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Highway Radio is streaming once more.

C

CaliRadioFan

Leading Participant
Not certain how old this story is, but the "Highway Radio" stations that dot the I-15 landscape between Victorville and Las Vegas; and now run by former Hispanic broadcaster Heftel, are now live streaming once more. The websites have changed very little except the reactivation of the listen live buttons. No playlist yet.

Two formats, The Highway Vibe (98.1/98.9/99.7) - Hot AC music with 24/7 traffic reports and Las Vegas Informaton mixed in, and Highway Country(101.5/107.3); the Westwood One 24/7 "Mainstream Country" format remain unchanged.

The biggest post-Heftel format change came to "The Highway Drive" (94.9/96.9) from Classic Rock to "We Play It All" Adult Hits. The new playlist leans heavily on 1980's Classic Alternative with dashes of Classic Rock and genuine 70's/80's/90's Top 40 thrown in. It's a male/female duo doing the voice tracks between songs.

Direct Listen Links -

Highway Vibe
http://www.streamlicensing.com/dire...on=playlist&type=pls&sid=6159&stream_id=12250

Highway Drive
http://www.streamlicensing.com/dire...on=playlist&type=pls&sid=6159&stream_id=12251

Highway Country
http://www.streamlicensing.com/dire...on=playlist&type=pls&sid=6159&stream_id=12252

Happy Listening!
 
CaliRadioFan said:
Not certain how old this story is, but the "Highway Radio" stations that dot the I-15 landscape between Victorville and Las Vegas; and now run by former Hispanic broadcaster Heftel, are now live streaming once more. The websites have changed very little except the reactivation of the listen live buttons. No playlist yet.
Click to expand...

These stations are owned by Richard Heftel. The Spanish language radio group that merged with Tichenor in the late 90's was owned by Cecil Heftel, his dad.

Richard was, for many years, the GM at KSSK AM & FM in Honolulu. He also managed KLVE, KSCA and KTNQ in LA, but left after HBC was formed.

Richard is a good broadcaster and a great person to work for.
 
What a loss to the Mojave/Mohave when these stations stopped broadcasting live about 10 years ago. The Brainchild of the late Howard Hughes, Radio from Los Angeles to Las Vegas
 
Having driven to Vegas just yesterday, I noticed that there are really no billboards or advertisements any more along the I 15. Wonder if the stations have lost there relevance as traveler stations, although you still get a fair share of Vegas ads on them.
 
Neel said:
Having driven to Vegas just yesterday, I noticed that there are really no billboards or advertisements any more along the I 15. Wonder if the stations have lost there relevance as traveler stations, although you still get a fair share of Vegas ads on them.
Click to expand...

It's hard to base an ad rate on that kind of listening, because it's not actually documented. In other words it probably won't show up in the ratings. The other thing is because you're traveling between markets, you have to change stations three times as you travel. If you make that trip a lot, it's easier to just subscribe to Sirius.
 
Neel said:
Having driven to Vegas just yesterday, I noticed that there are really no billboards or advertisements any more along the I 15. Wonder if the stations have lost there relevance as traveler stations, although you still get a fair share of Vegas ads on them.
Click to expand...

Heftel Broadcasting just took over the operation. Richard Heftel, the owner, is a very experienced broadcaster and he has run quite a few different entertainment based businesses in Vegas, so he's the ideal operator for this group.
 
DavidEduardo said:


Actually, it was one of his staffers who came up with the idea.

https://www.americanradiohistory.co...BC-IDX/79-OCR/BC-1979-06-11-OCR-Page-0036.pdf
Click to expand...



The genesis of Highway Radio dates back to the late 1970s, when founder Howard Anderson realized 50% of visitors to Nevada tourism markets came from Southern California.

He went to his boss, the late Howard Hughes, and convinced him that reaching visitors on the highway would boost walk-in traffic to Hughes’ casinos — The Sands, Desert Inn, Castaways, Silver Slipper, Frontier, and Landmark.

“It’s the Coca-Cola theory,” Anderson said. “Put your advertising as close to the point of purchase as you can. Hughes said to go for it, but on April 6, 1975, he went to the great casino in the sky.”

The Hughes operating businesses were liquidated following his death, but engineering data for the radio concept passed on to Anderson, who put the stations on the air in 1980. Anderson used an existing microwave relay site on Calico Peak and located another at Mountain Pass to cover Interstate 15.

The station increased its power at the Mountain Pass transmitter in 1984 from 2,200 watts to 10,000 watts and added other transmitters covering Interstate 40 in 1991.

A subsequent three-year study at Primm showed a 300 percent increase in off-ramp traffic.

Originally called The Highway Stations, the broadcast group recently changed their name to Highway Radio to better reflect the brand they have developed over the past 20+ years.

Today’s Highway Radio reaches a broad demographic audience with Hot A.C., Mainstream Country and Highway Rock. Highway Radio’s brands include: The Highway, Highway Country, and The Drive.

HIGHWAY RADIO PUBLIC INSPECTION FILES:
KRXV-FM KHYZ-FM KHWY-FM KIXW-FM KIXF-FM KHDR-FM KHRQ-FM
 
For years there was a KFI 640 Billboard around Lake Delores near Newberry Springs. Might have been painted on a old Trailer but it stayed there almost like someone forgot about it for the longest time, just like Lake Delores, the saddest looking Water attraction in all California
 
Mastaclocksetta said:
It’s actually working again, and has been since 2014, as per this article: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...ight-again-20140711-story.html?outputType=amp

It even has its own website: http://www.worldstallestthermometer.com/
Click to expand...
When I went by there last it was not working and the Bun Boy was gone. Then they changed it to a Bob's Big Boy and that closed. I'll never forget the 60 Minutes story on Baker in the early 70's. Showed Gas pump attendants popping the tires of the many visitors while filling up.
 
