PEAK BROADCASTING PURCHASES CC BOISE
Don Day | March 3, 2007EXCLUSIVE
Idaho Radio News has learned that Peak Broadcasting of Fresno, CA has entered in to an agreement to purchase six radio stations in the Boise, ID area, currently owned by Clear Channel Communications.
Peak will pick up KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM, KCIX/Mix 106, KXLT/Lite 108, KTMY/My Country 104.3, KFXD/Classic Country 630 and KIDO/News Radio 580 – all currently broadcasting from offices on ParkCenter Blvd. in Boise.
Peak says it will focus on programming and “customer based” advertising solutions – and will pump “significant marketing” in to the stations. The group also promises to push new media.
The sale is part of Clear Channel’s ongoing effort to take the company private. The company announced it would shed all radio clusters outside the top 100 markets – with Boise being the largest group up for sale. This is the first change in ownership for one of the three major Boise clusters in nearly a decade.
The FCC still has to approve the deal.
More coverage to come…
wow! this is fascinating, thrilling, compelling stuff! i need more popcorn…and a nice merlot. last time it was this intense….I was involved!
no snarkiness intended.
Dizzle Said:
“Obviously, I have pegged HAS BEEN and Janice to a tee without prior knowledge of their relationship status.”
-The only thing you obviously demonstrated is that you have no idea about how a marriage actually works, especially what Has Been and I have. In order to understand that, it would precipitate you having a meaningful date with a woman first.
“Here’s one more observation. I am out of both you’re collective demos. Obviously, you socialize and work with with older, more financially stable, white people. While, I am a younger man who socializes with people of all races, nationalities and creeds because that is the diversity of my age group in Ada and Canyon counties. That’s fact! That’s reality!”
-The reality is that you and I are in the same age demographic. Has Been and I have just chosen to enter our thirties with responsibilities that make us good citizens of our community. We earn an income, take care of our child, and volunteer to help in our community in a number of ways. I’m actually quite proud of that fact. I don’t know what your excuse is. Once again, however, you are implying I am racist and I will caution you one more time to back off your stance unless you come with proof. My use of the term ‘cracker’ in my original post (and mind you, that post was not a response to something you had written), was done in a sarcastic way, made by a caucasian to the caucasian race in general! How is what I said any different than African American people using the “N” term as a slang word within their culture? Get off your flippin’ high horse, Dizzle. I choose not to parade my friends around categorized by their race, creed, culture or gender preference. I tend to introduce them simply by using their names, and hang out with them because I share similar views with them and enjoy the pleasure of their company. Call me silly, but I kind of think that’s a better way of doing things.
“No wonder I don’t relate. I live outside an office and socialize with people my age.”
–You don’t relate to me because you choose not to. You choose, instead to throw around immature comments about my menstrual cycle and insult my husband’s manhood – which I can assure you, is quite intact.
“FYI…Canyon County is more than 50 percent Hispanic/Latinos and most are in the 18-34 year old range. These people commute daily, all within the listening area. Think about that every time you look at a food services industry worker in Boise. Then check out the parking lot and locate the all the 2C plates.”
–And you’re calling ME racist? Wow, buddy. I would beg to differ with you on the proportion of Hispanic people in our community, but I’m not going to even touch the rest of that inflammatory comment. Wow.
“It happened in Fresno, why not Boise?? Why are people so afraid of change here??”
–We’re not afraid of change, but we don’t want to be Fresno either. Let Fresno be Fresno, and if you like it so much there, why don’t you move there? Let Boise be what Boise is and allow it to evolve in its own direction. That’s all we can ask of any collective community.
“PS…Janice, just calling me a d*ckhead would have been easier. I’m used to the verbal abuse most women are capable of….[Dizzle continues his rant..I won't repeat it, see above]
–Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, Dizzle, I really don’t care about your life. What you do with it is up to you. I think that second post pretty much sums you up in a nutshell, and I’ll not dignify it with more than the response I’ve already provided here. I could call you a “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire”…but I gave up childish rhetoric like that long ago.
Instead, I’m going to go back to my (as you would characterize it) seriously misguided and bigoted life, with my manless husband, my child (and don’t you even think about picking on him), my military-industrial complex job, my WASP friends and my pathetic existence.
And you know what? I am grateful every day for each and every part of it and every person in it. Even you. That is a happiness I hope one day you’ll figure out and find on your own.
To Has Been …. Hey, I need to talk to you. You made a reference in one of your posts I need to follow up on. (It all good. Don’t worry) My website is listed in the “Journal Employees” topic. You can e-mail thru my site by clicking “contact us”. If you look around my site you might know why I want to talk to you.
