KXAM going silent?

[phil]

Jeffry O'Brien announced tonight, prefacing his remarks that this is not an April fool's joke, that KXAM is going to shut down in a couple of weeks, and he is looking for a new home for his "Daily Blender" show.

He said he is just confirming rumors that are racing around town. He says it is not a money problem.

Anybody able to confirm?

 

[DistantAntenna]

If a tree falls in a forest...

 

[radioman148]

If a tree falls in a forest...

;D ;D

 

[Legend City]

Just the other day I listened to Matt Gerson doing an interview with Rod Steiger.

Sadly, Rod Steiger has been dead for 7 years, but hey, why try?

 

[JeffryOBrien]

Do me a favor guys... be nice to the 14 or so people at KXAM who are losing their jobs right now in a messed up economy thru no fault of their own. I can not go into detail right now, but it is really not fair to kick the good guys in the situation when they are down.

None of this makes any sense to anyone... except the owners who insist on doing it this way.

Say what you will about my show... I can take it... but try to remember... there are some really great people that work here... with families and feelings.

Everyone at KXAM has been committed to do doing the best they can with what was here to work with. And in most situations.. admittedly not all (and some things we could not control)... for the most part.. we did a pretty good job. We made the place more money than it had ever seen... we improved the on air sound and we gave it more consistency than it ever had before... and we got rid of all the liars and cheaters. We did right by the owners. We did the best we could.

We have heard all the barbs about KXAM... how about instead of beating up innocent bystanders who were just trying to make a living... how about just a little break as we all try to find jobs and figure out how in this economy we are going to just survive... I know it's a stretch for a lot of you... but how about ya just try?

If a tree falls in a forest will it make the money we made?
Will it fill a restaurant with people on any given Friday??
Will it treat clients with honesty and respect unlike other AM stations on the dial?

Beyond that... well... looks like I need a job.
On air music or talk... production... operations... just sayin.
I like to eat and my babies are sorta fond of it too.

Multiply that last bit by 14... is it still funny?

 

[Legend City]

Jeffry, I hope everything goes well for you all over there, you are a good guy (and you put me in my place!) and I hope everyone finds work.

As for the Rod Steiger interview, it was a great interview and very listenable, my issue is that it was 7+ years old.

I hope KXAM doesn't turn into another infomercial station, I really think that is an abuse of the public airwaves.

Good luck to everyone there, I will say that you all did add a good variety of local programs and and connected with your listeners.

 

[vottopsec]

Do me a favor guys... be nice to the 14 or so people at KXAM who are losing their jobs right now in a messed up economy thru no fault of their own. I can not go into detail right now, but it is really not fair to kick the good guys in the situation when they are down.

None of this makes any sense to anyone... except the owners who insist on doing it this way.

Say what you will about my show... I can take it... but try to remember... there are some really great people that work here... with families and feelings.

Everyone at KXAM has been committed to do doing the best they can with what was here to work with. And in most situations.. admittedly not all (and some things we could not control)... for the most part.. we did a pretty good job. We made the place more money than it had ever seen... we improved the on air sound and we gave it more consistency than it ever had before... and we got rid of all the liars and cheaters. We did right by the owners. We did the best we could.

We have heard all the barbs about KXAM... how about instead of beating up innocent bystanders who were just trying to make a living... how about just a little break as we all try to find jobs and figure out how in this economy we are going to just survive... I know it's a stretch for a lot of you... but how about ya just try?

If a tree falls in a forest will it make the money we made?
Will it fill a restaurant with people on any given Friday??
Will it treat clients with honesty and respect unlike other AM stations on the dial?

Beyond that... well... looks like I need a job.
On air music or talk... production... operations... just sayin.
I like to eat and my babies are sorta fond of it too.

Multiply that last bit by 14... is it still funny?

I agree Jeffry, I feel for the employees there. I wish you and all of the staff there the best, good luck on your search!

 

[azenergyfan]

I really am gonna miss culinary confessions and Dave Ramsey. Sure hope they find a new home in phoenix.

