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Post by David on Feb 10, 2023 23:29:03 GMT -6
Big Budah has joined the "KSL Today" team on KSL TV. As you'll no doubt notice in the Facebook video, he's wearing a 92.5 The Beat T-shirt while working out. fb.watch/iBzpfNamND/?mibextid=6aamW6So is he tracking mornings on 92.5, or has he left that position? He's still listed as the morning jock on the U92 page. As dspete said, it appears that Budah's job with KSL TV is part time. 925thebeat.com/onair/
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Feb 11, 2023 1:53:11 GMT -6
So is he tracking mornings on 92.5, or has he left that position? Why assume he couldn't do both? Radio stations have done live remotes for decades. Broadway and KSL would just need to coordinate to make sure he isn't scheduled to be on air on both at the same time.
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Post by kenglish on Feb 11, 2023 9:18:50 GMT -6
Farnsworth Peak's original backup power generator was a Korean War surplus "Buda" unit. Maybe they can find an old photo, and promote that "Buda (Budah) Returns to KSL".☺️
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henry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 316
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Post by henry on Feb 17, 2023 16:41:27 GMT -6
Honestly, as much as I want to see 92.5 succeed, it's probably wise for him to have a long-term game plan.
At the moment, my faith in 92.5's future is pretty shaken.
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Post by David on Feb 18, 2023 21:01:32 GMT -6
I'll give U92 and AM radio the same odds of making a comeback. KUUU has been on life support for months now. The problem is convincing Broadway Media to pull the plug.
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Post by oldiesfunhouse on Feb 21, 2023 11:05:56 GMT -6
If they did pull the plug, what would the new format be? A stronger FM presence for KALL 700 perhaps? Maybe a CBS Sports Radio outlet in Salt Lake? Where KOOL has gone all automated, I imagine that's probably not an option. There are certainly a number of formats that don't exist here but I can't imagine any of them doing better than the one they've got now. There are many formats I'd love to see come back--personalities on KOOL, adult standars, soft AC like Easy 99.1 was, or even an edgy sort of left wing local talk format, but those have all been tried and failed so … I don't know.
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henry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 316
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Post by henry on Feb 21, 2023 18:21:41 GMT -6
I'll give U92 and AM radio the same odds of making a comeback. KUUU has been on life support for months now. The problem is convincing Broadway Media to pull the plug. Leave it to this board and it would be KOOL. Which is basically like Boomer "Music of Your Life." The numbers may be pretty high. But the demo's age is also... At least 92.5 is sale-able to an ad agency.
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Post by David on Feb 21, 2023 19:21:42 GMT -6
I'll give U92 and AM radio the same odds of making a comeback. KUUU has been on life support for months now. The problem is convincing Broadway Media to pull the plug. Leave it to this board and it would be KOOL. Which is basically like Boomer "Music of Your Life." The numbers may be pretty high. But the demo's age is also... At least 92.5 is sale-able to an ad agency. Sure, it's a "sale-able" demo . . . for now. But how much lower are U92's ratings going to plummet before advertisers finally wake up and realize that hardly anyone is listening? I may be an old guy, but I can tell you that the people in KUUU's demos are doing a heck of a lot more streaming these days than radio listening. 50% or more of the people I work with are under 40, and very few are listening to broadcast radio at work: most are streaming music. If advertisers want to dump their money into advertising on a station that doesn't have more than a handful of listeners, I could care less. It's not my money they're wasting. The problem with ageism is that no one stays young forever. Eventually the U92 audience and the 20 and 30 something salespeople are going to get old, just like the boomers. When that happens, it'll be mostly old farts like myself that are the main audience for broadcast radio . . . if it's still a viable medium 10-15 years from now. Even boomers like myself are increasingly turning to streaming radio stations and music online, because the ageist attitudes of the 35 and under crowd are mostly dictating the content of radio formats for EVERYONE. It reminds me of the "never trust anyone over 30" expression that was popular when I was growing up. If advertisers and broadcasters want to let the demos of the under 40 crowd dictate radio formats on the basis of what's a sale-able demo, then let them. Like I said, no one stays young forever, and I'm not the only one on this board who's said that U92 is in trouble and sinking fast. It seems to me that older demos and higher ratings would be preferable to sale-able demos and a miniscule audience, but apparently not. Consumers don't suddenly stop spending money once they reach a certain age. Enough said.
