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So, if you had some money which CC stations would you buy and what would you do?

R

Radio55

Guest
I'd pick up KAKC AM (I just love AM!) and one of the FM's (Not KMOD or KOOL). Would do a Mid-50's to up to 1967 (pre-psychedelic) type format. Fire up the KAKC jingles and have one heck of a good time. Hmmmm. How about The Big 1300, KAKC. (now, if any of your radio guys steal this, I want a cut!!) ;-) On the FM, I would do an oldies based format with the widest list you ever heard. I do wish someone would/could pick up the True Oldies Channel in Tulsa. It really is great (and just a few hours on KOOL on Sunday isn't enough). Listen online when I can. This is all just for fun, guys, so "buy" a CC station and tell me what you would do.
 
Of course, the Tulsa stations aren't for sale. I hope none of the CC Tulsa people suffer from what is happening at CC stations across the country. Have you guys been reading about it? An absolute slaughter of good talent. Doesn't seem to be many broadcasters in the broadcasting business any more. I'm glad I'm out. Really sad.
 
Re: So, if you had some money which CC stations would you buy and what would you

Radio55 said:
I'd pick up KAKC AM (I just love AM!) and one of the FM's (Not KMOD or KOOL). Would do a Mid-50's to up to 1967 (pre-psychedelic) type format. Fire up the KAKC jingles and have one heck of a good time. Hmmmm. How about The Big 1300, KAKC. (now, if any of your radio guys steal this, I want a cut!!) ;-) On the FM, I would do an oldies based format with the widest list you ever heard. I do wish someone would/could pick up the True Oldies Channel in Tulsa. It really is great (and just a few hours on KOOL on Sunday isn't enough). Listen online when I can. This is all just for fun, guys, so "buy" a CC station and tell me what you would do.
Click to expand...

I'd use the KAKC calls on FM ridding the cluster of CC's penchant for naming all their oldies stations "Cool". Move the calls to KMOD and KAKC could be the big 97 all over again! Refresh the KAKC jingles and maybe even bring back Lee Bailey or Beau Weaver to kick the thing off. Or bring Scott "Scooter" Seagraves out of retirement in Arkansas. Of course, the Commode has been at 97.5 forever (when it was the "rainbow station" for those of you old enough to remember).

Of course, I have an unbiased opinion.
 
Didn't they try to breathe new life into KAKC on 1300 in the 80's or early 90's?

From what I understand, Rockin' John Henry was at the helm as 'PD' and did mornings. I think they were running ABC's oldies network feed for the rest of the day. (Correct me if I'm wrong here)

Of course, the company didn't market it or put any dollars into promotion. It was doomed from the start. I think it was an attempt to cash in on the legendary calls and cash-cow the situation with low overhead. Bringing the calls back with oldies was a romantic idea. And it was quite exciting for anyone who knows anything about radio legends such as Lee Bailey, Scooter Seagraves, Dick Schmitts, Beau Weaver, Les Garland (Creator of MTV / former KELI jock) and others. They DO deserve their homage.

I really do believe that these great jocks of the Golden Age of Top 40 need to be brought out and ceremonially honored in some way in our community. Their contribution to our industry and Tulsa's history was great. Maybe they have and I just missed it.

But beyond that, I really believe that music on AM (in it's current form) is non-viable if you're trying to attract anyone born after the 1950's or so. I saw a recent survey where something like 30 percent of teens surveyed don't even know what AM is. And this number is just going to rise as future generations come into the money demo's.

Other experts have recently forcasted that Oldies radio as we have known it will be completely dead within a decade. It's already dying. And the classic rock format as we know it in it's current form has been diagnosed with arthritis as well.

To echo what a poster said a few weeks ago about our industry, "The landscape is quickly changing." Analog FM an AM are future dinosaurs. But FM and AM won't die. They'll go digital. And with the onset of all of the format choices that HD will bring on your dial, I don't think you'll see oldies and classic rock formats completely go away. As long as there are people alive who appreciate all of the great music that came out of those time periods, those formats will survive. Although they will look a bit different and they won't be the huge money makers in any given ownership group.
 
Wow, great thoughts, guys. Scooter B was actually honored by the Tulsa Press Club a few years ago. Having listened to both KAKC and KELi in their heyday, radio hasn't been that good since. Somehow, the "quality" seems to be lost. I really believe it has to do with the talent pool available today. Corporate ownership, technology, voice-tracking has made it possible to operate stations on the cheap, and so the 7-mid and mid-6 shifts are gone. These positions were training grounds for a lot of people who would then move to midday or drive postitions. With these slots gone, these people lose a lot of opportunity, and then the owners pound the salaries down for the shifts which remain. It isn't so much that the talent is bad, many people in the business just simply cannot afford to stay in it (I couldn't). The business has really suffered in the past several years and there is really no reason to be a "jock" anymore. It is a dead end. It saddens me to feel this way, but it even feels worse to know that it is the truth.

