The ever-evolving KMCQ

[Jack Griffin]

Maybe the "gang of 24" shut put their collective programming skills together and start their own station (LPFM, Part 15, LMA, online, whatever) to prove KMCQ doesn't know what they're doing.

Yeah, like that'll happen... :

Go ahead, flame away. It's always good for a laugh.

 

[WDAE-FM101]

Maybe we can find someone who can get them a deal from Atlas Van lines when they need to vacate the building. It's the least we can do.

 

[Bongwater]

Maybe the "gang of 24" shut put their collective programming skills together and start their own station (LPFM, Part 15, LMA, online, whatever) to prove KMCQ doesn't know what they're doing.

Yeah, like that'll happen... :

Go ahead, flame away. It's always good for a laugh.

Wow Chris Griffin,...."a gang of 24", never knew we were worthy of such a title ...

 

[AQH]

Maybe the "gang of 24" shut put their collective programming skills together and start their own station (LPFM, Part 15, LMA, online, whatever) to prove KMCQ doesn't know what they're doing.

Yeah, like that'll happen... :

Go ahead, flame away. It's always good for a laugh.

That has been suggested several times before in many different threads. The conversation usually ends in the "you have to pay me" line when confronted.

Don't sweat it, you can identify the pros and the not pros through what they say.

 

[Bongwater]

Maybe the "gang of 24" shut put their collective programming skills together and start their own station (LPFM, Part 15, LMA, online, whatever) to prove KMCQ doesn't know what they're doing.

Yeah, like that'll happen... :

Go ahead, flame away. It's always good for a laugh.

That has been suggested several times before in many different threads. The conversation usually ends in the "you have to pay me" line when confronted.

Don't sweat it, you can identify the pros and the not pros through what they say.

So I take it you're an intern, right? :

Nothing wrong with that, but MY time is money.

That's just the way I roll......

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Only HERE can we seem to fill up 10-15 pages of comments on a station format that is a legal placeholder (never programmed as a serious strategic effort).

That, of course, is about to change ... maybe THEN it's worthy of another 15-20 pages.
Of course you should expect that as things go "pro" most of the stuff discussed here is likely to be recorded in these pages as a fond memory!

Happy 4th, ya'al!

 

[swhyde1980]

This is where I'd wish CBS would purchase KMCQ, and keep the format (instead of turning it into another rap-crap station), and evolve it to a similar format like K-Earth 101 in Los Angeles. It has potential here in the Puget Sound area, even more than KBSG ever was. In KMCQ's current state, it just sounds so mono-toned. Brighten it up with great personalities (Even get J.J. on there, and see if we can bring Norm Gregory out of retirement), and hire Charlie Van Dyke for the voiceovers, and have contests, and it would turn into a great station.

 

[AQH]

This is where I'd wish CBS would purchase KMCQ, and keep the format (instead of turning it into another rap-crap station), and evolve it to a similar format like K-Earth 101 in Los Angeles. It has potential here in the Puget Sound area, even more than KBSG ever was. In KMCQ's current state, it just sounds so mono-toned. Brighten it up with great personalities (Even get J.J. on there, and see if we can bring Norm Gregory out of retirement), and hire Charlie Van Dyke for the voiceovers, and have contests, and it would turn into a great station.

KBSG did hire a former K-Earth PD in Jay Coffey an had CVD as the voice guy about five or six years ago.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

This is where I'd wish CBS would purchase KMCQ, and keep the format (instead of turning it into another rap-crap station), and evolve it to a similar format like K-Earth 101 in Los Angeles. It has potential here in the Puget Sound area, even more than KBSG ever was. In KMCQ's current state, it just sounds so mono-toned. Brighten it up with great personalities (Even get J.J. on there, and see if we can bring Norm Gregory out of retirement), and hire Charlie Van Dyke for the voiceovers, and have contests, and it would turn into a great station.

For what it's worth...the format you described is exactly what KVI did two years ago.

