When checking KYND 1520 a number of times the past week or so, all I'm hearing is dead air. Not only do the owners have no clients to pay the bills, it would appear they are also content to set money on fire by transmitting 25,000 watts of nothing. What on earth is going on?
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What's going on with KYND? (Part Two)
- Thread starter Mediafrog+
- Start date
And an update: After six weeks of either being off the air or transmitting nothing but dead air, KYND was back this morning with its audio loop soliciting potential clients.
Been almost 17 months without a paying customer for the station.
Been almost 17 months without a paying customer for the station.
Yep, the repeating ad-loop is back. KYND is a 25 KW "daytimer" and is limited to 18 KW during critical hours due to KOKC Oklahoma City. An hour or two prior to sunset in The Woodlands and Conroe, you can rotate a portable AM radio to null KYND and get the KOKC signal, then it booms when KYND signs off the air, which occurs at 515 pm in December and 545 in January. It's a tough set of cards, however, the KYND is directional into Houston so has an excellent audio footprint in H-town down toward Galveston. Best wishes to Bruce Turner in landing someone-somewhere to utilize this excellent daytime signal. I don't understand why so many lower power stations have ad-lease agreements, but a 25 KW signal cannot land one.
> https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KYND&service=AM&h=D
> https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KYND&service=AM&h=D
Long time lurker, first time replying, forgive me if I do it wrong. I'm not sure how getting a radio station goes about getting a client, but what about Polnet Communcations (like WNVR AM) to lease time or buy the station, I know we don't have a huge Polish language population here in the Houston area, but from the radio locator map it looks like it covers Houston pretty well.
http://polskieradio.com/
here is a PDF file about them
http://polskieradio.com/advertise-with-us.pdf
http://polskieradio.com/
here is a PDF file about them
http://polskieradio.com/advertise-with-us.pdf
I refer you back to the thread on this same subject from a year ago:
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?707148-What’s-going-on-with-KYND
I'm sure a lot of what was said then applies now.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?707148-What’s-going-on-with-KYND
I'm sure a lot of what was said then applies now.
Thank you for the tip. We once had a one hour Polish program on KYND on Saturdays at 11 am.
It is really more luck than anything finding a buyer. You have no idea who is looking. In fact, they just happen to call the station. The funny thing is to announce you have airtime available is a weakness in negotiating a rate as far as the station goes. Likewise, a time buyer looking for a station is a weakness for them in negotiating a rate. The number of groups looking for a station is an unknown and not publicized. Mostly you find a client through knowing someone that knows somebody looking for a station and they arrange a meeting. Then you have to figure out if they can pay you or have the investor.
It is not rare for someone to have the cash for the first month but not the second. Lots of investors and quite frankly, lots of the buyers do not understand radio from the point of building audience and building revenue. Too many investors think they're getting taken and too many programmers don't realize cash is a tool to oil the machine that keeps it going. They fixate too often on building audience believing somehow the advertiser will find them. The truth is they have to fixate on a plan that brings in revenue and audience equally. Sales is never secondary. We had one client that failed because they refused to hire people to sell ads. They thought they could get by on commission only (no salary) salespeople working part time. It was no wonder it didn't work. I asked the client how many jobs he said yes to that did not offer at least a minimal salary.
I can easily catch this. If they talk about how many people they can bring to the station as listeners, they'll likely fail. If they think they can get huge advertising contracts from major radio advertisers, I can almost guarantee they'll fail. The truth is the small business is the key to success by offering a rate they can afford. The reason this happens is what I call the 'cheerleader' effect. Nobody tries this without going forward with the best they can do. Because they sold themselves on their plan, they tout how great the plan is to potential clients who don't understand but rather want to hear how they benefit if they part with that money. The cheerleader can't quit cheering long enough to tell the client how they can benefit or worse yet listen to what the business is telling you and then thinking of how you can help them.
I'm sure there is someone out there that gets radio with an investor that gets radio. We just haven't found one another. It could be a phone call away.
It is really more luck than anything finding a buyer. You have no idea who is looking. In fact, they just happen to call the station. The funny thing is to announce you have airtime available is a weakness in negotiating a rate as far as the station goes. Likewise, a time buyer looking for a station is a weakness for them in negotiating a rate. The number of groups looking for a station is an unknown and not publicized. Mostly you find a client through knowing someone that knows somebody looking for a station and they arrange a meeting. Then you have to figure out if they can pay you or have the investor.
It is not rare for someone to have the cash for the first month but not the second. Lots of investors and quite frankly, lots of the buyers do not understand radio from the point of building audience and building revenue. Too many investors think they're getting taken and too many programmers don't realize cash is a tool to oil the machine that keeps it going. They fixate too often on building audience believing somehow the advertiser will find them. The truth is they have to fixate on a plan that brings in revenue and audience equally. Sales is never secondary. We had one client that failed because they refused to hire people to sell ads. They thought they could get by on commission only (no salary) salespeople working part time. It was no wonder it didn't work. I asked the client how many jobs he said yes to that did not offer at least a minimal salary.
I can easily catch this. If they talk about how many people they can bring to the station as listeners, they'll likely fail. If they think they can get huge advertising contracts from major radio advertisers, I can almost guarantee they'll fail. The truth is the small business is the key to success by offering a rate they can afford. The reason this happens is what I call the 'cheerleader' effect. Nobody tries this without going forward with the best they can do. Because they sold themselves on their plan, they tout how great the plan is to potential clients who don't understand but rather want to hear how they benefit if they part with that money. The cheerleader can't quit cheering long enough to tell the client how they can benefit or worse yet listen to what the business is telling you and then thinking of how you can help them.
