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Thoughts on Paul Gallant's new show on KILT-AM Sports Radio 610


Blue Dogs

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Now that Brien Straw is no longer at the station, Paul Gallant is doing solo with a new show, "Gallant at Night" on KILT-AM Sports Radio 610 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM & do you see the show being popular among viewers ?

http://houston.cbslocal.com/category/paul-gallant-shows/

 

A.) YES

B.) NO

C.) Too Soon to Tell

 

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I'll take D, none of the above. I'll even go a step further for you, Blue Dogs. By this date, in one calendar year, Paul Gallant, N.D. Kalu, John Lopez, Nick Wright, and the rest of the line-up will be gone...and 610 won't be "Sportsradio" anymore, to boot.

What???

Yeah, I'm crazy...or so you might think. We'll just have to wait and see.

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20 minutes ago, Purpledevil said:

I'll take D, none of the above. I'll even go a step further for you, Blue Dogs. By this date, in one calendar year, Paul Gallant, N.D. Kalu, John Lopez, Nick Wright, and the rest of the line-up will be gone...and 610 won't be "Sportsradio" anymore, to boot.

What???

Yeah, I'm crazy...or so you might think. We'll just have to wait and see.

Wright seems to be continuing to PISS off more people lately with his shtick & so-called "sports takes". I'm still laughing at UH Cougars Football Coach Tom Herman punking his butt!

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"...and, who are you???

I couldn't have said it better myself, coach.

Nick Wright is doing his job. It doesn't matter how many listeners get "pissed off", Blue Dogs, it only matters that they are still listening. I mean, Howard Stern built an entire career on schtick.

Of course, none of this will matter once CBS sells off KILT and it starts speaking in a language other than English, and that day is coming...

 

 

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I do indeed. Don't know how many Houstonians know this, but CBS is attempting to divest itself of its entire radio division. More of a national story, so I didn't post anything referencing the event. CBS owns KKHH, KHMX, KLOL, KILT AM & FM, and KIKK. The FMs will likely go to a more known radio corporation, as they will command big money to obtain them. Think Cox, Cumulus, Alpha Media. 

The two AMs, 610 KILT and 650 KIKK will most likely be spun off if acquired by one of the big boys, or sold off separately to independent LLCs or "non profit" operator(s). That doesn't bode well for either of them. KIKK is certainly the first one to change to foreign language, I mean, it's already running the CBS Sportsradio bird feed, which is basically a computer in a closet at the Greenway Plaza studios running 650. It's a sure fire goner, given that it's a Class D, only operating at 250 watts. Think of what just happened to KCOH. That's the future for 650, and unless Cox or Alpha gets a hold of 610, its apparent future isn't going to be much different.

Not only will there be a complete and thorough house cleaning at KILT, Blue Dogs, I forsee walking papers being handed out clear across the 6 station Houston cluster and beyond.

Not the best time to be employed by CBS radio, in my estimation.

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Between CBS getting out of the radio business and iHurt going into bankruptcy, there will be major changes or even improvements as stations are spun off hopefully to individual owners and away from large conglomerates. 

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The biggest negative I forsee there is the return of "mom and pops" controlled stations would not be what you, I, and other older folks so fondly remember from years past. If we take a quick look at what those stations here in Houston are currently doing as far as programming, we find a large amount of Christian teaching and preaching programming, both in English and Spanish language. The rest are brokered.

A perfect example of this is the recent sale of KCOH. Owned by Liberman, it was a Regional Mexican music format. It's off the air now, but when it returns, it will be yet another Spanish language Christian preaching station. Same thing happened to KMIC when the Villarreal brothers bought it from Disney. 

The one main exception is KGOW/KFNC, owned by David Gow. There we have two low rated sports stations that garner little notice from listeners. KGOW rarely even pulls a .1 share, KFNC does some better, but no matter where the COL for 97-5 is moved to, it's still a Beaumont station. It says quite a bit when Gow, a local owner, runs two different sports formats that "compete" with each other, as opposed to expanding the company's horizons and giving an attempt to a secular music format. Can anyone honestly say with a straight face that KGOW wouldn't do better as a classic hits station than what it currently is? It wouldn't have ANY competition whatsoever. Instead, it is the perennial worst rated sports station in this market.

The other side of the argument is, of course, that if it does well, someone else would jump in and do it on an FM signal, robbing all of its listeners and rendering it obsolete. Ok, so then wouldn't that prove to everyone that all of the consultants that have constantly stated that the format can't succeed because they can't sell it to advertisers are dead wrong? Am I really the only one that see the oxymoron in that?

You're a member of the other board, stan. You've read it time and time again, as have I. Listeners don't matter, only the advertiser buying time. Where I get lost in the whole of the equation, is that I have never figured out how the advertiser ever expects to peddle their product through the medium, when the day comes that no ear is there to hear it. As long as that's the attitude expressed by those that control the radio airwaves, the medium will continue to decline and eventually AM and FM radio will be as useless as shortwave. I'm not convinced in any way that local ownership can reverse the course, or that the dials would be any more appealing to Houston listeners if returned to local operators. The big conglomerates are the only ones providing secular, mainstream music. If they go away, I fear our FM dial will look a lot like our AM dial currently does. It's already happening with these FM translators like 94-1, 95-1, 98-7, and 106-1. Giving control of the full power FMs to locally owned broadcasters will lead to them into much of the same format offerings as we've recently been exposed to, in my humble estimation.

