Mahalick is a Genius

[Rick Mundy Show]

KBWF The Wolf is kickin' major butt. What a great concept. Take Alternative and Hip Hop Jocks and make them sound like they really know who Martina McBride is, is genius. Entercomm must be so proud of the Wolf in SF.

1.7 almost doubling the ratings of LEGENDARY KFRC Mahalick is genius.

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

LMFAO!

Seriously...those KFRC numbers are sad. My guess is that the frequency has been such a non-entity for so many years as KEAR, that it has very little cume.

Anyway....back to the WOLF....GO WOLF!

 

[DavidKaye]

Seriously...those KFRC numbers are sad. My guess is that the frequency has been such a non-entity for so many years as KEAR, that it has very little cume.

I doubt the freq is the problem. Today's KSOL (which is often the #1 music station in town) was a money loser for everybody from Viacom and CBS to James Gabbert and banker Lloyd Edwards. The big fellas couldn't make it run. The little guys couldn't make it run. It had 50 years as a non-entity, and then, well....

As for 106.9, the only problem I see with it is the lack of cross-tuning due to its fringe position. But 107.7 discounts that. It was long popular as KYLD, Wild 107, and now has moderate success as KSAN.

No, the fact seems to be that "oldies KFRC" is a tanker.

 

[SFStatic]

Moderate success?? The morning show is #3 25-54 in the Fall book.

I agree with Michael above, think that 106.9 was a non-player for so long, it will take vastly more promotion (expensive TV) to get the cume up. Their cume is tiny.

 

[radiotrump]

Word from an insider is that the original morning show is being replaced, with Executive Producer Marcus Osborne the first to go ... talk is that he never delivered what The Wolf was looking for (Heard he's doing movie reviews at ALICE) I actually thought the morning show was refreshing for a country station, with Gill Alexander & LeBaron being very intelligent and Eddie King keeping things funny and light (BTW - PD Mahalick has BALLS casting a gay guy on a COUNTRY morning show ... and it works, King is a listener favorite and really great) They had good chemistry too ... not all that cheesy, hick BS you usually get from country radio morning shows. All the other jocks feel like they need to shout all the time.

The biggest complaint I hear though is the music ... SAME 5 SONGS ALL DAY LONG!!!! Probably driven by consultants, because it is so incredibly uninspired ... Nikki Landry is the music director, but she is from the east coast and obviously not tapped into what works in this market yet. At least the morning show has a "Flashback Friday" and spin some great classics with the new stuff - that's refreshing. I hope The Wolf figures it out, it would be great to have at least one great country station in the portfolio of stations that the Bay Area has to offer.

 

[jimmythebassett]

Here we go again...We have talked about this several times over the
last year. Every out of the market PD that comes into the Bay Area
tries to so some kind of slick euro-trash, Pacific Rim, "vibe" thing that
has nothing to do with programming radio the prospective audience
in SF wants to hear. Count the countless weird format twists that
have been tried in this market. Country is country - Program the station
to Country listeners and forget about the gay audience, Hispanics
and Asians. To drive the share needed, no matter what kind of slick
imaging or marketing the station does, billboards in Chinese, strang
ID's with mutiple languages under the voice over, To these ethnic
groups, it's a Country station and the the prospective Country listeners,
they have no clue what is is except they hear the music.

 

[DavidKaye]

Country is country - Program the station
to Country listeners and forget about the gay audience, Hispanics
and Asians.

That's the problem: Country is not country. There are at least 10 different genres of ountry music: Nashville Sound (that dreadful thing that simply doesn't work here), Bakersfield Sound, Western swing, rockabilly, honky-tonk*, gospel, cajun, oldtime, bluegrass, newgrass, and psychobilly. Oh, and I left out jug band music and Appalachian. And people will surely list even more. * This board does not allow the word "honkee" to pass its filtering.

In days gone by several stations ran "country" music and were successful with it: KEEN 1370, KSAY 1010, KVSM 1050, KTRB 860 in Modesto, etc. But these stations did not problem Nashville Sound. They programmed largely Western music and honky-tonk. The Golden Pacific empire of the Mardikian, Farr, and Snell families was built on KEEN's country music format.

