Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network

[Mike Hawkins]

There is one station whose frequency is a favorite of mine.  The frequency
because its a good skip indicator, the station is another story.  They say
they play "the classic hits of the 70s and 80s."  Judging by the station,
there were only 14 classic hits during that 20-year period.  I got to do an
Arbitron survey and listed them on the survey with the comment that "it was
time for them to check another greatest hit CD out of the library."

I went to album-oriented rock in 1966 because I got very bored (even back
then).  I use my radio only for news, traffic and DXing...mostly DXing.

Mike Hawkins

On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Scott Fybush  wrote:

> Mike Hawkins wrote:
>
>  I wish you could mass email that second paragraph to every radio station
>> in
>> this country that plays music.  Playlists are becoming so restrictive that
>> you can predict exactly what time you will hear a song.  You hear a song
>> on
>> the radio, you like it, then you hear it SO OFTEN that you change the
>> station as soon as you hear that song starting again.  And they wonder why
>> people are turning off the radio...
>>
>
> It's not the music that's causing that...if in fact it's even true (there's
> lots of solid research data showing that time-spent-listening for radio
> remains as high as it's ever been.)
>
> You want repetition and restrictive playlists? We had that 50+ years ago,
> too. Look at WABC or WMCA or WLS or any of the "classic" top-40 stations,
> especially the ones programmed by Bill Drake or his acolytes. They were even
> tighter on their music rotations than today's top-40 stations. *You* may
> change the station, but half a century of music programming has demonstrated
> that the average listener won't - and in fact will listen more often and in
> greater numbers to stations that play the hits and nothing but the hits,
> over and over again. (Anyone on a list like this is, by definition, far from
> an "average" consumer of radio!)
>
> The difference today is that those stations back then had personality and
> "stationality" between the repetitive songs. Few stations today can say the
> same...and of course there are a lot of new options out there for listening
> to music that didn't exist in the days when WABC was king.
>
>
> s
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Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network

[Scott Fybush]

Rick Dau wrote:
The same way that non-comm public radio stations do, Bill -- pledge drives.  In 
K-Love's case, it's 3 a year --- one in the spring (10 days), one in the fall 
(10 days), and one usually on New Year's Eve Day.  And in recent years, it's 
been like clockwork -- about a week after the end of each pledge drive (which 
almost always falls far short of goal, under 40% or so), K-Love's president will 
emerge from his burrow with an announcement that they've had to make what they 
refer to as "drastic decisions" regarding their budget.  

Content has something to do with it.  IMHO, if I'm going to listen to Christian 
radio, I'd much rather listen to something local that actually has variety to 
its playlist (i.e., one that will, from time to time, dig out the obscure, the 
long-forgotten, and play those, like a good station of any format would) instead 
of something syndicated that rarely plays anything more than 5 years old and 
sounds too much like a bad Top 40 station.   


And yet...

Whatever "pledge drive math" K-Love is using to declare itself short of 
its goal, the fact is that they do exceptionally well by non-commercial 
radio standards. In the public radio universe where I live, we'd kill to 
be able to get listeners to donate at the $100/month level that K-Love 
"suggests" to its audience. (We're thrilled to get them to sign up at 
$100 a year!)


What's more, K-Love gets to draw that listener support from hundreds and 
hundreds of transmitters all over the country, all of which enjoy 
FCC-provided "main studio waivers" that allow K-Love's parent, EMF 
Broadcasting, to avoid the expense of maintaining local staffs and 
studios at each location. If those main studio waivers weren't so 
readily granted, K-Love's economic model might not work at all...and 
EMF's CEO wouldn't be taking home $400k+ a year in salary.


I'm no fan of the format, but I do recognize it as being exceptionally 
well-executed, tight, commercial-style radio. Like a commercial top-40 
station, their goal is to put together the largest possible 
audience...and you don't get there with "obscure and long-forgotten." 
There are other places on the dial for that. K-Love is doing what works 
for them, and it's clearly paying the bills, at least looking at what 
they're spending on buying stations and paying their executives.


s

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Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network

[Scott Fybush]

Mike Hawkins wrote:


I wish you could mass email that second paragraph to every radio station in
this country that plays music.  Playlists are becoming so restrictive that
you can predict exactly what time you will hear a song.  You hear a song on
the radio, you like it, then you hear it SO OFTEN that you change the
station as soon as you hear that song starting again.  And they wonder why
people are turning off the radio...


