New station owners with a bottom-line philosophy have canceled public-affairs programming, dismantled news departments and replaced local DJs with broadcasts of prefabricated material to cut costs.
Case in point: When KRBE’s Sam Malone and Maria Todd first went on the air in 1993, most radio stations in Houston had a flashy, larger-than-life morning show. Now they’re among the dwindling number of megawatt morning personalities.
Malone and Todd consider themselves lucky to work for a relatively small company — Susquehanna Radio Corp. — that runs its 29 stations the old-fashioned way, with on-air personalities around the clock and a full-time production, marketing and promotion staff that concentrates on only one station and touts its program at every opportunity.
“The tables have turned in 10 years,” Malone said. “(Back then) people were saying, ‘Don’t go to KRBE in Houston, because they’re a mom-and-pop operation.’ Now everybody wants to work for a mom-and-pop operation.”
“Instead of an evil empire,” Todd added.
I used to listen to KLOL when the Stevens and Pruett morning show was worth listening to. S&P were typically raunchy Howard Stern clones, but hey, I was a male in the 25 to 34 age group, so of course they appealed to me. They pushed a lot of boundaries, and eventually station management (which is now the evil Clear Channel empire, though I don’t know exactly when CC bought them) forced them to scale back on the racier stuff. They became more political instead, which I found unappealing since they still weren’t exactly highbrow. Eventually, Clear Channel fired Stevens, replacing him with a late-night DJ named Greggo, whom I really disliked, and promoting sideman Eddie “The Boner” Sanchez. That lasted about a year, then the whole crew was fired and replaced by a no-talent morning crew called Walton and Johnson, whose only notable acheivement so far has been to annoy a local woman with a billboard that read “Hey, all you virgins – thanks for nothing.”
Now, I listen to all-80s station KHPT in the morning. They play music instead of DJs. Sometimes I listen to KKRW’s Dean and Rog show, which has been around for awhile and which is usually pretty funny. If KLOL started rerunning old Stevens and Pruett shows from about 10 years ago, I’d listen to that.
I’m moderately surprised that this article didn’t touch on the Stevens and Pruett saga at all, since they were a highly rated morning show and their dismissals were sudden and unannounced. It does include this bit of unintentional comedy from a Clear Channel spokesdrone:
Clear Channel spokeswoman Pam Taylor argues that consolidation has led to more diversity in formats rather than less.
“If you own the No. 1 and No. 2 stations in the market, you’re not going to compete against yourself. You’re going to position yourself in some other niche,” she said.
Yeah, it sure would suck to have actual competition among radio stations, wouldn’t it? How much worse it was in the old days when radio stations competed for listeners instead of divvying up market niches. Thank God Clear Channel has saved us from that.
OK, here is a list of the Clear Channel radio stations in Houston:
FM Stations:
KKRW 93.7 (The Arrow)
KTBZ 94.5 (The Buzz)
KHMX 96.5 (The Mix)
KODA 99.1 (Sunny 99)
KLOL 101.1 (The New Mega 101)
AM Stations:
KTRH 740
KBME 790
KPRC 950
I suggest trying to call in and talk on either 740 or 950 and trying to talk about the killing of Houston’s only rock station. I doubt you’ll get put on the line. I’ll be trying it tomorrow and the next day(s).
I also urge everyone to listen briefly to one or more of the stations above and find out who the most prolific advertisers are. Start boycotting those companies / products and tell those advertisers why you’re boycotting them. That will probably get their attention.
If everybody will seriously do their part, it will send a msg to those miserable corporate fucks at Clear Channel. Keep Rockin’ y’all!
I’m with ya steve!. i’ll be calling for damn sure!
Everyone who’s talking about getting XM radio, be warned that XM also has Clear Channel involvement. Clear Channel was an original investor in XM and they provided them with startup capital. Their involvement is small now, as corporate shareholders, but who knows what may happen in the future?
Sirius would seem to be the way to go. Anyone who wants to listen to Howard Stern on satellite in 2006 should know he’ll have his own station on Sirius as well, once he’s free from Infinity Broadcasting.
Clear Channel, rot in hell.
Clear Channel stock is currently at $34.23. I’m hoping that we can all cause that to go way down in the coming weeks / months. Remember, if Clear Channel is losing advertiser dollars, they’re losing much more than just those dollars.
Oh, and just a comment on the posting from Bob on the Corporate Mission Statement / Creed blurb from Clear Channel’s own website. One thing that caught my eye. ‘PRUDENT RISK TAKING’ Excuse me, but isn’t that an oxymoron? Kinda like ‘SOFT ROCK’ or ‘AMIACABLE DIVORCE’ or ‘HONEST POLITICIAN’. You get the idea…..
I say if everyone gets together, we can actually do something. I for one like several ideas I’ve read like listening for the major advertisers, boycotting them, and then letting then know exactly why. I am Mexican and I know where to tune in when I want Mexican music. I grew up listening to ROCK 101 and have barely made it through endless hours of work with it on the radio keeping me going. It makes me almost ashamed to be Mexican, even though it isn’t our fault! Please remember that, we didn’t ask for it and had nothing to do with it!! I say we all make a run to Jim Pruett’s gun shop, load up, and storm Clear Channel!!!
