KFOG, But Not 10@10

[RGMike]

I'm guessing KFOG is about to go really "young" (or else become "NASH Country") and 10@10 will move to the Bone and cover roughly '67-'89.

TANC: KFOG is not named in this article, and I'm not saying it will happen, but apparently Cumulus is going national with NASH. 

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/118749/cumulus-takes-nash-fm-national-country-brand-launc?ref=mail_news

Yeah, there've been rumblings about this all week in the radio trades. Of course those are stations that are already country that are being "re-branded".  Whether Cumulus would really blow up either KFOG or the Bone to get NASH on the air in SF is a good question.

[Big Fingers McGee]

More Rich Lieberman, in this case speculating that KFOG will be either country of KGO-FM:

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2013/05/friday-rumor-mill-kfog-flipping-to.html

[dischead]

More Rich Lieberman, in this case speculating that KFOG will be either country of KGO-FM:

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2013/05/friday-rumor-mill-kfog-flipping-to.html

I am admittedly not much of a radio nerd, and certainly not as knowledgeable
about the industry as others on this board.  But San Francisco, along with
perhaps Portland, Oregon, and some East coast cities like Boston, Philadelphia,
and Baltimore, strikes me as a particularly poor market for a country music
station.  It's not that there aren't fans of the genre here, but I suspect they
constitute a fairly small segment of the population, given the large number and
variety of other ethnic groups.

My own suburban Bay Area community has sizable numbers of Afghans, Indians,
Japanese, Chinese, Sikhs, and Persians -- and that's just off the top of my
head.  And while many of them are second and even third generation Americans, I
really doubt most of them have even heard of Tim McGraw or Taylor Swift, much
less are fans of their music.

Wasn't there a country music station here a few years ago?  Called itself "The
Bear," if memory serves.  I don't think it lasted very long.

[RGMike]

More Rich Lieberman, in this case speculating that KFOG will be either country of KGO-FM:

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2013/05/friday-rumor-mill-kfog-flipping-to.html

I am admittedly not much of a radio nerd, and certainly not as knowledgeable
about the industry as others on this board.  But San Francisco, along with
perhaps Portland, Oregon, and some East coast cities like Boston, Philadelphia,
and Baltimore, strikes me as a particularly poor market for a country music
station.  It's not that there aren't fans of the genre here, but I suspect they
constitute a fairly small segment of the population, given the large number and
variety of other ethnic groups.

My own suburban Bay Area community has sizable numbers of Afghans, Indians,
Japanese, Chinese, Sikhs, and Persians -- and that's just off the top of my
head.  And while many of them are second and even third generation Americans, I
really doubt most of them have even heard of Tim McGraw or Taylor Swift, much
less are fans of their music.

Wasn't there a country music station here a few years ago?  Called itself "The
Bear," if memory serves.  I don't think it lasted very long.

KSAN, during its country period (early-to-mid '90s, when it was at 94.9) did quite well. Thery had a wonderful show on sunday nites where they played "All Kinds of Country" -- everything from Hank Williams to bluegrass to Steve Earle.  arounf '96 KNEW went classic country and were really gaining traction (amazing for a music station on AM) but then the owners pulled the plug.

KRTY does pretty good in the South Bay; SF itself has had The Bear, which then became MAX-FM which then became The Wolf (also country) and is now The Game.

[Big Fingers McGee]

I don't question that a country station could exist in the Bay Area, but I would think it would have to be on a second-tier station. Certainly not KFOG.

[RGMike]

So far, status quo, one week into the new KFOG PD.  Still hearing a couple of older (pre-1980) "classics" per hour (Bowie's"Changes", the Dead "Casey Jones").

[urth]

So far, status quo, one week into the new KFOG PD.  Still hearing a couple of older (pre-1980) "classics" per hour (Bowie's"Changes", the Dead "Casey Jones").

Have to wonder if some of the KFOG airstaff have not already begun shopping their resumes/tapes around, just in case?

