Sunday, June 24, 2012
KOFY TV20; A Bay Area TV Classic; And don't forget Dance Party; Sunday Relic
Jim Gabbert, local FM radio pioneer and broadcast impresario, had some spare change back in the early 1980's. After selling K-101 Radio, he bought Channel 20, then a neanderthal UHF station that was largely foreign language that hardly anybody watched. The price tag was roughly $5 million. Gabbert would later sell the station for almost $200 million. Not a bad investment.
TV 20 under Gabbert consisted of dog ID's; (a joke: the frugal Gabbert was notoriously keen on budget, hence: why did Gabbert use dogs for station? So he wouldn't have to pay 'em.) He also hosted late-night movies, mega contests, and the bonanza of all local shows: Dance Party. The program was an instant hit. Sort of a local "American Bandstand", complete with funky regulars-- Gabbert doing his best Dick Clark impression with a local cast of characters that caught San Francisco TV nirvana. It was by far the most popular local TV show and with it, came a ton of buzz and interest.
I'm betting a frenzy of you who watched the show would love to see its re-birth. Maybe a onetime reunion with, yes, Gabbert doing a live Saturday night program complete with a few of the regulars. KOFY is now corporate, (aren't they all?), but here's thinking a few logical suits might hoist the mike over to Gabbert for a one-timer. I think the ratings would be huge.
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Why can't Mickey Luckoff and Jim team up to do something Local? There has to be something out there.
ReplyDeleteRumor has that Mickey is no longer a player. He has retired. You all can stop, asking for help from Mickey tbe Mouse.
DeleteWhy don't you all ask your trust fund baby friends for help? Man! They ain't going to help you. Long live the cloud.
If there is a new talk show station, they need to hire Richie L. He is the man.
DeleteI agree with 6:01pm. At least go do the Saturday show on KSCO Rich; Michael Zwerling sounds like an amateur on the radio. The guy was playing 50s music on Saturday and he thought he was hilarious. If it was not for his rich mom he'd be waving Domino's Pizza signs on Santa Cruz street corners.
DeleteI used to like his sleazy arms hotel, or whatever it was called. Was Carlton the bartender his partner?
ReplyDeletedance party was horrible
ReplyDeleteI agree. I felt embarrassed for those folks and Gabbert too.
DeleteWhy? It costs many millions. A re-creation of KGO wouldn't be worth the time or effort. Remember - it's not about you. Ad dollars in this day and age are for chasing 25-49 year olds. Everyone else is irrelevant to sponsors.
ReplyDeleteAM Radio is "ancient modulation". The old AM audience is r0-pidly dying off and fewer people than ever listen to AM Radio. The costs have climbed in operation, too. A high power FM in San Francisco goes for about $300-million today -- more than Gabbart sold KOFY-TV 20 for back in the day. A high power AM would go for more than 1/3 that price IF it were successful. Even so, KGO would be priced out of the market in the $60-million to $80-million price range ... in a bad economy, more station choices and less listenership to radio than before. The days of AM are near over and FM is struggling too with not enough ad dollars to go around. No one wants to buy into a money loser. And with advertisers not interested in spending bigger bucks to attract higher aged listeners to to their being set in their ways, it's a tough racket to be in. Why do you think KGO is having so many problems now trying to attract a younger audience that advertisers like? Because young people don't listen to AM Radio as a regular programming choice.
Why buy a station, if one was available, for $10-million and end up with a signal like 910 or 960 or worse? Financially, that's a trainwreck. Half or more of an audience couldn't even hear the station. Look at 910s ratings even with the "All Stars". So far down in the ratings and ad dollar receivers that it still has less than half of KGO's audience -- and that is still dropping like a rock.
It's called "reality".
Too many stations competing in an over-media base market that is getting older, not younger. It costs advertisers much more to try to turn older people to new things. It's not about older people having more discretionary income. It's about having to spend three times as much to get that audience to switch loyalties or to discover new products. Young people and families are hard enough. The 55+ audience has seen it's salad days. Sorry ... but that's fact.
Always interesting to see the naysayers come out of the woodwork. "That will never work...we tried that already....here are the facts...."
DeleteFact is, some smart cookie is going to figure a way around all this--trust me! And they won't be listening to those who want to punch holes in new ideas either. (Or recycled ones!)
Posts like 11:28 keep showing up on this blog. I just don't buy it. First of all, what is a strong FM signal? They all seem pretty weak -- limited coverage. Also, almost anything (other than NPR) that is talk related is on AM. FM is mostly music. The strongest signals are on AM.
DeleteAs for advertisers trying to build brand loyalty among the young. Companies don't last long enough these days to think someone will be loyal to a brand that will be around for 20 years. Companies are bought and sold and merged and consolidated so fast that there are only a few brands that are still recognizable.
