Sinclair selling KOMO, KVI & KPLZ

[fordranger797]

The point being that Sinclair has different justification for how they program local news as opposed to every other major broadcast chain remaining. And like it or not, it is heavily polarizing by design and heavily political.

They’re more likely to sully the brand equity of KOMO than Lotus ever could have.

Interestingly, KOMO tv arguably has one of the best newscasts in western Washington right now. They have some of the best graphics, best reporters, and trustworthy anchors. While other stations have had ups and downs in recent years, KOMO has demonstrated a pattern of consistency. Sure, Sinclair might promote content that many viewers will not agree with. With that being said, KOMO makes a strong effort to place this programming at off hours with heavy disclaimers. Not to mention, KOMO has been celebrated by multiple television talk show hosts for finding clever ways to appease Sinclair while still delivering trustworthy news. In my opinion, this is really not much different from a radio station that has to air infomercials for snake oil during the early morning or weekend. It’s not ideal, but they do what has to be done in order to maintain then integrity of their on air product (ie, a good business decision not to bite the hand that feeds them just to prove a point).

On the topic of Seattle is Dying. I’m sure that some people didn’t care for it. I actually started watching KOMO after the documentary aired, even though I had watched other stations before. In this sense, the documentary did what it was supposed to do. I’d find it hard to believe that most people who watch that documentary would be offended, especially when you consider that it was true to daily life downtown.

 

[Kelly A]

And KOMO’s laughable “Seattle is Dying” documentary—a direct carbon copy of WBFF’s “Baltimore is Dying”—wasn’t controversial and damaging to the “KOMO” brand?

Well, if you consider Seattle is rapidly becoming on-par with a city like Baltimore, do you think the presentation was inaccurate or unfair? And no, it wasn't damaging to the KOMO brand. That documentary has gone viral. The city council probably wasn't a fan, but who really cares about them? They've played a major role in making Seattle what it is today.

Which will be fine once all three stations are eventually blown up for Spanish-language formats that are totally in Lotus’s wheelhouse. It’s a perfect growth market for them. Enjoy all-news on 1000/97.7 while you still can.

Lotus runs a business, and like anyone else in business, if they decided there is enough of a market for Spanish language programming and less to support an expensive format like news, it's their station(s) to change.
As of 2019, Seattle had a documented Hispanic population of around 50,000, (6%) whereas the entire Washington State was 992,000 (about 12%). 68% of the population in Adams County is Hispanic, 55% Franklin County, and 51% in Yakima.

Sure, if I had a station that I could guarantee that I would own the entire 6% of the local population, I'd do that format. It doesn't work that way though. Especially for an AM station.

 

[Kelly A]

On the topic of Seattle is Dying. I’m sure that some people didn’t care for it. I actually started watching KOMO after the documentary aired, even though I had watched other stations before. In this sense, the documentary did what it was supposed to do. I’d find it hard to believe that most people who watch that documentary would be offended, especially when you consider that it was true to daily life downtown.

I wasn't offended by KOMO-TV doing the documentary. I was saddened knowing what the city I had literally grown up in, had become.

 

[eastmorenci]

Interesting www.nwnewsradio.com is live and shows up as KVI

Right. Could be a call-letter switch coming. 1000/97.7 would identify as KVI. The calls KNWN could go to 570. The NWN are just letters.

 

[davideduardo]

Sure, if I had a station that I could guarantee that I would own the entire 6% of the local population, I'd do that format. It doesn't work that way though. Especially for an AM station.

Added criteria:

The Seattle Nielsen MSA is 10.2% Hispanic... about 450,000 people.
Seattle does not have an HDHA and, thus, does not have DST for Hispanics.
In most Western and Southwestern markets, about half of Hispanic listening is to English language radio.
There are quite a few viable Spanish language formats, with several of them sharing zero listeners.
Thus there is no "one size fits all" format; Spanish is a language and NOT a format.

As you said, it does not work that way.

 

[The New Chico]

Right. Could be a call-letter switch coming. 1000/97.7 would identify as KVI. The calls KNWN could go to 570. The NWN are just letters.

Or KVI would be on 570/97.7 with continued conservative talk. OR the conservative talk moves to 1000 and all-news to 570 and 97.7. OR they pair up 101.5 with 1000 LOL. Time will tell, lots of ways to re-brand here. At least there is some action in this market for a change!