Wake me up when the woman STOPS talking.
dizzle, dizzle, dizzle….tsk, tsk, tsk. your social slip is showing. no offense, but you have a lot to learn about women…and people in general.
i hope your dad is doing ok, by the way.
Wow. This is what happens when a busy week prevents me from watching the discussion.
I have a headache now.
(done in a “bugs bunny” voice): “Incredible, ain’t it?”
I miss the days when I made the most idotic comments on this page. I guess times they are a changin’.
I’m sorry, Don…I really thought my original post was fairly benign. And at least worth a little chuckle. I respect your policies on this blog and have had my last discussion with Dizzle. Period. No need to pull the car over and smack the kids in the back seat…Has Been and I will be good now…we promise! :)
The final sale price for CC’s Boise stations was pegged at 25 Million. CC only required 10 percent down payment then the balance at closing.
Oh Drizzle Drizzle Drizzle. You want Boise radio to catch up to the 21st century, you grip about a cracker reference, yet you stay in the 50’s with your “let me know when the woman shuts up” throw down. Seriously man, you need to double up on your grow-up pills. If that’s the best thing way you can insult somebody, Fresno is calling and wants you back!
The rhythmic stations have been tried here at least three different times int he last ten years from what I can remember, and every time, the numbers slip. Heck, the rhythmic stations in Spokane tank, and it’s even bigger than Boise! I’m sure in due time, they’ll be enough peoplethat it’ll work; it’s just not yet.
Oh, and like lollygag, hiding behind your fake name & calling other people out… Carmelo Anthony just called, and he thinks that’s messed up!!
I’ve been sitting on the sidelines reading this volley of words and such and thought to myself …. Hey, how about that Peak purchase of CC????????
“Be Quiet WOMAN and Make Me a Sandwich!”
The television is an “Vagina with Cablebox”.
Most of the entire medium is programmed for women. Besides some movies and sporting events, the ratio to Men’s oriented programming verses females in both radio and TV is minimal at best.
Nothing besides the Discovery Channel and Spike TV is targeted to men. It’s “Women’s network” THIS and “Cooking Channel” THAT.
The main issue is I don’t see anything programmed for the real, hard working, common person. Formats that have more of an Urban lean to them are focused to the working class person in a lower-to-medium class earning level of listeners. The Boise, Nampa, Caldwell metroplex that is this media market is now 600,000 strong. Most of them are in this class category. Service professionals and the working class people is who most radio should be programmed for. A lot of people in Boise miss this target.
There are all kinds of different people in this valley who are just bored with the state radio is in. A good percentage of people I know who live in Boise think the stations that are aimed to my age demographic are weak at best. People I know who are even younger than I am have worse comments about how “radio is supposed to be.” Some of you people can’t draw listeners between the ages of 18-34 years old, then you like to mock and like to make fun of them and their opinions on how you do you’re craft.
For a so-called “dying media”, I still get a entertainment value from listening to terrestrial radio. It’s juts too bad everyone in this town is just trying to counter-program each other instead of being original and creating a niche.
By the way in the past, Women wanted equal rights. In my book, that’s called treating them as equals, just like men.
When I type, I type like I speak and I speak as openly and as blunt as possible. I can understand how some of my comments can be interpreted. Take my comments as you wish. I have no shame in speaking honestly.
PS…For anyone that has figured it out by now, If you click on the big name and do a little surfing, you can find out exactly who I am, send viruses, make prank phone calls and leave some piles of burning dog pooh on my porch, whatever.
yeh, Dizzle, how about all that ESPN stuff on my cable?….its Soooooooooo female oriented. As for leaving burning piles of dog pooh on your porch, why be redundant?
and yeh, Jack how ABOUT that purchase of CC by Peak? Somethin’, hunh? That WOULD make a good talking point!
Anyone? Anyone?
How long shall Don allow this mess to continue…
I work in TV, as does Don… Women outnumber men on the planet by a few percentage points… Of course things are going to be slightly geared towards women :P
http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/wp02/wp-02004.pdf
Dizzle, I am just wondering have you ever worked radio here in Boise? Not trying to be a samrt ass just wondering, if so when and what did you do at the station?
That’s it, I, an untrained idiot with slightly more experience than Dizzle, will now explain why we don’t have an Urban station.
The reason Boise doesn’t have an Urban station…
1)Isn’t because people won’t listen (They would)
2)Isn’t because there isn’t a market for it (There’s no competition)
3)Isn’t because it wouldn’t get ratings (It would probably do well)
$)Isn’t because nobody could run it well (All the companies have the experience to make it work)
No no, the reason Boise doesn’t have an Urban station is because NOBODY WOULD BUY IT.
