SPIRIT 102.3 SIGNS OFF.

[Bob Oshea]

Does this mean goodbye to Big Country? KFAQ 99.5fm

Hopefully it will go back to KVOO-AM for no more than they're able to do with it. KXBL should go Blues & Jazz and KVOO-FM can simulcast with the blowtorch.

O'Shea

 

[ionosphere]

KKCM/Tulsa Update: KKCM PD Chris Kelly checks in with HisAir.Net, "Regretfully, Josh Bentley and Rebecca Bennett (our morning show) are looking for their next opportunity. They are two very talented people. I'm staying as PD of the web stream and getting back the PD chair of our Classic Rock station, KJSR. Dave Weston has always done double duty as the morning guy at our Hot AC, KRAV and then afternoons at Spirit. So he still is with the cluster and will be the voice of the station on the web." Rebecca can reached at [email protected]
and Josh at [email protected]. (3/17)


Sorry for the casualties. But it IS comforting to see the company keeping their guy, Chris on board.

Good to hear Chris is still at Cox. That would have been a huge loss for them.

I'm having an elderly moment here...who was the PD at Star?

 

[Bob Oshea]

KKCM/Tulsa Update: KKCM PD Chris Kelly checks in with HisAir.Net, "Regretfully, Josh Bentley and Rebecca Bennett (our morning show) are looking for their next opportunity. They are two very talented people. I'm staying as PD of the web stream and getting back the PD chair of our Classic Rock station, KJSR. Dave Weston has always done double duty as the morning guy at our Hot AC, KRAV and then afternoons at Spirit. So he still is with the cluster and will be the voice of the station on the web." Rebecca can reached at [email protected]
and Josh at [email protected]. (3/17)


Sorry for the casualties. But it IS comforting to see the company keeping their guy, Chris on board.

Good to hear Chris is still at Cox. That would have been a huge loss for them.

I'm having an elderly moment here...who was the PD at Star?

Deena Fletcher was the PD for Star. She is now APD for MIX.

 

[Evil Monkey99]

Shocking that they are keeping the digital TV feed. Still says KKCM on the channel and 102.3

 

[JournalGuy]

Since it is Cox Cable, it makes sense to keep it on. Quality isn't bad.

Good to see that Chris stayed.

 

[ionosphere]

Shocking that they are keeping the digital TV feed. Still says KKCM on the channel and 102.3

Well, the webstream still brands as Spirit 102.3, as does the website.

 

[Bob Oshea]

Shocking that they are keeping the digital TV feed. Still says KKCM on the channel and 102.3

Well, the webstream still brands as Spirit 102.3, as does the website.

All of that will change too. This was all done blindingly fast but Cox does nothing half assed. All the peripherals will make sense shortly. In addition, Spirit is still an internet radio station.

Lord Bob

 

[Evil Monkey99]

Since it is Cox Cable, it makes sense to keep it on. Quality isn't bad.

HOW? You kill a format and change the calls...what does being on Cox Cable have to do with making it logical to promote a station or a signal that does not exist?

 

[G Thompson]

Deena's APD at MIX?

I thought Keith was.

 

[JournalGuy]

I would bet that Keith is safe too. He is a talented dude and I am sure they are hanging on to him too.

 

[ionosphere]

Since it is Cox Cable, it makes sense to keep it on. Quality isn't bad.

HOW? You kill a format and change the calls...what does being on Cox Cable have to do with making it logical to promote a station or a signal that does not exist?

To the contrary, the station very much exists, just not in a terrestrial form. It has joined the thousands of other internet-only stations. It doesn't hurt that it still has a presence on digital cable. I think referring to it as Spirit 102.3 will be confusing to listeners, who do not hear on 102.3 what they hear on the webstream.

 

[Silkie]

Contemplating the signoff from a different perspective, it is another small piece of evidence that the Gospel, more and more, whatever the source, is increasingly difficult to find - including in many churches of diverse denominations - for any number of reasons.

 

[Evil Monkey99]

[/quote]

To the contrary, the station very much exists, just not in a terrestrial form. It has joined the thousands of other internet-only stations. It doesn't hurt that it still has a presence on digital cable. I think referring to it as Spirit 102.3 will be confusing to listeners, who do not hear on 102.3 what they hear on the webstream.
[/quote]

And what will aribrton tell you about a non terrestrial station? Nothing... I think we all agree Arbirton is antiquated, but still this is INCREDIBLY confusing. AND, how freaking confusing is it to current clients?

I don't know... just tought it came across very odd that you would maintain an identity on a station that (in NASCAR terms..) you have done blowed up

 

[GeneSavage]

The station needs to be named (as much as I don't like this name) "Spirit one oh two three dot com" to hold on to the brand without confusing the listener with a frequency... maybe transition later to "Spirit Tulsa" or something.

I would think this will make national sales darn near impossible and even local sales challenging, although the guys at Cox Tulsa at least already have some practice selling internet ads... seems like they ought to be able to keep the stream paid for.

One problem I see with it is that it sounds, at least right now, like every other CCM stream on the web... and there are HUNDREDS of them. What's going to set them apart? Why tune into them instead of KXOJ who also streams? You can say the music mix, but I bet I could find a dozen musical clones.

With Chris, Rebecca & Good Friends In The Morning gone, they're going to have to work hard to keep fresh local content on the stream. I believe that means more than an occasional concert spot. However, with the goal being cutting costs, I don't know how likely this is. Certainly there is reason to believe they may modify and improve the stream... especially if they develop a solid audience, & especially if there's money to be made.

Speaking of money: finding the money was ALWAYS Cox Atlanta's goal with Spirit 102.3. Chris & Dan & some of the others locally may have believed in The Mission, but corporate was always about the money that could be made... and that's what a good company does for its stockholders, so that's not a slam.

