I mean, I addressed it in post #38:
It's within the realm of possibility that this move won't hurt KFI's ratings one bit.
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Steve Gregory and more fired from KFI
- Thread starter DoctorWu
- Start date
I mean, I addressed it in post #38:
It's within the realm of possibility that this move won't hurt KFI's ratings one bit.
I'm absolutely stunned reading about these developments myself. KFI is the "magic" full service AM station that defies all odds by staying profitable and highly relevant to its community forever. Or ... so it was.
I haven't finished reading this entire thread yet, but have there not been discussions around here about Meruelo wanting to exit radio? If so, could iHeart buy 105.9 from Meruelo, move 92.3's best hosts to 105.9, merge 92.3's playlist into 105.9's, and then put KFI's audio on 92.3, taking advantage of 92.3's massive signal (second only to KPFK, KLOS, KRTH, and KTWV)?
I also wonder what KPFK's age demographics are. I know the station is left-leaning, but does it skew young, or "retired greying hippie"? If young, their future on FM can't be all that bright. I wonder if they would trade the KPFK transmitter (as a home for KFI's audio) for a perpetual free ride on iHeart's streaming platform (i.e. zero cost streaming to their demographic's new preferred means of listening)? Putting KFI on KPFK's signal would be the best "get" imaginable, with its monster signal being the closest there is to an equivalent for KFI's massive daytime groundwave pattern.
KPFK would never sell nor could they do so if they wanted to a commercial broadcaster. It’s on the non-commercial/educational part of the FM band.
iHeart is already at the cap for stations per market. They own KLAC, KFI, KEIB, KRRL, KYSR, KIIS, KOST and KBIG. That's eight. They're done.
And even if they moved KFI to FM, that's not going to change what iHeart is doing to its stations. KFI wouldn't re-staff a news department just because they had a new signal, or even significantly improved ratings and revenue.
Uh, KPFK is in the non-comm portion of the FM band. KFI can’t move there.
I've wondered the same about KPFA in Berkeley for years. Somehow it keeps going.
Probably not, especially if the hosts try to remain somewhat news-oriented. If they start going for slanted political talk, that could be another matter altogether.
Unlike KPFK, KPFA is in the commercial part of the FM band and could be sold to anyone. Same with Pacifica’s WBAI in NYC.
But that doesn't answer how it keeps going now.
Moreover, the time to sell to one of the debt-encumbered chains has long passed. What's left are the noncommercial Christian operators, and if that were to happen, the Hayward Fault would probably have a major slip shortly thereafter.
So you did. I usually keep better track of the thread.
I personally agree that it doesn't move the needle one bit one way or the other, with the exception of emergencies such as earthquake coverage. Over the many years, KFI's emergency coverage has been every bit as good as the news stations. But the fact of the matter is, emergencies are infrequent and budgetary constraints are constant, thus the decision that was made.
As local engineer told me, most of the on air alarms are programing errors, dead air, empty audio files etc etc etc
Nevermind. My idea was for a non-profit trade -- KFI's audio running for free (at no profit to KPFK) on KPFK's still-owned-and-operated transmitter in exchange for KPFK's audio (at no cost to KPFK) on iHeart's owned and operated platform (where its presence would benefit from lots of notice). I thought that a trade like this would circumvent the FCC non-commercial regulations for 91.9 and below. But I'm now looking at those regulations and see I was grossly mistaken. The prohibition is against commercial activity, not merely against for-profit license holders. So, yeah, the moment one of KFI's commercials went out on KPFK's transmitter, KPFK's license would be toast. My apologies for the dumb idea. I thought that I had spotted an angle.
Alas.
Nothing lasts forever. That's why I say: It's not IF, but WHEN. And everybody needs to think about that. No job lasts forever, and a day will come when someone else will be doing morning drive on KFI.
That's really going to be up to the new PD. They're going to have to pick up the pieces. iHeart corporate isn't running the specific stations. Those decisions happen down the food chair. So once they know what the resources are, the next PD will look at them as decide how to use them. If I was in this situation, I'd have a staff meeting with the show producers and maybe some hosts and talk about how to handle this. They shouldn't expect that kind of information or guidance from corporate.
I agree. They might get some useful audio from TTN that they can use in the talk shows. But it won't be the same. The people left at the station have to talk about that among themselves and with their immediate supervisors to figure out how to handle it. If I was in charge, I'd tell the surviving employees that their jobs just became a bit more complicated. This is when some of the lower ranking people have to step up to the table. I came into a station after a big staff housecleaning, and that's what we did. I was in a situation where the people above me as well as the people below me were all fired. It was just me. You have to find a way.
I had a radio boss who told me that you don't staff for emergencies. When emergencies happen, it's all hands on deck, and we'll sort out the particulars afterwards. I was at a station when an emergency happened, and someone's husband all of a sudden became a temporary employee.
I still think a viable alternative to KFI's news reporting would be to partner with an TV newsroom in LA. This is what KNWN in Seattle has done, and it sounds very professional on air. The KOMO-TV reporters file a short separate report on scene for KNWN. This started when KNWN eliminated their 12 person news team. And keep in mind KNWN is an All News station.
I'm sure iHeart has a policy about that. A partnership means both parties contribute something. Typically there's cross-promotion. But if people are involved, they will want to be paid. So just airing TV audio in exchange for credit won't be enough long term. This is the problem once CBS sold off its radio division. So KNX probably has the relationship with the KCBS. Can iHeart help create a bridge with Fox since there's already a corporate relationship? That would be my first call.
Yeah, but...
Pacifica's had literally decades to sell any or all of their stations. In yonder days, selling either WBAI or KPFA would have netted Pacifica enough cash to pay off all their debt and use whatever was left over for a decent endowment fund. Selling both would have given them enough cash to operate all the rest of their stations -- the others are WPFW Washington DC and KPFT Houston Texas, as well as KPFK Los Angeles -- plus backfill NYC and SFBA with lesser FMs or even flamethrower AM's like KGO or WOR, assuming the residual money was well invested. But Pacifica was never interested in selling, period, end of story. They missed the boat, it's left the dock and appears to be in the process of sinking, and I doubt anyone's in the mood to deal with the Pacifica lunatics when stations like WEPN-FM are going begging.
Keep in mind that Pacifica stations are owned by the foundation in Berkeley, but are run individually by each station's local board. It's a mess. The foundation thought about perhaps selling or leasing one of its stations a while back, and the local station board took the foundation to court. The foundation lost. Since then, the foundation sold its headquarters in Berkeley, and I believe they're sharing space now with KPFK. Long story short, they won't be trying to sell any stations again, because they will lose in court.
I still think a viable alternative to KFI's news reporting would be to partner with an TV newsroom in LA. This is what KNWN in Seattle has done, and it sounds very professional on air. The KOMO-TV reporters file a short separate report on scene for KNWN. This started when KNWN eliminated their 12 person news team. And keep in mind KNWN is an All News station.
L.A. is an AFTRA union market. Reporter contracts at any of the TV stations---KNBC, KTLA, KABC, KTTV---would have to be renegotiated and the talent compensated for appearances on KFI (KCBS/KCAL would probably be out of scope because of KNX's CBS News affiliation) if it were an ongoing part of their work product.
No, iHeart is fine with a more generic news product coming from their TTN/24-7 studio in Long Beach. That's the plan. iHeart doesn't think it needs a solution beyond that.
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