I’m talking advertisers here. Now, I know you’ll go off and tell me a few business that would put advertising on the station, and your right, they would spend the money. But how much? A thousand bucks a month? And then would they buy annuals, or stop after a few months? Do you have guarantess on that?
What I’m saying, is that without a major advertiser on the station, your Tom Scott Motors, your Les Schwabs, your Zamzows, all of whom spend massive amounts of money in radio every month, well, Dizzle, you just aren’t going to make the expenses for the station worth it. And trust me, I don’t see Lee Read shilling money out for a spot on an urban station (whether or not that’s a good idea or not).
Point is, you’d have a hard time getting any major local revenue for your urban station, and don’t even start to think you can run the whole thing off national, because you can’t.
Look, Dizz, if you don’t believe me, why don’t you go and talk to the guys at Kiss or Magic about their upstream push for revenue, and they’re TOP 40, not even as close to risque as an Urban station would be.
Bottom line, just saying it would make money doesn’t mean it will. The stupid economic fact in radio is that sometimes, lots of people listening doesn’t equal money. Sorry to shatter your dreams. (Although I feel you’ll have some small point you will use to burst my bubble. Good luck with that.)
THANK YOU IAN! If you refer back to one of my long-winded, somewhat ranting posts (sorry again for that, everyone), you will note that’s exactly what I said about the format in question.
(I’m quoting myself here…) “…and you’re telling me we’re all of a sudden hip and cool enough to financially support a Rhythmic station!??!?!?”
It’s not just about who will listen. It’s also about who wants to reach the people who have money to shop in their stores. Read: DISPOSABLE INCOME. Typically, Women 25-54 still claim the prize of the most coveted demographic as far as who to advertise to. Women 25-54 (of which I am one) do not – traditionally – listen to an urban format. Ian is exactly right when he says that the Tom Scotts, Les Schwabs, and Zamzows are going to spend their money where their customers listen. Period.
Good for you Dizzle. I’m glad you decided to reveal your true self by linking to your Myspace page and demonstrate just how inept you are at the inner works of radio or business for that matter.
I don’t need to point out the holes in your argument from your most recent post. Everyone can see that they are about as valid as a screen door on a submarine.
If being a chauvinist is what you define as “keeping it real”, then congrats! You’ve achieved your goal.
Hey Janice, when you’re finally done shutting up, can you get your butt back in the kitchen & make me a sandwich?
“I have a dream!! That someday, all women will shut up & get back in the kitchen, start plopping out babies, and make more sandwiches for their men!”
It all depends on the mood I’m in if I prefer Food Network over ESPN. Giana LOVES to show off her big girl boobs!
First of all, and Urban station would not work in Boise.
Rhythmic Top 40 is different. I believe KIBT/Colorado Springs, KUBE/Seattle, and KXJM/Portland would disagree with your statement that rhythmic would not be a good sales vehicle.
Need the right staff to do it.
Idaho Radio Fan Says
First of all, and Urban station would not work in Boise.
Rhythmic Top 40 is different. I believe KIBT/Colorado Springs, KUBE/Seattle, and KXJM/Portland would disagree with your statement that rhythmic would not be a good sales vehicle.
Need the right staff to do it
WRONG. Not here. Not yet. The people with the purse strings aren’tready for this yet.
Thank You Idaho Radio Fan.
Urban formats are more than just Rhythmic stations. An Oldies station could have an Urban twist to it. A ROCK station could have an Urban twist to it.
It all has to do with presentation.
Ian, thank you for the insight. Even though we take shots at each other, I know you have a really good point.
In my 8 years of radio and television experience, I’ve learned advertisers go where GOOD sales people tell them to go. A good sales staff can sell anyone, anything. The “Blue Chip” advertisers you mention all have agencies who purchase their advertising for them. If a station has the ratings/numbers to attract the agency to the station for a buy, they typically don’t care what station takes the money, the agencies only care about points per cost and promised average payout for the commercials if the ratings don’t hit what’s expected of the station. They don’t care what format, music, talent, nothing. All they care about is the numbers. The most amount of listeners possible for that station at that time period.
The rest is “Salespersons” work in my eyes.
Soon, better Arbitron metering will be implemented in the Boise area and none of this will matter. Two ratings periods a year and three ratings periods being used as a trend will not work in Boise any longer. Once you see this change implemented, more listeners will start seeing different fractions in programming because the ratings system will be available four times a year with monthly updates to see exactly how the station is metering with it’s audience.
Dizzle, I’m going to give you some advice that my high school English teacher told me.
