Shakeup at KLAK 97.5

[HughLampshade]

Long time no see, folks!! Wow, I heard a pretty rattling story about afternoon jock Scott K getting fired from 97.5 K-Lake the other day. Sounds like the P.D. (who's also the morning jock, Johnny Bee) went ballistic and started thretening Scott and having a temper tantrum and screaming fit and such. The PD got P.O.'d that Scott's afternoon show was getting more attention (and better ratings) than Johnny's morning program. (hmmm--kinda reminds you of a couple of guys named "Chapman" and "Selden" huh). Scott was actually doing some things on his show that reminded me of how Larry Dixon or Cat Simon would run afternoons at the old Kvil. Drawing in your listener//forming a bond//finding funny stories or doing ongoing bits and stuff. (If you listen to that abismal morning show at K-Lake, you'll quickly hearthat Johnny doesn't 'get' that concept.) I've got a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend that knows Scott pretty well, and they say he's just not the kind of guy to screw up or jeopardize his own job. Nobody's ever even seen the guy get mad or upset before. They said Scott had like 8 years invested with the parent company between K-Lake and their other stations. I guess they fired the traffic chick Denise, since she wasn't on there the next day. I haven't tuned back in since.

So not only is Scott out of a job now, the PD and manager are spinning it to the listeners that 'Scott quit on his own.' (there was a memo sent out to those of us in their Listener Club.) Now I don't know all sides of this story, but I've heard that revenues are in seriously deep doo-doo there, and it's just a short matter of time before key management types are given the boot. My little guess is that Johnny Bee was passing the buck of blame and sacrificing Scott to save his own job. I know, I know, welcome to radio, huh, but still you hate to see nice guys getting sh!t on. I'll sure miss hearing Scott in the afternoons.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

It sounds like there were some unrealistic business plans and revenue projections for the station. Moving the tower 15 miles South did make a more viable signal over parts of Collin County, but it is definitely a rim shot signal at best. Its potential as a revenue stream was probably incrementally better when parts of densely populated Collin County were added to the audience, but it would be an incremental change - not a huge increase. Add to that the format - which depends on defections from KVIL and KDMX - and not something new and revolutionary that fills a void.

I'd look for it to end up Spanish language or country in the near future. Those are the formats of desperation around here.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Man, I hate to hear that. Scott's a very nice guy. I'm sure he'll land on his feet somewhere, but I sure wonder what's going on up there. Worst case, I guess it could go back to satellite programming/Localmax from ABC. Far as I know, Denise is still doing their traffic reports.

 

[brokenrecord]

johnny b is the biggest hack i've ever listened to. He's got that fake, "HEY EVERYBODY, I'M ON THE RADIO" voice. I can't help but laugh at that @ssclown everytime I scan by that station on the way to work in the morning...he's clueless.

Only heard that Scott guy once or twice...not bad, but not great either.

Also, their voice guy is about the worst possible sound for that station. That station sounds like it's stuck in 1995.

ok, done with my rant.

 

[gk779]

Hugh,

You have no reason to assume that Scott was fired without having actual concrete facts!!! What gives you the right to make up total BS and post it up on here! We may never know the real story!!!

 

[TexasTom]

It sounds like there were some unrealistic business plans and revenue projections for the station. Moving the tower 15 miles South did make a more viable signal over parts of Collin County, but it is definitely a rim shot signal at best. Its potential as a revenue stream was probably incrementally better when parts of densely populated Collin County were added to the audience, but it would be an incremental change - not a huge increase. Add to that the format - which depends on defections from KVIL and KDMX - and not something new and revolutionary that fills a void.

I'd look for it to end up Spanish language or country in the near future. Those are the formats of desperation around here.

KLAK's coverage of Collin County is definitely a mixed bag -- very solid signal in the northern half of the county, but probably not quite strong enough to be fully competitive in Plano. As a result, I do hear KLAK being played in restaurants in McKinney, but not here in Plano. Whether McKinney and points north are sufficient to support the station is a tough call...

