Goodbye KLSX 97.1 "Talk Radio" (format change) (Los Angeles, Anaheim: costs, legal) - California (CA) - Page 7 - City-Data Forum

Lovehound · 02-22-2009, 07:48 PM

I just had a strange epiphany today when I was taking a short drive and didn't want to fumble with CDs, and upon clicking around I landed upon 93.1 FM KCBS. Suddenly it occurred to me: KCBS ... CBS ... same owner as KLSX... CBS Radio. The people who gave us the totally automated no disc jockey Jack-FM are the same people who killed Talk Radio and gave us (i.e. subjected us to) AMP radio. Pretty strange...

Jack-FM = somebody else's idea of what you should have on your iPod, + commercials...

"We're playing what WE want!" (Nevermind what we want to listen to.)

fatmancomics · 02-23-2009, 11:25 PM

Today was the first day that I truly felt the impact of this. I'm so used to listening to the shows during the day and playing my ipod when the commercials were on (they were usually roughly the length of one or two songs) that I kept getting the urge to hit the pause button on my ipod and check what Frosty Heidi and Frank or Tom were talking about. It actually made me sad. It felt like I was remembering a friend that had just died.

ZenMaster2008 · 02-24-2009, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatmancomics

Today was the first day that I truly felt the impact of this. I'm so used to listening to the shows during the day and playing my ipod when the commercials were on (they were usually roughly the length of one or two songs) that I kept getting the urge to hit the pause button on my ipod and check what Frosty Heidi and Frank or Tom were talking about. It actually made me sad. It felt like I was remembering a friend that had just died.

I know what you mean. I am an avid Frosty Heidi and Frank listener. I listened to them 5 days a week for the past 3 years. They are just average people who sit around and chat all day and that is why I think I liked them so much. I got sad listening to their final show and yesterday was not fun. To me it feels like I just got dumped, as silly as it seems.

Wayneb · 02-25-2009, 10:48 AM

In case people don't know, you can find tons of interesting radio on the internet. I use a Logitech Squeezebox for Internet Radio but there is a free software version available called Softsqueeze that works with Squeezecenter server software. It is all free if you only use the software and it is very easy to find just about anything. It won't work in the car unless you have wireless internet but you can listen at work if you have internet access. The Hardware player can connect directly to the net without Squeezecenter.
SqueezeCenter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cruz Azul Guy · 02-25-2009, 03:51 PM

I fell in love with this station when I was in Los Angeles on business back in December. Listening to Adam Corolla and Tom Leykis helped me keep my sanity when I was stuck in traffic driving from Anaheim to Van Nuys and back every day. This is very disheartening news. I sincerely hope another station goes talk and picks these guys back up.

Soundman123 · 02-26-2009, 06:26 AM

I love Tom Leykis. I am really angry that he is being pulled off the air.

I have to say that Tom himself doesn’t seem too distraught about this. It’s almost like he doesn’t care about the situation at all. Basically he gets a 3-year paid vacation until his contract expires. Obviously he isn’t going to talk trash about his bosses.

Well Tom, enjoy your paid vacation. Just be warned that a lot can happen in 3 years. Demographics change, cultural interests, entertainment ect.

If you are planning on being a lazy money grubbing sell-out who sits on his ass, be forewarned that in a place like Los Angeles, it is truly “out of sight, out of mind” for most people. It takes many years to build up the legions of listeners you have. You can’t just wait 3 years and expect to just walk back into the spotlight. It never works like that.

Bands that take 3 years between albums have to stage massive promotional comebacks. Look at Metallica! Every new album they make has to re-ignite the spark and convince the old fan base that they are still relevant.

I wish you nothing but the best, but I fear that you are now emotionally and professionally unattached.

Fontucky · 02-26-2009, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundman123

I have to say that Tom himself doesn’t seem too distraught about this.

I wish you nothing but the best, but I fear that you are now emotionally and professionally unattached.

