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Richard Wagoner latest take on KABC AM

You count 12 million, but I think KSUR had about 30,000 cume when they did oldies. They had some local DJs and more power,
And a signal in the San Fernando Valley that, at least, covered some of the old white guys who might listen to the recommended format.
 
If KABC were to sell for $3.5M with at least 12 million people in their primary coverage area, that is only 30 cents per person! Who could possibly lose money on that deal? One could just run automated nostalgia, oldies, or classic country and sell to doctors, dentists, and kitchen remodelers! Lots of local sports opportunities also. Electricity costs could be mostly solar.
I see we've already had more realistic population estimates for the signal. So let's talk about the rest of that idea.

IF (BIG if) that were viable (running automated nostalgia, oldies or classic country and selling airttime to local direct)---how come one of the most experienced broadcasters in the market (Saul Levine) couldn't make it work with 1260 AM, which puts a better signal into parts of L.A. that would be significantly more friendly to those formats than KABC does?

And given that the audience would be small and old, what's your pitch to doctors, dentists and (maybe especially) kitchen remodelers to spend money advertising on AM radio?
 
No disrespect, but the radio flagship of the USC Trojans hasn't really meant anything since that was KMPC while Gene Autry owned it.
And Gene long ago left us for the big radio ranch in the sky.

At least he did not have his favorite horse sent out to a taxidermist so he could build a museum around it.
 
And Gene long ago left us for the big radio ranch in the sky.

At least he did not have his favorite horse sent out to a taxidermist so he could build a museum around it.
NBC Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update with Jane Curtin, 1977:

"Sixty-four year old cowboy Roy Rogers stated this week that when he dies, he would like to be stuffed and mounted on top of Trigger, his dead horse, who is also stuffed and mounted. When asked to comment on this, Dale Evans, Roy’s wife, said that she, too, would like to be stuffed and mounted but not necessarily in that order."
 
That 12 million is roughly the 5 MV/m coverage area. That is just not realistic.

There are about 6 million in the 10 MV/m coverage area, and that is below the ITU's criteria of 15 MV/m for adequate AM coverage. there are about 3.5 million in the 15 MV/m area, and the huge majority are Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and first generation immigrants... none of whom index even minimally well against an old non-Hispanic white guy's talk station.
Interestingly, the FCC considers just 5 mV/m "citygrade" !
 
No disrespect, but the radio flagship of the USC Trojans hasn't really meant anything since that was KMPC while Gene Autry owned it.
Lol!! If I’m their marketing department, I’m going all in on a team that just lost to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, went to the NCAA tournament in men’s basketball, and had their best baseball record in 20 years (Not to mention USC has the most titles in college baseball history). Do Trojans themed talk shows during the day, have coaches come on as guests, do remotes from important usc events. I’m not saying it’ll help with ratings (it very well could if marketed directly). As a sports radio programmer, I’d love to talk to the higher ups right now to help turn Kabc around
 
Lol!! If I’m their marketing department, I’m going all in on a team that just lost to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, went to the NCAA tournament in men’s basketball, and had their best baseball record in 20 years (Not to mention USC has the most titles in college baseball history). Do Trojans themed talk shows during the day, have coaches come on as guests, do remotes from important usc events. I’m not saying it’ll help with ratings (it very well could if marketed directly). As a sports radio programmer, I’d love to talk to the higher ups right now to help turn Kabc around
As mentioned before, the coverage area population is not likely to be passionate... or even mildly interested in collegiate sports of any kind. Except for a slice of the coastal communities, the area is Hispanic, Black, Asian and a bunch of other first generation immigrants like Persians. None of those groups is a big follower of local college sports, particularly football which is not "native" to any of the immigrant groups.

As I said here yesterday, "Remember, 80% of LA's population is Black, Hispanic, Asian and first generation immigrants from places like Iran and Lebanon and Egypt. Those are not, as groups, people interested in college sports. In particular, they come from place where American football is not an attraction."

The first thing to look at with KABC is the huge portion of the metro area it does not cover.
 