Here is a copy of the email I’ve been sending to advertisers on Clear Channel Stations. Of course I change the show name and station call letters where applicable since I listen to a number of different programs throughout the day but all on CC stations.
Feel free to join me and get the word out that we won’t support them if the continue to mindlessly support CC. It’s our dollars they use to buy their ad time on these stations!
—————
“Dear Sirs,
I am a citizen of the Houston area and consider myself a saavy shopper. For some time I have heard your advertisements on the radio, most notably the Walton & Johnson show. I am writing this letter to inform you that I am boycotting any retailer that advertises with Clear Channel radio stations. I’m sure you are now aware of the change of format on KLOL 101.1 You and your fellow retailers that advertise on Clear Channel radio have the power to help bring back respectable FM Radio to the Houston market. Please help make our voices heard and express your/our discontent in your dealings ($$$$$) with Clear Channel.
Thank you for your time,
—–”
Here are a few clear channel advertisers and their main place for their ads, do you know of any others???
Reiners Fine Jewelry – Paul Berlin Show 790 AM
Quick Weightloss Centers – Chris Baker Show 950 AM
Fred Loya Insurance – Walton & Johnson 101.1 FM
Landmark Chevrolet – Walton & Johnson 101.1 FM
I.W. Marks Jewelry – Walton & Johnson 101.1 FM
Stubbs Harley Davidson – Walton & Johnson 101.1 FM
Lets go down to the station and boycott. Throw some eggs, do whatever to be heard. This is not fair. unjust. What can be done. I’m angry. Who to call. There has to be something we can do. All get together and do something. We can’t let great rock music go.
I agree we need to start some sorta protest. go raid thier condo, key thier cars, something to be heard. Rock 101 MUST COME BACK. btw, i emailed the head of radio off that email list. Still havent gotten a response but im guessing thier gonna ignore it cause of all the people that are sending email to them.
Damn CC did it again, Walton and Johnson is the greatest talk show ever created. I had a bad feeling when I heard a rerun Friday Morning. Does this mean the W&J show is completely off the air waves including Lousiana? Who in the hell is going to hire Lauch Sebanhusen? That little gomer just got married.
Calling CC wont do any good. They are in damage control mode as we speak. I call them when Stevens and Grego got canned. The response they gave me was “GO TO HELL” we dont care.
I wonder how the fans will react when they tune in Monday Morning and hear the beats of a pongo or whatever they call them things. I bet their first thought would be WTF? Probably only 25% people are aware of what happened and the other folks are in for a rude awakening.
Let me get this straight. Walton and Johnson used their radio time to promote an Asshole President like Bush while simultaneously saying how much they hated any rock music that wasn’t made before 1970. I believe their favorite infintile saying was that it sounded like getting sick on seafood………..and you people miss them?
Wake the fuck up you morons! Yanking those Stale old fucks off the air was a mercy killing!
Maybe if those assholes hadn’t taken every moment to promote Bush they might have realized he’s the one who is abdicating the huge fines on radio broadcasters while espousing letting millions of illegals stay in the country at our expense!
Either listen to Howard Stern on 650AM or shut the fuck up. Your President is letting this state be over run by illegals because they provide cheap labor for his corporate whores.
If you voted for Bush, shut the fuck up. Thanks to you this country is about to have the republicans right wing religious agenda shoved up our collective asses!
Long live Howard Stern! Can’t wait till he goes to Sirrius in a year so i can listen to pure, uncensored, live radio talent!
As for W & J, YOU HAVE BEEN OUTSOURCED YOU LAME FUCKS! GOOD LUCK TRYING TO GET A JOB IN THIS ECONOMY!
I’d let you help me build houses if i didn’t think you were too stupid to grab the correct end of a hammer!
God Bless John Kerry, the last hope of Un-Censored radio in America!
This is really sad!!!! Why didnt they change the format of Magic 102 to latino instead! Kill 2 birds with one stone………
here is the petition to bring back rock 101. i hope everyone who views this site signs it.
http://www.petitiononline.com/KLOL/petition.html
The only things that suck about the W&J show are the clear channel “management restrictions” and huge quantity of commercials that clear channel made them play. They will be back, and millions will be there to listen. I’m going out today to buy XM. I hope to find them there. I’m done with clear channel. Clear channel is a real peice of work.
sweet. It’s cool how many of ya’ll are wanting to support me in building this new station but we need more. Tell you’re friends. Contact Jim Pruett at his gun shop and bug him to join us. Contact Outlaw Dave and Loch Stebenhousen and Uncle Nasty and Chuck Akers and bug them to join us. Check out the new stations website (coming soon) at “http://www.stormsoft.com/rock”. I’ll register a domain name as soon as the FCC assigns us some call letters and a freq. Tell everyone to e-mail me at “harold@stormsoft.com” if they want to help. Oh, and put “Rock Station” in the subject – I told my spam filter to make sure to let those e-mails through.