[RGMike]

Oy: "Fast Car" for the third time in less than 24 hours? Seriously?

[ggould]

Oy: "Fast Car" for the third time in less than 24 hours? Seriously?

yes, I thought of you this morning when I heard it!
 

[RGMike]

Oy: "Fast Car" for the third time in less than 24 hours? Seriously?

yes, I thought of you this morning when I heard it!
 

Not that this is anything new, of course, but there was a time when radio stations had continuity people to make sure stuff like that didn't happen. KFOG has often played a song from 10@10 20 minutes before the replay airs. And when it's a '90s set that's mostly KFOG playlist staples, the odds rise exponentially.

[RGMike]

I mentioned this on the GS page but it seems to me that KFOG has pulled back from that whole "let's be more alternative than Live 105" shtick that was DC's whole raison d'etre for so long. Or maybe it's just my imagination.

[urth]

I mentioned this on the GS page but it seems to me that KFOG has pulled back from that whole "let's be more alternative than Live 105" shtick that was DC's whole raison d'etre for so long. Or maybe it's just my imagination.

Assuming that "let's be more alternative than Live 105" was DC's strategy  (and I think it's pretty safe to say it was), and given that he was shown the door, I'd say it was the view of the Cumulus higher ups that that strategy wasn't working. So at the very least, they'd be expected to go some other direction. Just hope it's not much more drastic than what you've described.

[radical347]

I mentioned this on the GS page but it seems to me that KFOG has pulled back from that whole "let's be more alternative than Live 105" shtick that was DC's whole raison d'etre for so long. Or maybe it's just my imagination.

Assuming that "let's be more alternative than Live 105" was DC's strategy  (and I think it's pretty safe to say it was), and given that he was shown the door, I'd say it was the view of the Cumulus higher ups that that strategy wasn't working. So at the very least, they'd be expected to go some other direction. Just hope it's not much more drastic than what you've described.

I've noticed that too.  Linkin Park and Capital Cities seem to be gone from their playlist.  I listened most of this afternoon and only heard about one current per hour and one or two other recurrents.  Everything else was 90s and before.  It's starting to sound like it did in around 09-10 when they hardly added any new songs, and that (IMO) is not a good thing.  Although I'll take that over flipping to country or sports.

When they first tried to out-Live105 Live105, it actually worked.  They played the alternative songs that Live 105 should have been playing but wasn't.  But Live 105 wised up to that, dumped most of the overplayed 90s grungeskater rock that they should have dumped years ago, picked up a lot more new music as well as the golds that made them the station they are, and actually started sounding like a real alternative station again.  I credit DC for giving Live the kick in the @$$ that it needed, but eventually it became pointless for KFOG to add the top non-folky alternative songs anymore because Live 105 had finally added them all and KFOG began to sound like Live-lite, at the same time making a lame attempt at trying to be everything to everyone, putting back overplayed golds in the mix but with no discernible rhythm or public explanations on why they were doing what they did (i.e. a simple 'we're celebrating 5 decades of music with _____, _____' to introduce an upcoming set would have helped...or, even better, they could have played new songs back to back with older songs they were obviously influenced by).  It began to sound like a train wreck.

[RGMike]

Listening to KFOG this morning and they just played CSN "Southern Cross" which was a staple in the pre-DC era. Back to the Future!

Also: lengthy discussions are back, apparently... Tim, Greg and Mud just spent five minutes on movie pet peeves.

ETA: and now we just got 3 minutes on Gory's living room couch and why he never sits on it. or something.

Oh, and "Levon" is the new "Rocket Man"

[urth]

This just in: More changes for KFOG and the rest of the SF Cumulus "cluster": they have a new GM:
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/119059/cumulus-s-f-names-steve-sklenar-market-manager-kev?ref=mail_bulletin

Btw, I have often thought "cluster" is an ironic choice for what these conglomerates call their groups of stations in each market, since the word I most often follow "cluster" with is "fuck."