I would have said the same thing about KCMS, but granted, they proved me wrong. I would have slated KCMS to be worthy of no more than a rimshot signal.
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latest IBOC interference from Seattle
- Thread starter Goldilocks94941
- Start date
I would have said the same thing about KCMS, but granted, they proved me wrong. I would have slated KCMS to be worthy of no more than a rimshot signal.
Are you speaking of the new 105.7 signal which will have an ERP of 700 watts? I am not disagreeing; I can see why that would be a good station for this organization (not to mention, its affordable under the right circumstances). Compare that to a 93.7, which is considered a Seattle signal. I don't know what their financial situation looks like, but they've already spent millions on buying the 93.7 signal (and tower) alone, how much do they have left to keep this thing going?
This company has a good thing going with the LP services; making this jump seems like an ill fated decision.
To be specific - CFC did not buy a tower. The tower is owned by a third-party. Most FM stations lease space on towers. And you are correct; you have no idea what their financial situation looks like.
Most commercial radio stations sell advertising to generate revenue. Some generate revenue by conducting fund-raising campaigns. You'd be very surprised to know how much some religious organizations make... without showing up on an Arbitron (sorry, Nielsen).
Are you speaking of the new 105.7 signal which will have an ERP of 700 watts? I am not disagreeing; I can see why that would be a good station for this organization (not to mention, its affordable under the right circumstances). Compare that to a 93.7, which is considered a Seattle signal. I don't know what their financial situation looks like, but they've already spent millions on buying the 93.7 signal (and tower) alone, how much do they have left to keep this thing going?
This company has a good thing going with the LP services; making this jump seems like an ill fated decision.
Well, I'm not privy to their board meetings, but they seem very happy with the acquisition, as does their membership.
CFC didn't have to buy a tower. Their site is owned by a 3rd party, who leases to the 3 stations... not an uncommon arrangement in the Seattle area. None of them owns the tower, but all share in the cost of operating and maintaining it. In that sense, you can see that they don't have to carry the entire cost of a well-built site on their own.
Sounds as if the IBOC is back on AM1090 in the last week or so. I wonder if they think that that's the secret to getting their rating to finally show up at the level they had with the progressive talk format. Instead of offering compelling content.
It's hardly a novel idea to think their low ratings is mostly because of trying to go after the same audience as at least four other stations in the market. And then leaving huge parts of the local population to search elsewhere for programming they'll appreciate, and not giving a pluck about them.
They are licensed to serve the interest and needs of Seattle area listeners, not to make it easy to pretend they have a national network for CBS sports talk. A network that sacrifices a 50-thousand watt signal to having, what is it, not even half the audience they had when they complained it was too small to bother with it. Why shouldn't someone else get a crack at it? Once you talk out of both sides of your mouth, there isn't much else you can do to make excuses for providing a program service few listeners really care about. And it's been a lot longer for this new audience to not show up than a lot of the "I told you so" managers ever allowed progressive talk to catch on in their own markets. At least the KPTK audience could fill a theatre and had some passion about a lot of what they got to hear on the station. But I guess Seattle radio is just a game and little else anymore.
It's hardly a novel idea to think their low ratings is mostly because of trying to go after the same audience as at least four other stations in the market. And then leaving huge parts of the local population to search elsewhere for programming they'll appreciate, and not giving a pluck about them.
They are licensed to serve the interest and needs of Seattle area listeners, not to make it easy to pretend they have a national network for CBS sports talk. A network that sacrifices a 50-thousand watt signal to having, what is it, not even half the audience they had when they complained it was too small to bother with it. Why shouldn't someone else get a crack at it? Once you talk out of both sides of your mouth, there isn't much else you can do to make excuses for providing a program service few listeners really care about. And it's been a lot longer for this new audience to not show up than a lot of the "I told you so" managers ever allowed progressive talk to catch on in their own markets. At least the KPTK audience could fill a theatre and had some passion about a lot of what they got to hear on the station. But I guess Seattle radio is just a game and little else anymore.
They are licensed to serve the interest and needs of Seattle area listeners, not to make it easy to pretend they have a national network for CBS sports talk. A network that sacrifices a 50-thousand watt signal to having, what is it, not even half the audience they had when they complained it was too small to bother with it. Why shouldn't someone else get a crack at it?
