Bill Virgin's Radio Beat January 15, 2009

Includes archive of Bill Virgin's columns fromJ une 2006 - March 2009

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat January 15, 2009

Postby radiofan » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:44 am

On Radio on Radio: Niche stations squeezed
Financial woes nothing new to targeted operations
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER


As with most media groups large and small, Chris Bennett's newspapers and radio stations are scrambling to keep ad revenues coming in the door.

But for media groups operated by and serving niche markets like the African-American community, coming up with ways of dealing with a financial squeeze imposed by a sour economy is hardly new.

"We've always had to be innovative and creative," says Bennett, whose holdings include three Seattle-area radio stations and the Seattle Medium (he also has a newspaper in Tacoma and a paper and a radio outlet in Portland). "We've never been on anybody's long-term objectives."

These are heady times for African-American media, with the inauguration next week of Barack Obama as president. Bennett isn't going to Washington, D.C., in part figuring he'll have a better view staying at home watching on TV. "I witnessed what I wanted to on Nov. 4," he says.

But Bennett also figures the African-American media will get a hearing from the new administration, especially with Obama's roots in Chicago, a city with a long heritage of a black-owned press.

In the meantime, Bennett is seeing the effects of the ad slump. Particularly disappointing is a drop in ad sales in a quarter that includes both Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month, which normally provide opportunities for ad sales on the company's radio stations.

"We have had to tighten our belt," including some layoffs, Bennett says. "It's how you survive in our type of media. You take the hand you're dealt. ... You learn to survive."

Survival might mean some long-term repositioning and downsizing of the radio stations, Bennett adds. Currently, the Seattle-market stations are KRIZ-AM/1420, featuring rhythm & blues oldies; KZIZ-AM/1560, which plays gospel music; and KZIZ-AM/1620, which plays R&B and hip-hop.

"We've reached the point we don't need three stations to cover the African-American community," he says. "There's a lot of duplication.

"Let's face it, music radio is not going to be the trend for younger people any more."

The future looks more to be in talk and information, which the stations provide in the form of nationally syndicated programming, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, and local talk hosts, including Barbara Laners (7-8 a.m. Monday through Thursday) and an afternoon sports show. This week, for example, Laners interviewed Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson on a subject of major interest to the black community: school closings and the fate of the African American Academy.

Bennett says downsizing could mean going from three to two stations over the next two to three years, or perhaps even going to one. Bennett says it's time to concentrate efforts "rather than being all over the place."

In other radio notes:

An update on last week's story on KMCQ-FM/104.5 being off the air for several weeks. Neil Read of First Broadcasting Capital Partners, the station's owner, says the transmitter in a remote area near Enumclaw is powered by a propane-fueled generator, and the huge snowfalls of late December prevented deliveries to the site. He said with a delivery of fuel this week, he's hoping the station will be back on the air as soon as Thursday.

In the meantime, First Broadcasting is still working on its proposal to move the transmitter to Cougar Mountain, he added.

Fans of music from rock's first decade -- what used to be termed oldies -- have felt adrift for years as radio dumped most of those songs and artists from their playlists. But they'll get a two-hour taste of what they've been missing at 6 p.m. Saturdays on KIXI-AM/880, which has added the syndicated show "Shake Rattle and Showtime."

Commentaries by former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee air on KCIS-AM/630 at 7:55 a.m. and 2:55 p.m. weekdays.

The weekly Mariners program "Hot Stove League" airs on KIRO-AM/710 and KIRO-FM/97.3 at 1 p.m. Saturdays in January and February.

Poet Maya Angelou is the guest on "Weekday" at 9 a.m. Thursday on KUOW-FM/94.9, followed at 10 a.m. by King County Executive Ron Sims taking listener calls.

KING-FM/98.1 presents the Seattle Opera's performance of Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Jim Wilke's "Jazz Northwest" at 1 p.m. Sunday on KPLU-FM/88.5 features a recent performance by the Marc Seales trio.

KEXP-FM/90.3 presents a live edition of its electronic music program "Expansions" from Neumo's at 9 p.m. Sunday.

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat, Thursdays in the Seattle P-I
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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