Is a Translator in KBME 790AM's Future?

[The Rimshot]

They don't have any options.

Baseball is boring to most people.

This is your opinion. There is a sizable number of listeners who would disagree with you.

It's a tune-out on KTRH which was costing them ratings and revenue.

Half right. Astros Baseball brought in great ratings from 1999-2006, but when the Astros win-loss record became atrocious in years 2010-2012, that is when Clear Channel decided to pass the 'Stros to KBME.

When you have a Big Mac craving, how would you feel if McDonalds told you all they have that day is fish sandwiches?

Now that the Astros have the best record in the American League, the Astros are the McRib. Ratings for Astros games are through the roof.

If the Astros were indeed on KTRH, their ratings for the 7-10pm spot would see an improvement over what Mark Levin is bringing in currently for 740AM.

http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Astros-boosting-790-AM-s-radio-ratings-11153082.php

http://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-garnering-best-TV-ratings-in-years-11058028.php

and nobody in their right mind would tank an FM by strapping that albatross to it.

Nobody?

KTWL 105.3 FM Hempstead, Texas
KMHT-FM 103.9 FM Marshall, Texas
KMVL-FM 98.9 FM Madisonville, Texas
KBBW 105.7 FM Waco, Texas
KVNN 98.1 FM Victoria, TX
KULM-FM 98.3 FM Columbus, Texas
KASR 92.7 FM Conway, Arkansas
KLWB 103.7 FM Carencro, Louisiana
KTLT 98.1 FM Anson, Texas
KBYG 106.3 FM Big Spring, Texas

 

[2Speakers]

And yet college football can hardly keep ANY of its telecasts under four hours, and it's very rare for an NFL game to finish in under three. Baseball: dull only to dull minds.

I must not be that dull. I'm one of only two guys here who understand why this isn't an issue for iHeart.

Don't you think the Astros would still be on KTRH if they could be? Someone at iHeart apparently said enough is enough.

 

[2Speakers]

Nobody?

KTWL 105.3 FM Hempstead, Texas
KMHT-FM 103.9 FM Marshall, Texas
KMVL-FM 98.9 FM Madisonville, Texas
KBBW 105.7 FM Waco, Texas
KVNN 98.1 FM Victoria, TX
KULM-FM 98.3 FM Columbus, Texas
KASR 92.7 FM Conway, Arkansas
KLWB 103.7 FM Carencro, Louisiana
KTLT 98.1 FM Anson, Texas
KBYG 106.3 FM Big Spring, Texas

Nobody in a rated market.

The only station you listed that's actually in a market where ratings are a factor is KBBW in Waco - and 105.7 FM isn't KBBW, it's K289BU - a 250W translator simulcast of a religious talk station.

The Astros probably sell at least as well as Colon Blow and Miracle Soap, but that's not saying much.

 

[b-turner]

I'm in the industry. Baseball attracts a small audience, predominately male and mostly older. In fact, the play by play baseball listener is typically older than my target audience anyway.

Station ratings breakdowns prove baseball hurts almost all formats. It is normally a plus for Sports Talk.

Pro sports offer stations market exclusives (by language) and there is no option for a second station. Affiliates MUST carry games and clear all the sports franchise's commercials. It's not just carry some games.

In the past radio stations had to pay to carry the games (in addition to clearing the commercials). In other words it's not 'just carry the games', but how much are you willing to pay us in order to carry those games?

Now, you tell me, if my ratings take a ding because primarily only older males listen to baseball on radio, and I have to add to my station's overhead and then send my salespeople out to sell clients that are not our regular clients, and then carry about 500 hours of that programming that season, why would I, even if the Astros are doing well?

You can say what you want about my comments, but I'd not consider airing live pro baseball unless I was in a non-rated small market that was sports crazy. And even in the small market, I'd at least be simulcasting an AM and FM so all the at work radios didn't tune away to my competitor.

 

[b-turner]

College sports was mentioned. Just so you know, it is typically the alumni group that pays for the broadcast rights, buys the time and sells the commercials. Some pay thousands per game to get it on the air in just airtime alone.

Just so you get an idea of how this works, one college we carried, the games were done by a for profit company that paid a little north of 7 million for the rights. I think the affiliation fee was around $750 a game. We carried 4 key games. The Houston alumni group paid that fee and paid us for the airtime. They sold their own commercials.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Now that the Astros have the best record in the American League, the Astros are the McRib. Ratings for Astros games are through the roof.

Among old men.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Now that the Astros have the best record in the American League, the Astros are the McRib. Ratings for Astros games are through the roof.

Yes, they have been around 25th in 25-54 since April, versus around 29th in that demo from November to March.

But in 55 and over, they nearly triple their Jan-Mar numbers in April to June. They go from about 1600 AQJ seniors to about 4400 seniors. The #1 station in that demo averages around 25,000 persons.

