April 1.cwk

Airwaves: April 1, 2011

Retro segues to classical

A few weeks ago, Saul Levine -- owner of Go Country 105 and Retro 1260 -- wrote to me asking what I thought of his idea to turn Retro 1260 into a classical music station.

“Wherever I go, I run into people who tell me they miss K-MOZART and wish I would bring it back.” His plan? Bring it back as a simulcast available on 1260 AM, the digital HD-2 stream of 105.1, and on iPhones and computers.

I told him he was crazy. Well, not in so many words. So did almost everyone else he asked, Levine confided in an interview earlier this week. But he has a plan, and I think it is worth hearing. First the details:

• Oldies and standards-formatted Retro 1260 (KGIL) will change to classical K-MOZART effective Monday, April 4th. It will continue to be heard on Go Country;s HD-3 digital stream.

• The station will be simulcast on Go Country’s digital HD-2 signal, which can be received by any HD Radio tuner, as well as online at www.KMozart.Com. Smart phone apps, such as used on an iPhone, will follow shortly.

Yes, Levine has been running classical on 105.1 HD-2 for a while now, but that was essentially a classical jukebox with no on-air staff. This time he’s stepping up the game by bringing back some veterans from the K-MOZART of old, including Gary Hollis, John Santana, Nick Tyler, and PJ Ochlan. New to the air staff will be David Benoit, world-renowned pianist and composer, five-time Grammy nominee, and conductor of the Asia America Symphony Orchestra.

Asked if he truly thought that classical would work on AM, Levine said he thinks it just might. “Content is king. People are used to compressed audio from computers and MP3 players, often through headphones that don’t reproduce music accurately. We will have a great product with great names, and I think people will listen.”

And if it turns out that people discover the sound on the AM signal, but then continue listening on the HD stream, over the internet or via a smart phone, that’s fine too.

But what about Retro Radio? It will continue on Go Country’s HD-3 stream, just as it is heard now. “Retro has not worked ratings-wise -- which surprises me since I believe it to be a quality product -- but I want to keep it on the air,” Levine told me.

Will it work? I think it has a good chance, especially since it has so many ways to be heard. I also commend Levine for actually doing something special with his HD streams, one of the few station owners in the country to do so.

Changes Expected April 1st

Lots of changes today in Southern California radio. The most surprising is the sale of KFWB (980 AM) to an upstart company calling itself Westinghouse, which will launch a new top-40 format on the station starting today. DJs will include Wink Martindale, Elliot Field Bill Ballance and Ted Quillan.

“Talk hasn’t worked, news hasn’t worked. Heck, we had no clue what to do with the station” said a spokesman for former owner CBS. We wish them the best with their new Color Radio format, whatever that means.”

Also changing is KFI (640 AM). “Frankly, we’re tired of all the whining,” said programmer Robin Bertolucci. “Seriously. How often can you whine about taxes and Democrats?” Beginning today, KFI will super-serve Southern California’s farming communities by broadcasting nothing but farm information and livestock futures, adopting the slogan “K-Farm Information.”

Yet that’s not all. In order to make AM stations more competitive with FM, the FCC ruled that starting today FM stations may no longer broadcast in stereo, leaving that technology solely for AM.

And just in case any of the last few paragraphs seems even remotely realistic, please double check the date on the calendar.

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Airwaves: April 1, 2011 - (Revised; April Fools Day portion removed; Levine segment expanded)

A few weeks ago, Saul Levine -- owner of Go Country 105 and Retro 1260 -- wrote to me asking what I thought of his idea to turn Retro 1260 into a classical music station.

“Wherever I go, I run into people who tell me they miss K-MOZART and wish I would bring it back.” His plan? Bring it back as a simulcast available on 1260 AM, the digital HD-2 stream of 105.1, and on iPhones and computers.

I told him he was crazy. Well, not in so many words. So did almost everyone else he asked, Levine confided in an interview earlier this week. But he has a plan, and I think it is worth hearing. First the details:

• Oldies and standards-formatted Retro 1260 (KGIL) will change to classical K-MOZART effective Monday, April 4th. It will continue to be heard on Go Country’s HD-3 digital stream.

• The station will be simulcast on Go Country’s digital HD-2 signal, which can be received by any HD Radio tuner, as well as online at www.KMozart.Com. Smart phone apps, such as used on an iPhone, will follow shortly.

Yes, Levine has been running classical on 105.1 HD-2 for a while now, but that was essentially a classical jukebox with no on-air staff. This time he’s stepping up the game by bringing back some veterans from the K-MOZART of old, including Gary Hollis, John Santana, Nick Tyler, and PJ Ochlan. New to the air staff will be David Benoit, world-renowned pianist and composer, five-time Grammy nominee, and conductor of the Asia America Symphony Orchestra.

Asked if he truly thought that classical would work on AM, Levine said he thinks it just might. “Content is king. People are used to compressed audio from computers and MP3 players, often through headphones that don’t reproduce music accurately. We will have a great product with great names, and I think people will listen.”

And if it turns out that people discover the sound on the AM signal, but then continue listening on the HD stream, over the internet or via a smart phone, that’s fine too.

Levine also says that the AM signal is full-fidelity, with a brand-new transmitter that puts out as clean a signal as it can, given the limitation of its coverage area near Glendale. “I’ve put a lot of money into the property and my engineers have worked hard over the past few months to make the AM signal sound as good as it can,” Levine told me.

What this means is that reception in a strong signal area using a good wideband AM tuner would sound quite nice, as AM is technically able to sound good; it’s the radios themselves -- along with atmospheric and man-made interference -- that usually make AM sound so bad. I plan to test my theory after the format change Monday.

I did ask if Levine had any plans to convert to HD. “I’m considering it,” he said. “On the other hand, people who own an HD radio can just tune into the FM stream.” I will followup on the possibility of trying out analog AM stereo in a future conversation.

But what about Retro Radio? It will continue on Go Country’s HD-3 stream, just as it is heard now. “Retro has not worked ratings-wise -- which surprises me since I believe it to be a quality product -- but I want to keep it on the air,” Levine told me.

Will it work? I think it has a good chance, especially since it has so many ways to be heard. I also commend Levine for actually doing something special with his HD streams, one of the few station owners in the country to do so. I will be pulling for it.

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