I'm sure there is someone out there that gets radio with an investor that gets radio. We just haven't found one another. It could be a phone call away.
Hmmm. HD-AM active rock station....With HD in so many newer vehicles I wonder if it could work? If only it wasnt a daytimer.......
A station in Baltimore is testing HD only AM with surprising results.
A station in Baltimore is testing HD only AM with surprising results.
The average age of vehicles in the US is 11 years. At the current rate of about 50% having HD, it would take over a decade just to be in 25% of all cars.
I'm a rebel, a technological cowboy. LOL I'm glad you wernt consulting Armstrong when he was developing FM.
The comparison to FM has been made before. It took 30 years for FM to gain traction, but that was at a time when the US was in the electronics manufacturing business. Not any more. Electronics today are made in China, Mexico, and Korea, and they don't care about HD radio.
I would leave the analog on for now, but promote the hell out of the HD capability. The sound quality of HD am is superior to Sirius XM. As I said I'd love to do it in a large market with a semi mainstream format.
Armstrong realized the deficiencies of the AM system in the early 1930's. The first on-Air tests were around 1935 (and we have recordings of them!) and were intended to show how impervious FM was to interference as well as demonstrating the higher quality.
( Armstrong test audio files at http://www.arizona-am.net/Armstrong/index.html )
Armstrong saw an opportunity for RCA to lead the way into a new radio technology that could easily be demonstrated as superior to consumers. At the same time, the AM band was filling up, and highly limited and directional stations were becoming the norm.
Armstrong's problem was Sarnoff. The General saw more money in TV after stealing Farnsworth's invention. He did not want to distract attention from the much more profitable options in TV.
Armstrong did not need a consultant to tell him he had the right idea but the wrong business partner.
The problem with AM HD is that it is only available on AM. Most listeners below the age of about 50 have a long-standing bias against anything AM, and would not even switch to the band for something that they already have in quantity on FM.
Noticed that KYND is now running a different promo loop for soliciting potential clients, including tips for effective radio presentation. Memo to Bill Turner: Your audio needs more punch. Still sounding somewhat low and muddy.
Quick Note: I am no longer at KYND. KYND was my baby, being hired in July 1993. The paychecks stopped before 2019 and I hung on hoping leads would pan out. Finally as the savings went to living expenses, I started looking at took a sales position at KGAF in Gainesville, Texas. My first day was May 6.
Good luck to you in the new job. Things at KYND must have been beyond miserable. Obviously delusional ownership that thinks the station is worth a lot more than it is. Any rational owner would have cut their losses, dumped the place, and moved on, especially after almost two years of no paying customers.
And keep posting! Your contributions on various boards have been interesting and informative.
Good luck with that. A big problem for KYND: Although it is a 25kw signal, the transmitter is 40 miles west of downtown Houston. It gives good reception on the west side of the market, but in the central and eastern areas the signal can get swallowed up by urban density (buildings, power lines, etc.) It would probably be a great place for an Asian language format, as the signal is solid in the southwest end of the metro where those demographics are concentrated. The daytime only status is probably a big drawback, regardless of lower listening levels at night.
I'm amazed the owners haven't cut their losses and turned in the license.
I do not know what is happening with KYND as I left in May but I can tell you I had lots of people I spoke with and seriously considered KYND. When I presented offers at 20k they were turned down. Everyone I spoke with that could do 25k wanted either 1) nighttime, 2) a translator or the signal was not to their liking in the Southwest or Highway 59 corridor. They'd prefer less Houston signal with nighttime or a translator for the same price. 20k, I was told 'didn't pay the bills'. A few times I was used to get a better deal for a station my supposed client wanted.
KYND is about 40 miles west of the center of downtown Houston but not 40 miles from Houston and the directional was east and south. It's a solid signal and has more complete Houston coverage than most AM signals. Amid the downtown buildings, most stations don't do too well.
I suspect the station will remain for sale. I was the only 'employee' when I left and that was after months of no paycheck and going through my savings. My leaving was more about not going broke. Now I'm trying to find new business at my new job before my savings is gone. I think I'm off to a good start and my new radio home is a perfect fit for me.
I can't see them turning in the license. That's like building a $500,000 home and saying since you don't have a renter, you'll just abandon it instead of hanging in there to get that $500,000 back or as much of it as you can. Radio frequencies are like land. They're not making more of it. There is demand because of the limited supply. If KYND was in something like Ozona, Texas, sure, turn in the license, but the #6 radio market in the country has value.
KYND is about 40 miles west of the center of downtown Houston but not 40 miles from Houston and the directional was east and south. It's a solid signal and has more complete Houston coverage than most AM signals. Amid the downtown buildings, most stations don't do too well.
I suspect the station will remain for sale. I was the only 'employee' when I left and that was after months of no paycheck and going through my savings. My leaving was more about not going broke. Now I'm trying to find new business at my new job before my savings is gone. I think I'm off to a good start and my new radio home is a perfect fit for me.
I can't see them turning in the license. That's like building a $500,000 home and saying since you don't have a renter, you'll just abandon it instead of hanging in there to get that $500,000 back or as much of it as you can. Radio frequencies are like land. They're not making more of it. There is demand because of the limited supply. If KYND was in something like Ozona, Texas, sure, turn in the license, but the #6 radio market in the country has value.
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