For those of you who failed to read my post earlier, I’m starting my own radio station – “Houston’s Real Rock Station” – because I’ve had it with CC and don’t even want them to bring back KLOL. Why bother? It’ll just be CC controled crap and you know real rockers like Outlaw Dave are gonnna give ’em the one finger salute IF they ask him to come back. Wendy Miller has already re-signed her contract with Satin and is now on the Buzz.
Now who’s with me?
DON’T GET XM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clear Channel owns 25% of XM Radio.
I’m with you Harry!!! Let’s kick some CC arse!!! Let’s go back to the days when DJs would play anything they (and all listeners) wanted to!!!
RIP – 101.1 KLOL
——Z-Rock 106.9
——97 Rock
Miss ya Moby & Matthews, S & P, Outlaw Dave and so many great rockin’ DJs that have come and gone. For those about to Rock… We SALUTE YOU!
“Rock is dead they say, LONG LIVE ROCK!”- The Who
I’m with you Harry!!! Let’s go back to the days when DJs would play anything they (and all listeners) wanted to!!!
RIP – 101.1 KLOL
——Z-Rock 106.9
——97 Rock
Miss ya Moby & Matthews, S & P, Outlaw Dave and so many great rockin’ DJs that have come and gone. For those about to Rock… We SALUTE YOU!
“Rock is dead they say, LONG LIVE ROCK!”- The Who
Walton and Johnson is/was the only entertaining and enlightning act on Houston morning radio. They never intended for 90% of the people to ‘get it’. The central theme always seemed to center around self reliance – don’t wait for god, the government or some lousy corporate asshole to save your ass. I trust they will take the recent turn of events with this principle in mind and re-emerge on the air…somewhere soon. Preferably Houston or I’m out of this hellhole! Adios Klol
I am just as upset as everyone else when the format was changed. I do really miss S&P they just made my morning. W&J did become a little tired to me to the point that I was listening to talk radio on am. I just want to clear some things up. The new Latino station is not Mexican Music or station. Just like there is different genres of english music (country,pop,rock,R&B,RAP,and so on) there is different types of spanish music (Mexicans from Mexico do not consider Tejano music to be Mexican and Mexican Texans do not always agree with Music from Mexico) In turn please stop saying it is a Mexican station. 99.99% of the artist on this new station are OTMS (Other Than Mexicans) As a mater of fact more than a few are Americans.
I do no see this station lasting very long anyway. I have yet to see any Spanish FM station last very long. It is all about a quick buck for CC who I think is just trying to capitlize on the Latin Explosion. There really is no station like Latino on FM right now. There was a station some what simular on 100.7 but the format changed to an AM Christian station. You can just imagine how they felt.
Believe me when I say that I am not making excuses. Just don’t say it is another Mexican station because it is not Mexican it seems to be catering to OTMS which hold thier noses up to Mexicans.
I hope I do not offend anyone as it is not my intention to. If you find some radio station like KLOL (NOT LIKE THOSE OTHER WUSSIE STATIONS) please post it here.
we need another mexican radio station, like I need a third nipple. In other words…. it’s worthless and unnecessary. I see it like this……. we need a rock station for us 10 percenters and I’m willing to contribute whatever I can. Harry… (build it and we will come)!!!!!! The need for a corporation free radio station is at it’s most needed time, and CC knows this. Someone has got to beat them to the punch and grab the audience before they can!
KEEP THE MONEY IN HOUSTON!
Houston’s Real Rock Station, Rock (some freq.) (some call letters)
Sounds nice huh? I need supporters to help make it a reality. Here is our current status…
FCC – I’ve been doing alot of research and filling out a ton of forms only to find that it seems the FCC is not allowing any new frequencies in Houston – I hope I am wrong. Anybody know the FCC system or have some connections? Just in case I’m right I’ve contacted a radio broker about possibly purchasing an existing station that is not doing well.
Supporters – we got a buch already but we need more, like 100,000 more. So spread the word!
Rally – we need to organize a rally to help with awareness, raise money, tribute the fallen DJ’s of KLOL, etc. e-mail me if you have experience in this area and can help
Houston’s Real Rock Station
Dear Clear Channel,
Thanks for mindless programming and making the nation believe your nonsense. But mostly, I thank you for owning 60% of the market nationwide and killing everyones soul.
Dear Posters,
Your requests for a favorite CC station to regain on-air status, while admirable, are still requests for a ClearChannel station. Choke.
Dear Harold (harold@stormsoft.com),
You are a bad ass. I fully respect what you are doing.
(This guy has a plan that will actually do something…and with 10,000 people that already signed the online petitions it shouldn’t be too hard to fund) Good Luck.
Dear FCC,
If you bastards even show up for work anymore…DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MONOPOLY!! Screw Houston’s Rock Station. CC has been a problem since it first put its nose inside 610! What about local music? Smaller stations cannot compete. CC might as well set up their broadcast towers atop Wal-Mart “Superstores”!!
Dear President Bush,
Congratulations on the election. You’re such a big boy now. You wouldn’t happen to know anybody at ClearChannel would you?
