Some kynd history

[b-turner]

Mediafrog: I know the owners personally and have well over 25 years. They have a decent respect for the FCC and the rules. Like I said, I doubt they know the station is on, especially at night. I think a better word than delusional is ignorant as far as radio knowledge is concerned. All they know is the offers they have received have been below the cost of the upgrade including the land. You can call it irresponsible and I'd agree.

You'd think they'd notice the power bill as well but they might not be comparing to last year or just think the rate has increased.

The sad part is here's a station that could exist and function but there's nobody to sell it or watch over it. I'm guessing they're on because they got an engineer to swing by at turn on the station but the engineer failed to check the monthly sign on/sign off times. I'm guessing the software dropped those settings. I had that happen to me once when we first got that Nautel but I seem to recall a software update fixed that. In fact when it happened to SomeRadioGuy called me to make me aware of that.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Mediafrog: I know the owners personally and have well over 25 years. They have a decent respect for the FCC and the rules. Like I said, I doubt they know the station is on, especially at night. I think a better word than delusional is ignorant as far as radio knowledge is concerned. All they know is the offers they have received have been below the cost of the upgrade including the land. You can call it irresponsible and I'd agree.

You'd think they'd notice the power bill as well but they might not be comparing to last year or just think the rate has increased.

The sad part is here's a station that could exist and function but there's nobody to sell it or watch over it. I'm guessing they're on because they got an engineer to swing by at turn on the station but the engineer failed to check the monthly sign on/sign off times. I'm guessing the software dropped those settings. I had that happen to me once when we first got that Nautel but I seem to recall a software update fixed that. In fact when it happened to SomeRadioGuy called me to make me aware of that.

And this is how KYND sounds tearing up KOKC in Laramie, WY when KYND forgets to shut off

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10I6tSiY4GL0H5FcN4BUa50gHwcAOG0JI/view?usp=sharing

 

[The Rimshot]

I'm in Gainesville, Texas at KGAF and loving it. I do sales for the station.

Do you think KGAF would be interested in becoming an affiliate of the Houston Astros Radio Network?

 

[b-turner]

I doubt it. Locals tend to identify more with Dallas. Then there's selling it. With all the in store/office listening, a day game would be a tune-out to many listeners wanting a soundtrack for their shop or office. But I'm not the decision maker. I'm just selling commercials.

 

[The Rimshot]

I doubt it. Locals tend to identify more with Dallas. Then there's selling it. With all the in store/office listening, a day game would be a tune-out to many listeners wanting a soundtrack for their shop or office. But I'm not the decision maker. I'm just selling commercials.

Going back to KYND, do you think it could thrive
under a sports format? There isn’t an NBC Sports affiliate in Houston, perhaps KYND could fill that role.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Going back to KYND, do you think it could thrive
under a sports format? There isn’t an NBC Sports affiliate in Houston, perhaps KYND could fill that role.

No, NBC really is no longer a network.. with just top/bottom hour sports uopdates and one or two shows.,. hasn't been a network in over a year.

And just because theres a hole, doesn't mean it needs filled. sports.. on a daytimer? You'll be going off air in the middle of or even before some games at times.

 

[The Rimshot]

No, NBC really is no longer a network.. with just top/bottom hour sports uopdates and one or two shows.,. hasn't been a network in over a year.

And just because theres a hole, doesn't mean it needs filled. sports.. on a daytimer? You'll be going off air in the middle of or even before some games at times.

Never said it needed to be filled just said that it could be filled.

 

[b-turner]

The issue for KYND is thinking format. There is nobody to oversee or sell. About the only option KYND has, with no studios, is brokered programming. Obviously someone opting for any format could lease the station. The final year I was there they didn't spend a dime on anything above operating expenses. Literally if they had to dole out dollars for it to happen, it would have to be an employee digging in their wallet. Then again, KYND has no employees. I have good reason to believe the contract engineer had to forego paychecks like me in my final months at the station. They reached the bottom of the barrel some time back and have drilling toward the earth's inner crust ever since. What a terrible fate for a station where I invested over 25 years of my radio career.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

No, NBC really is no longer a network.. with just top/bottom hour sports uopdates and one or two shows.,. hasn't been a network in over a year.

