What you would do with KABC and KLOS
The question was seemingly simple: What would you do if you bought KABC (790 AM) and KLOS (95.5 FM)? This from a friend of mine in the radio industry.
What sparked the question was a recent column by Jerry Del Colliano on his InsideMusicMedia.com website in which he wrote of the financial troubles facing Cumulus Media — the owner of KLOS and KABC. What’s next, he asked, for the company that sold “icons like WPLJ/New York for pennies on the dollar and all but evacuated New York and Washington.”
So I asked you – what would you do? And you answered:
“For KABC, I’d call (K-Surf 1260 AM owner) Saul Levine, enter into a revenue-sharing agreement where he brings K-Surf’s oldies programming to 790 and runs the station (putting “Unforgettable LA” back on 1260). I don’t greatly expand its budget but I would invest in having the descendant of the old PAMS jingle company redo most of their classic catalog for KABC, add one or two more DJ’s to host on weekdays, and maybe bring in some additional syndicated programs on the weekends.
“KLOS is a lot easier in my opinion as it has a locked-in audience that isn’t well-served anywhere else any longer unless they turn to off-air options. I see no reason to change the format although I would certainly tweak and expand the rotation a little bit … tone does the IDs … and taking some early heat, bring in a new morning team that will be a little more realistic in how it speaks to the audience, plays more music, and and can find some more original avenues of humor rather than the same old material this basic team has been lazily churning out over and over again since it was on Denver’s Alice 105.9 in the mid-1990’s.” — KoHoSo
“KABC is basically fine by me, though less talk and more news would be nice. KLOS has been my FM go to station since the late seventies. I am not real pleased with the current format, I miss Mark & Brian, can’t stand the guy at noon (some former rocker), and think the morning folks need to move to another station. I would like to hear/see more music like the days of Jim Ladd and Bob Coburn. If KLOS is going to continue with excerpts from Jim Ladd’s interviews, they should be a little longer.” — Jerry K
“If I were to buy KLOS, I would turn it into a true classic rock radio station. I miss 100.3 the sound … they had a great playlist, playing songs I never hear anywhere else on the FM dial anymore, as well as some unique things such as “album sides at 11” which Ive never heard on any other station. I think the KLOS playlist is currently pretty repetitive, and I think Los Angeles, with such deep roots in classic rock, could really use a station with DJs who know that genre of music, and really have a passion for it, not just playing the same songs over with a lame joke or sound bite in between.” — Matthew Smith
“The first thing I would do with KLOS is bring the Classic Rock back to the station. If it wasn’t for Jonesy’s Jukebox from noon to 2 pm, I wouldn’t listen to their barely rotated Top 40 format of playing the same songs over and over again day in and day out. KLOS is in a position to play the great, untold number of songs from their vast sixties and seventies catalog they many of us grew up with. If it was up to me, I would expand that Classic Rock playlist and play what many of us miss hearing on what once was, our favorite radio station.” — John Devine
“KABC option one:talk leaning towards the non political edge of things, or news talk format. Or option two: bring back something I would call a modern day KMPC format..mix music and opinionated and knowledgeable DJ’s
“KLOS: keep the music but mix some mid years KMET attitude in it. And a very large volume of music is out there begging to be used again. Some hasn’t been readily available anymore to be heard by today’s generation. New oldies radio …” — David Bell
There were a few others, and I am sorry that space prevents me from printing them all. Great ideas, all of them, though not necessarily what I would do. For that, you’ll have to wait until next week.
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