Only One Radio Station

[SuperRadioFan]

Only one radio station in the LA metro area plays a variety of new music and old music that is as wide as it is deep--- 88.5 FM, for a ROCK MUSIC FAN, it's the cream of the crop ... So many tracks.... so little time

https://www.wsj.com/articles/didnt-...r-one-is-coming-before-you-know-it-1522076320

 

[DavidEduardo]

Only one radio station in the LA metro area plays a variety of new music and old music that is as wide as it is deep--- 88.5 FM, for a ROCK MUSIC FAN, it's the cream of the crop ... So many tracks.... so little time

There seems to be a limited number of deep cut rock music fans hereabouts. KCSN and its simulcast partner got a 0.2 share and 0.0 rating in the February book, good for a tie for 50th in the market. That's up from a 0.1 share that the station has averaged for the previous 12 books.

The real question here is whether a station with an average audience size around 1,500 (AQH) persons is doing anything useful for the Cal State University system or whether it is just another example of a wasteful use of tax dollars and listener-support donations.

The pros for sustaining the station are summed up in its own mission statement, which is certainly nicely expressed and logical:

88.5 FM will engage listeners in the discovery of music, meaningful cultural and social experiences, and provide access to events, information, and unique listener benefits.
88.5 FM provides mentorship to students of the California State University, Northridge and Saddleback College seeking careers in the broadcast and entertainment industries.
88.5 FM will actively support and nurture emerging artists, both locally and nationally, as well respect the artistry of legacy acts.

 

[TheBigA]

There was a time when a lot of colleges did what was called outreach to their community, to use their great resources to provide great artistic expression, like radio stations with this kind of format. Sadly as finances have become tight, more and more colleges are stopping this kind of thing, and selling their non-commercial stations. Too bad, because it can really help personalize the mission of a college, and keep it from becoming detached or elite.

 

[DavidEduardo]

There was a time when a lot of colleges did what was called outreach to their community, to use their great resources to provide great artistic expression, like radio stations with this kind of format. Sadly as finances have become tight, more and more colleges are stopping this kind of thing, and selling their non-commercial stations. Too bad, because it can really help personalize the mission of a college, and keep it from becoming detached or elite.

KSCN seems to embody this objective. My only question is whether their format is simply just too niche for the tastes and composition of the LA market today. Outreach requires that there be people at the other end of the chain.

 

[TheBigA]

KSCN seems to embody this objective. My only question is whether their format is simply just too niche for the tastes and composition of the LA market today. Outreach requires that there be people at the other end of the chain.

Then again there was a time when these college owned stations played classical music, which can be a pretty small niche.

 

[AM FM listener]

Are for-profit radio operators allowed to buy currently public radio stations and convert them to commercial stations? I suspect not, or at least, not yet. If they could, imagine what a public station like KPCC or KCRW would fetch with their signals. I am sure those colleges, Pasadena and Santa Monica CC's, respectively, could use the money. I sometimes wonder if operating a radio station is the best use of a college's resources when those resources could be deployed in so many other ways to benefit the college and its surrounding community.

That is not intended to take away from Super Radio Fan's original post about how good KCSN is. It is my favorite station too.

 

[TheBigA]

Are for-profit radio operators allowed to buy currently public radio stations and convert them to commercial stations?

Nope. 88.1 to 91.9 are reserved for non-commercial educational use only.

To your other point, yes a lot of colleges have decided that the expense of owning and operating radio stations distracts from its core mission of educating students. However, in this case, the college has justified the expense, and the station appeals to listeners for donations to cover the station's costs.

 

[AM FM listener]

Nope. 88.1 to 91.9 are reserved for non-commercial educational use only.
To your other point, yes a lot of colleges have decided that the expense of owning and operating radio stations distracts from its core mission of educating students. However, in this case, the college has justified the expense, and the station appeals to listeners for donations to cover the station's costs.

But, some public stations are beyond 91.9 -- e.g., KUOW. Why is that? Also, I think the largest "expense" of a college station is the "opportunity cost" of holding on to it rather than selling it for, in some cases, tens of millions of dollars.

 

[TheBigA]

But, some public stations are beyond 91.9 -- e.g., KUOW. Why is that?

From Wikipedia:

"KUOW went on the air in 1952 on 90.5 FM. Its transmitter was on the University of Washington campus atop the Administration Building, now Gerberding Hall. In 1958, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt moved KING-FM to 98.1 and gifted KING's 94.9 FM transmitter and antenna to the Edison Vocational School."

