Its a shame that John mack Flanagan and Bobby Ocean, couldnt have purchased 610KFRC,, I would gaurantee with these two Radio Experts at the helm, The two of them would make CBS think twice before ever starting and Classic hits or Oldies station. The only other thing Im commenting on is seeing these Catholic Radio 1260 billboards all over the bay Area. i religiously listened to 1260 KYA a long time, its a shame these two stations carried such a hefty price tag! Personnally I would rather see one of those two sold, and go back to an Oldies station! Ratings would soar with the right guys running the station, Im sure John Mack flanagan and Bobby "Skyrocker' Ocean have a vast knowledge in radio, much more than the Suits @ The now defunct 106.9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!One last thing, im stymied how WCBS has 1/2 their DJs @ Sirius XM ,, Ron 8 Track parker. Broadway Bill lee, and pat St John! What a mistake at XM eliminting Bobby Oceans show, I would much rather hear Bobby ocean than Ron "Annoying Voice " parker Im not that immpressed with the merge
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Oldies Radio: Dead In S.F.
- Thread starter BossRadioDJ
- Start date
Hunkey Snarkey said:
You would guarantee -- guarantee??? With what exactly? Would you put up, say $15 million to guarantee this? Otherwise your guarantee is worthless. Broadcasters operate stations to make money. CBS got a good deal by swapping 610 for 106.9. When the simulcast 99.7/610 programming was dropped from 610, it didn't make a blip in the ratings. People simply weren't listen much to 610. Now with 106.9, CBS stands to get more listeners for KCBS.
DavidKaye said:
It's reality. To repeat what I've said - I will not listen to music on AM in static-laden low fidelity monaural sound. These days, I've got stereo FM, FM-HD, an MP3 player, a stereo in my house that would blow out my windows if I cranked the volume up, music streaming on my computer, etc. When 610/KFRC and 1260/KYA ruled the airwaves, all people my age had were crappy portable radios, a cheap stereo Hi-Fi in the living room, and an AM only radio in the old junkers we drove.
Since The Big 610 went away in the mid 80s, I would occasionally tune in standards on Magic 61, and later KABL 960 - but that was it. And I'm now way outside David Eduardo's coveted 25-54 demographic - none of whom seem to know how to switch their radios to the AM band. I will listen to talk on AM, but that's about it. With NPR, and now KCBS on 106.9, there's no reason to get news on AM either.
A big radio corporation like CBS or Clear Channel could probably run a shoe-string automated Oldies format on an existing AM (KYCY, anyone?) and not lose money...but no independent owner could buy an AM frequency and hope to make money on a music format - even if you hired Bobby Ocean, John Mack Flanagan, and re-animated Dr. Don Rose. Not gonna happen.
landtuna said:Lkeller said:
You've obviously not been following the "Lamptimer" thread regarding Lumberyard 14~forty AM on the Phoenix board. Word is Gumpdumpsky turned down an offer of $2M for this blowtorch Oldies daytimer. Someone must be making money somewhere. :
Hmmm...Just speculating...I've worked with a lot of people who have retired to Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tucson. Hard to believe, but maybe those markets have enough old fogeys to make an AM Oldies daytimer commercially viable.
By the way - I don't understand why an older person would want to leave the mild Bay Area climate to live out their twilight years where its 120 degrees. A preview of hell, perhaps?
No offense, Phoenix.
Lkeller said:
Well, ahem.....speaking for one of those "old fogeys" I would say we do have our share of mature folks who would enjoy the oldies. I'm not sure how many of us enjoy listening to the hollow mellow sounds of KAZG during what is usually our nap times.
As for commercially viable....it has been suggested here that KAZG has one hour of AM colon blow and just four commercials per hour the rest of the day. I could probably make more than that as the Walmart greeter.
Lkeller said:
For some reason, I thought you lived somewhere in the Valley but guess not. I could give you a list of reasons, since I've lived and worked in both places, but a preview of hell ain't one of them. Besides, it hasn't been 120 here since 1989.