 

[Nik]

Jeffry - You know I have been a fan of yours since the City Life days, and it's sad to hear the station you put your heart and soul into (with less than cooperative ownership) is just tossing you guys aside. Even though you stopped taking my phone calls, you still found it in your heart to drag race me on the strets of East Mesa and bring me gas when I was out and flat broke ;D You are a good guy and you'll land on your feet.

Oh, and I kept my word to you and never revealed your secret

 

[azenergyfan]

During one of KTAR breaks I flipped over to KXAM and heard a promo that starting 4/16 Culinary Confessions with Kim and Don will be on am1440. Never even tuned to that station before and I guess they are Arizona Soul? Well I am happy Kim and Don have a home. I find myself when in the car at that hour tuning in to hear resatuarant reviews and such. Is a nice alternative to the same ol talk on the am dial.

Now just have to find a new home for Dave Ramsey. I would not mind it at all if KTAR dumped Beck for Ramsey. Would be nice to spice things up a bit or I would be happy having Dave on tape at night and plugging someone else in at noon like say Kid Stevens.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

...starting 4/16 Culinary Confessions with Kim and Don will be on am1440.
Never even tuned to that station before and I guess they are Arizona Soul?

KAZG. Arizona Gold. The Gold Mine. 14-in-a-row.

Better known here on the R-I board as Lumberyard 1440...
you know, the one with the wacky lamptimer?

 

[Legend City]

Oh no, the lumberyard might get more than 10 listeners, can they handle it?

 

[radioman148]

Oh no, the lumberyard might get more than 10 listeners, can they handle it?

Maybe 15 but no more

 

[K7VOR]

It wasn't mentioned exactly, but could this 50+ station really go dark? Older AZ listeners will remember their original call -- KTYL and later KBUZ (K-BUZ). Mr. Harkins Sr. operated his new invention for sub-carrier programming on their FM outlet and provided background music valley-wide without the hard-wire of MUZAK. But the AMer never had good coverage nighttime; almost unlistenable in the west valley, and Glendale. Same thing today. ???

 

[bizwriter84]

Jeffrey,

I didn't realize you were as involved in KXAM. I've listened to the Blender, and many of the other shows, especially Dave Ramsey, and sometimes the mid morning shows. Matt Gerson quite frequently, and Rusty Humphrey. A few of the independent local shows, too.

Thank you for speaking up against the cynical snide remarks that initially were launched on this Board against KXAM. That sort of holier-than-thou sniping is rather standard here, so bravo to a professional who put it all into perspective.

Good luck to you and everyone at KXAM.

 

[JeffryOBrien]

Yes I am the Operations Manager of KXAM... and as much of the program director as I was allowed to be.

Thanks to you all for your kind words...

Oh... and if you think our West side signal was bad before... wait and see how bad it gets Thursday... it will be down right unlistenable. Sorry... but hey... I just lost my job... I am allowed to joke about it.

We have been able to help some shows find a new home... so that is good news...

As for me? Well that crack in my windshield that I thought would spread through my field of vision took an unexpected hard left turn to keep that from happening... so I got that going for me! Ya take the little victories and you build from there... right?

Wednesday night as I take the station through it's last moments, I will be remembering how I used to listen to this signal when I first came to the valley in 1984. 1310 was the AM simulcast signal for KZZP. Being a kid from Oregon I had only a little pocket AM that I slipped under my pillow at night so mom wouldn't catch me.... later that year I got an FM boom box... but for awhile... 1310 was how I listened to Top 40 music and Doctor Demento... and now... I get to be the one that has turn the signal off forever.

I do not like that... not even a little. How many people have ever had to do this... shut a signal OFF. It's sad beyond comprehension... a sale would be understandable, or turning this signal off so an adjacent could blossom to a blowtorch... but this... this is the wrong way to lay a perfectly good signal to rest.

To ease the pain... I will take it out the way I found it back in 1984... playing music.

That is all I will say about that at this time...

Now... while what I am about to say has little to do with what is going on, I just feel like I wanted to say it... somewhere. Soon... I will be unemployed and probably greeting shoppers at Wal-Mart or negotiating another type of job... "I will take the job as long as I get to talk into the Drive thru microphone". So this is probably the time to get this off my chest.

So this is what I wanna say...

Radio has always supposed to be a "personal" thing... it has thrived and grown when people remember that. It's supposed to be personal between the station, the listeners and it's clients. We are going to lose radio if more people don't start remembering that.