 

[eastmorenci]

Or KVI would be on 570/97.7 with continued conservative talk. OR the conservative talk moves to 1000 and all-news to 570 and 97.7. OR they pair up 101.5 with 1000 LOL. Time will tell, lots of ways to re-brand here. At least there is some action in this market for a change!

News at 101.5 would be a lot better than the crap on the air there now.

 

[Kelly A]

News at 101.5 would be a lot better than the crap on the air there now.

And the great thing about listening to the radio for free: In Seattle alone, there are over 70 stations for you to critique.

 

[crainbebo]

"Seattle is Dying"...laughable? It's the reality of Seattle nowadays. Dozens of tent colonies all around the city, and up into the U-District as well. Tweakers and druggies are everywhere too, so are boarded-up buildings and abandonment (most of that after the pandemic shutdowns and BLM riots/marches).
This is not the Seattle I grew up with just 15 years ago. You could explore Downtown Seattle and the Pike Place area without being too fearful. Sure, a panhandler here and there asking for a cigarette. But not drug needles on streets and crazed people in tents.

For KOMO to showcase this, realizes how they have brought light to this situation. It has ruined a lot of the tourism aspect of Seattle (plus COVID effects too). Hopefully there will be some major legislation or changes to this growing issue, soon.

 

[Mikey Radio]

"Seattle is Dying"...laughable? It's the reality of Seattle nowadays. Dozens of tent colonies all around the city, and up into the U-District as well. Tweakers and druggies are everywhere too, so are boarded-up buildings and abandonment (most of that after the pandemic shutdowns and BLM riots/marches).
This is not the Seattle I grew up with just 15 years ago. You could explore Downtown Seattle and the Pike Place area without being too fearful. Sure, a panhandler here and there asking for a cigarette. But not drug needles on streets and crazed people in tents.

Why is this do you think? Same as San Fran - the skyrocketed cost of living and housing?

 

[fordranger797]

Why is this do you think? Same as San Fran - the skyrocketed cost of living and housing?

Housing certainly plays a role, but it appears to be more of an addiction issue that fuels many of the issues we see today.

 

[boombox4]

Aside from Seattle itself, along with parts of the Eastside, I don't really think the greater Seattle-Tacoma metro area truly recovered completely from the Great Recession. There still are large swaths of suburbia where 80% of the school students qualify for free lunches, and if that is any indicator (maybe it isn't) there is still a lot of relative poverty in the metro region.

In 2014, when the Recession was still ongoing, the percentage of families on food stamps in SKC, according to the Seattle Times, was somewhere around 30-40%. It probably has dropped some since then, but obviously not the entire region is the same when it comes to incomes.

There are obviously other reasons for the homelessness problem in the area.

As for "Seattle Is Dying", I couldn't watch the whole thing. Too depressing. On one hand, I know people who had been either homeless at one time or another, or were one paycheck away from homelessness. On the other hand, it seems a lot of them can do whatever they want, while Joe Q. Citizen gets burned for doing the same thing (parking your RV out front of your house for more than 24 hours, for example). I also have a problem with governments basically criminalizing poverty.

I have no idea what changes would benefit KVI or KPLZ. I haven't tuned in to KVI in ages, and the last time I listened to KPLZ was during the 80s when it was still K-Plus.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Lotus runs a business, and like anyone else in business, if they decided there is enough of a market for Spanish language programming and less to support an expensive format like news, it's their station(s) to change.
As of 2019, Seattle had a documented Hispanic population of around 50,000, (6%) whereas the entire Washington State was 992,000 (about 12%). 68% of the population in Adams County is Hispanic, 55% Franklin County, and 51% in Yakima.

Sure, if I had a station that I could guarantee that I would own the entire 6% of the local population, I'd do that format. It doesn't work that way though. Especially for an AM station.

Lotus is a 70-plus year old chain borne from KWKW that has minimal experience in running any English-language format that isn’t active rock or sports talk. Why would they want to keep an all-news format when all the reporters are employed by a competing entity (Sinclair) and they can’t use the brand name it was known by for decades? Ridiculous.