The hourly updates and remaining shows ceased this spring. NBC Sports Radio is now a thing of the past.

 

[BamaTX]

sports.. on a daytimer? You'll be going off air in the middle of or even before some games at times.

KIKK 650

 

[Mediafrog+]

Mediafrog: I know the owners personally and have well over 25 years. They have a decent respect for the FCC and the rules. Like I said, I doubt they know the station is on, especially at night. I think a better word than delusional is ignorant as far as radio knowledge is concerned. All they know is the offers they have received have been below the cost of the upgrade including the land. You can call it irresponsible and I'd agree.

Any business owner is ultimately responsible for the proper and legal operation of any company they run. And since the KYND owners choose to have no employees, while refusing to sell the station or turn in the license, they are to blame for the illegal operation. Once again tonight, KYND is on the air long after sunset. I can't believe the owners are that clueless.

And this is how KYND sounds tearing up KOKC in Laramie, WY when KYND forgets to shut off

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10I6tSiY4GL0H5FcN4BUa50gHwcAOG0JI/view?usp=sharing

If I had my name, (former) title and voice, running on a station I no longer worked for, that was blatantly violating FCC rules, I would get a lawyer and file a Cease and Desist order against the station owners.

 

[b-turner]

I agree, the owners are responsible and there's no skirting that. They are that clueless. I can guarantee the owners don't even know how to sign in to the transmitter.

Will you give me the money to hire that lawyer? I don't have the cash after blowing through savings without a paycheck at KYND trying to get them a client. I had to start over in sales at another station and that first year is always rough. You can say why didn't I wait out a better opportunity. My answer is money. I had to jump when I did or find a nice bridge to live under. I'm loving where I am now but still not at breakeven.

Anyway I can't be fined for them playing a CD I made in 2019. Almost everybody knows I'm not still with KYND.

Matt would be rolling in his grave if he knew what happened to his station.

 

[b-turner]

Let's get your opinion: you have people wanting to lease the station for $5,000 a month when operating expenses are way more than that. Do you lease it? If so, why? Do you hope the next one will offer enough to cover the bills?

You put the station up for sale and you get offers for less than the value of the land and equipment. Do you sell at a loss? If so, why? Do you hope you might get an offer that comes closer to breakeven?

Do you turn in the license? We'd both agree the license is worth something so why would you just turn in the license.

Some say they should donate it. That is easily said. How many want the responsibility and costs? How many can take that on?

What I'd do is file an STA and go silent. Then I'd aggressively try to sell it. In the worst case scenario I'd keep the land and lease it to the new buyer.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Continuing to run the barker loop has a significant expense.

Is it better to sell the license and property now for $400,000, or sell for a similar price in 2022 after burning through two more years of operating expenses with no revenue? I can't see the value of AM radio licenses increasing.

 

[b-turner]

That's a very good point. I had a guy ready to start at a set amount that would increase over the next 12 months to a price that put them in the black. Sure they would lose a thousand or two for the first 3 months. My argument was something is better than nothing when that something covers almost all your expenses day one. The response: we're not signing a contract where we agree to lose money. By the way, this guy had a proven track record in the market and had a reputation of paying on time and following through on contracts. I had him ready to sign with 1st month's payment and then wait out his 'cancellation option' at another station (60 days). He was one of the 'good guys' in time brokered radio...the sort you hope you can get.

You are of the same opinion as me. I believe AM radio values will continue to fall. Some of the prices I have seen in the past year or two have been crazy low as in barely covering the equipment costs. I saw one that sold for the value of the land and building based on the real estate sales at the time. And it wasn't horrible.