I don't see Spanish language in their future, though -- the KLAK signal is far worse than most of the other area rimshots when it comes to reaching into Dallas and covering a substantial portion of the Hispanic population of the area. I think that before they went that route, they'd be better off just refocusing the station back on Grayson county. I also don't think that country is likely, because that would run the risk of cannabilizing from the audience of co-owned KMKT in Grayson county.

 

[idiggraves]

What a shame. Scott K is an absolute doll- on and off the air. Johnny B...an absolute blow-hard. Don't ya just love those people that have had no success whatsoever in this business, yet have no problem telling others "how it's done"??

 

[ButtnPushr]

Don't ya just love those people that have had no success whatsoever in this business, yet have no problem telling others "how it's done"??

Yeah, they're called Program Directors...

 

[prissy15]

Scott was my absolute favorite afternoon personality. It is devistating to know he is gone.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Did they decide on a "replacement" yet? One of those fill-in guys sure sounds a LOT like Rick DeVoe of the old 100.3 Jamz.

 

[abc-radio-dj]

Don't ya just love those people that have had no success whatsoever in this business, yet have no problem telling others "how it's done"??

So you think Johnny B's had no success whatsoever in the business? Let me ask you: How do you know this? Are you aware of his high ratings on the East Coast when he was on in Wilmington DE(not to mention other markets he's been in)? He had the number one rated morning show for about 10+ years. So before you go writing comments about something that is not factual, why don't you find out the truth first? If you don't like his show, hey, simply change the station. But don't go shoveling crap around; find out the facts. And yes, Johnny is my former PD and I consider him to be a friend. He genuinely cares about the success of his staff. I can say this firsthand because I worked with the guy extensively. Like all other Program Directors in this business, his hands are often tied by upper management and as a PD, that is incredibly frustrating. I know back in the David Smith-General Manager days, Johnny was barely allowed to do his job due to Smith's micro-managing and hanging over Johnny's shoulder all the time, scrutinizing every little move Johnny made. I know for a fact Johnny was in Virginia Christmas 2007 visiting his family and while eating Christmas dinner, Smith called wanting to talk business. Johnny put up with a lot of abuse from him in my opinion. He couldn't get away from that guy!

As for Scott K, he's got an incredible sense of humor- wickedly funny- is incredibly talented both on-air and off. He's top-notch at production, copywriting, engineering sessions, working with clients and does a hell of an afternoon show. I don't know what happened between Johnny and Scott and I'm not going to speculate. I respect both of them completely and would bend over backwards to help either of them. I'd love to work with both of them again and can't say enough good about them.

Johnny's the best PD I've ever had. He's a manager that is actually HUMAN, not driven by corporate crap and was also good at shielding me from upper management, like the GM I referred to earlier!

As for the station going Spanish or Country- I don't see that happening. Katy Country has that genre wrapped up and why would Next Media have two stations in the same market competing against each other? Spanish? I think that's totally out of the question. Next Media's right on the money positioning KLAK as an AC station and for anyone who refers to them as a Dallas station, you are absolutely wrong. KLAK is not a Dallas station nor are they trying to be a Dallas station. How often do you hear them refer to Dallas on the air? Dallas has plenty of radio stations. The up-and-coming areas for population growth are Collin and Grayson Counties(why do you think DART is extending the rail line all the way to Denison over the next 10-15 years???) and that's who KLAK is targeting. Why do you think they have positioned themselves as "Collin County's Radio Station"? The AC format is popular with the soccer moms of McKinney/Allen/Plano and the old K-Lake was legendary in Sherman/Denison(although they were completely wrong to do away with the name KLake).

So, now you have the facts from someone who truly can speak firsthand.

 

[idiggraves]

Wilmington? Exactly my point.

But your allegiance is much respected.

 

[redbullfan]

I can see Next Media leting the 97.5 Freq become known to the greater Collin County area and then flipping to a more mainstream format of either Country or Top 40. With the largest Collin County/Sherman-Denison Signal I could see Next Media putting Katy Country on 97.5 and Calling them, "K-Lake Country." Or putting Top 40 on. Both would hurt Country and CHR shares for Kiss, Wolf and KSCS if that should happen. Most of their shares comes from the suberbs.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Me, I would have programmed it with a Memories-type format when they moved it into Tom Bean...beating Platinum to the punch and getting some of the former Memories listeners back that took advantage of the booming Flower Mound signal of old. I'd guess they stuck with the current format to hopefully become the "KVIL of Collin County." (Plus, I assume they were trying to match the 'Hits and Favorites' [or whatever ABCRN format KLAK once subscribed to] so they could do a daily combo of satellite, Localmax and local talent and have the same music playing in all dayparts.)

