Radio AM to FM - October 16, 1998

Radio AM to FM: October 16, 1998

Groove Gone

The long-rumored sale of KACD/KBCD (103.1 FM) came to reality last week when Jacor Communications paid Ken Roberts $32 million for the combo ... about $3 million less than the note on the stations according to one report. This just a week after Jacor paid $30 million for KEZY/KORG in Anaheim.

Groove then played its final club dance hit at about 11 am last Monday as Jacor took control and dropped the format in favor of an interim format consisting of a simulcast of Jacor-owned KIIS-FM (102.7 FM). By the time you read this, a new format should be on the air in place of Groove; at press time the good money was on Adult Album Alternative -- AAA -- which was last heard on KSCA (101.9 FM) until last year. That rumor was given credence by the Groove web site, which mentioned the AAA format specifically.

In addition, Nicole Sander is back in town as part of the new format; she was music director at KSCA until that station went Spanish.

Why, you may ask, would Jacor buy a station only to replace the format with AAA ... a format that barely earned one shares in the Arbitrons when it was on the more powerful KSCA? Simple demographics. Those one-share listeners were located primarily in the West side of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Newport Beach ... precisely the same areas that KACD and KBCD hit -- strongly -- with their signals. And advertisers love those areas ... and the money the residents have to spend.

Jacor gets Cleared

Did I say Jacor? I meant Clear Channel. Or something like that. Jacor is now a subsidiary of Clear Channel, which bought Jacor last week in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. Bobby Lawrence will remain as Jacor's president, Randy Michaels remains Clear Channel's CEO.

The deal gives Clear Channel control over 454 radio stations in 101 US markets ... and their first entry into Los Angeles.

Mo' Money Blues

Money Radio KMNY (1600 AM) has been sold as well, to Multicultural Broadcasting for $7.5 million ... not bad for an unrated standalone AM station. Expect brokered foreign-language programming to grace the 1600 airwaves as soon as control is transferred, probably in November.

Time Warp

Ricky the K's Solid Gold Time Machine has announced a free weekend of programming on its "web station." All this weekend, cruise over to http://www.60sradio.com, click on the special icon, and listen to the current three-hour weekend show for free.

It's a recreation of "bigger than life" top-40 radio from the 1960s, with a playlist spanning 1955 to 1971 and over 3000 records. Records are repeated only once in nine weeks, and special "sixties-style" jingles were produced especially for the web station.

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