KVNS (1700 AM) flips to Fox Sports

[Smittian]

Just in case you're DXing 1700 and hear Sports talk, KVNS made the flip today to Fox Sports. As much as we here in the Rio Grande Valley need a Sports station, I'm gonna miss the great music

 

[gar hi]

:'(

Listening to KNVS was like listening to old time AM radio.

There aren't enough sports stations already?

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Another slob sports station. Another station gone from my presets, one less oldies option for Houston, the largest market in the US without a highly rated oldies station.

 

[schmave]

NOOO!!! That stinks. Always thought of KVNS as a throwback with the great oldies music fighting through the miles at night. Well now I don't have to worry about trying to snag it on skywave anymore.

 

[cyberdad]

:'(

Listening to KNVS was like listening to old time AM radio.

There aren't enough sports stations already?

+1. Sad news, but given the way things are going, not surprising.

Apologies for the veer....but if you want to hear "old time AM radio", see if you can check out the KXOK stream on Live 365. I don't think you need to be a premium member to get it, but I'm not sure.

Basically it's rebroadcasts old KXOK (630/St. Louis) airchecks....mostly long ones, mostly mid-60s, and quite a few countdown shows. Complete with commercials, jingles, news, sports, weather, PSAs, etc. Music that had been "scoped" is re-inserted, so it's pretty much identical to what was originally broadcast.

On the downside, audio is pretty lousy (32kbs), and most of the countdowns are fragments....usually about an hour....so you'll usually be wondering what made it to #1.

Still it's a fun, entertaining listen.

 

[gar hi]

What made KNVS so unique is that you're hearing it through the sound of AM radio which is how we origionally listened to those songs and they don't play the same familiar worn out songs that typical oldies stations on FM play.

I like Retroavtiveradio and That '70s Channel on Live 365.

Thanks for the suggestion of KXOK, as I really miss the old AM radio.

Don't know if you've seen this site but they have all kinds of airchecks and music from the 60s and 70s.

I grew up listening to this great station and it was a favorite nighttime station for many people hundreds of miles away.

http://musicradio77.com/

Hearing KVNS from Tampa and the way the signal comes in and out from weak to strong reminded me of the old WKBW which was the first nighttime station I listened to from New Jersey when I first discovered DXing.

 

[tomservo]

Sad news. I happened across the station just last night while sitting at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. It was nice to hear oldies on the radio for a change, and the signal was not bad, either. Very steady.

 

[ChuckTiller]

I was in Galveston over the weekend and heard oldies being played around 4AM CDT on KVNS. When is the flip supposed to take place?

 

[gar hi]

I listened last night and heard some syndicated sports talk show that was also being broadcast on our local WDAE.

 

[ChuckTiller]

How unfortunate. It was pretty cool to hear oldies on AM while it lasted.

 

[davideduardo]

There aren't enough sports stations already?

No. Sports stations rather regularly make money, while AM music stations... and 50's-60's oldies stations in general... tend to lose money.

 

[MarioMania]

There aren't enough sports stations already?

No. Sports stations rather regularly make money, while AM music stations... and 50's-60's oldies stations in general... tend to lose money.

Let me take a wild guess, No one is listening to Oldies on AM anymore

 

[rbrucecarter5]

There aren't enough sports stations already?

No. Sports stations rather regularly make money, while AM music stations... and 50's-60's oldies stations in general... tend to lose money.

Try telling that to KMVL Madisonville or KHVL Huntsville - both are locally owned and doing quite well. KHVL is doing so well with oldies, they bought an FM a few months back. Too bad the frequency isn't good for Houston or they would capture the oldies listeners in Houston, and maybe rate in the top ten like KLUV and KONO in their markets. Oldies is a viable format, and in demand. All it takes is somebody who understands the format, does it right to gain the ratings.

 

[MarioMania]

Why did it flip??

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Why did it flip??

Because they didn't give a darn about their listeners, none of whom probably still listen now that it is yet another slob sports station. Ugh! Another station off my presets. The only format more useless to me than talk. But perhaps marginally better than foreign language babbling

 

[davideduardo]

Why did it flip??

Reasons:

Music on AM doesn't work in competitive markets.
Low billing.
No listeners under 55 or 60
Greater potential with sports.

Add in "terrible coverage" and you have lots of reasons to go for something new.

