Double the Lia — not for long
Don Day | January 6, 2007Jones Radio Networks’ Lia is currently holding down nights on KSRV/96.1 The Bull and KTMY/My Country 104.3. That wasn’t such a problem until KSRV moved it’s transmitter to Deer Point — and secured a much improved signal.
Since KSRV now covers Boise, KTMY’s BOISE market-exclusive trumps KSRV’s ONTARIO deal. Lia will leave KSRV in coming days. I’ve checked in with the KSRV folks to see what will take the airslot — I’ll let you know what I find out.
This very type of situation occurred a few years ago when the then NewsTalk 13-80 KSRV AM decided to go from that more localized format to the first version of 24/7 music format of the “Cruise.” They had grandfathered rights to Rush Limbaugh, Art Bell’s Coast-to-Coast, etc. I believe they lost out on the chance to air them ever again due to the fact that the program distributors had been sold to Clear Channel which of course owned AM stations like KFXD-KIDO in the Boise marketplace. If you want to play in the pond, you had better be a big fish or you won’t get the chance to find a worm to eat. Such are the trials of trying to be a big dog. On the other hand, if FM Idaho is at all creative and or innovative, it might be to their advantage to have the flexiblity to incorporate up and coming talent and or program distributors that Big Corporate Radio like the CC’s of the world and their all knowing programming and focus group driven programming departments dare not have. So, Jeff here is your chance to find something new and unique to the market and create something that the Treasure Valley currently does not have. Best Wishes.
Bring back Dr. Demento ……
Hey RDS, Dr. Demento is usually streaming Sunday Nights 10pm-12am from The Coast/KOZT.
I haven’t checked the stream lately or listened but KOZT used to stream the show.
Check it out!
http://www.kozt.com/koztlive.html
bring back Don and Mike!
Don and Mike stream LIVE daily also.
KSFN/Spike 1140 Las Vegas and WURP/1550 The Edge Pittsburg both stream Don and Mike.
http://www.spike1140.com/
http://www.edge1550.com/
Live and local would be nice…
Funny how so many people on this list think radio stations are allowed to have unlimited transmitter power to cover every square inch (remember the FCC?) and unlimited cash for a full time 24/7 live staff. The stations I’ve been at over the past 25 years would love to have a full live staff 24/7 but it’s impossible.
Ipods, satellite radio and Internet Radio are all competition to radio as advertisers are also migrating to Internet away from radio and TV.
An Excellent point Wrabbitt. I too find myself listening to alternative media such as you mentioned as our local radio stations offers me fewer and fewer options, limited diversity and alternatives to keep me welded to my am/fm radio. It’s funny that Jim mentions live and local since KSRV has for as long as I can remember always embraced a great deal of automation to cut down their operations costs. They are certainly not the only ones by far in this valley or nation. The key point that we need to understand is that local radio needs to have a warm upbeat caring tone. Local radio also has to have a presence in our community.including such fundlementals as current time, news, sports, temperature-WX, local news etc. And most of all a human presence. As technology evolves offering more and more choices to the listener and fragmenting the once big blocks of audience to target, those stations that can still maintain a sense of community in their programming will probably succeed where others will just be stuck on idle. That to me is perhaps the greatest challenge to local radio in the next few decades.
Wrabbitt said:
“Ipods, satellite radio and Internet Radio are all competition to radio as advertisers are also migrating to Internet away from radio and TV.”
Until recently, the NAB was saying publicly that satellite radio was no competition to terrestrial radio. Of course, behind the scenes, they were lobbying the FCC to put restrictions on sat rad, but that was in contradiction to their public statements. Methinks the NAB would like to have it both ways.
For the record, Wrabbitt, I agree with you about it being competition for “terrestrial” radio, along with iPods and other media.
The…..
It all comes down to the definition of competition. Satalite is not making a dent in radio listenership, or income…..but everything is competition. Tv is competition, reading is even competition, everything that can take away from a listener and their time spent listenening. As far as legislation, if you’d pay a little closer attention, they don’t want to put “additional” restrictions on satalite, they want an equal playing field with the exact same restricions as terrestrial radio….thier contention is radio is radio, and all radio should be treated the same.
Lia is satellite radio of sorts- just broadcast from a terrestrial signal with local spots and a legal ID. In fact, in another posting that I made, I pointed out that KID FM 96.1 in Idaho Falls/Pocatello plays country, calls themselves “The Bull” and plays Lia in the evenings. This kind of blase cookie-cutter radio does have trouble competing with the internet, TV, and satellite radio because it is not very interesting or entertaining.
