It's actually a good thing that BMP sold this turd. And yes, it's a turd. It's a great signal that doesn't serve the community, nor does it fill a void that's needed in the market. It has marginal air talent, a bland playlist, and very little that is compelling or interesting to the MAJORITY of listeners (check their ratings). Radiophiles and musicologists may like it, as do some of you that troll this board. But come on, this format and station, from "Big Talker" to this, is a joke. It's a bacon wrapped turd.
When BMP was operating their cluster of stations in hispanic-targeted formats, more than 150 people had jobs. Since their format "changes" in fall '09, and the significant cash loss that has ensued, that number has dropped to about 10 people. Once the sale is final, a few will move to the sports station they've sold off, one will go "back" to being a corporate schmuck in Dallas...waiting for retirement, and a few others will be out of work. They've had PLENTY of notice to find another station or choose another career, and I'd bet they'll be receiving a decent little severance when the oldies stop flowing. If we're going to make this about people losing jobs, let's not forget the hundreds that have been screwed out of their jobs by these idiots over the last couple of years, please, and not about a couple of fat cats (trustee, GM) that get paid, regardless. They'll sleep just fine.
Calling this format "important" or "relevant" for this market is a joke. The 50's/60's hole isn't relevant anymore--otherwise, someone else would have jumped into this format long ago. The rest of this "gold based AC" format (that's what it is, folks) is served by Magic, BOB-FM, and Jammin. None of these stations will "take" this format "as is" because it isn't relevant or able to be sold to large groups of advertisers. Nor is it consumed by large numbers of listeners. These others stations play a smattering of titles that are shared, but none of the owners of these formats will be dipping into this format full time. Sorry. Want to hear a great classic hits station? KONO 101.1 fits the bill. You can stream it. It's local...to San Antonio, very local, focused, fun, and serves the community. KXBT isn't even in the same universe as KONO..
On the topic of being "local" and serving the community...the FCC requires license holders to operate in the public interest and serve their community. Emmis, Entercom, and Cheap Channel still do an adequate job of serving the public interest. From Bikes for Kids to children's hospital fundraisers to donations and support, these stations serve Austin. When was the last time you saw BMP do anything besides sell beer at Shultz Garden or run back to back ads for gentlemen's clubs on their stations? Are they big donors at local events? Nope. Supporters of any cause, besides trying to find someone to buy these "assets"? yep. And if you're an advertiser, please don't fall for the campaign to "help" before the stations change format. Put your money on stations that serve their listeners, pay their people, and will be here next week.
Is KXBT locally programmed? Um, a vanilla "safe" list and 11 hours of satellite-fed programming each day isn't exactly local. Remove traffic (YNN) and weather (from Atlanta), and you have a couple of "local" jocks doing song intros and giving you the time. Oh, and reading a barter prep service or the news stories on the Yahoo home page. If that's "local" and "compelling" to you, then please set your radio buttons for all of the crappy 2 and 3 share stations and have a great day.
The new format on KXBT will serve the local audience, will entertain and inform with local content, and I'd bet more than 5 people get jobs out of the deal. And Border Media, a pathetic ownership group that was in debt up to their ears and couldn't sustain their "new" formats or make them profitable will magically go away, leaving new owners to create something different.
I'm all for that. Bye bye, BMP.