If KOMO 1000 was really a throwaway operation for Sinclair all these years (which is what the general vibe seems to be), why is Lotus going to make any major investment into establishing a separate brand or make it a self-contained entity? They’d be better off blowing it up for a format they’re comfortable with if none of KOMO’s long-standing identify can be kept.

 

[Kelly A]

Lotus has minimal experience in running any English-language format that isn’t active rock or sports talk. Why would they want to keep an all-news format when all the reporters are employed by a competing entity (Sinclair) and they can’t use the brand name it was known by for decades? Ridiculous.

Pretty apparent you don't know much about radio as a business. It costs a ton of money to change formats/rebrand. The former KOMO wasn't a huge cash cow, but there are all-news stations that are. I believe up front, an official from Lotus mentioned they were committed to continuing news on 1000kHz. You may not take them at their word, but some of us have no reason to doubt them. Maybe give them a chance. Now get off my lawn!

 

[Rusty Muck]

I believe up front, an official from Lotus mentioned they were committed to continuing news on 1000kHz. You may not take them at their word, but some of us have no reason to doubt them. Maybe give them a chance.

I’ve been around the block long enough to see promises by new people not kept lol

 

[davideduardo]

Pretty apparent you don't know much about radio as a business. It costs a ton of money to change formats/rebrand. The former KOMO wasn't a huge cash cow, but there are all-news stations that are. I believe up front, an official from Lotus mentioned they were committed to continuing news on 1000kHz. You may not take them at their word, but some of us have no reason to doubt them. Maybe give them a chance. Now get off my lawn!

Adding to that, both Howard and Jim Kalmenson are what we'd call "straight shooters" and they invest in their stations and do local programming for the music and ethnic formats.

I worked for Howard "way back when" and he is a true pro and a gentleman. No, Lotus does not overspend, nor do they build extravagant facilities but they are good people.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Adding to that, both Howard and Jim Kalmenson are what we'd call "straight shooters" and they invest in their stations and do local programming for the music and ethnic formats.

I worked for Howard "way back when" and he is a true pro and a gentleman. No, Lotus does not overspend, nor do they build extravagant facilities but they are good people.

I’m legitimately curious if they saw this purchase as a means to diversify their radio portfolio? I really like Lotus as a broadcaster but have been grappling my mind trying to fathom any other reason for purchasing three stations with formats they don’t have experience in, in a market far from their other holdings.

 

[KMan]

Why would they want to keep an all-news format when all the reporters are employed by a competing entity (Sinclair) and they can’t use the brand name it was known by for decades? Ridiculous.

KOMO Radio has a healthy stable of reporters that are now employed by Lotus.

It's also probably important to note (as I'm sure I did pages again) that in markets were CBS Radio spun off their All News stations, many of them continue to have content agreements with a local tv station to take audio from their reporting. So in the case of KNX Los Angeles, why would they (Audacy) want to keep an all news format when the KCBS reporters they use to fill out their news coverage work for a competing entity (CBS)?

 

[Kelly A]

I’m legitimately curious if they saw this purchase as a means to diversify their radio portfolio?

They're radio owners. That deal with Sinclair was the friggin deal of the century. From a business perspective, it was a huge win-win.

I really like Lotus as a broadcaster but have been grappling my mind trying to fathom any other reason for purchasing three stations with formats they don’t have experience in, in a market far from their other holdings.

When it comes to being seasoned broadcasters, formats are formats. You seem to think group owners are some sort of one trick ponies. Hubbard is a good example where they're not. They own the highest billing radio station in the country, and it's a stand alone all-news operation. Why wouldn't Lotus want to try their hand owning an established all-news station?

 

[Rusty Muck]

KOMO Radio has a healthy stable of reporters that are now employed by Lotus.

It's also probably important to note (as I'm sure I did pages again) that in markets were CBS Radio spun off their All News stations, many of them continue to have content agreements with a local tv station to take audio from their reporting. So in the case of KNX Los Angeles, why would they (Audacy) want to keep an all news format when the KCBS reporters they use to fill out their news coverage work for a competing entity (CBS)?

KYW 1060 entered into a wide-ranging partnership with WCAU 10 a few years ago that even includes KYW reporters contributing to WCAU, as was the case this morning with that horrific row house fire.