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Tavis Smiley Buys KBLA

ChannelFlipper said:
And to hear you guys go on, anyone to the left of Wally George simply can't a gig in this industry. What about Micheal Smirconish? He is a milquetoast conservative if ever there was one, but he is very popular in Pennsylvania and I believe is syndicated. Jon and Ken aren't even that conservative, I consider them to be more populists, same with Bill Handel. There are plenty of others like all of them.
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Where? Smerconish hasn't been on terrestrial radio since 2013.

There are some "legacy" talents that are moderate or left that have strong local histories. "Radical moderate" Scoot on WWL New Orleans, left leaning Bryan Joyce (part of a 3 person morning show) WGOW in Chattanooga, KMBZ Kansas City has a lineup that has I think, two "liberals" - one with a moderate to non partisan co host, and one with a non Trump fan libertarian conservative co host. They all often avoid hot political topics in favor of local issues. And the KGO lineup is largely liberal.

In syndication, you have Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartman.

Most have been at their respective stations quite a while. That's not saying much about them "getting" gigs. I'm guessing it would be hard for them if they were let go tomorrow to find a new station that wanted their actual point of view.

Politics aside, it's not entertaining. If I agreed with 90 percent of what Limbaugh thinks, I still don't need three more hours of it. I respected Michael Medved, but he wasn't Trumpian, so he got the boot from Salem. It's not enough to be a non liberal. I have seen the social media when a station's talent dared to question Trump, or replaced one conservative host with one regarded as "not conservative enough" and some of the remarks were horrible. It's as though you played rap on their classic country station.
 
This station is doomed before it even begins. It doesn't matter how "entertaining" is may be.

AM radio is not attracting new listeners in general. But it's especially not attracting liberal/progressive listeners who wrote off the AM band as a wasteland of conservative talk long ago.

The dial position doesn't matter. The intended audience is not even checking the AM band at all. That's not going to change at this point.
 
TheBigA said:
That's OK. No one is requiring that you invest any of your personal money in KBLA. It's still a free country, and if someone wants to waste $7 million of their dollars on a radio station that will get a .4 share, they can do it. It hasn't bothered Saul Levine with KSUR, and it obviously doesn't bother Tavis Smiley.
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Not even close in comparison, BigA! Saul (or Sol if we must...) got in when gettin' in was reasonable and smart. Not safe, by any means. Since the 1990's that has happened very few times. The big companies and players are a JOKE. Saul built the money maker from scratch. It was paid for, literally, in advance. Anyone wanting to "get real radio" need only read the story of building out a station and antenna in LA. He has done well with other ventures that are known for being tough projects, like a winery. So he made smart and calculated decisions. MY belief is that some people have CONvinced Tavis that this is his big way to stage a comeback, on his own terms. They have a vested "interest" in helping him along. We all see what they will benefit. It won't be much. Best thing that probably could happen would be someone would fight his FCC license approval. Best $1M he could loose. $7M will turn into $10M and the current owners will get a complete disaster back that will be worth probably $1.5M because there are still some complete idiots convinced they can beat all odds and sell it again. Saul can afford to make nada. Tavis won't have nada soon, unless maybe he reads this board and runs like H E L L.
 
TheBigA said:
Judging by the ratings at KPFK, it doesn't matter if the station is on AM or FM.
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KPFK has a double disadvantage... it is run by a committee that is supervised by another committee.

Interruption: Q. What is a camel? A. A horse made by a committee.

And KPFK has a format made up of short block programs that have no flow or connection; many days have different show that the day before or the day after.

There is no promotion except their own website. They are whistling in the wind with a programming technique and structure that died on the radio in the early 1950's.
 
Tibbs4 said:
MY belief is that some people have CONvinced Tavis that this is his big way to stage a comeback, on his own terms.
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I agree...I think he has some partners who haven't made themselves known yet, but will I'm sure soon. I think it's great when local individuals, especially those who've been on the content side, get into station ownership. I think LA has enough big corporate players.
 