 

 

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I agree and think the problems iHurt and other large broadcasters face are many, some related to how they've destroyed the product they currently offer. It doesn't help matters that millenials have all but abandoned regular listening of traditional radio as they prefer other options when hearing new music, for example. Other demographics have abandoned radio for other reasons, such as complete loss of w format like classic hits in Houston. I am tired of the all the similar themed talk stations, mostly from iHurt.  I don't care to listen to 8 hours of Michael Berry a day along with Limbaugh and Hannity. Nor do I care to hear voice tracked stations that are no better than the automated Drake Chenault format we ran 40 years ago. I'm not sure that the ratings for radio listening are that accurate anyway, and yet those and advertising income determine who or what format stays on the air.  Evidently some of the data incorrect if companies are going bankrupt or selling off.

If iHeart and Cumulus go bankrupt and CBS sells off their stations it will be quite an interesting future. 

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On Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 5:24 PM, Purpledevil said:

The biggest negative I forsee there is the return of "mom and pops" controlled stations would not be what you, I, and other older folks so fondly remember from years past. If we take a quick look at what those stations here in Houston are currently doing as far as programming, we find a large amount of Christian teaching and preaching programming, both in English and Spanish language. The rest are brokered.

A perfect example of this is the recent sale of KCOH. Owned by Liberman, it was a Regional Mexican music format. It's off the air now, but when it returns, it will be yet another Spanish language Christian preaching station. Same thing happened to KMIC when the Villarreal brothers bought it from Disney.

The one main exception is KGOW/KFNC, owned by David Gow. There we have two low rated sports stations that garner little notice from listeners. KGOW rarely even pulls a .1 share, KFNC does some better, but no matter where the COL for 97-5 is moved to, it's still a Beaumont station. It says quite a bit when Gow, a local owner, runs two different sports formats that "compete" with each other, as opposed to expanding the company's horizons and giving an attempt to a secular music format. Can anyone honestly say with a straight face that KGOW wouldn't do better as a classic hits station than what it currently is? It wouldn't have ANY competition whatsoever. Instead, it is the perennial worst rated sports station in this market.

The other side of the argument is, of course, that if it does well, someone else would jump in and do it on an FM signal, robbing all of its listeners and rendering it obsolete. Ok, so then wouldn't that prove to everyone that all of the consultants that have constantly stated that the format can't succeed because they can't sell it to advertisers are dead wrong? Am I really the only one that see the oxymoron in that?

You're a member of the other board, stan. You've read it time and time again, as have I. Listeners don't matter, only the advertiser buying time. Where I get lost in the whole of the equation, is that I have never figured out how the advertiser ever expects to peddle their product through the medium, when the day comes that no ear is there to hear it. As long as that's the attitude expressed by those that control the radio airwaves, the medium will continue to decline and eventually AM and FM radio will be as useless as shortwave. I'm not convinced in any way that local ownership can reverse the course, or that the dials would be any more appealing to Houston listeners if returned to local operators. The big conglomerates are the only ones providing secular, mainstream music. If they go away, I fear our FM dial will look a lot like our AM dial currently does. It's already happening with these FM translators like 94-1, 95-1, 98-7, and 106-1. Giving control of the full power FMs to locally owned broadcasters will lead to them into much of the same format offerings as we've recently been exposed to, in my humble estimation.

 

 

In other words, Jim Mudd & Co., from "In The Loop" & others at KILT-AM Sports Radio 610 are polishing up their resumes as we speak!

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I wouldn't know, Blue, but I'm willing to bet you they've all got an eye permanently affixed on what's transpiring with regards to the potential sell off. Just a waiting game now. Les Moonves just announced this a few days ago. Of course, he has made the statement before, however, he now has the ability to make the call himself. That wasn't the case before, and the tone appears to be much more serious with regards to this latest release. The biggest problem here is that it's going to be difficult to find a suitor for the stations that have the means to meet the asking price CBS will likely set, and that has room under the cap to add facilities. Here in Houston, Cumulus instantly comes to mind, and God help us all if they get a hold of these four fine FM facilities, and the two historic AMs.

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Certainly not an ignorant question, Witch King. To really delve into what all is wrong with Cumulus Media as a radio operator would take up multiple pages. From horrible business decisions like giving Lew Dickey a lucrative extension, then having to buy him out just a few short months later, rolling out the "Nash" country brand nationally and spending extensive money to do so, which has been an utter failure to date, leading to several stations dropping it already, the Rdio fiasco, the cookie cutter one size fits all programming that is mandated from the Atlanta HQ, the fact that their stock price is squarely in the toilet; there are just so many negatives to name.