 

[davideduardo]

No. Sports stations rather regularly make money, while AM music stations... and 50's-60's oldies stations in general... tend to lose money.


Try telling that to KMVL Madisonville or KHVL Huntsville - both are locally owned and doing quite well. KHVL is doing so well with oldies, they bought an FM a few months back. Too bad the frequency isn't good for Houston or they would capture the oldies listeners in Houston, and maybe rate in the top ten like KLUV and KONO in their markets. Oldies is a viable format, and in demand. All it takes is somebody who understands the format, does it right to gain the ratings.

Both of those stations are in small local markets with just about zero transactional business. They sell based on relationships and building a comfort zone about a format for the advertiser.

Many programming approaches that work in small unrated markets (and even in suburban situations) don't work at all in larger, more competitive markets where lots of money is placed based on ratings and demo targets.

"Oldies" stations (as the industry defines them, meaning a 60's core) don't do well in rated markets as they have nearly no listeners under 55 or so. While in some cases in rated markets where there is an oldies station that gets good 12+ numbers, the 25-54 sales demos are more barren than Death Valley.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

"Oldies" stations (as the industry defines them, meaning a 60's core) don't do well in rated markets as they have nearly no listeners under 55 or so. While in some cases in rated markets where there is an oldies station that gets good 12+ numbers, the 25-54 sales demos are more barren than Death Valley.

Well - oldies / classic hits, which is what KVNS was, rates

#5 in Dallas
#7 DC
#4 Philly
#11 Denver
#6 St Louis
#3 Portland OR
#2 Pittsburgh
#13 Seattle
#4 Phoenix
#6 Minneapolis
#10 San Diego
#2 Tampa
#3 Long Island

I could keep going through the ratings from Radio-info.com, but I think the point is made. Oldies/ classic hits is viable in just about any market, obviously a lot of people younger than 55 are listening, and even if they aren't those numbers make advertising on the station very attractive.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Bruce, if oldies is rated #10 then why am I not hearing them in San Diego? (Radio Disney and gospel (Family Radio style) isn't the only type of music I enjoy.) I'm thinking of artists like Leslie Gore, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley (his younger recordings), Paul Anka, Bobby Vinton, The Chordettes (or whoever sings Mr Sandman, or is it Mr Postman? - not the Metallica Song), etc. Occasional Beach Boys, early Beatles, etc. might also be ok, but less of Rolling Stones & other late 60s / 70s acts (with a few isolated exceptions) preferred. (I also happen to like some music that was popular in the mid to late 90s, as well - that's when I was in my teens.) BTW I'm in a spot where I don't get very good FM reception from most of the San Diego FM stations, except 89.5 KPBS (whose tower is 4.5 miles away & visible from my house), 93.3 KHTS, 97.3 KSON, 101.5 KGB & 106.5 KLNV.

 

[davideduardo]

Well - oldies / classic hits, which is what KVNS was, rates

A station can not have two formats at one time.

"Oldies" and "Classic Hits" are very different formats. Oldies has a 60's core with a smattering of 50's and a bit of earlier 70's. Classic Hits is 70's based with a few 60's songs that were well-played as gold in the 70's plus a growing amount of 80's songs.

#5 in Dallas
#7 DC
#4 Philly
#11 Denver
#6 St Louis
#3 Portland OR
#2 Pittsburgh
#13 Seattle
#4 Phoenix
#6 Minneapolis
#10 San Diego
#2 Tampa
#3 Long Island

Those are all classic hits stations.

I could keep going through the ratings from Radio-info.com, but I think the point is made. Oldies/ classic hits is viable in just about any market, obviously a lot of people younger than 55 are listening, and even if they aren't those numbers make advertising on the station very attractive.

Classic hits, which, again, is a different format from oldies, does quite well in 45-54, and grabs the tail end of 35-44. Yet, still, these stations have as much as half of their audience over the age of 55.

So, in every case, the market ranks you cite are much lower in 25-54 than in the 6+ you base your ranks on. For example, in Phoenix the classic hits station generally ranks 6th to 9th in the sales demos, while the San Diego one averaged around 17th in the first half of 2012 (before Arbitron prohibited that we reveal those numbers)

Oldies stations, on the other hand, have nearly 100% of their one-hour-or-more (non-coincidental) a week listening over the age of 55.