XM takes a 'left' turn, KIST takes a fall

In a not-so-surprising move, XM Radio is retooling it's "Air America" channel (XM167). Come July 14, the satellite provider brings back its former name - America Left.

The channel will still carry Bill Press, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann and Mike Malloy. They are also adding Stephanie Miller and The Young Turks. Miller will likely take the 9A-noon shift currently held be Lionel. No word on what role the Turks, who left Air America earlier this year to do an internet-based afternoon show, play in this grand scheme. The show initially got its start on rival (and soon to be partner) Sirius. And there is no word on possible time shifts for the channel's current offerings.

Speaking of XM and Sirius, FCC chair Kevin Martin and other commissioners have indicated that they're willing to support the long ongoing planned merger between the two companies, with stipulations. Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus are angling for concessions, such as allocating 4% of the combined company's broadcast spectrum, or twelve channels, to use for programming run by minorities and women. This proposal has been bandied about for awhile, and is quite vague at this point.

Meanwhile, on the left coast, R & R Radio, LLC is selling KIST (1340AM) in Santa Barbara to California Lutheran University for $1.44 million. The school, which owns local noncommercial NPR affiliate KCLU, will convert the station to noncommercial status, according to AllAccess.

The station was sold by Clear Channel a year and a half ago to Rincon Broadcasting. KIST was then spun off to its current owner. Throughout all the ownership changes, the popular progressive talk format remained, most likely due to its strong ratings. Since debuting in early 2005, the 650 watt KIST has been a mainstay in the top ten among stations in the market.

As for whether a station will pick up KIST's successful soon-to-be abandoned progressive talk programming, there is KBKO (1490AM), which is owned by Rincon and is currently in format limbo, duplicating the format and signal of conservotalker KTMS (990AM). There is also KZSB (1290AM), which airs mostly locally produced, block-programmed talk shows hosted by local residents.

Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 2

In part one of this report, LTR analyzed how progressive talk radio stations did in in the recent Arbitron ratings book in the midwest. In this installment, you'll see how stations on the 'Left Coast' did.

KTLK in Los Angeles is still holding steady with a 0.8, up a tenth of a point from the Summer book. They are tied with Salem's conservotalk KRLA, ESPN's KSPN and KTNQ, a Spanish-language news/talk station. Los Angeles, like many other large markets, is a highly competitive market. The news/talk competition is very fierce, with even larger players such as CBS' Free FM affiliate KLSX and their two all-news stations (KCBS and KFWB) not very far ahead of KTLK. San Diego's KLSD is on the rise again after sliding a bit since last fall. In market #17, it moves up almost half a point to a 1.9 share.

Up the coast in Santa Barbara (market #211), KIST, which was recently sold to a local group, is doing very well, tied for 7th place overall with a 3.4 share. Further north, in San Luis Obispo (#172), KYNS, a well-run small market liberal talker that will soon add Mike Malloy to the lineup, holds steady tied for 16th place with a 1.7 share. KFPT in Fresno (#66), recently sold by CBS to local Peak Broadcasting, holds steady with a 1.0, no change since Summer, but more than double what they had last Fall. According to radio industry site AllAccess, KFPT could soon be sold again, with former general manager Chris Pacheco rumored as the buyer. Whether this sale will go through, or if this means a change in format remains to be seen (thanks for the tip, Jim).

In the Monterey Bay area (#80), a market whose sole dominant talk station is high-powered KGO, located roughly a hundred miles away in San Francisco, KRXA is relatively unchanged in the book, as it drops a tenth of a point to a 0.6. They are up a fifth of a point since last Fall. Low-powered KOMY, which carries a mash-up of several Air America Radio shows, infomercials, and whatever else, and recently switched to oldies, is a no-show in the book. Incidently, in response to my article from last week regarding KOMY and their format switch, I got an email from owner Michael Zwerling, which will be posted here shortly. Trust me, you don't want to miss this!

Speaking of the Bay Area, KGO maintains its two decade grip as the top overall station in the market with a rather centrist-leaning talk format. Liberal talker KQKE is tied at #26 overall in the San Francisco (#4) book, and holding at 1.1, which is just a tenth of a point lower than its conservative sister, KNEW. The Quake also has a 1.1 share in neighboring San Jose (#35). In the North Bay, the station has a very strong showing in the Santa Rosa (#119) book jumping all the way up to #12 overall, rising from a 1.0 in the Spring to a 2.5 for the Fall.

In the battle of the Sacramento (#27) liberal talk stations, KCTC, the Air America affiliate, drops slightly to a 0.8 share. KSAC, which airs a mostly liberal talk format, slides to the near bottom of the ranked stations with a 0.4.