And also for what it's worth...LA pro's complaining that K-RTH is sounding good musically (rotating around 800 songs); but that personalities don't have enough latitude to make it sing like it did in the KRTH heyday. People in LA complain that they don't have Morgan and Steele...just as people in Seattle complain they don't have Lujack and O'Day.

The "inside" observation I have on KRTH is it works because everyone there cares about the product. Engineers go above and beyond to make the processing snap ... talent wants every break to be awesome ... PD wants a library that works with today's audience. When you evaluate "KRTH would work here" you have to go far beyond the CVD imaging and copying KRTH jingles to make it work...it has to be a unified team that absolutely CARES. With some management exceptions, that was also the philosophy of KFRC, KHJ and the other RKO's.

 

[Jack Griffin]

For what it's worth...the format you described is exactly what KVI did two years ago.

But that was botched SO badly by Fisher. They didn't have the personalities or the promotion needed to make the format work on a 5kW AM station. And they had nearly two months to get a foothold on KJR while that station was all-Xmas. But anyway...

When you evaluate "KRTH would work here" you have to go far beyond the CVD imaging and copying KRTH jingles to make it work...it has to be a unified team that absolutely CARES. With some management exceptions, that was also the philosophy of KFRC, KHJ and the other RKO's.

The other ingredient that's present at KRTH and not here in Seattle is...wait for it...enough LISTENERS. Yes, part of that is due to the format execution but mostly it's a function of population and psychographics. Two dozen message board denizens doesn't make a station succeed.

 

[Mookie]

Let's face it. There is no market for an oldies station in Seattle. It's a terrible radio market for variation and the population is geared towards any station like Star 101.5 or KUBE. That's why 98.9 is CLICK and not KWJZ. The only other thing besides alternative music and modern hits are the 500 classic rock stations (including KJR, because that's almost 80% of their playlist), and soft-rock like KRWM (and they're basically the KJR for soft-rock, as KXXO and KAFE are way better).

If KMCQ goes there will not be another FM oldies station coming up. It's just not there.

That's why when all hope is lost I'd rather go to satellite radio where I'm not bombarded with 20 minutes of songs taking a step back to 40 minutes of commercials.

 

[radioguy39nj]

If KMCQ goes there will not be another FM oldies station coming up. It's just not there.

That's why when all hope is lost I'd rather go to satellite radio where I'm not bombarded with 20 minutes of songs taking a step back to 40 minutes of commercials.

There's more than 20 million of us who have long since defected to satellite radio. The future on FM is spoken word (news, talk, sports) and I'm fine with it! FM is so 20th Century! Music FMs aren't getting the young audiences because they get their music from iPods, MP3s, iTunes, satellite radio, etc.

 

[WDAE-FM101]

If KMCQ goes there will not be another FM oldies station coming up. It's just not there.

That's why when all hope is lost I'd rather go to satellite radio where I'm not bombarded with 20 minutes of songs taking a step back to 40 minutes of commercials.

There's more than 20 million of us who have long since defected to satellite radio. The future on FM is spoken word (news, talk, sports) and I'm fine with it! FM is so 20th Century! Music FMs aren't getting the young audiences because they get their music from iPods, MP3s, iTunes, satellite radio, etc.

Agree. And to add to your thoughts - the same thing is occuring with television viewership and cable subscribers. Ultimately, the phone may bethe primary tool we use to hear music, watch video, browse the web and communicate in the near future - just a few product cycles away.

 

[scott salvatori]

dang, and i thought i was the only red headed step child on this board who flies the satellite radio flag. i made switch to it in 03. turned out to be quite the stumbling into greener radio programming pastures! looks like satellite might gain a handful more numbers on their 20 million population, with all the dislike posted about the new and improved KMCQ. yep, lets drive the listener away with a new and improved SOP model. new coke in the early 80's, comes to mind...

 

[radioguy39nj]

I too made the switch to satellite radio in 2003. Despite the Sirius/XM merger, you still have many more music choices than FM. Forget about KMCQ & KJR-FM!