Apparently you never heard his 45 minute on-air harangue back in 2001, where he spent the whole time telling his listeners how little they meant to him and how unimportant they were to him, other than as a way to make money.

He's the last broadcast personality I'd expect to have even a particle of distraught or a scintilla of attachment. He's the antithesis to FH&F.

He's a pig, but I'll still, on occasion, miss his show. It had the odd moment of entertainment.

greggd · 02-26-2009, 09:56 AM

I would imagine that Leykis' rep. is actively looking for another station to buy out his contract so he can get back on the air. These negociations take time.

He was on a good 6 days a week with his regular show in addition to the weekend wine show. I'm sure he prefers working rather than doing nothing.

autotraveler · 02-26-2009, 06:50 PM

Thank God for this forum. Fortunately I have Sirius satellite radio but yesterday I was in the car and the charging module wasn't working so I hit the #4 preset on the dial at about 7 PM expecting Tom Leykis and what did I get but typical Top 40 rubbish.

I came here and got the complete story and as with most of the rest of you, I'm truly bummed out. In the last year, with politics and the economy front, first and foremost, even on satellite my primary listening channels have been Fox Noise, NPR, CNBC, Bloomberg, and ESPN with the NFL games on during football season. Life without Leykis, when I need the fix, is an almost unimaginable prospect. Oh, when I want music, I hit the '60s, '70s, and '80s channels on the satellite radio. Very little for what passes for music today interests me, but I'm pragmatic enough to realize that the way my parents felt about what I listened to, and still do.

I am 54 and outside the demographic courted by both Talk FM and AMP, but that doesn't mean I'm dead. I still race cars, travel extensively, and am considered by my friends to be something of an adrenalin junkie; four years ago I bungee jumped of a perfectly good dam in Switzerland -- the same one in the opening sequence to Goldeneye -- and fell more than 700 feet and lived to tell about. I think my money is as green, if not greener than anyone half my age or any Generation Y listener.

If you're reading this you probably can tell that I am a writer; in fact I'm an automotive photojournalist and after reading these seven pages of posts, I wrote an essay on my website Automotive Traveler with my thoughts on what I call The Death of FM Radio ([url]http://automotivetraveler.com/jump/130[/url]). If you've read this far all I can hope is that you'll take a look and leave comments here as well as there. I love the feedback.

Personally, I think CBS has clearly shot itself in the foot with this decision as I subscribe to the big fish in a small pond rather than the all things to many people school of thought. With the FM Talk format, I believe that 97.1 owned their male 25-to-54 segment, even with a smaller overall ratings number. With the AMP format, they are competing against five competitors and it probably will take years before they reach the kind of impact and ratings that they enjoyed with the all-talk format. Short-term, their numbers will be abysmal once the initial sampling period is over. Ten thousand songs without commercial interruption; where's that adding to CBS Radio’s bottom line?

But I also realize that big corporations like CBS Radio and Viacom don't make moves like this without a battery of research, so it wasn't taken lightly, that you can be certain. Still, choice is now reduced here in Southern California and those people who haven't already bought into satellite radio, claiming ‘”why should they pay for something that's always been free?” are almost certain to give it another look. Didn’t terrestrial TV broadcasters once say that about cable and HBO?

Anybody care to comment on my comments? Hope I wasn't too late to jump into this discussion but I only learned of the "death" of 97.1 Talk FM just last night.

To everyone on the old 97.1 team, I am saddened for your passing. May your next gig be better than the last, which was IMHO, pretty damn good.

Richard Truesdell
Editorial Director, Automotive Traveler
http://automotivetraveler.com/jump/131 (broken link)

ZenMaster2008 · 02-26-2009, 07:25 PM

My question is this: If they still have to honor the contracts of all that were let go, then what would it have hurt to have them all on until their contracts are over? They want to get rid of overhead costs associated with having these big names? Seems they are still out millions and I believe most were booked for at least another year and Leykis for a few more than that.