The northwestern has been one of the strongest areas for the liberal talk format. Portland, OR (#23) is no exception. Since its debut almost three years ago, KPOJ has been one of the strongest stations in the format. Fall was especially good for them, as they rise all the way up to #5 with a gain of almost a full point, at a 3.7 share. In Seattle (#14), KPTK, a strong performer in some daypart breakdowns, holds at a 2.0 from the summer in this highly competitive talk market. They are down slightly in comparison to last fall. BlatherWatch, a Seattle talk radio blog, claims that conservotalk station KTTH got a huge boost in the recent book, thanks mostly to Rush Limbaugh, who doubled his local ratings from over a year ago (and I assume BlatherWatch's Michael Hood is using last fall as a comparison). Thom Hartmann, who had dominated the 9AM-Noon timeslot in comparison to all other area talk stations throughout the past year, dropped to #2 behind Limbaugh. Hartmann is still the most-listened to host on KPTK. Ed Schultz tied with Sean Hannity among all listeners in the recent Seattle book, though he did reportedly beat him in some demographic breakdowns. In general, conservotalk fared rather poorly in Seattle this past fall, with Limbaugh being the sole exception.

On the other side of the state, KPTQ in Spokane (#93) holds somewhat steady, rising from a 1.0 to a 1.3 share. In Eugene, OR (#150), KOPT continues its rollercoaster ride, from a 2.4 last fall to 3.4 this past spring and back down to a 1.9 for this past fall. Whether this has to do with the erratic nature of twice-yearly Arbitron ratings reports in small markets (in Duluth, MN, KQDS jumped from 0.9 to 2.1) is unknown.

In Anchorage, AK (#172), KUDO, which is owned and backed by IBEW Local 1547, comes in with a 1.3 share. KUMU in Honolulu (#63), which carries a hodgepodge of mostly delayed talk programming including Air America, Stephanie Miller, Schultz, and various non-political talk shows, rises slightly to grab a 0.7 share.

Coming soon, we'll give you the lowdown on other parts of the country. As always, stay tuned!

New owner to keep KIST's liberal talk format

In an update to last week's post on the sale of Clear Channel's Santa Barbara cluster, progressive talker KIST is one of two AM stations have been spun off as a donation to a non-profit group. And the new owner-to-be plans on keeping the format for the immediate future.

Rincon Broadcasting bought the stations last week, and were to have assumed operation of the stations this week under a local marketing agreement (LMA), pending FCC approval of the sale. In assuming control of the Clear Channel stations, they have chosen to keep the FM signals and to spin off KIST and its more conservative counterpart, KTMS to Santa Barbara Community Broadcasting Company, a non-profit headed by Saul Rosenzweig, Helen Reale, and Roby Scott. Scott is the GM of local classical music outlet KDB-FM.

SBCBC will likewise LMA KIST prior to closing of the sale, and will also continue to air the current liberal talk format on it during the LMA. No word on if it will continue after that.

The highly-rated KIST carries a mix of liberal talk programming, including Air America Radio, Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller. The station also carries some local programming on the weekends.

KIST/Santa Barbara sold to local broadcasters

Radio and Records reports that progressive talk station KIST in Santa Barbara, CA has been sold by Clear Channel Communications, along with six other local stations, to a Ventura-based broadcasting group. The new owner will likely spin the progressive talk station off to another owner.

Rincon Broadcasting announced Wednesday that it is buying the seven Santa Barbara stations from Clear Channel for $17.3 million. This is part of Clear Channel's planned divestiture of its stations in markets outside of the Arbitron-rated top 100. Santa Barbara is Market #207.

Rincon is owned by Point Broadcasting Co., owned and operated by John Hearne of Malibu, Calif., and his family and by Roy Laughlin. Both Hearne and Laughlin are veteran California broadcasters. Laughlin is a former Clear Channel/Los Angeles executive. Point is the principal owner of Gold Coast Broadcasting, which operates six radio stations in Ventura County, and has additional radio-station interests in California's Fresno (where they currently operate progressive talker KFPT) and Kern Counties and in the Mojave Desert.

Rincon expects to take control of all the stations but KIST-AM on Jan. 16 under a local management agreement. KIST is expected to be transferred to Santa Barbara Community Broadcasting Co., which will operate the station, according to what appears to be a press release. Very little is known about KIST's new owner.

KIST has been a ratings success since it flipped from sports to liberal talk in 2004. In the most recent ratings book released yesterday, it ranked #7 overall in the market with a 3.4 overall share. The station runs an almost entirely syndicated lineup consisting of Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and various Air America Radio shows. On weekends, KIST features a few locally-oriented shows. All in all, a pretty solid station in the ratings books.

If there were to be a format flip, it would be due to the new owner's own preferences, but as of yet, nobody knows what SBCBC is all about, though we should have some idea by next week. Either way, a call letter change for either KIST-AM or FM will be likely, as they will now be split apart from each other. The AM station carried the KIST call sign for many years until their flip to progressive talk, when they picked up the KTLK moniker. When CC flipped an L.A. station to the format in January 2005, they moved the call sign there and reverted the Santa Barbara station back to KIST.

Keep checking back here at LTR for updates.

LA's new liberal talker is finally on the air

As you read this, the new KTLK-AM (1150) in Los Angeles is on the air (as has been rumored for months and months and months).

The big LA/San Diego frequency swap occured at 9AM PST this morning, with the former sports format on 1150/690 migrating to 570 and 570's adult standards format going to 690, opening up 1150 to 'progressive talk'.

The KTLK call letters were previously on 1340AM in Santa Barbara, but that station will revert to it's former call letters, KIST. You can find the new KTLK's website here, but it looks to be a work in progress.