When I made the switch in '03, I knew in my gut WCBS-FM, my station of choice for two decades, was going to flip. Friends wanted to know why I would pay for radio when NY had so many choices on FM. On June 3, 2005, when CBS-FM flipped to JACK, these same people wanted to know how I had such foresight!

The JACK format was a resounding failure in NY and CBS-FM returned as a classic hits station in 2007. It ranks #2 in the NY market to CC's Lite-FM. It's not at all the same station it was when I listened to CBS-FM in the 80s and 90s. CBS-FM now targets listeners who came of age after 1970, not the baby boomers who built the station.

This weekend, CBS-FM is celebrating its 40th anniversary so I'm giving them a listen online. It sounds like the station I used to listen to. It's like a visit to the neighborhood you grew up in. Nice to visit, but you've moved on. It just isn't the same anymore.

 

[WDAE-FM101]

The initial WCBS was great - Harry Harrison, Cousin Brucie etc. They really had quite a run and set the bar for "oldies radio." I loved their PAMS jingle packages and overall presentation. It's too bad they had such a poor signal-- 20 miles south of NY they get hammered by co-channel WBEB in Philly - and to the NW by WKCI in Hamden, CT. I guess for listeners within view of the ESB it didn't matter and now everyone can listen on line.

 

[dunno]

So if Siri is so great, why has the stock price been cut in half in the last four years and trades close to pink sheet status? If thats the future, I need to get all my money out of stocks!

 

[dunno]

I should add, any stock under $5 a share can be delisted or be put on notice. Siri is at $2.03 a share and may have to reverse split.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

My issues with the satellite radio system are the low bandwidth on the talk formats - even web streaming and podcasts have better audio fidelity. Just makes it hard to listen to for long without getting a ringing sound in my ears. Also, lots of conservative screamers, calling itself "patriot" (!), but only one talk radio channel that's not a mouthpiece for the GOP. Needs a few more personalities w/o the politics, too.

And the music choices are still too limiting for my eclectic taste and moods. There are some nicely creative options in there. But if I'm going to pay a subscrition fee, I'd like more than one classical channel (there are a lot more types of "classical" music than "rock," so at least a few different channels would be nice - one for orchestral masterworks, another for chamber and solo instruments, one for early and choral music (which might mix well some some of the modern minimalist composition), and especially an "adagio" mix of slower pieces, heavy on French impressionists, etc.

Then there's the stunning lack of world music or "ethnic" choices. No all-world music mix. No Afropop channel anymore. Just one all-reggae and a couple of French pop stations from Quebec. I'd like an all-Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco-swamp pop station, a contemporary Native American outlet (yes, Virginia, there is such a format), maybe an alt-country-meets-Texas songwriters station, "island" music that's isn't too heavy on the cheesy stuff or Jimmy Buffett, a Euro-pop mix, an Arabesque pop mix (including Turkish, Indian, Pakistani, Israeli, and North African dance music - like you'll find some nights in the finer neighborhood clubs in San Francisco and LA), etc etc.

So I'm eagerly waiting for internet radio in the car.

 

[TowerLamp]

And the music choices are still too limiting for my eclectic taste and moods. There are some nicely creative options in there. But if I'm going to pay a subscrition fee, I'd like more than one classical channel (there are a lot more types of "classical" music than "rock," so at least a few different channels would be nice - one for orchestral masterworks, another for chamber and solo instruments, one for early and choral music (which might mix well some some of the modern minimalist composition), and especially an "adagio" mix of slower pieces, heavy on French impressionists, etc.

So I'm eagerly waiting for internet radio in the car.

Goldi, give HD radio a try or webstream for KING-FM. They offer 3 HD channels and 4 on line streams including a 128K stream that is very high quality. They HD and stream dedicated channels to full symphonic, light "adagio" type pieces and opera along with KING main channel audio.
As for internet in car, why wait? Dock your smart phone in the car and download radio apps for free!