Thought-provoking post. And you'd be right, if all things were equal. If one programed an AM station the way one programs FM. If the budget for a syndicated sports talk station was the same as a locally hosted station. If all things were equal, absolutely. We should all am to do the best work possible, for the most people possible. Every day. But all things aren't equal. AM radio, even a 50,000 watt AM station isn't playing with the same cards as a 50,000 FM station. That's how the cards were dealt. Getting back on topic, HD was intended to be an equalizer (pardon the pun), to make AM equal to FM. We know that's not what it did. But that was perhaps one of the intentions. Now that we know it has failed, the question is what can be done with AM frequencies that make sense financially, given the reality that a large part of the population isn't going to sample your product, no matter how good it is, because of the neighborhood.
Sounds as if the IBOC is back on AM1090 in the last week or so. I wonder if they think that that's the secret to getting their rating to finally show up at the level they had with the progressive talk format. Instead of offering compelling content.
It's hardly a novel idea to think their low ratings is mostly because of trying to go after the same audience as at least four other stations in the market. And then leaving huge parts of the local population to search elsewhere for programming they'll appreciate, and not giving a pluck about them.
They are licensed to serve the interest and needs of Seattle area listeners, not to make it easy to pretend they have a national network for CBS sports talk. A network that sacrifices a 50-thousand watt signal to having, what is it, not even half the audience they had when they complained it was too small to bother with it. Why shouldn't someone else get a crack at it? Once you talk out of both sides of your mouth, there isn't much else you can do to make excuses for providing a program service few listeners really care about. And it's been a lot longer for this new audience to not show up than a lot of the "I told you so" managers ever allowed progressive talk to catch on in their own markets. At least the KPTK audience could fill a theatre and had some passion about a lot of what they got to hear on the station. But I guess Seattle radio is just a game and little else anymore.
I listen to KFNQ from time to time. I find sports talk more enjoyable than the political ranting that was on KPTK before it was flipped. Even so, I used to listen to KPTK regularly, up until just before the last election, when they went ballistic with their partisanship. Sometimes I miss hearing them.
KFNQ are providing male sports fans in the Seattle area a third choice. And the three sports networks (four if you include Deportes, which I can't pick up very well) are a bit different, just like the 3 pop stations, 3 country stations (if you include KXA), 3 classic rock / classic hits stations, 2 alternative stations and 2 NPR stations in the Seattle area are a bit different.
As for "compelling", if you're a sports fan (I'm not, I only have a passing interest in sports) you would probably find Scott Ferrell or Jim Rome much more compelling than much of the homogenous music on FM. I don't know how KFNQ's ratings have been but their potential audience (sports fans) is probably much larger than the number of progressive talk fans. Sure, KPTK could fill a hall. But sports fans fill entire stadiums. This is the audience CBS Sports and the other networks are chasing.
And the fact is, Seattle is one of the top 20 markets in the US, and CBS Sports is a national sports network. It would be stupid for them not to want a network outlet here. National networks advertise national coverage.
Great post! Your point about the 3 pop stations sounding different from one another is right on. I'm tired of this board slamming everything put out on Seattle radio. Yes there are better stations in other markets, and I've never been of the opinion that Seattle is the best market in the country. That being said, after hearing the radio in Medford I can confidently say it's far from the worst either. As for 1090's audience, you're right again in theory. While in theory your post was right on, in practice it's far from the truth. I wasn't watching the ratings when KFNQ was Progressive Talk, but there were several books when they didn't show up as a sports station, or only here and there. Now they're starting to show up consistantly, but only with a 0.1. The only one of the sports stations I listen to is KIRO, and that's because that's where the Mariners are. If they switched to 1090 next season I'd listen to them there. As for Ferel I can't stand his voice! Ugh!I listen to KFNQ from time to time. I find sports talk more enjoyable than the political ranting that was on KPTK before it was flipped. Even so, I used to listen to KPTK regularly, up until just before the last election, when they went ballistic with their partisanship. Sometimes I miss hearing them.
KFNQ are providing male sports fans in the Seattle area a third choice. And the three sports networks (four if you include Deportes, which I can't pick up very well) are a bit different, just like the 3 pop stations, 3 country stations (if you include KXA), 3 classic rock / classic hits stations, 2 alternative stations and 2 NPR stations in the Seattle area are a bit different.