So, even if there were any advertisers who bought 55 and over, there are 19 stations that do better than them.

 

[The Rimshot]

Nobody in a rated market.

Okay, now you dish out the "nobody in a rated market" stipulation. Cool. I'm not advocating that 100kw KXXM-FM in San Antonio broadcast all 162 games, but a 13k watt KIOX-FM in El Campo would be a nice addition, as well as KJAS in Jasper, or KYKM in Yoakum, etc.

As far as blowtorches KTRH and KLVI are concerned, I don't believe it's a good idea for those stations to carry the Astros during the day, but during nighttime hours (7-10pm for home games, 9pm-12am for west coast games), the Astros would certainly bring in more ratings than Mark Levin or Michael Medved, respectfully. KTKR, a 50KW blowtorch out of San Antonio, for example, does not carry the Astros during daytime hours to allow their midday shift hosts garner ratings, but do carry the Astros over JT the Brick or Clay Travis.

 

[2Speakers]

Okay, now you dish out the "nobody in a rated market" stipulation. Cool. I'm not advocating that 100kw KXXM-FM in San Antonio broadcast all 162 games, but a 13k watt KIOX-FM in El Campo would be a nice addition, as well as KJAS in Jasper, or KYKM in Yoakum, etc.

As far as blowtorches KTRH and KLVI are concerned, I don't believe it's a good idea for those stations to carry the Astros during the day, but during nighttime hours (7-10pm for home games, 9pm-12am for west coast games), the Astros would certainly bring in more ratings than Mark Levin or Michael Medved, respectfully. KTKR, a 50KW blowtorch out of San Antonio, for example, does not carry the Astros during daytime hours to allow their midday shift hosts garner ratings, but do carry the Astros over JT the Brick or Clay Travis.

Feel free to beat this dead horse to a pulp.

You've been told why the situation is what it is by not just me, but someone with the analytical savvy to break it down in ways that are very pertinent to ratings and revenue.

Nobody from the Astros or iHeart is going to take action on chat board fodder.

Beyond that, your proposed solution is technically and financially ridiculous. If iHeart were to buy a translator that covered that area, and it had even the slightest possibility of making it to a skyscraper downtown, you can bet the bank it would move there and put a lot more bodies under the signal.

They aren't going to buy a neutered translator locked into the far west burbs just to please you.

It ain't happening. Period. End of story.

 

[b-turner]

So, you're the Jasper station or Yoakum station, just how many spots can they sell and what can they pay to air the broadcasts? Do you really think any ad agency in Houston is going to buy those games? And just how feasible is it to have their sales staffs coming to Houston to sell? Then explain how you get people in the Houston metro to even know they exist? How many hundreds of thousands do you want to spend to get across to the baseball fans in a portion of Houston have an option? With any luck you might bill a few thousand off of local sales in your home county but you can bet having to have a warm body in the studio to fire off the local spots will eat all that up. Considering such stations are fighting the good fight every day just to sell enough for the owner and staff to barely make a livable wage, then why would this be considered. I have no idea the dial position of either of these stations but I know the Yoakum station is a simulcast of KHLT and I doubt they could separate programming. So, even if they did, nobody in Sugarland/Richmond/Rosenburg knows they exist. Anyway with an AQH of 4,400 the population in the entire Houston metro, those not served might only mean another 100-200 listeners in the best case scenario. Those are not sellable numbers...not even close. And the 55+ male is not a demographic most advertisers buy.

A translator cannot originate programming. They must carry the full power station's programming.

What you're asking is comparable to selling one particular grocery item in a grocery store, say, in Yoakum and then spending to buy advertising in Houston to get customers. I'm sure this would not sound like a good scenario to you.

Sure it would be nice to hear the Astros on the radio where you are but my point is it is not going to happen. Anyway this season's affiliates are all sealed up nice and tight with a pretty bow on it.

Your best option is to buy a station and affiliate with the Astros. There is simply a better chance of you doing that than getting the stations in Yoakum or Jasper to become Astros affiliates. Sorry, but that's the truth.

 

[BamaTX]

College sports was mentioned. Just so you know, it is typically the alumni group that pays for the broadcast rights, buys the time and sells the commercials. Some pay thousands per game to get it on the air in just airtime alone.

Just so you get an idea of how this works, one college we carried, the games were done by a for profit company that paid a little north of 7 million for the rights. I think the affiliation fee was around $750 a game. We carried 4 key games. The Houston alumni group paid that fee and paid us for the airtime. They sold their own commercials.

If I had to guess, the alumni group was from either Baylor or Texas Tech?