1.) Don’t mix your sugar with your alcohol.
2.) Know when to shut up.
You’ve GOT to let this one go, man. Every word you say just creates a deeper hole for you to climb out of. I left the industry long ago and I see many flaws in your argument.
You’ve done an honorable job to get this train back on track, but it derailed a log time ago. You gave it a good fight, but when someone tells you to stay down, you need to stay down.
So, I’m going to heed the advice given to me a long time ago and shut up. Something you should think about too. Trust me, it will save you from looking more like a fool to the readers who actually have something to do with the money making portion of the business.
“An Oldies station could have an Urban twist to it. A ROCK station could have an Urban twist to it.”
Rock and Urban? Maybe. Oldies and Urban? Not a chance. Unless you’re referring to The Commodores or The Four Tops as Urban, that is. The Beach Boys followed by DMX just wouldn’t work.
Hey, Has been, there’s obviously a reason YOU’RE a HAS BEEN. Telling another man to shut up is like 2nd grade. What are you going to do next, spit on me, push me down??
My Job: Create a Product Worth Selling Their Job: SELL SPOTS! Promotions Job: Create and Come Up with marketable ideas to promote the station by using sponsors who advertise.
Why get advice from a Has Been when I have several mentors in the radio business telling me my opinion is right on point??? Why would a creative person like myself give two squirts of urine what a sales person thinks about my station.
The line where sales people start and radio people begin starts with a product, not a salesperson. In my opinion, the “line” over the years has disappeared because of the lack of direct control some managers DON’T have over their stations.
The day a sales person calls the shots for a radio stations programming decisions, You might as well as ask the sales guy to come in the studio and take over.
Adam, Any station can have an Urban sound to it.
What I believe classifies an “Urban” station is how the station is presented to the target audience, how the delivery and execution of stations elements are used and how the talent speaks on-the-air to it’s audience.
Presentation is what it’s about, not just the music.
KJ, I started “doing stuff” in radio when I was 14 years old. I was actually employed full time at 16. I was doing my own live air shifts when I was 17. I spent about two years on-air between KOOL and The Arrow.
By my own admission, I was nothing but “a lousy card reader” on the air.
I moved on and started working on the technical side in TV.
No wonder no one’s ever heard of me, I worked at KNIN for 6 years.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!
GIVE IT A REST PEOPLE.
STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO HIM.
Ok, I’ve read and re-read the past 20 or so posts and I have no idear what point dizzle is trying to make or what everyone is trying to argue about….can we get back to the original post.
Dizzle –
Sorry man, but I have to agree with HAS BEEN. It’s really time for you to shut up.
On the other hand, if you keep digging the hole you’re in maybe it will just cave in on you and we can forget about you.
And what Tim said….. It’s time we all just ignored this guy. There’s not much substance to respond to anyway. He tends to pull folks to his own level. As I’ve stated before, it’s hard to argue with a skunk and come out smelling like a rose. So, I’m walking away and he can continue to whine in the distance ……..
Actually, Urban Oldies stations are common in the South & on the East Coast.
I’ve heard them play pretty much everything from Diana Ross to Lionel Richie, and at night, they switch more old school like Parlament – Funkadelic – George Clinton.
And see, that makes sense, Cale. As those ‘urban’ style formats start to age, than a ‘classic’ version of that format should exist (and do well). But again, that goes back to the music aging with the group that listens….the Adult 25-54. A standard urban station appeals to a 18-34 demo at best. And, in this market…there is not enough of that base to make the format financially viable. Adults 25-54 and older demos catering to the Baby Boomers will always take top advertising dollars because that’s where the largest group of adults are – and they are the ones that have the disposable income.
If Peak is smart, they’ll come into the market, sit back and learn about the composition of this market, and then (only if they can exploit an opening) should they change formats. You can’t successfully change what you don’t understand. They don’t know Boise…yet.
Personally, I’m not sure it’s the formats, anyway. It’s much more about giving the local people in the trenches what they need to succeed. That includes operations and sales!
“hard to argue with a skunk and come out smelling like a rose”
Haha… that was funny. Made me laugh.
Never heard that one before…
And no… I’m not living in a cave.
This is far too moot of a point to argue with this level of intensity. An Urban station is not very likely to show up in this market anytime soon. A company like peak that is spending the big bucks to buy a cluster like this one, is probably going to do what will stabilize the cluster and grow the fastest- stick with the tried and true. Why? Because it works. And because that is what the consultants will tell them. Like Ian said, you have to be able to market your product and SELL it. This still is, after all, conservative little old Idaho we’re talking about here. Besides, look at the stations that Peak owns in Fresno. News-Talk and country seem to do quite well for them there.