S.F. looks nice on a postcard but, other than a nice place to visit every so often, it ain't worth the cost or hassle. And, as Mark Twain never said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco".
landtuna said:
Sorry - I wasn't trying to knock Phoenix or other hot places. I've lived in San Francisco for 30 years, but I grew up in a hot climate in Southern California. My first few years in the Bay Area were in a warm Marin suburb. If I'd moved right into SF, I think I probably would have gone nuts from the cold wind and fog. Now I'm used to it. I still like a few days of hot weather, but I'm always happy to see the inevitable fog return.
As for the cost - SF's not expensive if you bought a house here in 1979. Not to brag, though - it was the best on the rather short list of smart financial decisions I've made over the years.
Lkeller said:
I moved from Tucson to Daly City (Ticky Tacky Box country) in 1960 then to San Rafael one year later. Came back to S.R. in '66 after my military 'career' ended but it was way too expensive and far too crowded even back then. Marin was almost a rural environment in 1961 but grew very rapidly over the next decade.
Have to admit that the Marin weather was nice and moderate. It's also interesting to note that not one of the 400+ graduates of my San Rafael high school stayed in Marin. Must be a reason.
landtuna said:
June 26, 1990: 122F (50C).
It was soooo hot...(how hot was it?)...it was so hot planes couldn't
take off from Sky Harbor.
DavidKaye, perhaps my use of words were wrong, however im sure that John Mack Flanagan, and Bobby Ocean could run a radio station alot better than the Suits who ran KFRC! Lets see , JMF been in radio since 1964, and Bobby Ocean since 1962,, combined theres a real duo, The only other guy who could make radio work is James Gabbert ,,,Im doubtful theres going to be any oldies in the Bay Area anytime soon.. Kenny in Concord
Two great air talents, and perhaps the greatest imaging voice to ever come out of the Bay Area...but that doesn't mean they could run a radio station. Management and sales are different animals, and even with a great air sound and good ratings, you need good sellers to make a station succeed.
Hunkey Snarkey said:
Unfortunately, I don't think you know what you're talking about. It takes totally different skillsets to be talent than to do management. Not many people can straddle those worlds. It's a right-brain versus left-brain kind of thing. For example, this is why musicians get ripped off so much with bad record deals. They concentrate on making music and don't have heads for business.
The "suits" got to be suits because they knew what they were doing. No business is going to stay in business very long hiring people who don't know what they're doing. May I remind you that CBS is one of the few major broadcasters making money right now. In fact they're paying about $1.07 per share in dividents this year, the first 27 cents will be in January.
DavidKaye said:
I'm beginning to wish I owned some CBS stock.
Keep in mind that CBS radio has many success stories throughout the country - in LA for instance. As far as I know, the Bay Area is the only major market where their stations (with the exception of KCBS which is in the top 3 or 5) lag so badly in the ratings.
oldiesfan6479 said:
OK, missed it by one year. Sue me. ;D
I remember that evening well. We were sitting out at the ball park watching son play a LL game. Moms had mist bottles running up and down the bench trying to keep the players cool.
I'll gladly trade that one day for all the snow days elsewhere though.
BTW, that plane thing used to be quite common even though the temps were not that high. DC-9's in particular didn't have enough excess thrust at ambient temps over 103-104F to enable a full-weight take-off. Doesn't happen any more with the big jets. You can get out of Phoenix any time you want.
landtuna said:
The DC-9-50 especially. "Noisy and underpowered."
Thanks for the insurrection, now back to our thread, which is already in progress!
DavidKaye said:
That's so interesting you mention that "right-brain vs. left-brain" thing, because though I've never thought of it exactly as that, I think you're absolutely right. This could explain why those retired radio people who start up their own stations playing what they want and what you "never hear on the radio" are usually never very successful. However, there definitely ARE several brilliant minds out there, all around. Andy Olson and Radio Free Phoenix is one example.
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