99.7 NOW

LKellerIII said:

Too bad. I had this mental image of a DJ, mic, and electronics, all on a wheeled platform being pushed down the street to the new location.

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There's an aircheck (I think it's on the Bay Area Radio site) from the first day of KQAK...and they had wires running out of the window onto the street below...and I think...but I'd have to go back and listen...it was a connection to the old KMPX (98.9) studio because they didn't quite have everything ready for Alex Bennett's first morning.

KMVQ is a very successful radio station. It seems to be a consistent performer in the top 5 or 7 of all the key demos. A big part of that is the morning show so there is no logical reason to mess with it. As for 102.1, the ratings have faded. If they wanted to change it what would they do with it that would perform better than the current classic hip hop format? Seems that all the current based formats are covered. I guess they could try a classic hits format but with 103.7 and 98.1 is there really a hole for it? 103.7 has the 80s covered and if you go too 70s focused then the demos are going to be very old. Maybe they could try a classic rhythmic format that plays the biggest dance/pop/rnb hits of the last 30 years. It might get similar ratings that the classic hip hop format gets now but it would be an easier sell. Such a format is very tricky to get right and keep fresh. I don't think that any of the big corporate broadcasters have found a way to make it work since the 90s with WKTU and that was way too long ago to matter today. 102.9 has heritage in the market and has a format all its own. I'm sure it is billing decent enough so that you wouldn't want to change it.

Do you guys think San Francisco will ever get another Country music radio station?

HenryOchs said:

Do you guys think San Francisco will ever get another Country music radio station?

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No.

HenryOchs said:

Do you guys think San Francisco will ever get another Country music radio station?

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Is there enough revenue to support a station with a proper signal. Yes. Does history show that it will be tried again? Yes. So far three times in my recollection.(95.7 The Wolf, KYCY and the recent 92.3FM NASH effort. And the there is still NASH FM on 107.7 HD signal)

Will it be sustainable?

On the fence since it depends on the cycle of popularity, taste and changing area demographics which would skew against it.

JackBenny said:

Is there enough revenue to support a station with a proper signal. Yes. Does history show that it will be tried again? Yes. So far three times in my recollection.(95.7 The Wolf, KYCY and the recent 92.3FM NASH effort. And the there is still NASH FM on 107.7 HD signal)

Will it be sustainable?

On the fence since it depends on the cycle of popularity, taste and changing area demographics which would skew against it.

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You forgot about 95.7 The Bear! Think it lasted about 18 months.

radcat said:

You forgot about 95.7 The Bear! Think it lasted about 18 months.

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When was the "The Bear"?

JackBenny said:

When was the "The Bear"?

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"The Bear" was 2003-05. It was one of the numerous formats Bonneville struggled with on 95.7. There was also "The Drive" and Z-95.7(pre-Bear) "Max-FM" (think "Jack-FM"...post Bear) Country was even tried later with a different animal - "The Wolf," though I think ownership may have switched by that time to Entercom.

DOB said:

KMVQ is a very successful radio station. It seems to be a consistent performer in the top 5 or 7 of all the key demos. A big part of that is the morning show so there is no logical reason to mess with it. As for 102.1, the ratings have faded. If they wanted to change it what would they do with it that would perform better than the current classic hip hop format? Seems that all the current based formats are covered. I guess they could try a classic hits format but with 103.7 and 98.1 is there really a hole for it? 103.7 has the 80s covered and if you go too 70s focused then the demos are going to be very old. Maybe they could try a classic rhythmic format that plays the biggest dance/pop/rnb hits of the last 30 years. It might get similar ratings that the classic hip hop format gets now but it would be an easier sell. Such a format is very tricky to get right and keep fresh. I don't think that any of the big corporate broadcasters have found a way to make it work since the 90s with WKTU and that was way too long ago to matter today. 102.9 has heritage in the market and has a format all its own. I'm sure it is billing decent enough so that you wouldn't want to change it.

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KRBQ is not the only station feeling the ratings decline with the throwback hip hop format. I Heart and Radio One (the Boom branding) have bailed on the format over a year now in the markets carried, but Entercom did expand the format to Chicago last month. KRBQ did change up its voice imaging recently which doesn't match the music rotation IMO, but I'm not surprised since Michael Martin became PD for it and KITS. I only hope he leaves KRBQ's playlist as recorded and not go pitching up the music like he did the previous stations in the Bay market as PD.

LKELLERIII - Thank you for the info. The Wolf and The Bear blur together for me. And I think I still have KPIX 95.7 magnet somewhere too. News or Talk format a while back. Din't last that long either.

JackBenny said:

LKELLERIII - Thank you for the info. The Wolf and The Bear blur together for me. And I think I still have KPIX 95.7 magnet somewhere too. News or Talk format a while back. Din't last that long either.

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KPIX-FM was before Bonneville. For a while, 95.7 was owned by Westinghouse, which then owned CBS, prior to Viacom. They tried to brand the TV and FM together, and it was kind of a disaster. First it was "The FM News Station," and it was a horror show - most of the people on-air seemed to be amateurs and interns. You'd think the company that pioneered and ran all-news stations (KFWB, WINS) would know how to do it, but no dice. Then KPIX-FM got some ratings by being the "All OJ All the Time" station during the Simpson trial. After the trial ended, it became a pretty decent talk station for awhile - Pat Thurston locally and mostly syndicated stuff. But IIRC, when Viacom hoovered up CBS, 95.7 was sold to Bonneville.

95.7, The Express. They said it (95.7 The Express) vertually every 30 seconds.

LKellerIII said:

KPIX-FM was before Bonneville. For a while, 95.7 was owned by Westinghouse, which then owned CBS, prior to Viacom. They tried to brand the TV and FM together, and it was kind of a disaster. First it was "The FM News Station," and it was a horror show - most of the people on-air seemed to be amateurs and interns. You'd think the company that pioneered and ran all-news stations (KFWB, WINS) would know how to do it, but no dice. Then KPIX-FM got some ratings by being the "All OJ All the Time" station during the Simpson trial. After the trial ended, it became a pretty decent talk station for awhile - Pat Thurston locally and mostly syndicated stuff. But IIRC, when Viacom hoovered up CBS, 95.7 was sold to Bonneville.

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Well I remember when KPIX-FM existed under CBS Ownership back then. Also I remember when KPIX Radio was sold CBS put more emphasis on going after KGO-AM at the time when they were then the most powerful news/talk station in the Bay Area at the time.

Brian Cooley was the first Program Director of 95.7 KPIX, The Express. They paid him some rather huge bucks.

1069_KIFR said:

95.7, The Express. They said it (95.7 The Express) vertually every 30 seconds.

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Yes - that station was a s**t show, and if OJ hadn't murdered his wife (er...sorry...been wrongly accused instead of the "real killer"), the station wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. I also remember that they ran traffic reports seemingly every 5 minutes. I think traffic acted as filler, so they wouldn't have to actually gather and report news, which would have required more effort and a budget of over $3.