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Post by buster on Feb 21, 2023 23:37:35 GMT -6
I’m slightly optimistic about Rhythmic AC (which I assume is what they are doing). Looking at Audacy, IHM and other companies throughout the country who are doing the format. There are some markets who seem to be having decent success with it. Should be a fairly easy sell pending the ratings. If KUUU could just focus the music to reflect Utah and get back to laser focused promotions, maybe there’s a fighting chance. I’m sure they don’t want to lose reporting status that’s why they play currents after 7pm. But if they are truly done with “U92” I’m still not ruling out another Rhy/CHR signing on, question is who has the resources, the guts and signal to do it?
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henry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 316
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Post by henry on Feb 22, 2023 0:01:33 GMT -6
The problem with ageism is that no one stays young forever. Eventually the U92 audience and the 20 and 30 something salespeople are going to get old, just like the boomers. When that happens, it'll be mostly old farts like myself that are the main audience for broadcast radio . . . if it's still a viable medium 10-15 years from now. Even boomers like myself are increasingly turning to streaming radio stations and music online, because the ageist attitudes of the 35 and under crowd are mostly dictating the content of radio formats for EVERYONE. It reminds me of the "never trust anyone over 30" expression that was popular when I was growing up. If advertisers and broadcasters want to let the demos of the under 40 crowd dictate radio formats on the basis of what's a sale-able demo, then let them. Like I said, no one stays young forever, and I'm not the only one on this board who's said that U92 is in trouble and sinking fast. It seems to me that older demos and higher ratings would be preferable to sale-able demos and a miniscule audience, but apparently not. Consumers don't suddenly stop spending money once they reach a certain age. Enough said. You're not wrong. But are we at a point where we say, "Squeeze out a few more years, then switch off the transmitters?" The young demos have left for streaming. We also (as an industry) are doing JACK CRAP to bring them back! And to KOOL's credit, they were trying to do something fun. Where is the fun at ZHT, 92.5, Power? All three are as stale as a sidewalk saltine cracker. We have to WIN the young demos back. I think a station can. CHR doesn't have to suck. (I've got airchecks from 5 decades proving it can be done!) iHeart, Audacy, Cumulus? Won't do it. But Broadway? They ABSOLUTELY could... --- I just hate taking a youth-oriented station (or even this current mid-30s to 40s monster) and waving the white flag for *old* oldies. It feels like we're giving up as an industry. Maybe we've already lost. Let the 70-year-old spin a few records, squeeze a bit of life out of the transmitter, and shut out the lights on their way out. (I don't say that facetiously-- more out of sad acknowledgement of our situation. Better somebody enjoy it, I guess?)
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Feb 22, 2023 8:49:58 GMT -6
Whether older demos have money to spend is still 100% irrelevant. henry's right that in their current state the mega owners (iHeart, Cumulus, etc.) can't take the chance and do something radical. Without seeing what kind of financial shape Dell Loy Hansen is in I don't think we can say how much of a risk he could take. It's probably safe to say he's in a better position than the national mega owners, but that isn't saying much.
I had an idea for a new series of threads that's along the same lines as what oldiesfunhouse was asking, so now seems as good a time as any to start it. It's called "What would you do with...." Imagine you're given ownership of the 92.5 signal. You have the resources (money, personnel, etc.) to do anything you want with it with no strings attached. You can leave it as is, completely change it, or anything in between. What do you do?