Love 98 / KCFO-FM was an amazing CCM for about a decade here in Tulsa... until the then-owners of KVOO-AM offered the owner enough to go retire on a beach (as I heard the story) and he sold the station to them (First Stuart, maybe?) & it became "U.S. 98.5!"

KXOJ, with all their faults, has stayed CCM because they are owned by a family dedicated to Christian radio, according to both their word and their actions. They own other, secular properties, but they've never taken KXOJ-FM to any other format, despite the potential to make more money doing so.

Also, before Cox put on Spirit 102.3, we went years (decades?) without another CCM station on FM in Tulsa.

(Stereo 1530 / KXTD, "The Station You've Been Waiting For!" barely reached Tulsa & of course was AM, & a daytimer at that; and Live 101.5 was Christian rock.)

Spirit isn't that old... this isn't "part of the decline," it's a return to what was "normal" for many years. If The Gospel has been around 2,000 years, give or take, the loss of one of a couple of CCM stations on the air in Tulsa is hardly a sign of Its demise.

...Besides that, give us a few years, and you'll be listening to EVERYTHING over the web and only go to FM or AM when you can't get a net connection in your car, or the station is too broke to have a stream. So they're in the right place, really... just gotta wait for technology to catch up. 8)

 

[Zero Zagnut]

Does this mean goodbye to Big Country? KFAQ 99.5fm

Hopefully it will go back to KVOO-AM for no more than they're able to do with it. KXBL should go Blues & Jazz and KVOO-FM can simulcast with the blowtorch.

O'Shea

Or make KVOO FM the classic country format, after all, that format fits those calls. And simulcast
KFAQ on 99.5. Journal should give up chasing K95. Harold Stuart should've bought an FM
and simulcast the old KVOO the very second he caught wind that KWEN was switching to country.
Instead, he waited almost 10 years before getting into the FM country game when he bought
KCFO. KVOO FM has been trying to play catch up ever since with very little success. Big Country
opened up by placing 5th in the market at it's debut. The format works if it's done right, not with
an "adult contemporary with a country lean" approach which has been the mantra of Big Country
99.5.

 

[Bob Oshea]

Does this mean goodbye to Big Country? KFAQ 99.5fm

Hopefully it will go back to KVOO-AM for no more than they're able to do with it. KXBL should go Blues & Jazz and KVOO-FM can simulcast with the blowtorch.

O'Shea

Or make KVOO FM the classic country format, after all, that format fits those calls. And simulcast
KFAQ on 99.5. Journal should give up chasing K95. Harold Stuart should've bought an FM
and simulcast the old KVOO the very second he caught wind that KWEN was switching to country.
Instead, he waited almost 10 years before getting into the FM country game when he bought
KCFO. KVOO FM has been trying to play catch up ever since with very little success. Big Country
opened up by placing 5th in the market at it's debut. The format works if it's done right, not with
an "adult contemporary with a country lean" approach which has been the mantra of Big Country
99.5.

I bet we could bat that ball around 'til resurrecton day. I just don't see KFAQ ever coming back unless KRMG goes away....and that's not going to happen. Cox is about to go off the Big Board. Finally, a big player sees the light! Private radio is the only way to go, especially in this economy. Really any economy. Anyway, 1170 will continue to struggle until they can no longer sell time on the cadaver. I will ascend into the heavens still believing 1170 should have remained Big Country AM 1170 KVOO!

Lord Bob

 

[JWPinVA]

KXOJ, with all their faults, has stayed CCM because they are owned by a family dedicated to Christian radio, according to both their word and their actions. They own other, secular properties, but they've never taken KXOJ-FM to any other format, despite the potential to make more money doing so.

No argument there. The Stephens family is truly dedicated to Christian radio. But about making more money...

Has there been any progress on their app to make KXOJ a C3? I searched for the app on the FCC site today and couldn't find a trace of it. Was the upgrade project for 100.9 abandoned? Improving the in-building penetration of that signal could only improve the ability to sell spots.

 

[JournalGuy]

The guys at KXOJ are the luckiest people in the world. They are in it for the money just like Cox was. Simple fact, the KKCM crew proved that KXOJ was beatable. It was a bad beating too.

Congrats to both sides. KKCM for a job well done and KXOJ for getting another chance to live. If KXOJ was smart, they would try to hire some of the displaced KKCM crew. They should hire the former morning show and PD.

As for KFAQ, everything is just fine thank you. 1170 is a 50kw signal that covers more area than any FM. Day or night, KFAQ covers the metro with no problem.

 

[GeneSavage]

They are in it for the money just like Cox was.

Uh, you wouldn't say that if you had worked for / with them. Of course they want to make money, but that's not what got them into it and that's not what has kept them in it.

Spirit 102.3 proved a 50kw can beat a 6kw? So what? Love 98 did that with 100kw back in the 80s. What's yer point?

KFAQ IS a great signal... too bad they aren't apparently programming what people want to hear... at least that's what the numbers reflect. The ratings are even more inexcusable because, as you said yourself:

Day or night, KFAQ covers the metro with no problem.

...Therefore, the problem with the station HAS to be the programing.

Right?

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Or lack of.

It amazes me the lack of foward thinking the Journal guys had. They would have been must better served to put the stupid talk crap on FM in mono and leave 1170 playing classic country. 1170 wasn't broken, and they 'fixed' it. Radios were rusted in place for decades on 1170 in the homes of people that like that format. Why screw with something that worked, especially on AM?! The talk fomat is acutally very well served on an FM, even if it is a bit challenged. First, it lives nicer with noisy computers in offices, etc. Next, younger audiences will listen to FM. Classic country people are just happy to have a station. With talk there IS a real competitor named KRMG. They really blew it when they made the decisions they did with signals. STUPID, very stupid.