We have our own examples here in town. Let's quickly look at two of them. On your dial, there is a 103-7 FM. Once, a small time country station serving Conroe, Willis, and The Woodlands, owned by local grocery retailer Ben Amato. Cumulus purchased it from him in 2005 for $32.2 million. Then they incurred the expense of moving it from the old tower site in Montgomery County, upgrading it to 100kW at the Devers tower, and giving birth to Rock 103-7. That failed as a format, since no matter how much they tried to make it into the continuation of KLOL, with programming having to be approved from Atlanta, it wasn't even close to capturing what made 101 the station so many remember as THE rock station others could only dream of being. It then became Jack FM, which lasted all of 6 months, then to the final product "103-7 FM" which teeter tottered between classic rock and Adult Album Alternative. All the while, the station never generated more than a 1 share in Houston. They then turned around and sold the now 100,000 watt station, that has a coverage area from Lake Charles all the way here to Houston to EMF for $5 million. That's no typo, Witch King. $5 million dollars. Talk about taking a complete bath. It will easily go down as the worst period in the facility's existence. 

Then there's our heritage KRBE. Once owned by Susquehanna, it was known for the top 40 powerhouse of southeast Texas. Looking for the latest and greatest tracks in contemporary hit radio? 104 KRBE was where you went. Energetic DJs, constantly evolving playlist, tremendous promotions and involved interaction within the community. KRBE is still reporting as a CHR, or Top 40 for us oldtimers, but they play songs like Pearl Jam's "Alive". Huh? Flo Rida's "Oh Hot Damn, This is My Jam". What? I mean, most every CHR in the country plays some, but good golly, when Mix 96-5 is more current than your Top 40 station, you've got big problems. Heck, KRBE isn't even Cumulus' worst CHR in SE Texas. That honor goes to KQXY over in Beaumont. They play songs from the 80s in the regular rotation. Fellow HAIFer Stan could go much more in depth on the saga of Q94 than I ever could attempt, but unless it's some type of specialty retro show, that decade of music has no business on a station that should be squarely focused on the latest releases available.

Then we could go into the current situation with where their current stock price is hovering, well under $1, and that they have always operated the company at a significant loss.

Given how good the current 6 station CBS Houston cluster is, that would be a long, long fall for the heritage KILT AM/FM, KLOL(consistently only outperformed by 102-9 within the Spanish language formats), Hot 95-7(which adds new popular and trending hits to the playlist almost daily, and it's perfect compliment the ever formidable Mix 96-5(which is going into its 26th year on the air in Houston. Did I mention that 610 is also consistently the #1 sports station here? To let Cumulus get a hold of the cluster would render it a complete and total disaster within a year. They'd likely do something stupid like trying to sell KIKK for $10 to one of their subsidies, and end up surrendering the license for nothing, like they did to KTDK up near Dallas. Or having an opportunity to unload 101-5 KSTB for at least some financial gain, to a local non-profit entity who could've and wanted to turn 101-5 into a Galveston/Crystal Beach centric station, but instead simply turning in the license and just saying the hell with it and deleting the allocation altogether. Absolutely sickening to me how that went down. 

I knew my long winded self would end up typing a mile's worth if I got started, haha.

If anyone would be a good operator to pick up the 6 stations, in my view, it would be Cox Radio. Problem there, is they'd have to unload both signals for the Eagle to do so, and Country Legends too. You can only own 8 stations in one market, 5 in one band and 3 in the other. Country Legends easily moves to the citygrade 100-3 KILT-FM, complimentary of co-owned 93Q's current based Country format, but what would they do with The Eagle? Would a Cox purchase of the CBS cluster lead to Houston having absolutely NO rock station available over the air?

Ok, I'm getting way ahead of myself now...

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Forgive the word omission. Tried to edit, however, it won't save the edit. All of these ads popping up everywhere now, really give my phone a fit. So much so that I'm reconsidering my continued participation here. I get it, need to generate some revenue, but my God has it slowed things down for my phone and sends it into odd tangents, as well. Couple that with the editor allowing a certain participant to hijack threads with incomprehensible babble unabated, and it's becoming more of a chore to be involved rather than a pleasure.

The sentence with the omission is in the KRBE portion. It should read "most every CHR in the country plays some gold". I let my head outpace my fingers and erranrly left out the word gold. I'm sorry, the sentence doesn't make the point without it included.

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Do y'all not use ad blockers on your phones? They've been available for Android for a long time, and have been available for iOS for about six months now (1Blocker is one of the more popular iOS ones).  

I do whitelist a handful of sites, but given that malware-infected ads have increasingly become a non-trivial risk, my usual reaction to sites like Forbes that nag you to turn off your ad blocker before allowing you to view any content is to simply stop visiting those sites. 

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Thanx Purpledevil for the info. Very Informative.I used to be into radio in my younger days but can't stand it anymore .Sorry I can't stand

commercials (or any kind of advertising anymore). as for internet advertising I use Adblock Ultimate.

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