KFOG, But Not 10@10

[darryl]

So I'm in the process of putting together a photo album of all the various KFOG events we brought our kids to as they grew up (now ages 8 and 11). God, it's like mourning a relative.

And I was trying to get dates for Kabooms, and I find KFOG's Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/kfog

And it's like, goddamn, they brought in some great artists last year -- Brandi Carlile, Guster, Chrissie fricking Hynde, Zella Dae, even the occasional local artists (although that's been rarer and rarer, thanks payola by any other name)

So on the one hand, KFOG was trying -- they were getting these great live performances, they clearly have a devoted, if not people-metered group of listeners, they had some solid community events (which dried up -- Kaboom, morning live shows, etc.), they'd have a booth at pretty much every concert/film festival/wine fest in the bay.

But where it counts, those people meters... nobody was listening. Do Fogheads not have time to carry pagers (for 1 day we were a Nielsen family, then they either found out I was planning to purposefully listen to KFOG/KSCU/KPIG all the time OR they found out I worked for a streaming video company, and asked for them back. :-(

I think it all goes back to their cowardly music programming. When I look at http://www.rudebadmood.com/foglist/, I barely see those artists they had play live if at all. And yeah, Pretenders -- same goddamn three songs: Brass In Pocket, Don't Get Me Wrong, Back on the Chain Gang.

I think about my brief visits to Seattle, marvelling at KEXP, and how that station seems to push new music on their listeners. I think about the great KGSR CDs I have which are chock-full of new music from artists old and new.

[OH. KEXP is a Public Radio station. Go figure. And KGSR is in Austin. So yeah, ok Austin, you fucking win. Happy now?]

And I think... maybe the Bay Area doesn't deserve a good station? Maybe they built it, and nobody came (listened)?

For a time KPIG broadcast up here, but it was too weak for me to get in San Jose. I don't recall that experiment lasting. Was it for lack of signal? Lack of publicity? Or lack of caring?

Profoundly sad that I've grown so used to the same old same they play on KFOG that when I do kick over to 97.7, I'm actually not surprised until I hear the Evolution spots. That maybe the mornings have a little less banter, but oh, there's that same Green Day song again, so ok, I'm comfortable with that.

Honestly I don't even feel worthy of this board since I've neglected listening to 10-at-10 for years, maybe catching a bit of the Saturday marathon here or there. I didn't make it a priority to stream it or tune it at night.

But yeah, thanks for letting me vent here, post memorials, and commiserate. I know most of you had figured KFOG for dead years ago, and I know where you're coming from. But now that it's really gone, there's a hole on the dial, and it sucks.

[radical347]

Per our official source in a GS topic: No Name (along with Irish Greg) is staying.

(Seriously, of all the DJs to keep...those two?)

[RGMike]

So I'm in the process of putting together a photo album of all the various KFOG events we brought our kids to as they grew up (now ages 8 and 11). God, it's like mourning a relative...

Honestly I don't even feel worthy of this board since I've neglected listening to 10-at-10 for years, maybe catching a bit of the Saturday marathon here or there. I didn't make it a priority to stream it or tune it at night.

But yeah, thanks for letting me vent here, post memorials, and commiserate. I know most of you had figured KFOG for dead years ago, and I know where you're coming from. But now that it's really gone, there's a hole on the dial, and it sucks.

You're always welcome here, Darryl.

To address the issues you raised, people meters (PPMs) have hurt triple-A formats across the board, because people generally punch around the dial when they're in the car, looking for a familiar hit, and when you're in-and-out of stores that play the radio, it's rarely KFOG (or Live 105, for that matter) that you hear.  Which is why Triple-A's, whose success (pre-PPMs) was built on the fact that they DIDN'T repeat songs 7 times a day, and DIDN'T play burnt-out "classics" endlessly, were hurt when PPMs became the primary ratings tool. (Our old friend Mr Constantine lost his gig at KINK because he programmed it like the old KFOG and didn't see PPMs coming.) And so now Triple-A is merely a rock-leaning version of Hot-AC, where the Elle Kings and the George Vance Ezra Joy Hosier Mumfords rule the playlist.

I loved the KPIG simulcast but it never really had a prayer, being on a crappy AM signal as it was.

Even after DC took it in an Alt direction, KFOG always, at heart seemed to be trying to attract younger demos while not completely alienating loyal Fogheads. KFOG is a brand that has meaning and there were enough remnants in the course of the week (10@10, Acoustic Sunrise) to make it seem like they hadn't completely abandoned their heritage. I think that had the Twitch morning show succeeded without complaint the station would've changed a lot sooner -- Cumulus was clearly unprepared for the outcry and had to backpedal, and after that they were very careful to make changes incrementally. Push has, I guess, come to shove and so drastic measures are being taken.

KFOG and Live 105 have always shared audience and that's why each has similar overall numbers (fluctuating between 1.6 and 2.2 usually) even tho' 105's demos are younger and more male. If 105 really is about to disappear as Lieberman claims,  then "The Evolution", if it's more Alt than Triple-A (and if they're keeping NoName, I suspect that's the plan) could actually do OK.

