. I have mentioned KVI and people would think I've gone Republican until I explain they flipped to oldies and they'd be like "Sure they did dude.....Sure they did....".

And there's the AM band itself......

Talk is probably going to be a tougher sell on KVI now than expected. It looks like they're out to get some of KIRO's pie. There's just one tiny little problem - THAT TOO has moved to FM.

So all in all, it was fun while it lasted.......Life goes on.....
 
Gregg said:
For an example of how to do music on AM, try out Magic 590 WROW. It's #10 in the Albany NY ratings. www.AlbanyMagic.com

First, they have live DJs in morning, midday and evening and voice-tracked DJs evenings and overnights so to a casual listener it sounds like they're always live. The last DJ of the day pre-records the weather and there's CBS News at the top of the hour around the clock. It's an investment but clearly to be top 10, it's worth it.

The format is a mix of Soft AC, Oldies and Standards. I'd adjust it slightly away from too many Standards that sound too old. The Way You Look Tonight by Sinatra makes more sense to me than playing 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford, among the Carpenters, Beatles and Barry Manilow. But the point is, music CAN be done on AM, if that music is not available on FM.
Click to expand...
If I was to put the new WROW into a category, it would be MOR or traditional MOR. They have several things going for them. The same company that owned them also owned WKLI (100.9) where the format was originally broadcast until early 2010. The station was quite popular (placing about 5th place or so) although the target audience was mainly outside of a desirable demographic. Being that the format had some viability, the owners thought they didn't have to trash the format completely and therefore moved the format over to WROW, which at the time had an under-performing talk format. Many wrote the move off as foolish, but so far the ratings have proven to be somewhat respectable. FTR, While 590 has done well, 100.9 has had another format change since dropping "Magic". They now have a Rock format.

I had mentioned in another thread here that I knew KVI was going to face an uphill battle by going oldies. I can't say I'm surprised that the decision has come to what it is. If you're an AM broadcaster in 2011, you had better damned well have something innovative to offer the public, or you're screwed! You cannot go up against the big guys or you're toast! It's bad enough when you have one direct competitor on FM. In Seattle you had two! If I'm a prospective client, I'll ask, 'why buy a time on a severely under-performing AM station when I have two other options which broadcast similar material and I can get better mileage for my dollar on those respective outlets?'

Will the new talk format work this time? Who knows? I for one can say that rarely has a station gone to another format and returned to their previous format within a few years and gained the respect they once had. I don't see KVI being any different. I said this in another thread, but the direction that WROW took may have been a good model that KVI probably should've pursued when they made their changeover last year. In order not to overlap too much with KIXI's audience, playing material not offered by KIXI would be necessary. Maybe would going to a full service style presentation. Another option might be to go all-Comedy with the 24/7 Comedy Radio Network. http://247comedy.com/

These days even Soft AC stations won't play soft music or music from even the 70s. I'm amazed at how uptempo the formerly Soft AC stations have become. And Classic Hits stations won't play anything pre-Beatles. In fact even the Beatles are getting squeezed out of most Classic Hits stations, in favor of 70s and 80s hits.

Too bad someone at Fisher in charge of KVI didn't had a passion for the music and wanted to make it work.


Gregg
[email protected]
Click to expand...
It all comes down to "how do we maximize the bottom line?"

When many EZ stations were dropping that format in favor of soft AC, the vast majority went mainstream (AC) within a few years or so. This is why I feel it is better for some of the struggling AMs, particularly in major markets to consider formats such as soft AC, a MOR for today and so forth.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom