Shawn Parr Out At KKGO

[Mac Daddy]

Noticed on the Go Country website that Shawn is no longer listed on the on air schedule page. Tonya Campos is doing the midday show again. Any one know anything about this?

 

[nmoore6676]

Hie is still on the "Air Staff" listing and his Saturday Syndicated show is still on the schedule. Best guess is that moving him to middays doesn't mesh with his schedule doing voice overs and all, not to mention his golf games.

KKGO is continuing to sink in the ratings and they hired a new consultant so probably looking for some new blood to punch it all up. Or they could just go back with Dial Global. One local station here in Iowa uses Dial and it doesn't sound bad compared to their competition.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Hie is still on the "Air Staff" listing and his Saturday Syndicated show is still on the schedule. Best guess is that moving him to middays doesn't mesh with his schedule doing voice overs and all, not to mention his golf games.

KKGO is continuing to sink in the ratings and they hired a new consultant so probably looking for some new blood to punch it all up. Or they could just go back with Dial Global. One local station here in Iowa uses Dial and it doesn't sound bad compared to their competition.

Might be the case, but there was a time when the attitude was, "That's all well and goo for Iowa, but this is Los Angeles." Yeah, I know, those days are long gone. Aim the dish and let it rip.

 

[nmoore6676]

Hie is still on the "Air Staff" listing and his Saturday Syndicated show is still on the schedule. Best guess is that moving him to middays doesn't mesh with his schedule doing voice overs and all, not to mention his golf games.

KKGO is continuing to sink in the ratings and they hired a new consultant so probably looking for some new blood to punch it all up. Or they could just go back with Dial Global. One local station here in Iowa uses Dial and it doesn't sound bad compared to their competition.

Might be the case, but there was a time when the attitude was, "That's all well and goo for Iowa, but this is Los Angeles." Yeah, I know, those days are long gone. Aim the dish and let it rip.

Truth is that during the dark days in LA following KZLA and before KKGO I streamed the one "live and local" station from here. Well their morning show seems to be live and the rest of the day is tracked. Still I was determined the avoid the bird station, however their music is the same and it sounds more professional. The other local station has too much funeral notices and church social announcements but their music play list is almost the same as the others as is also KKGO's.

So after a year here I'm listening to the satellite station and the main tell tale sign for me is that I knew that their hosts worked for Dial. They do local inserts of news and sports as well as live remotes so it would be hard for the average Joe to tell that they are riding a satellite.

 

[hillbillyRockstar]

Well the play list has been better lately, but that doesn't make up for Shawn not being there.

Hope this gets fixed fast. Shawn is the whole deal here.

 

[nmoore6676]

Could be just the $$$$. Saul cut a lot of air staff at their sister station AM1260. He is busy with his vineyard downunder so maybe he's getting tired of radio. Wine can be a lot more fun, at least it tastes better.

 

[TheRadioGal]

Money for sure but when you cut too much you can screw with a formula. Though I might say I am unsure KKGO ever had a formula.

Mr. Parr is country music for a lot of So. Cal people. He is also the DJ that attends every event he can and he gets the crowds going. He gets lines of people at the Go Country booth while other rdio booths at the same events has no one there.

He's not perfect - not one DJ is but Mr. Parr is literally free advertising and a huge motivator to his listeners. Since KKGO became country they have pushed the listeners out of the way. Listeners have NO REASON to be loyal to KKGO except for Shawn, Paul and Gary (as Tonya is not on-air live at this time. When your listeners are not vested in the station, your ratings fall.

It is not so much the on-air talent messing up KKGO, it is the decisions being made there. Cut out listeners and the reoccurring artists every hour when there is a larger library than just 10 singers - that is what is hurting KKGO.

Get rid of a personality like Shawn Parr and a lot of listeners will move on. Dial Global they tired and that didn't work out either.

 

[hillbillyRockstar]

I was giving KKGO the benefit of the doubt, but the biggest loss they had just came this week.

It sure seems like you can have a great station with the things KKGO is not doing:
1. Great DJs
2. Great Music
3. Great listeners

I will remain listening because it is my only choice, but I also want it to be better with #1 and #2. #2 was improving, but now that #1 has taken a nose dive, it only makes sense that they will start to change #2 again.

 

[Mac Daddy]

Not to rip on Shawn, but what is so good about him? I've listened to him a few times, and it was nothing special.

 

[nmoore6676]

Not to rip on Shawn, but what is so good about him? I've listened to him a few times, and it was nothing special.

I have listened to many different jocks on many stations over the years. True Shawn is nothing special, better than some, not as good as others. But he was largely instrumental in generating the enthusiasm to return country to an FM signal in Los Angeles. But since KKGO is so far continuing with his syndicated show I would have to imagine that his departure was more from his side than theirs. As I suggested he might have had other reasons than ego for not wanting the shift to middays. A new consultant came in, wanted a new morning show, decisions were made and so that is it.

I was more upset back when Todd Baker got axed and "The Sunday Night Classics" than I am over this. Not to take away from Paul Freeman but I felt that Todd was the bright funny articulate guy for afternoon drive and yes he, IMHO, ranks in the better than Shawn category.

Sunday night classics was the kind of thing I scan the internet to find and on Sunday evenings it wasn't going to hurt ratings as it wasn't in a high listening time slot. I had welcomed it after the host of a similar show I had found on a station where I now dwell passed from a sudden unexpected heart attack. But I have moved on to another weekend favorite on a stream out of Xenia Ohio so que sera.

http://www.myclassiccountry.com/ for those who might care. If you like eclectic blue grass this is the place on Sunday nights. I you like old country then they have that the rest of the time.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

I'm also convinced that the management there is in total disarray, and that Mr. Levine needs to sell the station to someone who can afford to own it and upgrade the product.

