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Post by amanuensis on Jan 2, 2019 22:25:46 GMT -6
I listened to KLO's stream all day today during work. The music sounds great that way and I really liked the mix. I just wish they could do something about their commercials. Every hour there were Deseret Book spots for Christmas books and albums. Uh, it's January. At least the Deseret Book ads had high production values. Most of the other local spots were embarassing. And CBS news apparently has fallen so far that they allow get-rich-quick schemes to buy time.
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KLO flips
Jan 3, 2019 0:02:34 GMT -6
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Post by David on Jan 3, 2019 0:02:34 GMT -6
The Deseret Book spot has been running since KLO switched formats almost a month ago. I've been tempted to post a message on their Facebook page suggesting that they 86 it, but so far I've resisted. :-) Their scheduling dept. needs improvement, and the station's web site is in serious need of an overhaul. I don't think it's been updated since the format change on December 11th.
If the get rich quick spot is the one for the oil well investment, I think it originates from Westwood One, not CBS News. Ditto the annoying "Big Lou" life insurance spot, which seems to be on almost every AM station in the Intermountain West. But IMO, a few irritating commercials are a small price to pay for the great music on KLO.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 3, 2019 0:57:27 GMT -6
Michael, I think you're on to something with the "lite oldies" name, even if you meant it as a joke. There was an article last week in one of the trades and they referred to it as "soft oldies" so I think you're both thinking along the same lines. And you know, some of that old gear might actually fetch a few bucks on Ebay or someplace like that. I wouldn't might having a cart machine and a 3/4" U-matic deck, but I have too many projects in the works as it is. I'm actually not surprised that nobody has picked up Rome yet. I'm sure any bigger station that wanted it could have stolen it away from KLO any time in the last few years. KLO didn't even have it exclusively did they? Wasn't the placeholder sports format on 1230 running it? With CBS News it all comes from the network. It's a package deal when you take that feed. There might be an option to pay more and run some local ads, but the oil well and life insurance stuff described is national I'm sure.
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Post by amanuensis on Jan 3, 2019 8:59:43 GMT -6
Yes, the oil well ad was one of the get-rich-quick ads I was referring to. The other one that comes to mind is the guy saying that self-employed people need 10-speeds, not tricycles. But maybe that one was local. According to Wkipedia, CBS still has editorial control, but distribution is now by Skyview Networks. Westwood One apparently now just does CBS Sports Radio. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_News_Radio If I was CBS, I would demand that Skyview have minimum standards for who they sell time to during the news broadcasts. The ads I heard yesterday tarnishes whatever remains of CBS' Tiffany branding.
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KLO flips
Jan 3, 2019 18:23:43 GMT -6
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Post by David on Jan 3, 2019 18:23:43 GMT -6
Keep in mind that Entercom owns CBS Radio now, which may affect what type of advertising is aired. At least KLO finally got rid of the Deseret Book Christmas spot today--thank goodness!
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 4, 2019 6:31:01 GMT -6
The distribution switch from Westwood One to Skyview happened a year ago and I'm almost positive I was hearing the same ads before then, so this isn't anything specific to Skyview. I'm also not sure whether all of sales goes through Skyview or they just handle the billing part of sales and the negotiation happens with CBS News directly. (And please don't use Wikipedia as an authoritative source on anything. It isn't.) As for Entercom, they have nothing to do with this. They bought CBS Radio not CBS News.
I can somewhat defend still airing Christmas spots now. As of today (Jan 4) it's now the 11th day of Christmas (like in the song) so technically it's still the Christmas season if you want to look at it that way. Few Americans do, but if you want to be all inclusive.....
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KLO flips
Jan 7, 2019 20:19:09 GMT -6
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Post by David on Jan 7, 2019 20:19:09 GMT -6
KLO has added some old time radio programs back to their schedule beginning tonight. Classic Radio Theater from the USA Radio Network airs from 7-9 PM seven days a week. The program sounds very similar to When Radio Was in its structure. KLO's web site has also been tweeked a bit, although there's still a few dead links that need to be fixed.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 8, 2019 3:06:07 GMT -6
Does Classic Radio Theater have local breaks? That would be a big difference. The old programs KLO used to run didn't have any breaks at all except for the ones that were within the original program itself. Can't make any money that way.