It may be hard to believe for many folks, but bars and nightclubs featuring country music were once as prevalent here as hip-hop clubs are today. There is an audience here for country music done right -- not Nashville sound, either. Bear in mind that San Francisco has not one but two bluegrass festivals. The "other" one is about to begin in a couple weeks: 30 shows, 57 bands, 17 Bay Area venues. http://www.sfbluegrass.org/

Country music can work here, but it takes someone who knows the lay of the land here. We do not like Nashville music, and countless format attempts have shown that no matter how much they try they won't get us to like it.

 

[Madmansam]

KBWF The Wolf is kickin' major butt. What a great concept. Take Alternative and Hip Hop Jocks and make them sound like they really know who Martina McBride is, is genius. Entercomm must be so proud of the Wolf in SF.

1.7 almost doubling the ratings of LEGENDARY KFRC Mahalick is genius.

I knew Scott Mahalick during his early years in Modesto when he worked at CITADEL. He transformed a mediocre Easy Listening Music Station, KBEE-103.3 into The Valley's Country Leader KATM-KAT COUNTRY 103. KATM literally destroyed all of its Country Competiers from KTRB-860 to KFMR-100.1 to KMIX-98.3 to KMIX-100.9 to KFRY-96.7 to KEJC-93.9 to even more. Only KUBB-96.3 Merced has held on. Then when Citadel took over KHOP-104.1, They killed off the Legendary KDJK-95.1 and weakened Classic Rock KVFX-96.7, then when KHOP-104.1 switched from AOR to CLASSIC HITS (First as ARROW then as THE HAWK), They singlehandedly destroyed KVFX. Scott Mahalick was considered to be a KING MIDAS by CITADEL. Everything He Touched Turned To Gold. I don't know if he is a genius but he sure was very smart. (As well as an A-HOLE)

 

[Hunter]

KBWF The Wolf is kickin' major butt. What a great concept. Take Alternative and Hip Hop Jocks and make them sound like they really know who Martina McBride is, is genius. Entercomm must be so proud of the Wolf in SF.

1.7 almost doubling the ratings of LEGENDARY KFRC Mahalick is genius.

Does Scott Mahalick's mom use the handle "Rick Mundy Show"?

I knew Scott Mahalick during his early years in Modesto when he worked at CITADEL. He transformed a mediocre Easy Listening Music Station, KBEE-103.3 into The Valley's Country Leader KATM-KAT COUNTRY 103. KATM literally destroyed all of its Country Competiers from KTRB-860 to KFMR-100.1 to KMIX-98.3 to KMIX-100.9 to KFRY-96.7 to KEJC-93.9 to even more. Only KUBB-96.3 Merced has held on. Then when Citadel took over KHOP-104.1, They killed off the Legendary KDJK-95.1 and weakened Classic Rock KVFX-96.7, then when KHOP-104.1 switched from AOR to CLASSIC HITS (First as ARROW then as THE HAWK), They singlehandedly destroyed KVFX. Scott Mahalick was considered to be a KING MIDAS by CITADEL. Everything He Touched Turned To Gold. I don't know if he is a genius but he sure was very smart. (As well as an A-HOLE)

A decent programmer he may be, but let's put his big wins in Modesto in proper perspective. He had several things in his favor:

1) At KATM he had a GODZILLA city grade signal over both Modesto & Stockton, even reaching into Sac and south of Merced. The only competitors with big numbers at the time were a class A - KMIX in Turlock, which didn't cover Modesto well, and another class A - KFMR in Stockton which had a short stick and didn't reach Manteca. KTRB had a good signal, but was very traditional sounding and skewed very old. Plus, local AM had been dead in the valley for years even then. The other competitors you list KMIX at 100.9 and KEJC 93.9 were all class A's and came along long after KATM went on and became well established. I thought KFRY-96.7 had come and gone long before KATM...but either way, another class A that couldn't cover either Modesto or Stockton up against a very strong Class B signal that saturated both markets.

2) He did launch KATM with a tight, energetic, professional, hit oriented sound, up against the afore mentioned Class A's that were all mom and pop operations and they sounded like mom and pop operations....it wasn't rocket science...the competition was BAD....KATM did sound excellent in comparison.

3) Citadel spent big bucks on marketing the station. For years major billboards with both N & S facings along Highway 99....they also had a Cat Country Big Rig truck that drove everywhere, promotions, etc. Competitors spent ziltch marketing their weak signals.