I say this due to the complicated broadcast partners both used to have. I remember Texas Tech could only he heard in Houston on a rimshot AM station that was mostly Spanish brokered programming. I believe the station was owned by HBC and the football broadcasts were ended after Univision took over. Anyone remember that? I may be misremembering some of the details.

 

[b-turner]

Quote from earlier post: "the Astros would certainly bring in more ratings than Mark Levin or Michael Medved".

Here's a couple of truisms in radio:

Consistency is crucial to success. When a listener tunes to your station they expect to hear a certain thing. If they don't hear what they expect, they turn the dial. Not only do you lose a listener to a competitor, the question is how long until they tune back to you? When you have a News/Talk format, drop a talk show or two to air live pro baseball, you are removing those listeners that expect News/Talk. Because the dial has been changed, the next day they might be listening to a competitor, not you. The radio truism, be what you are 24/7 because listeners expect to hear what they heard the last time they listened to you.

Let me cite an example: I knew a guy that had a station in what is called a bedroom community. Most locals drove to the big city to work each day. The local station would fade out before the commuter got to the big city. Every workday the local had to change to another station. When they came home at night they were not listening to their local station. As a result, the station never could sell hardly any advertising because most of the town was beyond the station's reach during the day, when businesses want to be on the air. The station is 30+ years old. It has had a number of owners and folks leasing the station. None have succeeded because the listener tunes away when they get out of range and their radios remain on that big city station. The local business community knows this. The station lumbers on because there's always somebody that thinks they can get past that. None have.

Advertising is the other reason. Sometimes to get the buy, you might have to toss in some nighttime spots to lower the cost per unit. The advertiser is buying a certain segment of the market. If you don't deliver that, bye bye advertiser. They're not buying Astros baseball and you carrying it is not giving them what they paid for. They bought your News/Talk numbers.

Now, bear with me here. If I carry the Astros I have to send my already overworked sales staff out to sell something their regular advertisers don't want. They must find, cultivate and sell an all new set of advertisers (sure a couple that you have on the station might jump on board). Shiner Bock might buy live pro sports but they'll likely not buy News/Talk. For all that time and effort, it just is not making the best use of your employees' time and possibly hurting their paycheck because they now have less time to sell the usual format. And then there is damage control concerning those night spots you promised to clear on News/Talk programming and that hurts the relationship between the advertiser and station.

I can't speak about the ratings. I haven't seen them. If the Astros meant more listeners per quarter hour, fine, but that demographic if 55+ men that advertising agencies avoid like the plague because their customers know it takes way too much convincing to convert a 50+ years person to change their buying habit. And in the Houston market EVERYTHING goes through an advertising agency. So if you had 10 times the listeners, what would it matter? Those numbers are not what is being bought. Granted News/Talk skews older than most formats.

You say, wait a minute, other News/Talk stations have carried live pro sports, how do they pull it off? When the client knows up front you are running the whole season, they're okay with that, usually. But that still does not make it easy. The traffic (scheduling of commercials) is hampered by every game as well as the number of avails in your usual format. Just imagine how you have to shuffle those commercials when a game goes in to extra innings or there's a delay and you must clear the promised spots or lose money. This is why the Sports Talk format is now carrying most pro sports. For Sports Talk, it's more 'up their alley'. News/Talk stations have discovered live baseball winds up hurting them more than it helps them. It helps the Sports Talk station more than it hurts them.

 

[DavidEduardo]

If I had to guess, the alumni group was from either Baylor or Texas Tech?

I say this due to the complicated broadcast partners both used to have. I remember Texas Tech could only he heard in Houston on a rimshot AM station that was mostly Spanish brokered programming. I believe the station was owned by HBC and the football broadcasts were ended after Univision took over. Anyone remember that? I may be misremembering some of the details.

The only "rimshot" AM I recall HBC owning was the 980 facility in Rosenburg outside Houston, bought by Tichenor a year before the HBC merger.

The other HBC AMs were 1350 in San Antonio, KLAT in Houstin and 1270 (under various calls) in Dallas. None of those were riimshots. 1310 in San Antonio was spun off via an LMA at the same time HBC was created from the TMS and Heftel groups.

The merger with Univision in early 2007did not produce any format-level changes in HBC management or operating procedures. However, it was necessary to spin off that station to stay within the overall radio / TV market cap.

 

[2Speakers]

If I had to guess, the alumni group was from either Baylor or Texas Tech?

I say this due to the complicated broadcast partners both used to have. I remember Texas Tech could only he heard in Houston on a rimshot AM station that was mostly Spanish brokered programming. I believe the station was owned by HBC and the football broadcasts were ended after Univision took over. Anyone remember that? I may be misremembering some of the details.

Rice alumni have also been known to pay up to get their alma mater on the radio.

 

[b-turner]

If I had to guess, the alumni group was from either Baylor or Texas Tech?