Also, if every mattress company, every car company, every insurance company etc. etc. etc. advertises on the same stations, how does that build brand loyalty? How many people are swayed with what to buy simply because they heard the ad on the radio? If you hear Sleep Train, Mattress Discounters, Sleep Number Bed, Mancini's Sleep World all in one day on the same station, which do you pick? Probably the one that's most convenient to where you live.
At the rate the economy is going anyway (with all the money going to the top 1% in the country), fewer people, young or old, have money to spend on what is being advertised. The game the uber rich are playing by buying up everything and leaving little for the middle class will eventually crumble when there is no one left to buy what they are peddling.
Read Robert Reich today in the Chronicle.
I am always amused by the naysayers who speak of the 25-49 year old demographic as though they hold the key to everything. Why in the hell are advertisers so adamant about that age bracket? Are 25 year olds buying that many expensive mattresses and enlisting the help of tax lawyer Steve Moskowitz? 25 and 30 year olds are living at home with their parents in record numbers! They have no money unless they work at Google or Facebook....
DeleteThey still do dance party ..mostly 80's music. I forget the time or Day it runs. It might not be every week though.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of KEMO (old ch20) and Ultraman,Speed Racer. Does anybody know the name of the first kid's host in '68? He was a black man who's name,I think was Stan?..he played guitar too. I can't find any mention of him anyplace,let alone where he is now? Must be in his 70's by now.
ReplyDeleteFolk music and sweaters was his thing as best I can recall.
Weren't some of those shows on channel 44? I'm thinking Ultraman, Speed Racer etc.
Deleteand "Kimba The White Lion" ... wtf!
DeleteI think they also showed animated Marvel Comics like Hulk,Thor,Ironman,And the Submariner who looked like Spock. It was a kind of animation that used the very same drawings used in comic books. If you had Hulk like I did..it was fun to see them as moving pictures...pre video.
DeleteI post about that Host once a year..and nobody remembers?..You people are making me feel like those old folks who out live everybody to share memory s with...sigh.
Yeah, that blond guy. Used to wonder why he was sitting/standing next to Jim all of the time.
ReplyDeleteDon't watch tv so a recreation of Dance Party is of no interest to me.
But if Jim got a regular gig on local radio, I'd listen to him. He's a little too far on the right for my tastes but I enjoy hearing him on the radio
what's the matter Rich, you don't like your own medicine, very Lazy!
ReplyDeleteWhat I miss are the late night sign-offs, with the cheesy patriotic imagery, and the video tape which has been run so many times it's worn out.
ReplyDeleteTV-44 had some good ones. I think KTVU used to play New Age tunes.
Something comforting about a late night sign off.
Some of these posting, I believe, are meant to be clever and sarcastic but in the end just don't make any real point. Make your point clearly if you are not skilled at clever and sarcastic. It's boring!
ReplyDeleteWho made you the arbitor of clever and sarcastic postings?
DeleteNot to sound like a naysayer, but why would anyone over the age of 55 want to stay in radio? First of all, they're not welcome anymore, because management knows the older vets have build up well earned vacation time, and actually like to do other things than work 24/7. They've paid their dues, and their experience and professionalism should be valued, not only by management, but by the public, which needs credible, experienced people on the air.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's true, the younger audience (18-35) doesn't listen that much to AM radio anymore. They're more interested in tweeting, texting, and facebooking than actually turning on the radio, picking up a newspaper (what's that?), or watching any nightly TV news shows. So why is management gearing its programming to the 'younger demographic?' Beats me, because very few of them are even listening anymore!
They get most of their info in quick headlines bites off the internet, mostly regurgitated by the AP wire which almost all of the websites seem to use. If they watch any video, it's either youtube or some other oddball web site with very little news credibility. Most likely they're wanting to see the latest nonsensical video, such as someone jumping naked into a swimming pool while eating a ham sandwich!
The advertising dollars are also not as readily available, but the sad fact remains that AM radio is dying a quick death, (it's really gone downhill in a short period of time after being a primary media source for 3 generations), and young people seem more interested in tuning out the world by listening to their i-pods or yapping away with their friends on their 'smart-phones,'
'i-phones,' or going on line on their i-pads.
I understand the need to 'stay connected,' but the irony is that
by turning on their electronic devices, these people (and they're plenty of folks over the age of 35 who are addicted to this new technology as well), are actually becoming more 'disconnected,' with the real world of human beings and their immediate natural environment. All of these 'clones' who are beholden to telling their friends where they are, what they just ate, and who they saw as they
update their facebook account, are losing real contact with the real world (i.e. actual face to face interaction with other people). They prefer staring and straining their eyes by staring for hours into tiny screens than actually having a real conversation with someone. (I guess I'm doing that myself as I write this diatribe!)