Try to make your station interesting. Give us something we can’t get on the other radio stations. Preferably, something produced locally. Then we would actually see local media competing, and not just see if your satellite feed can compete with those you can get on XM or Sirius.
What?
I wonder how much a station pay’s for the Lia show. You gotta figure if it’s like a thousand a month, you could easily get some green, starved kid dying to get into the industry to pull a 5 hour shift each night for that. With a little-or a lot of guidance, professional management and talent building you’d have yourself a nice fill in/future full timer and a local kid who knows what’s important in the city to the people…after all, what’s important in Seattle definitely ain’t important in Idaho Falls!!
I agree with you guys about the future of radio and it’s challenges especially the “key Point” from RadioActive. I sure hope radio goes back to where the community feels like their favorite station is truly an extention of their own voice….on EVERY DAY PART (but that could be wishful thinking). btw I do believe many broadcasters do an almost perfect job now…Boise radio has so much great creativity!!
I think Lia is barter (many Satellite shows are) meaning they get the show in exchange for commercials. This way there is no actual cost.
But still…that is revenue lost because you can only play so many commercials. I’m sure each market has it’s individual price based on size. I just wonder what the trade out is.
Daisy,
You are not going to find some kid willing to work every night 6 nights a week for a grand a month…..that works out to around 700 after taxes, and no kid I know is going to give up thier precious party time every night for a measly $700. They can make more delivering pizza. And a grand a month is more than that for the company too….they have medical and other benifits, plus vacation etc….. so it actually ends up being around 15 hundred a month……when barter cost them nothing…..only unsold inventory. No I don’t like it either, but I can see why they do it…..it’s good financial business.
I work for a grand a month and I do mornings. So I guess you are wrong, Codger.
25-30 hours per week in exchange for $1000 a month? I guess you can include me as one of the “green, starved kid(s) dying to get into the industry”, because it sounds pretty good to me.
Hey, I’m part of that kid group too. I will work anytime of day plus “try” kick either or both Ian or Adam’s ass for that one grand a month!!
Hey Dale, let’s turn that Ontario-based country station and turn it heads-up into a baseline rock station.
Then, you’d have a format to sell in Boise.
I get 640 in SS benefits. I made 2-300 dollars more sorting bottlae and cans for people with refunds coming in 1989.
Dayum, Codger. Hearing that after my free AARP Geritol GPS enabled trial pack came in yesterday’s mail gives me a bad kidney.
I was going to say, I think you’re wrong, codger. Heck knows I’d do it.
I would like to have that as a part-time job too-to supplement the crappy full-time one I already have. It would be nice to have a job you enjoy and have fun at it too. Hopefully that is the case Ian. However, I sure would not want to have to try and support myself and or a spouse and rugrats on that kind of income again…yes, I have been there, done that. For what its worth and what I heard on a business radio report the other day. The “average” hourly income in the USA is now $15.24 and hour…. Just something to think about as you cash your paycheck.
15.24 per hour? Sheesh. They probably forgot to factor in Idaho radio tech and talent wages when they came up with that figure.
Yes, Peabody… I agree that seems damn high for Idaho wages… But I am still wondering how folks can afford those hugh and high priced homes they are building… its beyond me…. or maybe its all that DEBT everyone is in…NAH….well my van down by the river awaits… got to pack in some extra newspaper this week as insulation its going to get CCCCCOOOOOLLLLLLLLLDDDDDD!
They all have crack labs. That’s where the rich get rich. I’m afraid I’d blow myself to Algeria, so I’m poor and live in a cardboard box in the park.
Must be. Thats all I can figure too… Use some latex paint on that box it will help repell the rain.
I’ve heard sticker spotters in big market’s make 10 bucks an hour! That job used to be unpaid in all markets. On air jobs when you are completely green…think of how BAD you used to be when you started (and how much damage you could do to a station)….I know I shudder at the thought and even though I try to write a lot now and prepare where before I just thought I knew it all…still sometimes I sure sound like a total dweeb. ohhhh the humility of it all…..but what a thrill when you get a good one hey? Sure would be nice to get some more youngsters chops behind the mic to experience that!! Great for the future of terrestrial radio??
Daisy- Those days of “green machines” behind the mic took place in far greater numbers when there were caps on the number of stations that could be owned. There are still opportunities in smaller markets and as board ops in larger markets during overnights but, it would appear as though being able to get some experience on air the way it used to be done is not going to happen again…at least it appears that way. There are lots of very experienced radio announcers who have left the occupation forever. Maybe you can figure out a way to help perfect the next crop of radio announcers “sound” without having all those mom and pop owned stations willing to give them their first ticket? If so you might be the next millionaire.