I say this due to the complicated broadcast partners both used to have. I remember Texas Tech could only he heard in Houston on a rimshot AM station that was mostly Spanish brokered programming. I believe the station was owned by HBC and the football broadcasts were ended after Univision took over. Anyone remember that? I may be misremembering some of the details.

Here's how this typically works: the alumni group in Houston wants the games on the air in Houston. They call stations to see if they'll broadcast the game and how much money they want to air the game. Depending on what the alumni group can afford, if they can find a willing station, determines where the broadcast will be heard on the radio dial. Most every station will not alter programming to air a college football game. Those willing stations versus the number of alumni groups looking, means not everybody will get their games broadcast over the Houston airwaves. There's a bit of a highest bidder war that goes on. A little rimshot AM might easily get $1,500 or more an hour to air a game when they're lucky to get $150 an hour selling bulk time to programmers. The ownership change you noted was likely a change in policy where stations owned by that company could not alter the format in order to carry a game. The bulk time selling stations, sports talk and religious commercial stations will generally jump at the chance of running college sports.

 

[BamaTX]

The only "rimshot" AM I recall HBC owning with the 980 facility in Rosenburg outside Houston.

That was it. I remember it being a brokered Spanish station (or maybe it was a Spanish talk...Don't really know/remember). The station then later flipped into Tejano and carried Texas Tech for one more season (I'm assuming to carry out it's contract?).

It was just a weird set up for Texas Tech. It must have thrown Texas Tech listeners off when they tuned in before the station joined the pregame broadcast.

Chalk it up to Texas Tech alumni being cheap?

 

[b-turner]

I wouldn't say Texas Tech alumni were cheap. It likely set them back about $7,500 a game to air it. Stations like this are usually who airs college games. And because the games happen at generally the same time on the same day, the number of willing stations and the number of alumni groups wanting their game on the air is greater in number, it's take anything you can get or simply go without. I doubt there was a contact beyond a season. The willingness of a station has lots to do with their cash flow. If the station, I assume to be 980, switched format a year later, it would be logical to conclude that before the flip they needed cash more than listeners and after the flip, in that first year before you reach a more comfortable place in billing, the station could use the cash.

As I recall, some of our games came following a Polish language program.

You can bet that was something that had the alumni of the games we carried scratching their heads wondering if they had the right station. And for 980, you can bet their regular listeners were thrown off to hear an English language college football game.

Funniest thing that happened to me was the Chronicle printed the wrong start time of one game we carried. An irate alumni member serenaded me with a string of 4 letter words because the game wasn't on. The moron could not get it in their head the paper listed the wrong start time no matter how many times I repeated that. I finally had enough of his tirade and said he should call his college and give them the same message he gave me because they obviously didn't know when their game started. I added if I had to take such a berating from the alumni that I'd think twice about selling them time for their games again. It surely ranked as one of the meanest, nastiest tirades ever directed toward me I had ever heard. Folks get very, very nasty when they don't hear what they expect. On the opposite end, the folks you deal with in selling the time for those games are some of the nicest folks you could ever hope to deal with.

 

[The Rimshot]

Feel free to beat this dead horse to a pulp.

You've been told why the situation is what it is by not just me, but someone with the analytical savvy to break it down in ways that are very pertinent to ratings and revenue.

Nobody from the Astros or iHeart is going to take action on chat board fodder.

Beyond that, your proposed solution is technically and financially ridiculous. If iHeart were to buy a translator that covered that area, and it had even the slightest possibility of making it to a skyscraper downtown, you can bet the bank it would move there and put a lot more bodies under the signal.

They aren't going to buy a neutered translator locked into the far west burbs just to please you.

It ain't happening. Period. End of story.

Your hatred towards baseball on the radio is hilarious. Do you have a history of baseball on the radio interfering with your life? If so, explain.

Let me just clear up the fact that I do not believe my efforts here are going to move the needle on the Astros searching for new affiliates. I do not think it is so far-fetched, what with all the translators that exist in the Houston area, for KBME to add a translator to the West or Southwest side of town, the only real area where their nighttime coverage falls short.

At first you were absolutely positive that the Astros Radio Network had zero FM affiliates, and then you had to go back and correct yourself.

 

[BamaTX]

I wouldn't say Texas Tech alumni were cheap. It likely set them back about $7,500 a game to air it. Stations like this are usually who airs college games. And because the games happen at generally the same time on the same day, the number of willing stations and the number of alumni groups wanting their game on the air is greater in number, it's take anything you can get or simply go without.

Really? Is this still the case? I thought Learfield and IMG negotiated everything for the schools now, including the weekly coach shows.

 

[BamaTX]

Your hatred towards baseball on the radio is hilarious. Do you have a history of baseball on the radio interfering with your life? If so, explain.

It's not about baseball being boring or fun on the radio. It's about being profitable.