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KLO flips
Jan 8, 2019 10:33:15 GMT -6
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Post by David on Jan 8, 2019 10:33:15 GMT -6
Yes, I heard several local spots while listening to Classic Radio Theater last night, as well as the national ads that are packaged with the program. In fact, I've noticed that the spot load with KLO's new format is rather high in general. But as we all know, the new format has to have advertiser support in order to succeed.
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Post by amanuensis on Jan 8, 2019 11:48:20 GMT -6
Yes, I heard several local spots while listening to Classic Radio Theater last night, as well as the national ads that are packaged with the program. In fact, I've noticed that the spot load with KLO's new format is rather high in general. But as we all know, the new format has to have advertiser support in order to succeed. I wouldn't mind KLO's high spot load so much if it was not the same few spots (mostly badly made) over and over again.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 8, 2019 23:20:59 GMT -6
You both seem to be forgetting one thing. The number of ad minutes isn't up to KLO. It's up to the service they are using. If they didn't insert their own commercials they would be running whatever filler spots (probably PPI spots) the network inserts, or they could run dead air or PSA's or something. Regardless it would be non-program content.
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KLO flips
Jan 18, 2019 13:54:48 GMT -6
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Post by David on Jan 18, 2019 13:54:48 GMT -6
It appears that KLO has dropped the Latter Day Radio program from their schedule. The program didn't air during its usual 10 AM-1 PM time slot this Friday, and the link to the Latter Day Radio site is no longer on KLO's web page.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 20, 2019 22:21:33 GMT -6
Unfortunately the infomercials remain. Saturday at noon they ran a retirement planning show. On their website is an ad for a health show Mondays 4-5PM and there was also an on-air ad for something that I think is Mondays at 8, AM I'm guessing.
This is a terrible idea.
There is the questionability of things sold through infomercials in general, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm looking at scheduling. Weekends I can forgive somewhat because those are probably going to be periods of lower listening levels. But weekday drive time?? That's your bread and butter right there. I don't get this at all. I know they have to pay the bills, but this is going to drive away listeners during the time when they're most likely to be listening and they'll find someone else to stick with.
And another thing. Has anyone seen any ads for the station yet?
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KLO flips
Jan 21, 2019 17:15:24 GMT -6
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Post by David on Jan 21, 2019 17:15:24 GMT -6
The amount of KLO's schedule devoted to infomercials is nothing compared to KSL's weekend program schedule. There's an eight hour block of infomercials on KSL from 3-11 PM on Saturdays, and their Sunday afternoon schedule contains several hours of paid programming also. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'd be more inclined to listen to a station that has a few hours of paid programming scattered throughout the week than a station which devotes 50-60% of its weekend schedule to infomercials. It's not that difficult to turn off the hucksters for an hour or two (or change the channel) and then come back when the music resumes. And it may be that the sponsors of KLO's infomercials have insisted on a prime time slot, which could result in lost revenue for KLO if advertisers decide to take their dollars elsewhere. Moreover, I don't think the drive time scheduling is as big of an issue with KLO as it would be with KNRS or KSL. KLO's new format likely has a good portion of listeners who are at or near retirement age that don't have a regular commute each day.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 22, 2019 0:18:08 GMT -6
You have some good points David but there are big differences. One is that music and talk formats are completely different. With a talk format you're generally tuning in for a specific program. How much of an overlap is there between a gardening show and a real estate show? Some for sure, but most? Probably not. Talk radio is much more like TV. You know Show X is on at such and such a time on such and such a day and you turn on that station for that time. That's not how music radio works.
But here's the bigger problem. KLO has infomercials in the biggest dayparts on a WEEKDAY. Weekends are going to have lower ratings and I get that somewhat as I said. The three biggest times for radio listening are AM Drive, PM Drive and lunch. Blowing out the format during those critical times is going to get you nowhere. (Also note KSL has no infomercials at all on weekdays.) If you're running infomercial nonsense when I want to listen, you're going to get no loyalty from me. And when was the last time somebody looked at the clock and said "Oh good, in 10 minutes I can switch KLO back on again." What's worse is that you're training the listener to wonder whether there will actually be music on the station when they think of switching to it. Radio geeks may think more critically about what station to listen to and when but normal people don't. Run infomercials on the weekend if you have to, but never on weekdays. It's too critical.
And another thing, KLO has a great chance at being a background station in offices and stores, but with all those interruptions that has no chance of getting off the ground. The offices/stores audience has been HUGE for the AC format for decades. With AC giving way to Hot AC and CHR these days there's a void to be filled. This could work out very well, but only if the format is actually there.
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