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Post by bonnevillemariner on Mar 19, 2013 13:39:15 GMT -7
China Radio International has some interesting features programming, as well as news from an Asian viewpoint. They broadcast quite a few channels of radio, and several TV channels, all over the world...much like the old BBC World Service, Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, and Deutsche Welle. It's all done, in China's case, to promote tourism and trade. Can't really fault them for that. Just tourism and trade, huh? Yeah, silly me for assuming China's external propaganda radio service had any other interest beyond trade and tourism. |
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Post by kenglish on Mar 20, 2013 8:35:31 GMT -7
I should have put tourism and trade in quotes...that's how they see it.
Really, though, China doesn't need to beat us militarily. Tourism and trade are what will meet their goals...money flowing their way.
Back home, they've started requiring Chinese-language classes for the school kids.
I guess it's so they can talk to their future bosses.
Funny to think that America is cutting back on our own international propaganda. The only images of America that people in Asia get is our celebrities, and our (bad) news items.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Mar 20, 2013 20:35:04 GMT -7
Oh, it's shared. Ralph has been a figure in Utah radio for a long time. He does whatever he has to to keep his radio stations alive and in his hands. Unfortunately, relatively few people tune in to A.M. for music anymore. I agree that it's shared. I think the big problem was that the music was very similar to what KODJ runs and that was a mistake. Having personalities on the station (as opposed to liner card readers) was a big plus, but trying to overcome the crappy AM receivers and the artificially limited bandwidth the FCC imposed is a huge hurdle for stations to leap over. And when similar music is available on FM, it just makes a bad situation worse. I also agree with bonnevillemariner, but how many people listening isn't necessarily the point of stations like that. Radio Disney (for example) doesn't get good ratings, but it doesn't matter because it's a mouthpiece for cross-promoting Disney products. This seems like the same thing. Think of it as a loss leader. |
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Post by egnlsn on Mar 21, 2013 7:52:27 GMT -7
I think the big problem was that the music was very similar to what KODJ runs and that was a mistake. I was VERY surprised when he changed the format to "Real Oldies," as there was no other station that played the music that was previously on the station (Adult Standards). Through the affiliation with Radio Disney, the station (studios) remained out in the pasture (literally). (It was a shock to me when I went out there one day and saw what the station I used to listen to when I was in high school had become -- sort of like a ghost town. Still, pretty cool, though.) A few years after the switch from Disney to Adult Standards, the transmitter was upgraded and the studios were moved into the nice space they are in now. Obviously, something was working right and money was being made. In format, there was no competition. Real talent was on the radio again. Then, the format was changed to that of a competitor on the FM dial. The beginning of the end, in my opinion. How many listeners were lost as a result of that change. FM stereo offers a superior listening experience than does mono AM. KODJ has listeners all around the intermountain area. Why a small AM station would try to compete directly with that is something I don't understand. And I told Ralph that in an E-mail shortly after the change to "Real Oldies." What was he thinking? |
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Post by David on Mar 21, 2013 11:14:33 GMT -7
Adult standards (along with classic country) seems to be one of the few AM music formats that is still successful enough to make some money. KLGN 1390 in Logan has had an adult standards format for years now, and although they've added an FM translator on 103.3, the AM station is still on the air, so there must be some reason for Cache Valley Radio Group to continue to pay the power bill for an AM music station. The AM side has pretty good coverage all over Northern Utah as well, and with the FM translator the station's coverage area extends into Southern Idaho. By contrast, KDYL is off the air again as I type this. I wonder if the "experiment" with CRI has already failed?
Small nit pick: In the 1990's, KDYL was actually affiliated with Radio AAHS, a Disney competitor, and the station's call was KKDS then. Radio AAHS went bankrupt in the late '90's but actually succeeded in winning a nearly $10 million lawsuit against Radio Disney in 2004. And for my money, the best format KDYL ever had (besides adult standards) was the "All American Classics" format they had for a couple years after Radio AAHS went bankrupt. Of course, that's a moot point now with the station being either off the air or a mouthpiece for CRI.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on Mar 21, 2013 11:32:39 GMT -7
I'm not picking up anything on KDYL right now either (I'm in a downtown office building, but I can usually pick it up here). Maybe Ralph is taking some heat for flipping to CommieTalk?