The Bone, meanwhile, is doing fine.

[RGMike]

As an addendum to my post above, I'd like to note that Kiss-FM, once my go-to station in the car for their wonderful mix of disco/soul/funk and dance-able white '80s pop, has seen their ratings plummet since dumping the '80s pop and adding '90s hip-hop in an attempt to compete with Q-102.  There was a news story this week (the latest of many) talking about how older listeners are where it's at, because of their buying power as well as their loyalty to broadcast radio (which millennials simply don't have). And yet here was iHeart Radio which owns Kiss-FM, kicking folks over 50 to the curb in an attempt to youth-ify their demos, even tho' Kiss's ratings were still quite good despite losing some youngsters to Q-102.

[Lightnin' Rod]

Another tradition (unsurprisingly) bites the dust.  Since it occurred to me at the right time, I turned KFOG on at 5pm on Friday.

No KFOG weekend kickoff (or whatever they called it).

No "Smoke Two Joints".   

What kind of 4/20 evolution is that?

[RGMike]

Another tradition (unsurprisingly) bites the dust.  Since it occurred to me at the right time, I turned KFOG on at 5pm on Friday.

No KFOG weekend kickoff (or whatever they called it).

No "Smoke Two Joints".   

What kind of 4/20 evolution is that?

I had them on in the car earlier, just out of curiosity -- listened for about a half hour. The music mix has definitely shifted. There seem to be more currents; I heard "Starlight" by Muse (from 2006) which I don't think has been in regular rotation before; and I didn't hear a single overplayed '70s or '80s "classic". (The oldest song i heard was "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".)

[RGMike]

I had them on in the car earlier, just out of curiosity -- listened for about a half hour. The music mix has definitely shifted. There seem to be more currents; I heard "Starlight" by Muse (from 2006) which I don't think has been in regular rotation before; and I didn't hear a single overplayed '70s or '80s "classic". (The oldest song i heard was "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".)

Just looked at KFOG's TuneGenie for the last 12 hours, they are featuring more current songs and going VERY '90s and '00s-centric with their gold. Only a handful of '80s tracks all day (a couple U2 classics and "Orange Crush" from REM). All those endlessly overplayed alt/New wave chestnuts we've been subjected to for the past year (Cars, Police, Tears For Fears, "Tainted Love" etc) appear to be gone.  Compare this to The Peak, who in the last couple of hours played the Doors ("Soul Kitchen"), Stones ("Dead Flowers") and Beatles ("Hey Bulldog").  Makes you wonder what KFOG'd do if Bowie had waited 4 months before dying.

(They appear to be keeping the call letters, BTW)

[RGMike]

UPDATE: the new morning guy is Matt Pinfield, onetime MTV host (120 Minutes) and deejay on Sirius/XM's Lithium channel. He also hosts a weekend show called "Flashback" which is syndicated by (wait for it) Cumulus Media.  He also worked with the new PD, Mr. Schock, at the NYC alternative rock station WRXP from 2008 to 2011. That station was a failure in the crowded NY market.   It's not clear whether he's going to be moving to SF or broadcast from the East Coast.

[Tinka Cat]

UPDATE: the new morning guy is Matt Pinfield, onetime MTV host (120 Minutes) and deejay on Sirius/XM's Lithium channel. He also hosts a weekend show called "Flashback" which is syndicated by (wait for it) Cumulus Media.  He also worked with the new PD, Mr. Schock, at the NYC alternative rock station WRXP from 2008 to 2011. That station was a failure in the crowded NY market.   It's not clear whether he's going to be moving to SF or broadcast from the East Coast.

I've heard the Flashback show before. I think The Bone airs it? It shares sentiment with 10 at 10. Going back in time via music and info about the songs, etc.

[RGMike]

UPDATE: the new morning guy is Matt Pinfield, onetime MTV host (120 Minutes) and deejay on Sirius/XM's Lithium channel. He also hosts a weekend show called "Flashback" which is syndicated by (wait for it) Cumulus Media.  He also worked with the new PD, Mr. Schock, at the NYC alternative rock station WRXP from 2008 to 2011. That station was a failure in the crowded NY market.   It's not clear whether he's going to be moving to SF or broadcast from the East Coast.

I've heard the Flashback show before. I think The Bone airs it? It shares sentiment with 10 at 10. Going back in time via music and info about the songs, etc.

the official blurb: http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/152521/kfog-san-francisco-sets-new-weekday-lineup-matt-pi

[darryl]

We flipped to KFOG this morning because my wife had heard a new voice and wanted to hear it again. There was a guy talking about how cool it was that his daughter was turning him on to new music and how excited he was about that.

She IDed him as Matt Pinfield.

Then in the car ride to drop off my boys at school I flipped to hear the tail end of a promo announcing Matt Pinfield in the mornings.

Wikipedia and his Twitter feed https://twitter.com/mattpinfield seem to indicate that he is based in New Jersey. Considering he's got two daughters (one in high school) there, seems highly unlikely he'd be moving.