There are lots of non-coms in the commercial band. In Los Angeles, EMF recently bought KSWD and converted it to a non-commercial contemporary Christian station. A few of the Pacifica stations are in the commercial band. Some of this happened before the FCC designated 88 to 91 as the educational band.

 

[goriajk]

John, my fellow 88.5 member - that is SO true

Only one radio station in the LA metro area plays a variety of new music and old music that is as wide as it is deep--- 88.5 FM, for a ROCK MUSIC FAN, it's the cream of the crop ... So many tracks.... so little time

https://www.wsj.com/articles/didnt-...r-one-is-coming-before-you-know-it-1522076320

I've turned on 88.5 to a couple of former Sound listeners at my work in Tustin - and are ecstatic that Andy has taken over from Sky for afternoons. I'm still concerned about Sky's health, but is staying on as Co-GM (with Jim Rondeau from KSBR) and overall PD. Joe Bear

 

[goriajk]

David, very good comments - 88.5 is serving their objective well. to add, KCSN and KSBR broadcast "The Latin Alternative" on 88.5 HD3 and has turned me on to more Rock en Espanol that I'm liking!!

 

[hotpatrick2004]

What is up with sky daniels health?

 

[radiojomo]

Are for-profit radio operators allowed to buy currently public radio stations and convert them to commercial stations? I suspect not, or at least, not yet. If they could, imagine what a public station like KPCC or KCRW would fetch with their signals. I am sure those colleges, Pasadena and Santa Monica CC's, respectively, could use the money. I sometimes wonder if operating a radio station is the best use of a college's resources when those resources could be deployed in so many other ways to benefit the college and its surrounding community.

That is not intended to take away from Super Radio Fan's original post about how good KCSN is. It is my favorite station too.

This probably isn't the best example, considering that KPCC and KCRW are self-sustaining operations. Public radio does benefit the community (KCRW still blocks out time to air Santa Monica City Council meetings), is a great way for the college to publicize itself and offers students at the college internships and other opportunities.

If it weren't important to people in the SoCal area or to the colleges, they wouldn't have built new studios within the last decade for both stations and continue to invest in the stations. With the Trump administration and unreliable news sources online, NPR has never been more relevant and necessary to listeners.

But if we were talking about KPFK, that's another story.

Even then, radio stations are being sold for a fraction of what they could previously net. If let's say you did sell a station like KPCC, considering KSWD's recent sale, what would that net you these days? Maybe $50 million tops?

Honestly, as long as KCSN and KSBR have enough listeners convert to members, who cares about their ratings?

 

[DavidEduardo]

Even then, radio stations are being sold for a fraction of what they could previously net. If let's say you did sell a station like KPCC, considering KSWD's recent sale, what would that net you these days? Maybe $50 million tops?

Non-commercial stations don't get the same prices as commercial ones.

The value of KPCC would be dependent on the party that wanted it. It's a very low power station, that does not cover much / most of the market with a 65 dbu signal. EMF, which converts any commercial stations it buys to non-commercial, would view KPCC with the same eyes as KSWD. KSWD covers about 60% more people when you compare the 70 and 65 dbu contours, so they might have paid around $20 million for KPCC since it would not have met the goal of covering the whole market. And that $20 million is likely the high side.

EMF, of course, does not overpay.

 

[Doctah]

88.5 needs to decide whether it's current or classic AAA. Seems to depend on the jock. Nic Harcourt plays a more uptempo version of his old KCRW show, which means it feels like newer, more current music. But by midday under Sky, there was more geezer rock. What's the mix in the afternoon now with Andy?

 

[ChannelFlipper]

88.5 needs to decide whether it's current or classic AAA. Seems to depend on the jock. Nic Harcourt plays a more uptempo version of his old KCRW show, which means it feels like newer, more current music. But by midday under Sky, there was more geezer rock. What's the mix in the afternoon now with Andy?

The difficult path the PD has to navigate is how much gold to play. They want to be known as a current-based station, the first to bring new acts to their audience. But as I said before, the listeners all say that is what they want, but when you test them, you find out they want a lot of gold as well, and at the end of the day, it is their donor dollars that do the most talking. So if they are too avant garde, they lose the listeners, if they play too much gold, they get the needed dollars but stand accused of being a classic rock station dressed up as a AAA. Sky's job is not an easy one and I am surprised he has been able to last in it as long as he has. He will never be able to please everyone.