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Post by egnlsn on Mar 21, 2013 12:43:23 GMT -7
Adult standards (along with classic country) seems to be one of the few AM music formats that is still successful enough to make some money. KLGN 1390 in Logan has had an adult standards format for years now, and although they've added an FM translator on 103.3, the AM station is still on the air, so there must be some reason for Cache Valley Radio Group to continue to pay the power bill for an AM music station. The AM side has pretty good coverage all over Northern Utah as well, and with the FM translator the station's coverage area extends into Southern Idaho. By contrast, KDYL is off the air again as I type this. I wonder if the "experiment" with CRI has already failed? Small nit pick: In the 1990's, KDYL was actually affiliated with Radio AAHS, a Disney competitor, and the station's call was KKDS then. Radio AAHS went bankrupt in the late '90's but actually succeeded in winning a nearly $10 million lawsuit against Radio Disney in 2004. And for my money, the best format KDYL ever had (besides adult standards) was the "All American Classics" format they had for a couple years after Radio AAHS went bankrupt. Of course, that's a moot point now with the station being either off the air or a mouthpiece for CRI. That's the station I usually listen to whenever I'm up in Cache. Good point about it not actually being Disney. Right after the switch to "All American Classics" was when I actually started listening to 1060 again. That was when I paid a visit to the station one day for the first time. One guy (I think his name was Scott) running the whole thing during the day, as everything (music, anyway) was on a harddrive. It did take awhile to get the call letters KDYL back. I don't remember if Danny, Mark & Gail, and (I don't remember the midday guy's name) were in the old studio, or if they didn't come until after the move to 500 West. |
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Mar 21, 2013 22:06:52 GMT -7
You have to understand what advertisers want. The older the music, the older the audience. The older the audience, the less advertisers are willing to pay for it. A smaller number of people listening to newer music could actually mean more money.
As I recall, when Real Oldies first showed up on KDYL it was similar to the Real Oldies that was on 1660, meaning mostly pre British Invasion. KODJ wasn't doing that and still isn't. I'm sure there's a niche there, but the problem is the advertising rates I mentioned. Virtually all oldies stations around the country have done the same thing by eliminating almost everything before about 1963 or 64 and in a lot of cases adding music from the 80's (though that would make them more properly Classic Hits stations.) It's all an effort to get younger demos.
The reason music on AM aims at those older demos (as David was pointing out) is because older people are more likely to listen to music on AM. There's no way a CHR station will make it on an AM. The listeners just won't stand for it. It's been tried recently and has completely failed.
(Another small nitpick. The older KDYL was 1280. The had the nostalgia format for years and kept the calls when they flipped to talk. They didn't give up those calls until 2001 when they became sports/news KZNS. 1060 picked them up in 2004, reportedly because people listening to the nostalgia format were writing down KDYL in their Arbitron diaries. The calls until then were still KKDS as a leftover from the old Radio Aahs format.)
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Post by kenglish on Mar 23, 2013 8:10:36 GMT -7
KDYL was off the air on Thursday and part of Friday morning.
Not sure if the weather was the cause, or something else.
When they came back on, it sounded a lot better...maybe they did some transmitter work.
Or, maybe the power was out, so they did some work at the studio.
I had an old phone number for them, but it was disconnected.
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Post by dxstuboy on Mar 23, 2013 19:42:38 GMT -7
Are they still using CAM-D or is there anyway to say?
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Post by kenglish on Mar 25, 2013 4:34:15 GMT -7
I asked Ralph about the Digital...
He says he turned off the CAM-D after Leonard Kahn died.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Mar 26, 2013 3:34:00 GMT -7
Unfortunately CAM-D was pretty much a one man crusade, and almost a Don Quixote one near the end. From what I could tell it was (like the Kahn-Hazeltine AM stereo system) the superior choice, but got edged out by politics. Truly a shame.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on Mar 26, 2013 12:14:18 GMT -7
Being an industry outsider, you lost me at "CAM-D." Honestly, given the declining popularity of AM in general (which saddens me), the random outages and the CRI content, I can't imagine there's more than 3 people listening to KDYL at any given time. Please somebody tell me where I'm off.
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Post by dxstuboy on Mar 26, 2013 13:59:26 GMT -7
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Mar 26, 2013 20:43:38 GMT -7
*sigh* As they briefly point out in the article, all-digital IBUZ is a long way off.
Simply put, CAM-D is a digital AM system that doesn't destroy anything within 3 channels of it. For the technical details, you'd have to ask an engineer. There is a Wikipedia article on it, but I don't know whether it's accurate.
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