Neel said:
Wonder if the stations have lost there relevance as traveler stations
Click to expand...

BINGO!

I'm (likely) the only one on this who is under the age of 35. Even *I* (who am crazy nerdy about radio, since I work in the industry) haven't listened to the Highway Stations in at least 5+ years. The LTE coverage is so good, I'm either playing Spotify or some sort of NPR podcast.

Three runs roundtrip between LA and Vegas in the past 5 weeks and I don't even see signs for the stations anymore. I assumed they had gone off the air. Glad to hear they are still around, though I doubt the listenership is all that great these days.

One way to stay (somewhat) relevant is to have a committed owner/OM who isn't afraid to run into the studios in Barstow Station anytime there is a serious crash that shuts down the I-15. Take a couple of calls, field reports from CHP, etc. That would get me to tune in. But I realize that's fairly labor intensive and requires somebody to basically be "on-call" simply out of the goodness of their hearts.
 
henry said:
BINGO!

I'm (likely) the only one on this who is under the age of 35. Even *I* (who am crazy nerdy about radio, since I work in the industry) haven't listened to the Highway Stations in at least 5+ years. The LTE coverage is so good, I'm either playing Spotify or some sort of NPR podcast.

Three runs roundtrip between LA and Vegas in the past 5 weeks and I don't even see signs for the stations anymore. I assumed they had gone off the air. Glad to hear they are still around, though I doubt the listenership is all that great these days.

One way to stay (somewhat) relevant is to have a committed owner/OM who isn't afraid to run into the studios in Barstow Station anytime there is a serious crash that shuts down the I-15. Take a couple of calls, field reports from CHP, etc. That would get me to tune in. But I realize that's fairly labor intensive and requires somebody to basically be "on-call" simply out of the goodness of their hearts.
Click to expand...

The stations were just sold late last and the new owner has good plans for the station. It's too soon to judge what will happen, as there was a lot of catch-up work in the technical and office areas. Speaking of the sale, all 7 of the Highway Stations were sold out of bankruptcy for $650 thousand, or less than $100 k per station... a sign of how deteriorated they were.

The owner does not have to be the one calling every shot; the greatest thing the new owner can do is hire the right people who will do the right thing every moment of the day.

It may make more sense to operate the stations out of Las Vegas. That is where the business model has its core. And better quality programming can originate there because of the available labor pool (Anyone who can afford to buy the stations is unlikely to want to live in Barstow!).
 
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Baker has undergone a renewal. The thermometer now works, the motels have been refurbished, and of course the Greek Restaurant still serves great food. The turkey beef jerky is delicious.

Obviously there is or at least was a large aquifer that sits under a significant portion of the mojave desert near Lake Delores. The I-15 waterpark probably sounded like a good idea on paper, but getting motorist to leave their cars for an hour or so to splash at a water park wasnt realistic. OTOH, a good number of movies and music videos have been filmed at the abandoned water park.
 
TeaPartyDude said:
The I-15 waterpark probably sounded like a good idea on paper, but getting motorist to leave their cars for an hour or so to splash at a water park wasnt realistic. OTOH, a good number of movies and music videos have been filmed at the abandoned water park.
Click to expand...

Ah yes! Rock-a-hoola Park! I think it also didn't help they built a waterpark nowhere near an off-ramp.

"Hey that looks cool. Too bad there's no way to get there."
 
TheBigA said:
Just saw this at RadioInk.com. Apparently this Highway Radio Network has signed a deal with Rick Harrison of the TV show Pawn Stars to put a studio in his store:

https://radioink.com/2018/07/13/heftel-teaming-up-with-pawn-stars/
Click to expand...
Wow the Sit & Sleep guy Larry Miller is part owner of the Heftel stations. I have always liked him since his early days advertising on KSRF. Sit & Sleep along with the Big Blue Bus were our biggest clients. A few thoughts come to mind though, Las Vegas is now an international destination & English doesn't seem to be the main travelers language. California Casinos have eliminated a lot of the LA to Vegas vacationers, and Laughlin has pretty much established itself as a bona fide Gambling destination. Not that many years ago the Highway Stations went Hollywood each hour with entertainment reports by Bart Torres & Tanya Roberts from that 70's Show. One final thing, the growth of the Mojave Desert hasn't been that spectacular, some would say its dying?
 
Hot Hits said:
A few thoughts come to mind though, Las Vegas is now an international destination & English doesn't seem to be the main travelers language. California Casinos have eliminated a lot of the LA to Vegas vacationers, and Laughlin has pretty much established itself as a bona fide Gambling destination. Not that many years ago the Highway Stations went Hollywood each hour with entertainment reports by Bart Torres & Tanya Roberts from that 70's Show. One final thing, the growth of the Mojave Desert hasn't been that spectacular, some would say its dying?
Click to expand...

The international crowd gets goes via McCarran, not the I-15. And, per CalTrans, traffic on that freeway is constantly on the rise.

While the Highway Stations audience is not centered on the local population (for some of the transmitters, there is none), the Victor Valley MSA population in 2000 was 544,000 and in 2017 the ACS says it is 574,000 and by 2022 it will be 621,000. Hardly dying.

As for luxury, entertainment, casino-hopping, restaurants, buffets and other things to do, there is nothing like the Las Vegas experience. That is why the market is expected to grow by 200,000 persons in the next 5 years.
 
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