Just a note---in a Facebook thread this weekend, David said Cowpoke Radio is his---a tribute to KRAK in the 1960s. So, online only and all references to an over-the-air signal or a presence in Banta is fictional. Imaginative and fun, but fictional.
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Expected format flips in the next few months?
- Thread starter Radiopaw
- Start date
Just to close another loop, I emailed DFJ at BARHOF a month ago and never heard anything back from him (or anyone else there). I'd completely forgotten about it. Glad you were able to fill in some missing pieces.
Cute little flight of fantasy on his part, but strange that he doesn't respond to a direct inquiry about it.
The last time David responded to an e-mail of mine was when he was my editor. Dude doesn't correspond. I thought about mentioning it when you first said you were reaching out, but I thought maybe you'd have better luck.
Might've been my own fault for referencing this board and this thread. Assuming it's something personal and not just that he's anti-social -- and when has anyone in the media ever been anti-social? -- reading the discussion might have scared him away from getting sucked into a discussion. (Not that I've ever observed David being shy about anything that gets him a dollop of ink.)
It’s gonna be real interesting when he checks back in…
Oh my!! I e-mailed him, complimented him, but never heard back !! You were right all along, Michael. Of course.
It's such a fun station ! He even has old shows from John Mack Flanagan on sometimes. I wish he would show up here and chat with us. He's really done a super job of programming.
I know he thinks he's making a joke, but it is programmed exactly like a honky-tonk out of the 50's. Somewhere, he got an extensive collection of country-western music. He's really good.
I wish he would come on here and chat with us.
-- DarylI think since most of the stations are owned by conglomerates, there's probably going to be fewer format flips, maybe just "tweaking" the playlists. More likely that smaller broadcasters would be doing the flip. It'd be interesting to compare how many stations were changing formats before the C.C.s of the country bought up most of the stations compared to today. Maybe Fybush would know.
I don’t think he thinks he’s making a joke. David’s a very serious guy with a love of the radio he grew up with, and Cowpoke Radio is his valentine to early KRAK. His KABL revival was similarly well-done. And, so, for that matter, are the Bay Area Radio Museum tribute pages.Oh my!! I e-mailed him, complimented him, but never heard back !! You were right all along, Michael. Of course.
It's such a fun station ! He even has old shows from John Mack Flanagan on sometimes. I wish he would show up here and chat with us. He's really done a super job of programming.
I know he thinks he's making a joke, but it is programmed exactly like a honky-tonk out of the 50's. Somewhere, he got an extensive collection of country-western music. He's really good.
I wish he would come on here and chat with us.
Today's radio, for as much bashing as it gets, has done a much better job of creating and marketing formats with legs.
Since we're on the San Francisco board, I'll stick with that.
KYUU was an AC station for eight years. KOIT's been AC for 38 years.
KFRC was Top 40 for 19 years (I'm calling 1985 and The Game Zone as the breaking point---when they came out of that they were really AC). KMEL's been CHR (admittedly more rhythmic, but it's what works in the Bay Area) for 39 years.
There's a long list of stations that have survived on course corrections rather than format flips, in a lot of markets. Probably the best example is KIIS-FM in Los Angeles.
KFWB was Top 40 for 9 years (the final year was a mix of MOR, what would come to be called Adult Contemporary, and album rock at night).
KRLA was Top 40 for 13 years.
KHJ was Top 40 for 15 years.
KIIS-FM has been CHR for 42 years.
And I don't think it's so much conglomerate ownership as research and marketing. Or these stations likely would have flipped pre-consolidation.
I couldn't even begin to guess. There's no unified database of format changes. I didn't even keep a full one during the years when I edited M Street Journal/Radio Journal.
So......wait..... He does not have an FCC license for KWPX? And...the station does not have an antenna to broadcast over the air, so it is just like an internet website, where he plays music from sound files? So, there is no frequency, correct ? So, when his website and the announcer who does the station I.D. says "AM & FM", that's just a spoof, right? So, the map showing the area where the so-called "signal" reaches, like over to Tracy, and all......that's not real.
But, he hired some professional announcers to sing the jingle for the I.D. and do the station I.D. That man who sings and the gal who does the I.D. in a western accent..........those sound like professional voice artists.
If you read his comment that it was completely fictional, then I completely believe you. But he went to a lot of work to spoof people.
That website looks like the real deal, especially with the jingles and the professional announcers, and the note that they are sponsored by the "Banta Inn", and that they are in the building across the street, etc. I understand it's fictional But to a listener, it is convincing.
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There are jingle companies that will do "personal" jingles for a small sum for websites and the like. I did my own for my radio history site, but stopped using them as they annoyed frequent users so i removed all audio. I paid less than $500 each for personal and site jingles.
Most of us have friends who would voice some liners and stuff as a favor.
David, I read that you are recovering from surgery. I think it's admirable that you're moderating, you're here almost 24/7, and you're recovering. I hope that you have some time to rest and heal up. Sending best wishes and positive thoughts. Get well soon. -- D.
Yep. Purely a web tribute.
Besides 1959-72, they were also Top 40 from about 1983 to 1998.. Some of the original DJ's from the 60's returned. They played Top 40's oldies. They were about the last Top 40's station on AM. In 1998, they had one remaining DJ on staff- Dick Hugg "Huggie Boy". who left in 1998. That was about the end of AM rock radio in L.A. , I think.
Thanks for the wishes. Minor stuff they do with tiny little lasers and miniature lenses!
At least in the later years, the music was pretty "low rider" and East LA in feel.
I wondered what happened to your jingles.
They (KRBQ) might try Rhythmic Hot AC again changing back to "Q102.1 The Beat of The Bay" since a lot of CHR stations are flipping to that format or a similar format if it continues though they will probably tweak their music direction until they would flip. It might be like the original Q102.1 or more like WBBM by then. If its like the original Q102 it will probably be a mix of Classic Hip Hop/R&B, Today's Pop/Dance, and a bit more current hip-hop titles that only play on certain CHR stations like it was back then. KVVF 105.7 might try to mix English/Spanish Rhythmic CHR if they continue to drop and try to go in a similar direction as Wild 104 in Texas but with a different name than wild as "Wild" is already on another station in the market likely being the same branding it already has.