I'm still puzzled as to why you'd yank an afternoon program that was pretty darn good, was apparently building listenership, and had a local flavor to it. It's like putting something into motion, letting it build momentum, seeing regular progress, then just cutting the cord completely and starting over at the bottom. Sorta like slowly blowing up a balloon and then just popping it for the hell of it. I don't get it.

 

[Radiodude65]

I am in radio sales and I have listened to KLAK. I couldn't sell that morning show for free! The girls are fine, but the B character is AWFUL!!!!!!!!! His bits sound like they are saved from 80's radio shows. Regurgitation would be how I describe it.

I listened to Scott in the afternoons and he absolutely impressed me with his quick wit and creativity. I listened frequently because I enjoyed it. Very fresh and very fun. Always something new. What a shame! I have removed the station from my dial forever.

 

[abc-radio-dj]

Wilmington? Exactly my point.

But your allegiance is much respected.

IDigGraves, is that what you do for a living???

I don't care if my "allegiance" is respected by the likes of you.

What were your ratings during your morning show? How many years were you on the same station, same timeslot? What's your "claim to fame"?

Bottom line- if you don't like his show(or anyone else's for that matter), change the station!

Simple enough.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Did they ever decide on a 'replacement'? I really do miss listening to Scott et.al. on 97.5 in the afternoons...which says a LOT for me, as I'm a manic button-pusher and normally go for the song and not for the station.

 

[idiggraves]

Wilmington? Exactly my point.

But your allegiance is much respected.

IDigGraves, is that what you do for a living???

I don't care if my "allegiance" is respected by the likes of you.

What were your ratings during your morning show? How many years were you on the same station, same timeslot? What's your "claim to fame"?

Bottom line- if you don't like his show(or anyone else's for that matter), change the station!

Simple enough.

So naive you are, abc-dj. I promise I carry much more weight than the "The B"...but have you ever thought that the only reason Johnnie is still there is that no one else with half a brain would be willing to deal with all the crap that he's dished on a daily basis?? Bless him for that but his run on that station has gone stale.

And I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers...you can't take this stuff personally.

 

[abc-radio-dj]

So naive you are, abc-dj. I promise I carry much more weight than the "The B"...but have you ever thought that the only reason Johnnie is still there is that no one else with half a brain would be willing to deal with all the crap that he's dished on a daily basis?? Bless him for that but his run on that station has gone stale.

And I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers...you can't take this stuff personally.
[/quote]

You "..carry more weight", IDigGraves? By whose standards?

What is this? Some kind of competition???

Dude, it's simple.

Change the station on your radio and move on.

 

[gk779]

Wilmington? Exactly my point.

But your allegiance is much respected.

IDigGraves, is that what you do for a living???

I don't care if my "allegiance" is respected by the likes of you.

What were your ratings during your morning show? How many years were you on the same station, same timeslot? What's your "claim to fame"?

Bottom line- if you don't like his show(or anyone else's for that matter), change the station!

Simple enough.

So naive you are, abc-dj. I promise I carry much more weight than the "The B"...but have you ever thought that the only reason Johnnie is still there is that no one else with half a brain would be willing to deal with all the crap that he's dished on a daily basis?? Bless him for that but his run on that station has gone stale.

And I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers...you can't take this stuff personally.

If you don't know someone, why are you badmouthing that person without knowing the individual? I don't go around badmouthing people I don't know. You can't always blame the PDs for those problems. Haven't you heard of consultants? A lot of stations I know have consultants. I'm pretty sure that whoever is consulting the station is doing an awful job. Believe me, I've worked at stations in other markets that have had really bad consulting. Plus, I spoke to a person who does a really good job of consulting stations. He agrees with me that the person consulting the station shouldn't even be a consultant.