Re: 95.7 The Buzz?
> > Thanks for that information, SQ - I agree with you for the most part. I haven't heard any Jack stations in other markets (some of them probably stream, I should check it out, I guess) - but I agree with those assessments of both Max and the excruciatingly dull new KFRC. I find myself listening to Max frequently ONLY because it's different and has a large playlist. But that's not much of a recommendation. I got an MP3 player for Christmas, but so far my playlist is shorter than KFRC's. If I ever get off of my lazy ass and do some more downloading, I doubt I'll spend much time listening to any of the commercial radio music formats that are on the air now.
But isn't KFRC doing better than Max-FM? If Max goes
> away,
> > why would CBS want to replicate a format that Bay Area
> > listeners have already voted thumbs down on? Because
> > they're the all great and powerful CBS and have such a
> great
> > track record in the Bay Area? (Young Country, The Wave,
> > YadaYada Radio, etc.) Jack has a mixed record at best,
> from
> > what I understand. It's doing well in LA, but not so well
>
> > at WCBS-FM New York last time I heard. Cousin Brucie must
>
> > be getting a chuckle out of that.
>
> Your reasoning is very sound... but a few things to
> consider...
>
> Max is a huge joke. Even though I agree that this market
> would not react much more favorably to JACK, I think that
> the marketing and promotion of JACK would be more relevant
> than the lame and stupid image and liners that characterize
> Max and, for example, Ben-FM in Philadelphia. And it's sort
> of surprising, because some of the JACK clones (even
> Bonneville's own Peak in Phoenix) sound much better than
> what we have out here with Max.
>
> For example, Jon O'Hurley saying that "I was here when
> Haight met Ashbury" sounds so much like out of towners
> trying to be cool... Anyone who lives here knows how lame,
> corporate, and stupid that is. Or "San Francisco, Oakland,
> San Jose... and Walnut Creek... I think I own property
> there." Hello? The best JACK stations have a better pulse
> on the market and at least have liners that resonate a
> little bit even if they are, at times, corny. This
> particular JACK clone (Max) is lame from top to bottom --
> music mix, marketing/branding/imaging, promotion, second
> rate air talent, and even the sound processing! It's a
> cheap operation and the most recent in a long line of poor
> small market-sounding solutions for an underforming third
> station in a Bonneville cluster that is, otherwise, very
> distinguished.
>
> But KFRC is also dead. They may still have their 2-share
> 12+ but those numbers (and their 25-54s) are dwindling and
> they are living solely off of their name. It's a zombie
> station. Maybe Mike Preston can turn it around with some
> new focus and heritage air talent... but at this point,
> those call letters and heritage may be too damaged and the
> cost of resucitation may be too high.
>
> So a choice between JACK and a refurbished KFRC (assuming
> that were the choice) might be a tough one... but I wouldn't
> just assume that because Max gets a 1.2 share 12+, that JACK
> would be quite AS doomed. I think a well-promoted, smartly
> branded, and musically astute JACK in the Bay Area could get
> a 2.5 share 12+. But can they sell that? Could they
> maintain those numbers? And what would the format
> ultimately become? And would all of the startup costs be
> worth it relative to the relative (yet quickly eroding)
> security of the KFRC heritage? Not clear.
>
> Either way, CBS still has some major issues to deal with in
> that cluster... a shaky KCBS-AM, ratings-challenged Live
> 105, 106.9 not even registering a 0.5 share (I know it's
> still very new but still), KFRC (see above), and then I
> guess Alice is the only other decent thing they have going
> right now, especially because Channel 104.9 is gone in the
> South Bay (although Star 101.3 continues to flank them from
> the other side). Bottom line is that I wouldn't want to be
> a VP of Programming in a cluster that messed up and where
> the purse strings, I'm sure, are very tight and where the
> right to exert any control or creativity (even independent
> of budget) is, I'm sure, quite limited.
>