Now don’t get me wrong, I would be excited to see someone start a station with a creative new format, but the reality is that most of these broadcasting companies are here to make lots of money and grow- exciting or not.
Maybe someday…
86
All the other rhetoric aside, there is one thing I wish PEAK would do. It has nothing to do with formats, or income. I hope they might consider undoing the historical travesty pulled by CC, and restore the call letters of KFXD and KIDO to their previous frequencies. The flip that CC did a few years ago destoyed a part of the heritage of two pioneer stations in Idaho.
To my understanding the reason for the call letter / frequency flip had to do with the signal strength of one over another.
Knowing your job role RDS :) you can probably verify this. Doesn’t 580 have a greater reach than 630? Since KIDO’s programming was more of a money maker for CC (I’m assuming) than KFXD’s programming, from a business standpoint it made sense to do the flip.
Historically it’s a downer they even did it, but would you ever expect a company like Clear Channel to ever respect the legacy of these two stations?
That was my point. They had no respect for the legacy of the stations. And, they could have flipped formats and kept the call letters where they were. What would have been wrong with News Radio KFXD? I fully understand why they moved the formats from one to the other, but they didn’t have to screw up the call letters. It made about as much sense as if KBOI and KTIK wanted to change formats with each other — would they make 670 KTIK and 1350 KBOI? Anyway, food for thought. Maybe there aren’t a lot of us the care about history, but it sure seemed like a stupid move for those that do.
Programming content and signal strength were obviously the motivating factors behind the switch, but why did they feel the need to switch the station calls? It seems like it would have been easier to trade formats. Maybe CC wanted the KIDO call on their talk station beacause it “sounded cooler”. Whatever. I agree with RDS, flip ‘em back.
Amen!
I’d be a fan of that too… and if Clear Channel would bring back “KISN” to Salt Lake City, not hanging out on a ‘KISS FM’ clone in Bozeman, Mont. (did they sell that cluster)
I agree with Has Been and RDS when it comes to the call letters flip on KIDO and KFXD.
Think about it..You’re talking about Clear Channel.
CC didn’t care about Idaho radio history when they flipped those calls. From my memory, that was the whole operating line from most everyone in a management position at the mighty CC/Boise back when that decision was made.
They only cared about the bottom line.
The flip between KIDO and KFXD was due in large part to the confusion in the Arbitron between KIDO 630 and KBOI 670.. Two “K”’s “I”’s “O”’s and “6-something”’s right next to each other on the dial.. Come on guys! History is just that- HISTORY.. Maybe you all should pony up the dough and make a purchase the next time the RIGHFUL OWNER of two frequencies wants to switch them.
Clear Channel’s original plan was to change KFXD’s call letters to KBBK when they changed 580 to Classic Country. They even applied to the FCC to change the calls. But when they realized they had some awesome old-school letters, they asked the FCC to rescind their original request.
Well I guess it’s a good thing they only decided to screw things up a little bit. Besides, didn’t 92.3 have the KBBK call at one time?
FYI Idaho Radio Buff, before KISN was in SLC, it was a broadcasting legend in Portland, OR on the AM. They got their license yanked when they offere prizes such as cruises to the Bahamas and yet when folks came to pick them up, they were told, “OOOPS, here, have this nice new 45 record instead.”
I wish Citadel would do the right thing and restore Magic to 92.3 and Kizn to 93.1!
By the way… What will be the fate of the Clear Channel out of market voicetrackers? Will Peak keep them, or are they CC only? Obviously, the 1-800 number contests and one-size-fits-all nationwide station imaging will be a thing of the past. I wonder, if the current VTers do go away, will we have some local talent?
To comment on what Rocket said, CC would have been better off leaving KFXD on 580, and moving the news/talk to that with the KFXD call, because it would have been harder to confuse KFXD with KBOI, unless they WANTED the confusion, hoping to bolster their numbers from people that really listened to KBOI. So again, logically, they made a dumb move. And yes to the comment from Peabody — KBBK was the 92.3 call for many years. It was kind of a weird progressive format of sorts until 1974 when it moved its transmitter from 9400 Fairview to Deer Point. At that time it went Top-40 style rock. I don’t recall when they changed the call, but I think it was in the 80’s when new owners changed the format to something else. An AM (Burley, I think) picked up the KBBK call at that time. I don’t know if they still have it or not. I will be adding some old KBBK stuff to my site soon, including a few airchecks from the early 70’s. It will take sometime to get all the stuff together, so don’t expect it real soon, even tho I’ve created the page for it.