If it were me, I'd give up on Rhythmic for now. Maybe I'd try circling back to it someday, but I'd want to give it some time and another frequency. What would I put there? There's a format that's had some success in the past but hasn't been talked about much in years. Why not try classic country? Of course I know that there's KSOP(AM) and KSOP-FM HD2 already, but with all due respect to christopherjohn, both of those have disadvantages. Country Legends did consistently fairly well back years ago. I'd give it a go.
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Post by David on Feb 22, 2023 10:46:48 GMT -6
If it were up to me, I'd put a soft adult contemporary format similar to Easy 99.1 on 92.5, but with more emphasis on music from the late 1980's, 1990's and early 2000's in the mix. That way, you'd have a chance to attract both the younger demos that are more sale-able, as well as not alienating most of the older demos. As I see it, the problem with the soft AC format of "America's Best Music" which aired on 1430 is that it skews towards the 50+ demos that advertisers tend to ignore, whereas the Easy 99.1 demos probably didn't skew young enough. A soft AC format with less emphasis on the older music and a focus on mostly music from the past 35 years might be a workable solution.
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Post by amanuensis on Feb 22, 2023 15:21:41 GMT -6
David, what you propose sounds to me a lot like what KBEE is doing now. How would your format differ? I would go for an instrumental format. Not smooth jazz although some of that could be in the mix. The bulk would be karaoke-style covers of 90's through now pop hits with a fairly fast tempo.
A second format, after the instrumental format failed , would be epic metal and folk metal. I guess some refer to it as Power Metal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_metal
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Post by David on Feb 22, 2023 18:53:08 GMT -6
David, what you propose sounds to me a lot like what KBEE is doing now. How would your format differ? <snip> I don't listen to KBEE very often, so I can't say for sure what decade the oldest songs in their music library are from. However, I do think KBEE plays more hits from 2006-2007 to the present day, and that wouldn't be a part of my format. But in addition to focusing on late 1980's to early 2000's soft AC music, I'd also include some of the older soft AC hits from the mid 1960's through the early 1980's, but I'd limit the oldest songs to no more than 2-3 per hour. I'd also add a couple of syndicated or locally produced special programs showcasing the older soft AC/easy listening music from the 1960's & 1970's on the weekends, when there's fewer listeners that would be likely to tune out. I was trying to create a radio format that could at least be marketed towards a sale-able demo. However, if I was given an unlimited budget and wanted to create something for my own personal enjoyment, I'd either put an adult standards/nostalgia format similar to what KLO-AM used to air on 1430 on 92.5, or (preferably) move the KOOL FM format with the now dismissed DJ's to that frequency. I know some people would prefer to just listen to music without the normal DJ talk, jokes, trivia, etc., but I'm not one of them. IMO, what made KOOL FM a great format was that the DJ's were all radio industry veterans who knew how to entertain their listeners and keep them tuning in.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Feb 23, 2023 2:46:19 GMT -6
(BTW, the plan is to do this hypothetical question for the whole FM dial.) I know some people would prefer to just listen to music without the normal DJ talk, jokes, trivia, etc., but I'm not one of them. IMO, what made KOOL FM a great format was that the DJ's were all radio industry veterans who knew how to entertain their listeners and keep them tuning in. Those are good points. A station having its own personality is one of radio's big strengths and has been ever since the invention of the DJ. The jukeboxes of Spotify or MP3's on your smartphone or a lot of satellite radio are fine as far as they go, but there's virtually no engagement or loyalty there. It doesn't matter which you turn to. On the other hand, a station that makes people want to listen TO THEM is a potential gold mine. Radio companies know this, but it costs money and that's where the whole thing falls apart at a lot of places. If you aren't going to have a unique format, then at least you should have a presentation that sets you apart from the other guys in town. Otherwise why should I listen to you over someone else? To relate that to The Beat specifically, Broadway is bringing the personality to mornings with Big Budah. It doesn't seem to be working all that well in the overall numbers, but at least they're trying.
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