It made no sense to remove Parr from the station either in AM drive or his midday shift; he is the 'face of the station'.

I also have no idea what he expects ratings-wise; if he expects to build the station to a 3 or 4 share, that's not going to happen unless the number of 12-24s and 18-34s can be boosted substantially, and even that might not be sufficient.

IIRC, he told R&R right after KZLA flipped that he could live with a 2.0 or thereabouts share; that same article pointed out that KBIG & KYSR both managed to bill over $30,000,000 in 2006 with ratings in the 2.0 vicinity, but being a privately-owned station, I'm inclined to think that billing $15,000,000 or slightly more would have been sufficient provided that they could achieve & maintain a 2.0 share.

Shortly before he left a few months ago, Charlie Cook told Lon Helton in his Country Aircheck newsletter that listeners were complaining about the fact that Cook had their 'powers' in a 4.5 hour rotation; so if they try to boost their powers, they're bound to tick off their audience even more, which would almost certainly depress their ratings even more.

 

[TheBigA]

Mr. Levine needs to sell the station to someone who can afford to own it and upgrade the product.

That's interesting. So you're saying that one of the few remaining mom & pop operators in the LA area should sell to a big radio corporation because they would do a better job? Can I quote you?

 

[nmoore6676]

I'm also convinced that the management there is in total disarray, and that Mr. Levine needs to sell the station to someone who can afford to own it and upgrade the product.

It made no sense to remove Parr from the station either in AM drive or his midday shift; he is the 'face of the station'.

I also have no idea what he expects ratings-wise; if he expects to build the station to a 3 or 4 share, that's not going to happen unless the number of 12-24s and 18-34s can be boosted substantially, and even that might not be sufficient.

IIRC, he told R&R right after KZLA flipped that he could live with a 2.0 or thereabouts share; that same article pointed out that KBIG & KYSR both managed to bill over $30,000,000 in 2006 with ratings in the 2.0 vicinity, but being a privately-owned station, I'm inclined to think that billing $15,000,000 or slightly more would have been sufficient provided that they could achieve & maintain a 2.0 share.

Shortly before he left a few months ago, Charlie Cook told Lon Helton in his Country Aircheck newsletter that listeners were complaining about the fact that Cook had their 'powers' in a 4.5 hour rotation; so if they try to boost their powers, they're bound to tick off their audience even more, which would almost certainly depress their ratings even more.

I am not sure that ownership by a mega corporation would be the answer. K-Frog is owned by CBS and over the past couple of years has shed popular air personalities, one of whom the former "Toady Foster" is now on KKGO under her real name.

I don't recall, maybe someone such as David Eduardo might, what kind of ratings KMZT-Classical had at 105.1 but in my recollection it was nowhere near a 2.0. however as a classical staion Levine and company took advantage of niche sponsors who wanted to reach the kind of listeners he delivered. The station I previously cited in Xenia Ohio has done that exact thing for their Classic Country format. In addition the owner has a recording store that sells what they play and is the leader of an up and coming Blue Grass Group.

No I am not seeing Saul Levine with a banjo and opening a record store but there are ways to get needed revenue with out being a total ratings slave. There will always be sponsors who want to sell to a country audience, just like there was for Classical Music and Jazz before that on 105.1.

 

[hillbillyRockstar]

Shawn's back on! (The schedule)

 

[Marv-L.A.]

I would hope that he'd sell it to a private individual who can afford to own it. His overhead has to be substantially lower than any of the behemoths which have dominated the industry for years.

Hiring Charlie Cook was a great sign to many of us who had high hopes that Cook would be able to build the station into a first-rate radio station befitting the nation's most closely watched market if Mr. Levine were really committed to doing so.

Also, can someone explain to me why it's so important that the LA ratings for KKGO have to be as good or better than the OC ratings, and does the fact that the station has done much better in OC (at least in 25-54s) than it has in LA County (as did KZLA, IIRC) really that big of an issue as it relates to the long-term prospects of the station?

 

[TheBigA]

I would hope that he'd sell it to a private individual who can afford to own it.

While I have no doubt that such a person exists in the LA area, it's not the way business is done, particularly with broadcasting properties.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

I'm fully aware of that as well, but thanks.

 

[MSerious]

Well if Shawn Parr is out at KKGO then I must be listening to his twin? I do hate him not being in the morning slot; he was part of my get up and go in the early morning; even did the volunteer hour which rocked. Then they move him (I heard him on air today) to mid-days where he is not the same person & seems to be limited to what he is allowed to do. And "Coffey In The Morning?" OH PLEASE give us a break; how cliche is that?

Well at least I do not have to listen to Tanya any longer; they need to realize that she is not all that she appears to be; she is ruining the station & seems to like it that way..Now Saul open up your old eyes & hand that station to people who CARE what the listeners want cause I thought the station was for us. We need a better mix of music; let the DJ's set their own play list so we don't have to hear Taylor 3 times or more in an hour...PLEASE give us our station back....and Tanya go away....

If Shawn goes many go; he is the voice of that station & gives so much of himself to support the listeners....Put him back in the early mornings so I can enjoy Go Country again...

 

[romer979fm]

let the DJ's set their own play list so we don't have to hear Taylor 3 times or more in an hour...PLEASE give us our station back....

you do NOT want the jocks selecting all the music

 

[MSerious]

let the DJ's set their own play list so we don't have to hear Taylor 3 times or more in an hour...PLEASE give us our station back....

you do NOT want the jocks selecting all the music

Well it was done when Go Country first came on the scene & it so worked out.....Now with "someone else" in control the music is a mess...there is so much more country out there then what we are fed & that is a shame a "country" station does not play it