“There are close ties between the company and President Bush. The Vice Chair of the company is Tom Hicks, a member of the Bush Pioneer club for elite (and generous) donors. The relationship between Bush and Hicks goes back even further, however. The two were embroiled in scandal when Hicks, as University of Texas Regent, was responsible for granting endowment management contracts of the newly created (under legislation signed by Bush) UT Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO). The contracts were given to firms politically connected to both Hicks and Bush, including the Carlyle Group – a firm which has the first President Bush on the payroll and had the second one on the payroll until just weeks before receiving this lucrative business. The board of UTIMCO also included the Chair of Clear Channel, L. Lowry Mays. In addition, Hicks purchased the Texas Rangers from George Bush, making him a wealthy man through a deal that was partially sweetened by a shiny new taxpayer financed stadium, which included valuable land obtained at below market rates through the use of eminent domain.”
– From the New York Press and Atrios. (03/20)
Here is a diagram for all those words… http://uggabugga.blogspot.com/2003_03_16_uggabugga_archive.html#91187450
Something has to be done. Take a few steps back everyone. Do you see that? Look…around the edges. Wow, it’s bright…isn’t it? It’s getting larger. Yeah, there IS more to the picture. Keep your eyes and ears open, everyone. Keep your head up and your mouth loud. Make your mama proud.
P.S. Your mama hates ClearChannel
Lost Cause?
I wish I could say that very soon we would have Houston’s Real Rock Station on the air but when it comes to road blocks, we just hit a brick wall. I just got off the phone with Jim Pruett and he confirmed my fears. It is true there are no more frequencies available for a new radio station. However, it is possible for us to buy a radio station. All we need a couple million dollars, and that’s just to get one of the little hole-in-the-wall stations that are strugling.
So, we’ve hit a brick wall. We brought down the Berlin wall right? We can break through this one. I’m talking about the rally. If we organize this rally and can raise the money to buy our own station, Jim said he is with us and would love to head up our morning show.
Anyone with ideas, e-mail me.
Houston’s Real Rock Station
after hearing that clear channel pulled the legendary ROCK 101 from the air i have only one thing to say is just as someone else has…petition to get it back on air and boycott clear channel. satelite radio here(hear) i come
Growing up in Houston, 101.1 KLOL was the station to listen to, and if you didn’t, u sucked. KLOL had the best interviews with the hottest rock stars around, and of course, they had S&P in the morning which made your day. They also had Moby, who was a loud mouth, very opinionated type of guy, but he was great too. When he was “shipped off” to 97 Rock, KSRR I believe it was, I would listen to him there, but it didnt have the same feel as when he was on KLOL. Then there was Outlaw Dave, who came into the picture when I was in High School, HE ROCKED!
It’s a damn shame that a station with 30+ years is done, out of the picture to be replaced by a Latino station, when there are already quite a few in town ti begin with. Nothing against Latino’s or their herritage. Someone a few post’s back wondered why CC didnt phase out Magic 102, I agree. That station sux ass, always has, always will. Surely their ratings were not higher than KLOL’s.
Living near Cincinnati for the last 10 years, I’ve listened to KLOL’s sister station WEBN, which has gone down the tubes with all of this Corporate crap. The morning crew sux, nothing funny about most of their material due to the fact that they have had to “tone down” the material because of SO MANY ass backwards people that feel like that type of hard material shuoldnt be broadcasted. Well, if Im not mistaken here, doesnt every radio have an on/off button and also a volume control of some sort??????????? If you dont like it, change the F*$Kin’ channel!!!! There is worse crap on TV lately, and Im damn sure that those that dont like, dont watch it.
Not that it matters to anyone, but thats my two cents worth, and if some agree with me, GREAT, and if some don’t, I dont care. This is still America, and for right now, we still have the right to our own opinions.
S&P, Moby, Outlaw Dave, and to the many other DJ’s I cant remember but made growing up a blast, KLOL memories forever, Clear Channel, NEVER!
Growing up in Houston, 101.1 KLOL was the station to listen to, and if you didn’t, u sucked. KLOL had the best interviews with the hottest rock stars around, and of course, they had S&P in the morning which made your day. They also had Moby, who was a loud mouth, very opinionated type of guy, but he was great too. When he was “shipped off” to 97 Rock, KSRR I believe it was, I would listen to him there, but it didnt have the same feel as when he was on KLOL. Then there was Outlaw Dave, who came into the picture when I was in High School, HE ROCKED!
It’s a damn shame that a station with 30+ years is done, out of the picture to be replaced by a Latino station, when there are already quite a few in town ti begin with. Nothing against Latino’s or their herritage. Someone a few post’s back wondered why CC didnt phase out Magic 102, I agree. That station sux ass, always has, always will. Surely their ratings were not higher than KLOL’s.
Living near Cincinnati for the last 10 years, I’ve listened to KLOL’s sister station WEBN, which has gone down the tubes with all of this Corporate crap. The morning crew sux, nothing funny about most of their material due to the fact that they have had to “tone down” the material because of SO MANY ass backwards people that feel like that type of hard material shuoldnt be broadcasted. Well, if Im not mistaken here, doesnt every radio have an on/off button and also a volume control of some sort??????????? If you dont like it, change the F*$Kin’ channel!!!! There is worse crap on TV lately, and Im damn sure that those that dont like, dont watch it.