As for "compelling", if you're a sports fan (I'm not, I only have a passing interest in sports) you would probably find Scott Ferrell or Jim Rome much more compelling than much of the homogenous music on FM. I don't know how KFNQ's ratings have been but their potential audience (sports fans) is probably much larger than the number of progressive talk fans. Sure, KPTK could fill a hall. But sports fans fill entire stadiums. This is the audience CBS Sports and the other networks are chasing.
And the fact is, Seattle is one of the top 20 markets in the US, and CBS Sports is a national sports network. It would be stupid for them not to want a network outlet here. National networks advertise national coverage.
I agree with the notion that KFNQ can fulfill a purpose in the Seattle market. However, the station has much more potential than what we actually end up hearing. I hate to bring up this example again, but I personally am a huge NHL fan, and I don't see a single outlet in Seattle for NHL coverage (other than KJR SOMETIMES). Granted, Seattle is considered a Football/Soccer/Baseball "town", but why does that equate to three different radio stations airing the same conversation about football or baseball? If I recall, the only sports programming i've run across on KFNQ is college football. KIRO-AM has established itself as the home for local sports in Seattle, and hopefully KJR or KFNQ can greatly improve if they manage to pick up the programming from a new NBA or NHA franchise in Seattle. In the meantime, I think KJR and KFNQ could do better than the occasional college game or Seattle Storm coverage.
I agree with the notion that KFNQ can fulfill a purpose in the Seattle market. However, the station has much more potential than what we actually end up hearing. I hate to bring up this example again, but I personally am a huge NHL fan, and I don't see a single outlet in Seattle for NHL coverage (other than KJR SOMETIMES). Granted, Seattle is considered a Football/Soccer/Baseball "town", but why does that equate to three different radio stations airing the same conversation about football or baseball? If I recall, the only sports programming i've run across on KFNQ is college football. KIRO-AM has established itself as the home for local sports in Seattle, and hopefully KJR or KFNQ can greatly improve if they manage to pick up the programming from a new NBA or NHA franchise in Seattle. In the meantime, I think KJR and KFNQ could do better than the occasional college game or Seattle Storm coverage.
Earlier this year when the NHL playoffs were going, Scott Ferrell (who's on KFNQ every weeknight) talked about the NHL nearly every night I tuned into his show. He and the other national nighttime shows also covered the NHL a lot even before the playoffs.
The national sports talk shows (the ones I hear mainly at night) cover the NBA a lot.
You just may be listening to the wrong shows at the wrong time of the day. The local shows are going to mostly talk about the Seahawks and the Mariners. The national shows cover a lot more sports, depending on which sport is in season. At least that's what I seem to hear whenever I tune into sports radio.
As for Ferel I can't stand his voice! Ugh!
It is a bit gritty, isn't it.
On the topic of interference, has anyone noticed that KMAS 1030 is now broadcasting on 92.9 from Tumwater Hill? I know that I am going to receive criticism for saying this, but why does KMAS need this Olympia translator when they have a 10kw signal covering a nice footprint of land? Maybe its just a tropo fluke, but it looks as if KISM is history...
The 104.1 FM translator (located in Shelton; considered a simulcast) has already eliminated KAFE.
The 104.1 FM translator (located in Shelton; considered a simulcast) has already eliminated KAFE.
Oh yuck! Why does KMAS need another translator when only 6 people listen to it anyways? Now if KMAS was still oldies with LIVE people, that's fine - but not as the 24/7 syndicated bird news talk.
-crainbebo
KMAS as an oldies station was "stand alone" on 1030, and I could hear them all over! I really do not see the point of the 92.9 signal in Olympia, considering that KMAS is supposed to serve the community of Shelton with news.
I conducted a scan from the parking lot of the Circle K on Martin Way in Lacey back in April on our way down to Vancouver while my mom ran in to get coffee. KSWW was listenable but extremely static-filled, and 105.7 if I remember right didn't appear at all there or in Centralia the next day. Another move I'm not happy about is the 102.7 translator in Portland that is currently rebroadcasting KXTG has a CP to move to 102.9. That'll degrade KYNW pretty significantly down there. Them and KDUK are about the same strength around Vancouver.
And KYNW is very strong at times in Portland. Don't the people at KXTG actually listen to non-Portland stations in their car? When KXXO is on Rooster Rock, it comes in like a local sometimes in Portland, KYNW as well, KOMO definitely.
-crainbebo
The day is approaching where the dial from Olympia to Portland is going to be packed tightly.
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