4) KHOP's (104.1) signal was the only valley signal actually better than KATM's. KVFX (96.7) - a Class A licensed to Manteca had a poor Modesto signal & a poor Stockton signal.

 

[LKellerIII]

"In days gone by several stations ran "country" music and were successful with it: KEEN 1370, KSAY 1010, KVSM 1050, KTRB 860 in Modesto, etc"

As long as we're talking about "days gone by," weren't KNEW in the 70s and 80s, and KSAN (94.9) in the 80s - also reasonably popular in the ratings? If I remember correctly, MetroMedia owned both stations, as well as KLAC in Los Angeles.

I realize the market has changed, and the more recent attempts at country (KYCY in the 90s, and The Bear more recently) have been flops. Though its worth pointing out that The Bear was coming up in the ratings when Bonneville flipped 95.7 to the never popular Max-FM.

 

[Madmansam]

I knew Scott Mahalick during his early years in Modesto when he worked at CITADEL. He transformed a mediocre Easy Listening Music Station, KBEE-103.3 into The Valley's Country Leader KATM-KAT COUNTRY 103. KATM literally destroyed all of its Country Competiers from KTRB-860 to KFMR-100.1 to KMIX-98.3 to KMIX-100.9 to KFRY-96.7 to KEJC-93.9 to even more. Only KUBB-96.3 Merced has held on. Then when Citadel took over KHOP-104.1, They killed off the Legendary KDJK-95.1 and weakened Classic Rock KVFX-96.7, then when KHOP-104.1 switched from AOR to CLASSIC HITS (First as ARROW then as THE HAWK), They singlehandedly destroyed KVFX. Scott Mahalick was considered to be a KING MIDAS by CITADEL. Everything He Touched Turned To Gold. I don't know if he is a genius but he sure was very smart. (As well as an A-HOLE)

A decent programmer he may be, but let's put his big wins in Modesto in proper perspective. He had several things in his favor:

1) At KATM he had a GODZILLA city grade signal over both Modesto & Stockton, even reaching into Sac and south of Merced. The only competitors with big numbers at the time were a class A - KMIX in Turlock, which didn't cover Modesto well, and another class A - KFMR in Stockton which had a short stick and didn't reach Manteca. KTRB had a good signal, but was very traditional sounding and skewed very old. Plus, local AM had been dead in the valley for years even then. The other competitors you list KMIX at 100.9 and KEJC 93.9 were all class A's and came along long after KATM went on and became well established. I thought KFRY-96.7 had come and gone long before KATM...but either way, another class A that couldn't cover either Modesto or Stockton up against a very strong Class B signal that saturated both markets.

2) He did launch KATM with a tight, energetic, professional, hit oriented sound, up against the afore mentioned Class A's that were all mom and pop operations and they sounded like mom and pop operations....it wasn't rocket science...the competition was BAD....KATM did sound excellent in comparison.

3) Citadel spent big bucks on marketing the station. For years major billboards with both N & S facings along Highway 99....they also had a Cat Country Big Rig truck that drove everywhere, promotions, etc. Competitors spent ziltch marketing their weak signals.

4) KHOP's (104.1) signal was the only valley signal actually better than KATM's. KVFX (96.7) - a Class A licensed to Manteca had a poor Modesto signal & a poor Stockton signal.

Personally I think while a VERY STRONG signal can help a station, its the programming that can make or break a station. In the 1970's, KFRC-610 was #1 in San Francisco but was only 5000 watts and in Sacramento, KROY-1240 was king in the 60's and 70's but had even less power. A big signal can almost guarantee by doing good ratings in more than one market but a well programmed Class A station can do great in the ratings too. I know that KATM has a Godzilla size signal but it also helped by having that Country format. If KATM was a CLASSICAL MUSIC station, I doubt they would be #1, heck I doubt they would do any ratings at all. In fact, look at the ratings today. KATM has been #2 for quite a while in Modesto. The ratings are worst in Stockton. In fact the #1 station there is a Class A station, KWIN-97.7. Also marketing can help too!

 

[Hunter]

Personally I think while a VERY STRONG signal can help a station, its the programming that can make or break a station.

Programming alone cannot make a station.....it can break one though. Sam, please go back and read all of my post. You'll see that I mention reasons other than a monster signal, such as the programming and marketing for KATM's success.