Not that it matters to anyone, but thats my two cents worth, and if some agree with me, GREAT, and if some don’t, I dont care. This is still America, and for right now, we still have the right to our own opinions.
S&P, Moby, Outlaw Dave, and to the many other DJ’s I cant remember but made growing up a blast, KLOL memories forever, Clear Channel, NEVER!
Harry, how about a page that would allow US CC haters to make a donation that would help your cause in buying a station. You could setup a PayPal account and let it roll to see where it goes. Just a thought.
Rock on Harry!!!!!!
Hi all – Never heard KLOL, but my heart goes out to you all. I was a KSJO listener here in San Jose, and told a friend of mine out in your area about KSJO’s demise. Those SOB’s at Clear Channel axed KSJO about two weeks before they got to your station. I felt like an old friend had died – I listened to KSJO for the last 20+ years, since I was in my early teens. I’d love to help you guys out by signing a petition or whatever, and hope you can help us Bay Area folks out. KSJO was the last hard rock and metal station in the bay area, and Clear Channel switched it to some spanish garbage, too. Like a lot of you said above, hey, what the heck, this WAS the USA, wasn’t it? Our local newspaper said Clear Channel was catering to the new Hispanic market, and viewed the “graying rock and roll” market as less lucrative. Well, I submit to those jerks that who the HECK to they think has the money? Not to mention the fact that I know TONS of hispanic folks who loved KSJO (and probably loved KLOL too) because they were TIRED OF SPANISH RADIO!
We all need to absolutely bombard Clear Channel with petitions so they can get an idea of the real numbers of rockers out there who want our music back. Best wishes and sympathies to all of you out in Houston.
Martha
There is a petition going with almost 14,000 strong at last count. (Martha let us know if there is one we can sign to let Clear Channel know we won’t go down without a fight)
There are discussions about a rally this weekend, but people are still trying to organize.
http://www.rock101.info/
KLOL was a station like no other in Houston. It had a long history with a loyal fan base. If the ratings were down then that seems to me that a program director or Clear Channel exec should have been held accountable. Clear Channel stopped investing money in KLOL a long time ago. The fans have always been there. Clear Channel pushed us aside.
Sorry guys – after waking up in the land of evil things coming outof the radio I feel your pain – but even when I worked at KLOL (about 6 years ago) the market was already starting to shift. When it all boils down to it – it’s money and clear channel – and if they could runthe station without a single human being at the controls…opps…maybe I spoke too soon!!
Clear Channel Just sucks, I’m hispanic and I hate this new format on KLOL. I’m the 5th generation born and raised in Houston. My family rarely did listen to spanish music then and now. Someone needs to put a stop to this. Clear Channel even controls the play list of the stations. That why we hear the same songs over and over. I desided to listening to the new 101 and IT JUST SUCKED. I can’t believe they changed KLOL to this garbage. I’m 29 and yes I do listen to Hip-Hop once in awhile but the stuff they were playing on there is crap. Even if you listen to 97.9 and 104.9 when they play the Screw music on sunday, what a waste. the only people that listen to screw music are the ones that get HIGH. Believe me 10yrs ago in High School I was making Screw tapes for classmates that got high in school. I hated then, but I needed the money. Well I just went off the point here, but we need to do something about the S#it that CC has done to Houston.
I want my station back. CLEARCHANNEL YOU SUCK BIG ONES. GO AWAY!! I remember back in the 70’s you could listen to any station and it was good. If anyone remember 97 ROCKS. 97ROCKS and 101KLOL were the best. Even like 102.1 and LOVE94 which change to KLite and now the Arrow. Houston is losing it’s history fast. I’M a Mexican American born in houston as well our roots go back to 1900. Hell I agree with Larry we did not listen to Mexican music either. My house was all Rock of the 50’s 60’s soul, and 70’s ROCK and yes disco. It was all good. Now I feel that ClearChannel is making us listen to what they want us to listen too. We need to get rid of some of the spanish stations, 2 or 3 is more than enough but 6 or 7 is way to many. I have nothing to fill my preset buttons anymore. I have 12 preset buttons and only 4 our being used. Oh well I guess I will go get XM radio.
You guys are so lucky to be living somewhere where people really appreciate Rock, and not just sell out. I was on another board and commented about the selling out of KSJO and KLOL. Look what this guy posted to my “pro KSJO” comments. I have just seen and talked to WAY too many people to agree that the “ratings” are in any way accurate. I later found out he worked in Spanish Radio. I’m breaking internet protocol by forwarding this so do forgive, but it would be nice to get some response back from more knowlegeable folks so I can have ammo to fight the KSJO point out here. Maybe I should just move – sometimes I HATE California so much. It’s all about being politically correct out here, not about what’s right.
Martha
> No kidding Clear Channel bears responsibility. They’re
> known for blowing away rock radio stations.
No, they are not. they change no more rock formats than anything else. Every company, in proportion to the number of stations it operates, will have to change a number of them every year because of competition, lack of advertiser appeal, emergence of new formats, etc.