It's not the music that's causing that...if in fact it's even true 
(there's lots of solid research data showing that time-spent-listening 
for radio remains as high as it's ever been.)


You want repetition and restrictive playlists? We had that 50+ years 
ago, too. Look at WABC or WMCA or WLS or any of the "classic" top-40 
stations, especially the ones programmed by Bill Drake or his acolytes. 
They were even tighter on their music rotations than today's top-40 
stations. *You* may change the station, but half a century of music 
programming has demonstrated that the average listener won't - and in 
fact will listen more often and in greater numbers to stations that play 
the hits and nothing but the hits, over and over again. (Anyone on a 
list like this is, by definition, far from an "average" consumer of radio!)


The difference today is that those stations back then had personality 
and "stationality" between the repetitive songs. Few stations today can 
say the same...and of course there are a lot of new options out there 
for listening to music that didn't exist in the days when WABC was king.


s
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Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network

[Mike Hawkins]

Rick,

I wish you could mass email that second paragraph to every radio station in
this country that plays music.  Playlists are becoming so restrictive that
you can predict exactly what time you will hear a song.  You hear a song on
the radio, you like it, then you hear it SO OFTEN that you change the
station as soon as you hear that song starting again.  And they wonder why
people are turning off the radio...

I'll not make any comments about K-Love, as I tend to infuriate some people
on this subject.

Mike Hawkins


On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 1:42 PM, Rick Dau  wrote:

> The same way that non-comm public radio stations do, Bill -- pledge
> drives.  In
> K-Love's case, it's 3 a year --- one in the spring (10 days), one in the
> fall
> (10 days), and one usually on New Year's Eve Day.  And in recent
> years, it's
> been like clockwork -- about a week after the end of each pledge drive
> (which
> almost always falls far short of goal, under 40% or so), K-Love's president
> will
> emerge from his burrow with an announcement that they've had to make what
> they
> refer to as "drastic decisions" regarding their budget.
>
>
> Content has something to do with it.  IMHO, if I'm going to listen to
> Christian
> radio, I'd much rather listen to something local that actually has variety
> to
> its playlist (i.e., one that will, from time to time, dig out the obscure,
> the
> long-forgotten, and play those, like a good station of any format would)
> instead
> of something syndicated that rarely plays anything more than 5 years old
> and
> sounds too much like a bad Top 40 station.
>
>
> 73,
> Rick Dau
> South Omaha, Nebraska
>
>
> ____
> From: bill kral 
> To: "irca@hard-core-dx.com" 
> Sent: Fri, June 24, 2011 11:00:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network
>
> Thanks for the update. That's quite a netwoek of stations. I wonder how
> they
> operate if they are non - commercial and don't do any advertising. I
> haven't
> heard any ads. It's just a continuous string of songs. Bill in BC
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> contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its
> editors, publishing staff, or officers
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[IRCA] KLOV FM network

[Rick Dau]

The same way that non-comm public radio stations do, Bill -- pledge drives.  In 
K-Love's case, it's 3 a year --- one in the spring (10 days), one in the fall 
(10 days), and one usually on New Year's Eve Day.  And in recent years, it's 
been like clockwork -- about a week after the end of each pledge drive (which 
almost always falls far short of goal, under 40% or so), K-Love's president 
will 
emerge from his burrow with an announcement that they've had to make what they 
refer to as "drastic decisions" regarding their budget.  


Content has something to do with it.  IMHO, if I'm going to listen to Christian 
radio, I'd much rather listen to something local that actually has variety to 
its playlist (i.e., one that will, from time to time, dig out the obscure, the 
long-forgotten, and play those, like a good station of any format would) 
instead 
of something syndicated that rarely plays anything more than 5 years old and 
sounds too much like a bad Top 40 station.   


73,
Rick Dau
South Omaha, Nebraska 



From: bill kral 
To: "irca@hard-core-dx.com" 
Sent: Fri, June 24, 2011 11:00:03 AM
Subject: Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network

Thanks for the update. That's quite a netwoek of stations. I wonder how they 
operate if they are non - commercial and don't do any advertising. I haven't 
heard any ads. It's just a continuous string of songs. Bill in BC
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Re: [IRCA] KLOV FM network

[bill kral]

Thanks for the update. That's quite a netwoek of stations. I wonder how they 
operate if they are non - commercial and don't do any advertising. I haven't 
heard any ads. It's just a continuous string of songs. Bill in BC
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