 

[The Rimshot]

The issue for KYND is thinking format. There is nobody to oversee or sell. About the only option KYND has, with no studios, is brokered programming. Obviously someone opting for any format could lease the station. The final year I was there they didn't spend a dime on anything above operating expenses. Literally if they had to dole out dollars for it to happen, it would have to be an employee digging in their wallet. Then again, KYND has no employees. I have good reason to believe the contract engineer had to forego paychecks like me in my final months at the station. They reached the bottom of the barrel some time back and have drilling toward the earth's inner crust ever since. What a terrible fate for a station where I invested over 25 years of my radio career.

I believe the best solution for KYND would be to take a page out of KCTA’s playbook and sell 30 minute/1 hour slots to ministries and church organizations. KCTA seems to be thriving.

 

[Mediafrog+]

The response: we're not signing a contract where we agree to lose money.

The owners are already agreeing to lose money by not having any clients while still paying the electric bill, real estate taxes, and other expenses.

I believe the best solution for KYND would be to take a page out of KCTA’s playbook and sell 30 minute/1 hour slots to ministries and church organizations. KCTA seems to be thriving.

This is what KKHT is already doing, as well as other Houston stations to a lesser extent. KYND would have to hire staff to sell the time, and there may not be enough interest to fill the broadcast day. Also they would have to acquire some sort of program playout automation, though that could be completely outsourced, at a cost.

 

[johndavis]

Scanning the dial at 10:30 last night, the barker loop was loud and clear. It's like a lamp timer that's way off...

 

[b-turner]

Again Rimshot, KCTA is a format. There has to be someone to sell it and get it on the air. If there are no employees and no money to change that, it will not happen.

Trust me selling paid religion is like pulling teeth. I contacted every church in the yellow pages, white pages and Shepherds Guide more than once and every listing in the National Religious Broadcasters Directory. Most churches don't have the money. Most pastors don't have the time and the ones that do tend to be the type that sometimes pay and sometimes don't. And those programs sell for cheap when it's church funded. We're talking about $20 a quarter hour. If they want 15 minutes Monday through Friday, think $10 a quarter hour. In addition they don't like mid afternoons on weekdays, can't stand Saturdays and see Sunday afternoons as a waste. So you can sell about 7:30 to 1 or 2 on weekdays and about 7:30 to noon Sundays. Nobody wants earlier than 7:30 because as a daytimer it is not year-round. And you need more than one person to keep track of all of it and sell as people cancel. You'll never be sold out either. Forget the national ministries that go with the 'share' plan after loving that concept thanks to non-commercial Christian broadcasters. They could probably get a thousand out of Rev. Stair for all the unsold hours.

I'm not cutting down ministries here but having sold in secular radio, I have never seen such a large ratio of clients stiff you on payment. I had a church that was perpetually late in getting their program to us resulting in a mad dash to go pick it up weekly. When they got behind, the pastor (the guy that handed me the tape each week) said he never authorized us to run his program and if I came over for a check he'd have me arrested for trespassing. I had one guy say God told him to no longer pay any station to carry his program. I suggested he must have heard Him wrong.

I also had clients who were some of the finest people I ever met. Sadly, most of them funded their ministry out of their pocket.

As for KCTA, it appears to be a mix of paid ministries and 'share' national ministries meaning they don't buy the time but share donations that arrive from your listeners. When we did such 'share' deals we'd get $100 to $200 a month from a half hour daily program when KYND was doing this format. I'm guessing 1/3rd of their time is 'share'. I haven't seen KCTA's rates in a few years but they were cheaper than you'd think.

I worked KYND. When the computer at the transmitter died, the engineer put one of his old ones out there because KYND was not spending a dime even if it meant the computer was the only way we would get anything on the air at that moment. KYND put itself in a little box where it is stuck.

 

[The Rimshot]

So what’s the solution, Bill? Which format do you believe would be best for KYND’s current situation? Sports? Country? Probably country.