> They killed an
> LA station several years ago
They sold it to comply with FCC regulations. They did not kill the “rock station” which, actually, was an AAA station with bad numbers since the format is not viable in LA.
, they killed KOME, they have
> now killed KSJO and KLOL in the last two weeks, and they
> publically said they are going to kill 26 rock stations
> around the US in favor of their new Spanglish format in the
> next 18 months.
First, KSJO did not have viable numbers. KLOL was on a decline, and both are in markets where the demos had changed radically in the last decade or 15 years.
Second, Clear Channel has not said they will change only rock stations. The changed an oldies staiton in Fresno, a talk FM in Atlanta, an AC station in Bakersfield, etc.
Third, the Spanglish format has ony been used on ONE station out of multiple conversions in the last few months. 6 have changed to regional Mexicans oldies, 1 has gone Spanish pop, one has gone AC in Spanish and one has gone to a Spanglish hip hop and pop format with English speaking announcers.
> Like a typical big corporation they
> decimated KSJO.
´KSJO was “decimated” by evolving ethnic changes. San Jose is moving towards an Hispanic majority… and the usage of harder rock stations by Hispanics is very low. Result: dead station, no matter how good the programming is.
> Look what they did just this last year.
> They took off the MIkey show, which was quite popular, and
> put on Bob and Tom, which was pretty boring by comparison.
Nothing on KSJO was popular. It had been in the 0.6 to 1.0 range since 2002 (when the full impact of the 2002 Census adjusted Hispanic population way upwards) and was in the low to mid 1’s for the 2 years before that.
I repeat: nothing on KSJO in the last 5 years at least has been popular.Clear Channel stuck with it for longer than they should, considering demographics and what the disadvantaged signal covers.
> I bet they lost a lot of listeners there. Then they cut
> 92.1, pissing off all my buds in the north and northeast
> bay, and cutting their listenership way down.
That signal had essentially no numbers. It was a waste of the signal, and they figured that one out.
> Who knows
> what else they were doing in the accounting office to make
> KSJO look bad so they could justify their move.
They don’t need to know anything except the chances for a limited signal in a mostly Hispanic area doing rock were those of the old snowball in Hell.
>
> So, the next question – Where the hell do they get those
> “Numbers”?
From the Arbitron ratings. Ratings are used mostly for ad sales, and the ad industry thinks they are accurate enough to spend $20 billion dollars a year on radio based on those ratings.
> No one ever asked me or anyone I know if we
> listened.
Ratings are a sample of the total population in the market, and strictly balanced by age, sex and ethnicity. The chance anyone has of being sampled is about once every 82 years.
> My hubby’s whole shop listened to KSJO all day.
> A client of mine who teaches high school in East San Jose
> said her whole class was po’d about losing KSJO and was
> writing letters using their spanish surnames to get some
> attention. The whole office of the San Mateo YMCA was
> totally torked about it, according to another client who
> runs that office. People I work with and around all through
> the east bay, including a lot of hispanic folks, are all
> upset about losing it.
So? They were not listening.
> The hispanic folks say they liked it
> because they were tired of Spanish radio.
True for a few Hispanics, but in the coverage area, there are far more Hispanics who listen to Spanish radio than to English, and far less fragmentation due to fewer stations.
.
> So, people,
> that’s the whole bay area that’s pretty much covered. I
> went to one of KSJO’s 92 cent gas sales recently, and was
> STUNNED at the line of cars around the block and down the
> road. There were literally over a hundred cars out there.
> That means folks were listening.
When the #1 station in the market reaches just under a million people, a line of cars at a gas station pales. Betcha’ a bunch of them were not even listeners and were called by friends or saw the event. Not significant, and totally irrelevant
> So, this is the birthplace of the American Activist – why
> are we sitting here like weenies doing nothing? I’m not a
> techie to know how or I’d do it, but someone needs to get a
> petition going and publicized like they’re doing in Houston.
> Check out these links – they’ve got over 13,000 signatures,
> from what I hear.
What a waste of time. 13,000 persons in a market of nearly 4 million is nothing. It is actually an embarassment that so few people cared. But, then again, the ratings showed that already.
>
> Let’s get going, people, and push back on Clear Channel.
> This is SERIOUSLY uncool. That group has a bug up their bum
> about Rock and is really trying to censor us by simply not
> making new Rock available.
No, this is simply adjusting programming to the available market.
By the way, another Spanish staiton is coming soon to 93.3. Get used to it.
>
NOT SO FAST FOLKS!!!!…. Those of you who want to go to XM and satellite radio, you may not have read the entries above! GO back and read, XM is partially owned by …… that’s right,…. CLEAR CHANNEL!!!! Yep… those NAZI punks own satellite radio, billboards, television commercials, and radio stations. I think Clear Channel is well on it’s way to having a monopoly here! It’s going to take alot of people banding together and organising a protest to stop clear channel from buying up Houston’s radio recources. Someone has to do something and HARRY has the right idea! I say we organise and try to get people involved in saving houston’s radio. I would try to shoot for something after Christmas and before the new year. Harry, what do you think?