Do you remember when you listened to radio to hear YOUR DJ? Do you remember that it was really cool to hear a song on the radio that you liked... played by YOUR DJ? It was better than hearing a tape or record, because now YOUR song was being heard by everyone... it always seem to sound better on the radio. It was so much a part of our lives... Does anyone have that connection with ANYONE on radio right now??? With ANY station???

The last true jock like that was Dave Pratt... he figured it out early and built a redheaded empire out of the "personal connection". But now these corporations are thinning the talent crop with voice tracking and syndicated shows... or no voices at all.

They have fired off most of the jocks in town who would actually get what I am saying... whether the justification is PPM or cutting costs... you have cut off your nose to spite the listeners.

Am I the only one a little put out by the fact that it was not an up and coming group of Phoenix talent that got a morning gig here a while back... but some guys from Tuscon??

Market 15 decided it had to borrow it's talent from Market 60?
Nobody in town was worth working with or grooming?
So we just simulcasted with Tucson???
Hey.. if they were the best for the job and MOVED here and became a local Phoenix morning show... maybe that wouldn't have been so annoying... but the talent pool here I guess was so shallow... we needed talent piped in from 45 markets below us? That is crap.

They went for the cheap (and offensive to local radio talent) solution.
I get it... it's money... it's cheaper... but it sucks and means less jobs for everyone in radio.
If you make it that much harder to be talent, where will your great new talent come from?
Do we believe that the new talent will be as good as what came before with out the same sort of understanding of the Dave Pratts of the past???

I know, radio is a business, but they are cutting back in the wrong areas. Where will the new talent come from? We have diluted our product and further jeopardized our way of life. Personality has to be a part of it... or it all becomes one Ipod or MP3 player.

You may think that I have a sentimental and naive idea about what radio is "supposed" to be in today's world... maybe you are right... but I think it's because I still have a personal connection to radio.
I thought I was supposed to.

And in the words of Forrest Gump... that is all I have to say about that.

 

[ironbear]

Jeffry, as a young OM, I had the unfortunate duty of doing the same thing at Flagstaff's KEOS way back when you were a kid. As difficult as it is for you now, such a situation can also be difficult down the road, and I really empathize.

KEOS lived to play another day because, after I consulted a local attorney, I delayed sending the license document back to the FCC for cancellation (against orders, BTW). You see, the owner at the time had psychological problems, but he got the care he needed, and ultimately changed his mind. The station reverted to the previous owner, who was carrying the note on the property.

My next gig was almost as afternoon drive at KQXE-13 during its meltdown, but let's not talk about that now.

Even if Embee plans to liquidate the equipment and real property, I'd hope they will file for a silent STA from the FCC, giving another owner a chance of rebuilding.

'Blender' is a solid show, and you deserve to be heard. My best to you.

 

[JeffryOBrien]

Thanks Ironbear, I do appreciate it big time. And seeing that you are "PD now"... I would just like to remind you... I am available as on air, production or whatever. (now is not the time to be shy)

That said, this matter is a done deal now and in the hands of lawyers... so sadly... there is nothing more to be done here.

 

[EricStein]

Thanks Ironbear, I do appreciate it big time. And seeing that you are "PD now"... I would just like to remind you... I am available as on air, production or whatever. (now is not the time to be shy)

That said, this matter is a done deal now and in the hands of lawyers... so sadly... there is nothing more to be done here.

I take it that the Gersons decided that the land that the towers sit on is worth more than the station license itself, and that's why they're surrendering the license to the FCC instead of donating KXAM to someone as a tax write-off.

 

[ironbear]

Thanks Ironbear, I do appreciate it big time. And seeing that you are "PD now"... I would just like to remind you... I am available as on air, production or whatever. (now is not the time to be shy)

That said, this matter is a done deal now and in the hands of lawyers... so sadly... there is nothing more to be done here.

Uh, oh. I tweaked my blurb's punctuation to better reflect my current non-PD status. However, like most everyone connected to the business on this board, I have a big mouth and don't mind spreading the word about talented folks. Now, here's to a much happier 'tomorrow', after all is said and done.