What happened?

[seattlefollower]

Utah radio (and the medium in general) seems to be so boring ever since the "breast exposure on the Superbowl" incident. Am I wrong?

I mean before that you had stations being sold left and right, formats flipping, companies doing great things (anyone else remember how damn good Millcreek's version of KAT Country Sounded?)...

It seems pretty sleepy now (97.5/94.9 current battle aside).

[henry]

The crux of it all: Computers are boring.

People are unpredictable and exciting. Since there are less people, the dial is less exciting.

[CAwasinNJ]

There is that, very true. Also, with so many stations owned by huge conglomerates there is a higher pressure to do more with less. That's especially a problem because of the radio bubble that was created when station values spiraled almost out of control over the last decade. They were overvalued and eventually the bubble burst. Now owners can't unload them because they'll lose too much money, and they aren't making nearly enough to cover the expense of having acquired them. That results in corporate pressure to play it as safe as possible and try to copy something that worked well somewhere else. They use consultants from somewhere else and grab onto anything that is pushed their way as the next big thing. What works in LA is not necessarily going to work in Salt Lake or anywhere else. That's the problem with fad formats.

Cookie cutter isn't going to work. You need something that is interesting and hopefully unique. That could be anything from your playlist to the personalities on the station. Uniqueness was one of the things I liked about the first incarnation of 105.7 The River. It was a rock station, but it didn't try to pigeonhole itself into one particular era. It was actually more Jack than Jack was (or is). Unfortunately it was a failure, and the fear of failure is probably keeping other stations from trying their own wacky ideas. That's bad for the business.

A bigger problem is how to compete with iPods and highly specialized formats like internet streaming or satellite broadcasting. You have to have something unique or people just won't bother. The sooner the broadcasters realize that, the better off they'll be.

[dxstuboy]

I still say an Air America (or nova M) affiliate on AM would spice things up.

They could take over KCPW.

[seattlefollower]

Sept 11, 2008 15:05:35 GMT -7 dxstuboy said:

They could take over KCPW.

I think it could be great. Unfortunately, K-C-P-W AM 1010 will be taken over by a Catholic group shortly. (I-H-Radio)

[CAwasinNJ]

Yup. 1010AM was sold a while back also.

I agree that Air America would be an interesting addition to the dial. Unfortunately the reality is that Utah is overwhelmingly conservative and I just don't see enough interest to make much of a profit. That's a problem. It's hard enough establishing a talk station, but to try it where most of your listeners disagree with you is a little crazy. On the other hand, it might be worth the risk for KTKK, since they've been a talk also-ran for years anyway and have a decent signal over the immediate metro.

[dxstuboy]

Does anyone really ever listen to KTKK though? I'd never heard of it for the longest time when I first moved here, I just found it on the dial and said hmm.

Their audio quality is lousy though, highly overmodulated and it sounds like it is peaking.

Doesn't KTKK share a tower with KLLB?
That brings up another point. Does anyone really listen to KLLB?

KTKK would be a perfect fit for Air America since their signals are usually (and sometimes unfortunately) not high power like a KNRS or KSL. I'd like to see them try it for at least a few months. Maybe they could have it on until the ratings come out and then see where to go.

I don't mean to get political, but Utah could use a second opinion when it comes to talk radio.

[seattlefollower]

KLLB is still turning off at night, right?

I used to listen to it when I lived there, it was kind of fun when they signed off at 5:30 at night... But then again, are either of these stations marketed? No. Did a slightly marketed *new* AM signal succeed? No (K-U-T-R AM 820, in its women/lifestyle talk period).

www.fybush.com/Tower%20Site/080502/ktkk-kllb-tx.jpg
www.fybush.com/sites/2008/site-080502.html (across from the KTBN tower photo, he discusses the two)

I'm not sure how correct his info is as some of it seemed to be borderline inaccurate. I guess the FCC would give the final answer on the tower question. I think KTKK had to plead "financial hardship" when they lost their original tower or something like that.

[CAwasinNJ]

KLLB is supposed to go off air at sunset since they're daytime only. I've never noticed them staying on later.

BTW, KTKK is still applying to change city of license to Kearns and moving to just west of North Salt Lake.