The only thing that will continue to survive well into the 21st century on the radio is play by play broadcasting of pro and perhaps college sports. Baseball in particular. But that's because baseball is so deeply tied into the American Experience,
having been around since the mid 19th century. It's about the only thing in America that hasn't changed radically (at least not the way the game is actually played on the field), over the last century. That is at least somewhat of a consolation!
Amidst all this posturing, take a moment and light a candle to honor the spirit of the late, great Dennis Erectus. Back in the day when there was KOME on your radio, Dennis had the ratings, the advertisers, and the understanding that radio could and should be theater without borders -- taking it to the limit each and every show...http://activate.metroactive.com/2012/06/r-i-p-dennis-erectus-south-bay-radio-legend/
ReplyDeleteJust saw this comment regarding Dennis Erectus. So sorry to hear this news. One of the original Shock Jocks (yes, before Howard was "HOWARD"). A blaze of inappropriate energy on the air, a very sweet and humble guy in private. Too often, the originals don't get to reap the glory...on this plane anyway..
DeleteRest in peace Dennis..
I used to watch Dance Party with my in-laws. We loved that era of music. Hated "Sid & Barbara". When my mother-in-law was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Dance Party helped her not think about the pain she was in. Also, I would get up and dance to the music just to make her laugh. Dance Party will always have good memories for me.
ReplyDeleteTV 20 was the BEST!!!
ReplyDeleteI admit, I used to watch Dance Party. It was cheesy, and it made everyone cringe, but I just couldn't miss it. Will never forget the episode where the crazy dancing black guy's pants ripped apart at the seem, and they just kept filming. Man, that was hilarious! Then, the next song, he had a jacket tied around his waste. Ha haa!!!
Although TV 20 was a large market TV station, it still felt like it was all done just for you. It never felt like there were thousands of other people watching (maybe there weren't).
I especially loved the dog ID's and bumpers. They always got the dog to turn their head and look to the TV set just as the TV 20 logo "leapt" off the TV and went to full screen. I thought that was really clever.
The only thing I miss more than TV 20 is Dr. Don Rose doing the voice bumpers for afternoon cartoons on KBHK channel 44.
Short story about channel 44:
When I was a freshman in high school, my whole theater class took a field trip to San Francisco to see a theater play. After the play, we were given an hour to walk around the city before we had to board our bus and go back home. I knew where I wanted to go- The KBHK studios! Just a short walk away, I stumbled into the channel 44 lobby and asked to see Dr. Don Rose (he just had to be there, sitting in front of a TV watching cartoons waiting for his turn to introduce the next cartoon, right?). The lady was super nice, and informed me that Dr. Don wasn't there, he just recorded everything in advance. Crushed, but not undaunted, I did receive a small tour of the operations, and just a few short years later, I was working in TV myself while a Sr. in high school, saving money for college.
During college, I went to work in radio and have been ever since. I wonder if that nice lady at KBHK knows how much she influenced me to get into broadcast engineering by bursting my TV station "fantasy bubble". If you're still out there- Thank you.
BTW, I did eventually meet Dr. Don Rose in person, and we actually became friends after he left radio. I had lunch with him just a few weeks before he passed away. The NICEST, most sincere person in broadcasting, ever. Thinking about how much I miss him makes my heart hurt.
My wife invited him to a surprise birthday party she threw for me shortly before he died while he was ill, and he was so apologetic that he couldn't make it. Don never once considered his own poor health, he just fealt like he let me down by not coming to my birthday party. Wow.
LOVE the story about the ripped pants. And what a sweet story about Dr. Don!
DeleteI think they are back with the dog IDs! Love it!
For you other Dr. Don Rose fans, this link to the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame provides Don's life story and professional history. There are also several aircheck links toward the bottom of the web page, if you want to refresh your memory of the morning mania over which the good doctor presided.
DeleteA lot of us still miss you and your good heart, Don!
http://www.bayarearadio.org/audio/kfrc/dr-don-rose.shtml
My wife (then girlfriend) and I danced a few timees on the original Dance Party, and have made a few appearances on the new Dance Party. The original, with Jim Gabbert, was incredibly cheesy, but that was the charm. Jim was the boss, and he could pretty much do what he wanted to do. While Morris Knight is a pleasant enough fellow, other posters are correct. There is somewhat of a corporate feel to the new Dance party. Besides, who decided that people should dance to music of the 80's? Electric Avenue? Devo? While I'd love to go back to the Fifties, like the original Dance Party, and see some poodle skirts and shake to Great Balls of Fire, I fear that most of my generation might not be boogieing their woogie. So my suggestion is to bring back disco. OK, for listening, disco wasn't the best, but for booty shakin' give me some Funky Town.
ReplyDeleteAnybody remember the fake fireplace with the "lit" logs?
ReplyDeleteChristmas Day on KOFY. lol