TheBigA said:
Judging by the ratings at KPFK, it doesn't matter if the station is on AM or FM.
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KPFK is Pacifica. That group is in its own universe and their disjointed, fringe programming isn't the type that could attract a significant audience, regardless of political ideology. So yeah, not really a valid yardstick to measure a professional operation against.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
KPFK is Pacifica. That group is in its own universe and their disjointed, fringe programming isn't the type that could attract a significant audience, regardless of political ideology. So yeah, not really a valid yardstick to measure a professional operation against.
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It's funny, BigA. Seriously. It had to be "that" year. 2020. This KBLA may all actually start in 2021, but it still was conceived in 2020. No matter what we all say and think, look at the power of radio. STILL!
Despite every insane event that was the professed final last straw of the industry, someone with obvious intelligence and someone who has done well for himself, is willing to pay $7.1M. AM shoulda probably
been dead twenty years ago, but...just...wow.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
KPFK is Pacifica. That group is in its own universe and their disjointed, fringe programming isn't the type that could attract a significant audience, regardless of political ideology. So yeah, not really a valid yardstick to measure a professional operation against.
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Well, I sadly have a feeling that WPFK (appropriate call letters) is not the WBAI* of LA. Poor Tavis may well be.


*P>S> I do miss the old banter on that joke of a radio station.
 
TheBigA said:
And yet that seems to get overlooked when people bring up the failure of AA.
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If there was an audience for it, it would be reflected in the ratings, and then eventually they would be upgraded to the better signal as the market demand would require.

KRLA has a terrible signal and has to compete with other conservative outlets and is still here. Same with KEIB (well, their signal is better,but same point - they are not on the 640 blowtorch either).

I remember when AA first came on they bragged they were going to be "Rush Killers". I think we all know how that worked out.
 
ChannelFlipper said:
If there was an audience for it, it would be reflected in the ratings, and then eventually they would be upgraded to the better signal as the market demand would require.
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And yet that hasn't happened for Rush Limbaugh on KEIB. He was banned to his own private island after the Fluke affair, and has stayed there ever since. It appears that there really are no "better signals" other than KFI.
 
TheBigA said:
And yet that hasn't happened for Rush Limbaugh on KEIB. He was banned to his own private island after the Fluke affair, and has stayed there ever since. It appears that there really are no "better signals" other than KFI.
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Which is why the "AA/Libtalk is not successful because they are on inferior signals" argument doesn't hold water. I guarantee you, Rush is making money just fine on inferior-signalled KEIB. In fact nearly all of his stations are on "inferior signals". He is not making any excuses all the way to the bank.
 
ChannelFlipper said:
He is not making any excuses all the way to the bank.
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Rush's money isn't at all related to his LA affiliate. If he had been making lots of money for KFI, he would not have been kicked to his own island. Rush makes "aggregate" money. Not local money. We'll see what Tavis has up his sleeve. He hasn't done local radio in a long time, so my guess is it's something with a national element.

This is also why Michael Savage is leaving broadcast radio. He no longer makes "aggregate" money. So he became disposable.
 
TheBigA said:
Rush's money isn't at all related to his LA affiliate. If he had been making lots of money for KFI, he would not have been kicked to his own island. Rush makes "aggregate" money. Not local money. We'll see what Tavis has up his sleeve. He hasn't done local radio in a long time, so my guess is it's something with a national element.

This is also why Michael Savage is leaving broadcast radio. He no longer makes "aggregate" money. So he became disposable.
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You bring up a valid consideration that made the most sense to me, BigA! Creating that magical national platform. IF it were to work, then perhaps $7.1M is a small price to pay. Tavis is paying to play and he is still tarnished by lawsuits and scandals. He just could not launch on many stations, unless he bought the time, I guess. He certainly can not deliver more than a few hours of radio a day, so this station will be full of various other hosts, which makes me think he might see this as a test market for a 24/7 national radio franchise. Still, a huge long shot.

It is interesting that this station and concept will have to walk a fine line, as noted in San Francisco as well, the voters that would be the primary market, did not all vote for Biden. There is a percentage of the potential audience that may well not engage in the content that they have been shifting away. So, I agree with David, that this will indeed be a niche that is a really tough win.

Did Savage age out, along with his audience or did the stations pull away from the content and use the revenue issue as their out?
 
TheBigA said:
Rush's money isn't at all related to his LA affiliate. If he had been making lots of money for KFI, he would not have been kicked to his own island. Rush makes "aggregate" money. Not local money. We'll see what Tavis has up his sleeve. He hasn't done local radio in a long time, so my guess is it's something with a national element.
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In fact, Rush was making double money for Clear Channel... via Premier and through KFI. But they likely believed that moving Rush to the other signal would still preserve the network income while freeing time on KFI could increase revenue by 50% on the AM.
 
TheBigA said:
All of the above and more.
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I never listened to Savage much because I felt he was a bit too... not sure what the exact word is...but something like "vulgar". And very much in your face. I am all for strong opinions on a radio talk show, but he was way over the line for me. I think for awhile a lot of people reveled in that beyond the pale persona, but for much of the audience it got old and tired as time wore on. Again, this is from someone who didn't listen much, so I may be off base.
 
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