Wait, wasn’t KFI supposed to be doomed? How the radio station is thriving
The August Nielsen ratings were released last week for Los Angeles, and while I will not be covering the entire list — I leave that for quarterly reports so as to not bore you too much — there was definitely a station worth mentioning: KFI (640 AM)
The reason it’s worth mentioning has as much to do with the success the station has enjoyed as it does with the dire predictions many made when programmer Robin Bertolucci adjusted the programming and moved a few hosts around in early January.
They’re doomed, cried some. No one will listen to John and Ken — who moved from their longtime afternoon drive slot to take on the 1 to 3 p.m. hours — that early! Tim Conway will not attract an audience in the afternoons like he had at night! Etcetera, etcetera …
I even had people write in talking about the steep ratings drop KFI had due to the changes. There was only one problem: it didn’t happen in a statistical sense. I looked it up … for most of the last few years, KFI ranged from the mid-high 3s to the low-mid 4s with a few periods even higher. So this year, ranging from 4.1 to 4.3 was normal.
But the ratings for August had KFI at a recent high: 4.8, good for third place overall. Done with little promotion, no marketing (why is that, by the way?) … and all those changes that “killed” it.
Why is KFI so successful – isn’t conservative talk dead? Yes, it is … and it’s been decades since KFI was considered “conservative talk” (even when it wasn’t). There have always been a balance of viewpoints on the station; as it moved away from politically centered topics to more general topics, it matched the mood of listeners who wanted to be entertained more than they wanted to be angry.
Thus, the idea of shortening the shifts to keep shows fresh and fast-moving, keeping all of the current hosts while allowing for afternoon exposure of the amazing wit on the Conway Show, and the introduction, or perhaps re-introduction, of general talk in the evenings with the addition of ‘Mo Kelly every evening at 7:00 … worked out perfectly.
And having a stellar news department helps as well.
“I am super-proud of the KFI team,” said programmer Bertolucci in a text. “In addition to being #3 overall — and the top-rated news or talk station — we are so happy to be the most streamed station on the iHeart app.”
She said that on-demand and podcasts are doing great as well.
“KFI is THE live and local station for Southern California, and I think the key is all the ways people can hear us. From streaming in your car to listening on your smart speaker at home, we’ve got you covered.”
I asked her what she thought was the secret to the success of the station. Consistency? Fun? Yes, she said, to both.
“Our hope is that any time you tune in, you are not only informed but you are also entertained,” she said. “Thank you to all our wonderful listeners for their support!”
1110 AM Gets Religion
KRDC (1110 AM) was finally transferred to its new owner on September 8th. On that day it became KWVE, the AM simulcast of Calvary Chapel’s KWVE-FM (107.9). The format is Christian talk, which has been running on the FM signal for many years.
With that strong FM signal, why did the church buy the one-time top-40 powerhouse? Better coverage in the northern and western parts of the city, I am told, and an extended signal reach up and down the coast. Obviously, Calvary Chapel believes in AM broadcasting …
And just to show that some things go full circle, 1110 AM, even though the station is no longer using the KRLA call letters it once had, is competing once more against KHJ (930 AM), which now airs Catholic talk programming.
Resting in Radio Peace
Don Barrett announced his cancer diagnosis in mid-August; last week the news came that he had passed.
I won’t write a new obituary here; the column honoring him that ran in print on August 25th will suffice. But I wanted to mention an interview — a rare one, since Barrett even to the end rarely did interviews — done by my podcast partner Mike Stark. It includes some wonderful memories of radio past and present, shows Barrett’s philosophy of always looking to the positive, and even includes some classic airchecks I had not heard before. It’s a great listen and can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ6BjY2cwYc.
In an ordinary instant, Don, you will be missed. God bless you.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com