In the 1970's, KFRC-610 was #1 in San Francisco but was only 5000 watts and in Sacramento, KROY-1240 was king in the 60's and 70's but had even less power.

KFRC's 5KW at 610 was better than most 50KW signals in the country. Their tower was right on the bay which offered excellent ground conductivity. On top of that, the famed RKO "black box" audio processor they used made the sound jump out of the radio even if you could barely pick them up. When KROY hit it big with the Boss radio format in the 60's, their signal adequitely covered Sacramento's population. By the late 70's when FM had taken over, the population had also grown significantly out toward Roseville, Orangevale, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, etc. I believe it was their nite signal that really suffered.

A big signal can almost guarantee by doing good ratings in more than one market but a well programmed Class A station can do great in the ratings too. I know that KATM has a Godzilla size signal but it also helped by having that Country format.

I believe the key words in your point are "....a well programmed Class A...". At the time that KATM went on, the only "real" competitors for them were KMIX in Turlock - serving Modesto, and KFMR in Stockton. KMIX, although much better programmed than KFMR, was not focused at all. They had ratings to that point because they were the only local station playing country, but they had no identity. The music mix was good, but not focused and the station didn't brand themselves well with a strong identity. All KFMR had was Sue Carson. While a lot of people knew who she was, the music on the station sucked. Neither station marketed themselves.

If KATM was a CLASSICAL MUSIC station, I doubt they would be #1, heck I doubt they would do any ratings at all. In fact, look at the ratings today. KATM has been #2 for quite a while in Modesto. The ratings are worst in Stockton. In fact the #1 station there is a Class A station, KWIN-97.7. Also marketing can help too!

Sam, again, please reread my post. I'm not sure if your comment about marketing was to agree with me or you didn't read my comments.

Obviously, it takes more than a great signal, or more than great programming to succeed. Great programming on a signal that's just considered "O.K." can indeed win big. Here in L.A. KROQ has been a ratings dominant leader for many years and is the country's grandaddy Alternative Rock station. But at 5600 watts they are the worst full market signal in town. They barely cover the country's largest geographical metro and yet two years ago, they were the highest billing station in the entire country.

 

[JEREMIAH]

HAVING DONE NEWS AT COUNTRY KSAN AND KNEW IN THE EARLY'90'S (I'VE BEEN IN VEGAS DOING NEWS AND V.O. SINCE '95) I AM STILL AMAZED AT HOW EVERGREEN AND LATER CHANCLLOR EVERGREEN..SCREWED IT UP. KSAN 94.9 WAS KICKIN ASS IN RATINGS AND BILLING FOR YEARS. THE OWNER WAS MALRITE THEN SHAMROCK..THEN EVERGREEN AND EVENTUALLY CLEAR CHANNEL.
I DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY KILLED THOSE SUCCESSFUL STATIONS I HAD LEFT THE CITY BY THEN. IT REALLY WAS AN IDIOTIC MOVE.

JERRY GORDON

 

[JEREMIAH]

JUST TO CLARIFY....BY IDIOTIC MOVE...I MEANT THE MOVE THEY MADE TO KILL THE FORMAT, NOT MY MOVE TO VEGAS.

AFTER YEARS AT KSFO, KGO-TV AND RADIO, PLUS KSAN-KNEW MY WIFE WANTED TO MOVE TO A WARMER CLIMATE (EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS TRAFFIC AND CONTINUITY AT KNEW-KSAN). ..YEAH 110 IN THE SUMMER HERE BUT FALL, SPRING AND WINTER ARE GREAT.

I USED TO LOVE THE CITY BUT ASIDE FROM THE GREAT VIEWS IT CHANGED FOR THE NEGATIVE SINCE I GOT THERE IN '78.


JERRY GORDON

 

[RadioStarOne]

Hey Jerry I remember you at KXOA FM here in Sacramento, CA. Which by the way KXOA AM 1470 is going to be recreated by Terry Young tomorrow on XM Radio's Sixties on 6. But you most likely already know that. Do you have any tapes of your time there at KXOA FM 107.9 when it was Classic Gold Rock and Roll?

 

[Madmansam]

Great American Broadcast

JUST TO CLARIFY....BY IDIOTIC MOVE...I MEANT THE MOVE THEY MADE TO KILL THE FORMAT, NOT MY MOVE TO VEGAS.