Well, CRAP. I’ve already asked Santa for the XM system for car and home, guess Ive got to change my wish list a bit. Growing up in Houston and being a huge fan of the old KLOL days, I damn sure wont support a company like CC.
ROCK-N-ROLL forever, Jose Feliciano, NEVER!
Okay, so who owns Sirius? I heard they have better Rock anyway, and the station listing seems to bear that out. Anyone ever listened to both and compared? BTW, some typical ultraliberal San Francisco dork said I was bigoted and so was the Houston protest for being against the spanish change format and challenging the listenership. Gotta love it. Out here, I could at least have understood if they changed it to Chinese, because that’s the largest growing group I’ve seen around these parts. But in the Bay Area, it always descends to calling people bigots whenever there’s a cultural (or gender/sexuality) difference. I think that’s why there is so little protest out here. People are afraid to stand up and fight. You guys go get em, and I’m still going to try and see what I can do out here.
Martha
Ultraliberal from San Francisco huh??? That explains it all. Im with ya Martha!
I tell ya, we were driving back from South Carolina after picking up our brand new Marine and were thrilled to finally hit Houston air after 20 hours being in the car with nothing great to listen to. Maybe an occasional Rock station, but mostly crap through Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, etc. So, Friday morning, I tune into my beloved 101.1 to discover this Mega 101 shit and thinking I had dialed wrong or it was some sick joke, I redialed. Nope, I am getting Spanish language bullshit coming out of my speakers.
We drove the rest of the way home listening to Arrow and the Buzz and my CDs. Had to run errands and told my daughter to log onto the website, thinking there would be information there. But nooooo. Same Mega 101 crap.
We were not ever soo depressed since we learned of the demise of the great KEGL 97.1 in Dallas, a station I had grown up with before coming to Houston and finding KLOL.
We signed petitions at the GOdsmack/Metallica concert and were delighted to see a stalwart few people on the floor running about with signs to bring the REAL KLOL back on the air. Some CC representatives tried in vain to retrieve the signs.
I am getting Sirius satellite as soon as I get paid again. Multiple rock stations & no extra fees like XM *cough*Clear$Channel*cough* charges you for every little fucking thing. CHeck out the comparisons. You will be amazed.
Clear CHannel sucks.
ROCK ON ROBBIN!!! FOR THOSE WHO DONT SUPPORT CC, WE SLAUTE YOU!!!
I’M REALLY PISSED ABOUT CC CHANGING 101 KLOL. I GREW UP LISTENING TO MY FAVORITE STATION. THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 34 YEARS AND I’M 35.IT’S B.S.I WENT TO THEIR 34TH BIRTHDAY BASH HERE IN HOUSTON. THEY BROUGHT A LOT OF BANDS HERE. I WANT TO PROTEST. I LOOKED FORWORD TO OUTLAW DAVE’S SHOW, MANDENTORY METALLICA AND ALL THE ROCK-N-ROLL. I REALLY MISS MY #1 STATION!!! ROBIN S.
Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t posted in a few days – been busy with the holidays and all.
ok, so here is reality.
Rock 101 is gone and not coming back.
Clear Channel has a fabulous plan to make big bucks. They are a corp. and that is all they care about. $$$
So here is the “How To Make More Money” meeting that took place at a CC office building:
We own part of XM so if XM is successful, its stock will rise which means more money in our pockets. But we own free FM radio stations so we are our own direct competition. If people can listen to great music for free, they won’t buy XM and we won’t make money. Well, we could just turn off the FM stations and play dead air or better yet, play commercials for XM 24-7. But that doesn’t seem like a good use of the billions of dollars we’ve invested to get this FM media monopoly. Ok, let’s look at it this way. Sp*cs, Ni***rs, White Trash… oops, I mean “urban youth and other minorities” are generally stupid… I mean “less educated” due to the fact that they either didn’t go to school or didn’t care to learn anything while they were there… I mean “weren’t given a chance in school due to their race and/or gender” and therefore can’t afford the $10/month subscription fee because they are poor… I mean “lower income” and are also generally gullible and will buy anything our station’s commercials tell them to buy… I mean, well, no that’s exactly what I mean. So anyway, we’ll take all the free FM stations and change them to a format that they like and target our advertising to them. Meanwhile, those who can afford to pay for the $10/month subscription fee will be forced to buy XM service in order to listen to anything tasteful and the stocks will rise and we will make more money.
Don’t you just love corporate politics. I have been doing my best to get away from everything that CC touches. I’m actually simplifying my life away from all major corporations but that’s unimportant.
ok, so my radio station (Houston’s Real Rock Station)? Well, FCC is not allowing any new frequencies in Houston or surrounding area’s (or in just about any market for that matter) so our only hope is to buy a small existing radio station (if any exists) for a couple of million dollars which is just a little bit more than I have in my pocket right now. I personally have been turning to internet radio for my rock tunage (ChroniX Aggression out of Denver, CO – it’s kinda like The Pit but 24-7) because it’s got better, unedited music with no commercials and unlike XM it’s free. As soon as wireless broadband comes to Houston, I’ll be able to get internet radio in my car. Although I’m still open to the whole getting our own rock station in Houston if anyone has any ideas on how to get one. Remember, I spoke with Jim Pruett and he said he would do our morning show if could get a station together.