So yeah, one of those bullshit voice-tracked shows. (Probably what he's already doing for Sirius/XM.) So he's either got a nifty home studio setup, or he goes in once a week to record bullshit intros/outros, music news, and other stuff that isn't local or relevant. He throws to the local weather or traffic person who says, "Thanks Matt!" and then fills that shit in.

So.

Fucking.

Sad.

And then they syndicate that shit. Kaching!
Add to that the money saved in not paying live DJs. Kaching!

Do you think they had to pay more for the "name brand" of Matt Pinfield? Ooof, really? Who in the Bay Area was clamoring to hear the dude from 120 Minutes do their morning show? No, they probably got him cheap.

[darryl]

Sadly, despite myself, I'm *liking* this new mix of music. My little TuneGenie scraper lets me look at the history of a song on KFOG:
http://darryl.com/kfognew/

I *like* Jake Bugg, and this new Bishop track that they just started playing today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoO_EYPjh6o

They've added the BoDeans back to the playlist, who were rarely played in 2015, but in heavy rotation back in 2012-2013. (There's data is missing for 2014. I need to dig it out and backfill.)

So I was thinking - shit, this music mix is pretty decent. (Yes, sorry, barely anything before the 80s. R.I.P. Beatles and Stones. But hey, Changes and Suffragette City are in the mix, so that's... something!)

But but... why alienate so listeners by canning the DJs? I mean, I've been at Live & Local events, where it's clear that the DJs do no actual jockeying of discs. Sure, somebody back at the studio is cueing up tracks and then cueing up Greg/Renee/No-Name/Rosalie to backsell it and then cut to the next commercial, but that's the nature of radio today. They play what's on the list, they get to keep their jobs. So why couldn't they just play this possibly better (and more Arbitron friendly) mix of music?

Well, it's cheaper to have the computer do it. I mean shit, it's been doing it for almost 2 weeks now and do you think the casual KFOG listener even noticed?

So huzzah. KFOG is dead! Long live KFOG! :-{

[darryl]

Oh, and to whether Matt Pinfield will be moving, I'll refer you to this interview from 2011:

Q: Finally, where do you sees the NYC music industry headed as a whole. Is this still the place to be involved in music?
A: NYC is still the greatest city in the world. It always will be. It doesn’t matter the genre, beyond NYC and into the tri-state area, it’s still the place to be. People move here for a reason: There’s an energy about being a band in NYC that’s unmatched anywhere.

Even as things get gentrified or change, you’ll still find more excitement in an NYC area show than anywhere on the planet. And I know that because I’ve hung out everywhere. Artist for artist, venue for venue, it’s stronger here, and there’s a business to support it. It’s a great, proactive area. It’s the city of artists.

http://www.sonicscoop.com/2011/07/30/5-questions-with-matt-pinfield-taking-over-tv-again-with-the-return-of-120-minutes/

To be fair, that article also talks about his enthusiasm for music of all genres and a curiosity and passion about music that is impressive.

And then there is this bit about the reality of radio as a business:

Q: You talked comprehensively about the June sale of WRXP by Emmis Communications to Randy Michaels and GTCR in a recent “Hollywood Reporter” article. Why, specifically, do you think NYC has a problem keeping a rock radio station going? Isn’t this like LA not having an NFL franchise?
A: I’ll say this only once: The problem had nothing to do with the format or the music. It had to do with financial issues at the top of the company (Emmis).

There’s an incredible misconception that rock can’t work in NYC. That’s complete bullshit. We sold out five Christmas shows, bringing bands like Spoon, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon onstage. We were doing a lot of great things and our fans were really receptive. It had nothing to do with what rock could do in NYC. NYC radio at the moment is really lacking, and I think it would be ridiculous for someone to not pick up the torch and run with it.

But there’s so many politics about how people own stations, and how they look at their market share. Rock’s surely not down for the count, but the situation of the radio station being sold was all above our heads. There was nothing that we could have done as a staff for ratings, or whatever, that could have stopped that sale.

I had a great three year run with Emmis. I loved the opportunity, and that they believed in me and the brand of me. But when a company gets acquired, it doesn’t matter what the business is – it could be a shovel-making company – it’s going to change the dynamic.

[darryl]

Trolling:
https://twitter.com/notyoutoo/status/719928529069015040

[RGMike]

Trolling:
https://twitter.com/notyoutoo/status/719928529069015040

LOL!

as to the music mix, clearly this is to be a "next-gen" Triple-A. I mean, 1990-to-now is 26 years of "gold" to choose from. And the endless repetition of Cars/Police/TFF was one of the most annoying things about KFOG the last year or so (well, that and the 5-times-a-day recurrents; songs that are at minimum a year old).

I still say the only reason KFOG had a 2.0 share was that there were a lot of geezer Fogheads tuning in for 10@10 and Rosalie. And maybe Cumulus will be happy with a 1.6 if the demos are younger. Now if Live 105 really does disappear as rumored...