AFTER YEARS AT KSFO, KGO-TV AND RADIO, PLUS KSAN-KNEW MY WIFE WANTED TO MOVE TO A WARMER CLIMATE (EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS TRAFFIC AND CONTINUITY AT KNEW-KSAN). ..YEAH 110 IN THE SUMMER HERE BUT FALL, SPRING AND WINTER ARE GREAT.

I USED TO LOVE THE CITY BUT ASIDE FROM THE GREAT VIEWS IT CHANGED FOR THE NEGATIVE SINCE I GOT THERE IN '78.


JERRY GORDON

Hi Jerry, I remember back in 1978, when you succeeded the Great Late JOHN GILLILAND as the host of THE GREAT AMERICAN BROADCAST on KSFO-560. A mix of Radio Dramas (Old Time Radio as well as the then new drama of THE CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATRE) and Comedy. Any memories of that show Jerry?

 

[JEREMIAH]

RADIOSTARONE: YEAH...TERRY HAS ALREADAY DONE KXOA ON XM ONCE BEFORE. I WAS ON KXOA AM-FM AT THE SAME TIME BEFORE THEY SPLIT THE FM IN (I THINK '66). YEAH, I'VE GOT MORE AIRCHEX.
SEND ME YOUR SNAIL ADDRESS [email protected] and I'll dub off a cassette for you.


MADMANSAM:

GOOD TO HEAR YOUR REMEMBER. I REMBER IT ALL VERY WELL.
i

 

[JEREMIAH]

RADIO STAR ONE: YEAH, TERRY HAS ALREADY DONE KXOA ONCE ON XM. THANKS FOR TELLING ME HE' S DOING IT AGAIN. HE HAS 6 HOURS TO FILL AND ALL I HAD WAS ABOUT AN HOUR TO SEND HIM SO HE TOOK SOME LIBERTIES, PLAYING SOME SONGS WE NEVER PLAYED AND SOME SPOTS, TOO BUT OVERALL I WAS HAPPY WITH WHAT HE DID.

SEND ME YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] WHEN I GET A CHANCE I'LL DUB YOU A LONGER AIR CHECK.(ON CASSETTE) WHEN I STARTED AT KXOA I WAS ON AM&FM...UNTIL THEY SPLIT OFF THE FM IN (I THINK '66)

JG

MADMANSAM:

YES, LOTS OF MEMORIES OF NIGHTS AT KSFO (HEY, I DID IT FOR 6 YEARS) I DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN ANYTHNG ABOUT IT. THE MOST FUN WAS DOING THE "COMEDY HOUR", ESPECIALLY WHEN I HAD LIVE COMICS AND COMEDY GROUPS ON WITH ME LIVE. IF GENE AUTRY HADN'T SOLD THE STATION I MIGHT STILL BE THERE DOING IT. WE DID HAVE GOOD NUMBERS AND DEMOS, LOTS OF YOUNG MALES.
LATER ON I ADDED "GORDON'S GRAFFITI", THAT WAS A KICK, TOO.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES,

JERRY GORDON

 

[JEREMIAH]

I WASN'T GOING TO TURN THIS INTO A PERSONAL PLUG BUT SINCE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO REMEMBER AND MIGHT WANT TO CHECK ME OUT NOW....WE STREAM AT 970.KNUU.COM.
I DO THE HOURLY AND HALF HOURLY LOCAL NEWSCASTS 12-6 PM
MON-FRI PST.

THANK YOU ALL


JERRY GORDON

 

[sadwolf]

As a major listener of the Wolf (generally 14 hrs/day), I can agree with a few things. The station has had a tough time getting past ENDLESS Rascal Flatts songs interpersed with the only other 4 songs in the lineup, and that the Morning Y'Allturnative was amazing. It was genius to bring in that group (Marcus, LeBaron, Gill, Eddie) for an SF country station. I loved the 4 of them, as well as the recent grouping of Eddie, Lola, Steve, and Gill. Why 3 of the 4 are gone and Eddie is left doing traffic only is beyond me. Yes, they've got a wider range of music these days, FINALLY, but with a now grating morning show of typical obnoxious jocks, I don't care what music they've got. I'm from 14 hrs a day to weekends only during Lola's show. Genius??? Not lately........