Lol!! If I’m their marketing department, I’m going all in on a team that just lost to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, went to the NCAA tournament in men’s basketball, and had their best baseball record in 20 years (Not to mention USC has the most titles in college baseball history). Do Trojans themed talk shows during the day, have coaches come on as guests, do remotes from important usc events. I’m not saying it’ll help with ratings (it very well could if marketed directly). As a sports radio programmer, I’d love to talk to the higher ups right now to help turn Kabc around

The home attendance average for Trojan football this past season was 64,488.

If....IF...you could get every one of those people to listen once a week, you have a lower cume than every over-the-air, not an HD-2 radio station in Los Angeles not named KHJ. KTNQ and KWKW are doing better.
 
The home attendance average for Trojan football this past season was 64,488.
And what percentage of those are either current students or alumni? It's likely that it is what I'd call a "special interest group".
If....IF...you could get every one of those people to listen once a week, you have a lower cume than every over-the-air, not an HD-2 radio station in Los Angeles not named KHJ. KTNQ and KWKW are doing better.
Maybe they can call the games in Farsi.
 
As mentioned before, the coverage area population is not likely to be passionate... or even mildly interested in collegiate sports of any kind. Except for a slice of the coastal communities, the area is Hispanic, Black, Asian and a bunch of other first generation immigrants like Persians. None of those groups is a big follower of local college sports, particularly football which is not "native" to any of the immigrant groups.

As I said here yesterday, "Remember, 80% of LA's population is Black, Hispanic, Asian and first generation immigrants from places like Iran and Lebanon and Egypt. Those are not, as groups, people interested in college sports. In particular, they come from place where American football is not an attraction."

The first thing to look at with KABC is the huge portion of the metro area it does not cover.
I definitely see what your saying. Doesn’t Kabc cover primarily West LA? at least from growing up there, that’s the core of where sports fans live and it’s an affluent part of the market. I would think those zip codes could support a Trojans themed Radio station. I’m not implying Kabc should abandon news/talk. I just think if they focused on the Trojans, it could produce another revenue stream for the station
 
The home attendance average for Trojan football this past season was 64,488.

If....IF...you could get every one of those people to listen once a week, you have a lower cume than every over-the-air, not an HD-2 radio station in Los Angeles not named KHJ. KTNQ and KWKW are doing better.
That’s still a better average than over 100 teams who compete in the FBS. It’s not LSU or Michigan by any means. But, still a very good crowd. Let’s not forget, LeBron James’ son just signed a scholarship to play for USC basketball
 
Anyone else remember when kspn was the home for new york jets games just so fans in SoCal could listen to former USC quarterback Mark Sanchez
 
I definitely see what your saying. Doesn’t Kabc cover primarily West LA? at least from growing up there, that’s the core of where sports fans live and it’s an affluent part of the market.
Yes, it covers the beach communities. But that is a tiny population compared to the areas including Inglewood, Compton, Downtown, McArthur Park, East LA and all the highly Hispanic areas like Downey and Norwalk and the western San Gabriel Valley.
I would think those zip codes could support a Trojans themed Radio station. I’m not implying Kabc should abandon news/talk. I just think if they focused on the Trojans, it could produce another revenue stream for the station
Again, you can't live on the tiny population of Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades and the rest compared to the whole population of LA.
 
That’s still a better average than over 100 teams who compete in the FBS. It’s not LSU or Michigan by any means. But, still a very good crowd. Let’s not forget, LeBron James’ son just signed a scholarship to play for USC basketball
We're not talking about comparing home attendance stats. We're talking about audience for a radio station.

Let's also remember that the Coliseum is the 19th biggest in capacity---so they're likely to have larger attendance figures.
 
That’s still a better average than over 100 teams who compete in the FBS. It’s not LSU or Michigan by any means. But, still a very good crowd. Let’s not forget, LeBron James’ son just signed a scholarship to play for USC basketball
Tell me anywhere that gets high ratings for basketball on the radio. The games themselves are not enough hours a week to influence the 128 hours a week of 6 AM to Midnight ratings. And collegiate basketball talk has never gotten great ratings, even in Indiana.
 
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