KFPT, Fresno’s progressive talk radio station, went off the air today.
KFPT’s initial Arbitron ratings were dismal at startup, but during the three years it was on air they kept increasing. KFPT’s dedicated listeners put this station firmly in the center of the ratings map. Yes, it was far below KMJ’s radical right-wing Limbaugh / Savage talk ratings, but the ratings were definitely nothing to sneeze at.
The owners of KFPT were CBS Promotions Group, later called Peak Broadcasting. This group owns many of the local broadcast stations, including KMJ. It seems odd to me that the quality of local production was higher for KMJ and that KMJ had more high dollar advertisers; while KFPT kept playing the same two bumper songs and had mostly pathetic advertisers. Peak Broadcasting produced both stations out of the same building – could they be biased?
Of course they could.
When I heard that my station was going off the air, I started doing what I could to make up for it’s loss. I described what I did in an open letter to Peak Broadcasting, which I’ll reprint here:
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Patty Hixson
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Peak Broadcasting
1071 West Shaw Avenue, Fresno, CA 93711
[email protected]
Ms. Hixson,
I’ve pulled the old radio out of my car. It isn’t worth keeping.
Instead I’ve replaced it with a newer model radio that accepts a USB connection and satellite radio. This morning, as usual, I listened to Stephanie Miller on my drive to work. Since KFPT is now off the air I did it using my USB drive.
I spent over $200 dollars to retrofit my clunky old Saturn with a new radio. Next month I’ll spend $200 to sign up for XM satellite and to purchase a second portable satellite tuner for home. I subscribed to Stephanie Miller through her website for $60, and started downloading her podcasts.
Ms. Hixson, that’s almost $500 – and I’ve completely weaned myself from radio in Fresno. I drive a lot, and listen to talk radio about 10 hours a week in my car, and another 10 hours a week in my garage woodshop.
I supported KFPT advertisers as I could – I purchased carpet from Big Bobs, and even changed my fast food preferences to include hot dogs. Unfortunately KFPT never seemed to cater to the progressive market. Ester C? What, did KFPT think I was as old as Larry King?
I’m a middle-aged Electrical Engineer who works for [redacted]; I have buying power. I’m interested in everything from computer systems to fishing tackle. It would have been pretty easy to advertise to me – but KFPT didn’t even try. YOU didn’t try. Instead, you said that:
The station is just not a core asset for Peak. It has not been making money, so it is difficult to have it continue.
I understand, Ms. Hixson, that perhaps your hands were tied in the matter of selecting advertisers. I have read the ABC Memo. [This memo shows that ABC blacklisted advertisers from progressive talk radio stations, against advertiser’s wishes – Calladus] And of course it makes sense to scrap a radio station that you can’t afford. But this doesn’t mean that I’ll be slipping into a different radio market to purchase from another advertiser – I’ve made sure of that. Local retailers will just have to discover different media to advertise to me. It won’t be easy – I abhor television.
I’m angry – but I’m sure my little rebellion won’t cause much loss of revenue for Peak Broadcasting. My voice just isn’t that big, and my carping to my friends won’t hurt your bottom line. Thank you for having KFPT on the air as long as you did – it certainly changed the way that I listen to radio. It just changed it so drastically that I can’t go back.
Sincerely,
Mark B., Fresno
cc: my blog: The Calladus Blog