-Harry
Having not lived in Houston for 11 years now, I still my KLOL. There has never been and will never be another station like KLOL. There were so many great DJ’s from early past to the present that really brought out the legendary staus of KLOL. The time slot I miss the most is The Eviction Set, which was on years ago and hosted by Dana Steel. Those were the days where listeners were appreciated……money, too much can be the end of a great thing. – WC
Why can’t we the public buy back KLOL and call all the old talent back?
Whew – I’m finding out so many people out here are missing our KSJO, but NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING! Everywhere I turn, folks are still talking about it and it’s now been a month. Still haven’t been able to find or convince anyone to start a petition drive, and I just don’t have the technical nowhow to do one online.
I checked out getting a radio station out here, too, and it takes several mil to get one going. One thing that IS kool; 107.7 The Bone, an San Francisco classic rock station that was really the only thing remotely similar to KSJO, is changing format somewhat to accomodate the more heavy metal listeners from KSJO. I spoke with their program manager just after the closure happened, and suggested a Neo Classic or New Classic show that plays new rock, so we know what is going to be classic in a few years, and he was open to the suggestion. I just heard a show that fitted that format the other night on the station. THey also have started playing more metal in their lineup, rather than the softer classic rock. So, we’re hearing older Metallica (they actually sponsored the Metallica show with Godsmack this past weekend, though they STILL didn’t have the bollocks to play Godsmack), AC/DC and Ozzy and the like, and less Beatles and so on. So perhaps you guys have a classic rock station that might be willing to pick up some of the slack for you too? Our area also had a jazz station that was lost a few years ago. One of the colleges picked up all their albums and now runs a jazz station that is run purely by public donations, like the PBS stations. How about one of your universities or colleges helping out too? Just some thoughts for getting rock back on the air for you. Meantime, I think I’m getting Serius (sp?)for Christmas for myself. I was in N. Carolina last week, and they had an AWESOME rock station much like KSJO broadcasting, and boy was it nice to listen to zooming on down the road. I really miss KSJO, like you guys miss KLOL, and I enjoy talking with you all as kindred spirits. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving despite the air wave wasteland.
Martha
I miss KLOL, but only the way it used to be years ago. I loved Stevens and Pruett in the morning, Moby in the afternoons and Grego, the original Outlaw at Night. Walton and Johnson were nothing but a poor man’s Stevens and Pruett. They couldn’t hold a candle to the one, the only, the Original Radio Gods. But everything changes. We lost Moby. Grego ruined his career by trying to become a morning show host which he ain’t and of course, we lost S and P. Now we’ve lost a heritage rock station. What’s my alternative? Dean and Rog?? Please! I’d rather eat ass and besidesm they were only slightly funnier than Walton and Johnson. I guess it’s Sirius Satellite and a new and improved CD burner for Christmas. And to the execs at Clear Channel, there’s a special place in hell for all of you. Sirius-ly.
Clear Channel Must Burn!!!!!!!
Rock and Roll will Never Die!!!!
Not that Stern should in ANY WAY be considered a representative of the Extended Most Brutal Audience in Rock and Roll, it’s obvious he knows the score. With media conglomerates like clear channel and viacom taking over all the media outlets and condemning beloved Rock Stations like KLOL and KSJO to death, its time to fight back with new technology, using the only vote that counts, our dollars.
I discovered the ressurected soul of KSJO on Sirius Sattelite Radio, on a station called OCTANE 20. I am not a sales rep, or a goddamn employee, I’m a Rocker and a Fan, and now I’m a true Believer.
For all you criminals out there, I gave up worrying about about the GPS tracking. If they want to find you they will, and you better get rid off your cell phone, too, if you’re worried about surveilance. Besides if they look for me they’re only going to find my middle finger in the air.
Fuck Corporate Radio. Fuck Clear Channel. Get Sirius! Now! Great Music, No Commercials, non-stop Rock, and anything else you want, too. Stern’s making the switch. Let’s let corporate radio bury itself under a mountain of bullshit advertising and mediocre programing, government censorship, lies, propaganda, and crap.
Forget the FM band and let corporate radio rot in its own filth.
No Commercials. No Hype. (Well, less hype)
No Shit.
Sirius-ly.
Can we say what a bunch of ignorant SOB’s did the “rock” station have.Theres prove all over this page. That station is gone and now theres a spanish station, not a “Mexican” station a spanish one and if some people werent so fucking ignorant they would know that. But obviously these SOB’s are just old ass grumpy white men that have nothing better to do than bitch and whine when they dont get their way. Like the new radio station says “Latino & Proud”….and were not a bunch of “illegals” and if we were what the fuck would it matter to you? Gov. money? Please Bush has wasted more of that on BS and our country “USA” still isnt doing better. Jobs? What kind of Job does an Illegal have that an american would die to have. So stop with the BS excuses specially if you live in Houston because in case u havent noticed the Latino community is expanding in a breath taking pace and were not leaving no matter what u do, so if the station lasts or not were still going to be here and were not going to stop trying. So stop crying and deal with it.