KRMG in the 70's (Great Raft Race era) was just a killer station. I think they are trying to bring it back with their re-emphasis on news. They did a great job covering the snow storm while MDG on KFAQ was preaching. When KFAQ was KVOO-AM, their news coverage was the best.

I think there is a place for voice-tracking, automation, and computers. They really can help with operations and free up a lot of time for staff to do other things, but I think overall there is going to be a huge shift in the radio business. Stations are going to have to get local in a major way. I have maintained for years that CC owned to many stations and would have to part with some of them someday. It is a good thing. Perhaps some local owners will step up and buy some of the stations that are for sale and operate them in a live and local fashion. I know a lot of this is wishful thinking, but when the FCC was much more of a watchdog than it is today, radio was simply better.

Ok, I'll stop whining. ;-)
 
Re: So, if you had some money which CC stations would you buy and what would you

I, too think something should be done with KAKC. It just seems like a waste of electricity as it is. As a fan of Big Band/Jazz music, I would love it if it could be turned into a "nostalgia" station kind of like KRVT (not to kill KRVT, but to get that music on a better signal). And I am a 24 year old (certainly born after the '50's) who listens to music on AM. And with HD Radio, I hope maybe more people will one day listen to music on AM again.
 
Re: So, if you had some money which CC stations would you buy and what would you

When we remember the "good old days of radio", often we remember personality driven radio with some of the people mentioned previously. What will people remember about radio in the year 2006? Will they remember syndicated shows, voice-tracked personalities, or dead air?
 
I think AM could very well breathe life back into itself by programming specialty formats like KRVT. I have been listening for the past couple of days while being snowed in and the station really sounds great. They have even added CBS news. Smart move. Someone should grab NBC Radio News. For me, KRVT could be the model for what AM could use in Tulsa. This is what AM needs especially the "smaller" signals such as KAKC on 1300. My thought is this. With so much talk on AM, having a few music stations with specialty programming like KRVT is doing or the mid-50s to 1967-ish format for KAKC that I mentioned could be something that grabs the AM talk listener and keep them on the dial. So many owners simply forgot their AM's in the past 25 years or so that some of them sound horrible, but that could be fixed by a good engineer doing some tweaking. The nostalgia format that philspice1 mentioned is another good idea for AM. I think any AM with a fairly good signal could pull this off. (Question: what kind of processing would you need to make the signal sound bigger and fatter/louder (I'm not an engineer, I'm a programming guy, well, a former one.) I remember KAKC when it was KCNW in the 60's/70s, and it just seemed stronger signalwise. Even KGTO, a daytimer(!!) is pulling some pretty good numbers with its urban oldies format. Imagine getting your hands on one of these stations, building your PRODUCT and your SOUND, and let your experience do the programming.
Another thing... I think people are going to tire of talk radio over the next few years, if they haven't already. The constant parade of talk radio hosts just kicking each others teeth in is getting old and exhausting. I think KRMG made a smart move getting back in the news and information business in the morning. Just thoughts.... I enjoy reading yours.
 
I really agree with you that talk radio is getting annoying.

It seems that there are very few moderate voices out there. Besides Boortz, there are very few I like to hear go on and on.

I think Hannity is getting as tiresome as Dr. Laura did. You can only take so much dogmatism until your stomach begins to turn and you ask the question "Does anyone here have their OWN opinion?"

No, Hannity. I don't want to ask George Bush into my heart as my personal lord and saviour.
 
Re: So, if you had some money which CC stations would you buy and what would you

BlaineMcDaniel said:
I really agree with you that talk radio is getting annoying.

It seems that there are very few moderate voices out there. Besides Boortz, there are very few I like to hear go on and on.

I think Hannity is getting as tiresome as Dr. Laura did. You can only take so much dogmatism until your stomach begins to turn and you ask the question "Does anyone here have their OWN opinion?"

No, Hannity. I don't want to ask George Bush into my heart as my personal lord and saviour.
Click to expand...

I think that Sean Vanity is very tiresome and lump him in with Rush, Dr. Laura, and several other local hosts who are very annoying.
 
Re: So, if you had some money which CC stations would you buy and what would you

I'm glad at least a few people agree with me! Sometimes, I think I'm alone on that one as so many people I know seem to turn on Hannity in the afternoons! Of course, as a general rule, I find talk radio to be annoying period. So, it's really nothing personal against Sean or any of the other hosts.
 
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