KOMO radio: a rudderless ship

"There's nobody in charge, no plan," says a Fisher radio staffer. 

KOMO World is in suspended animation; employees are in a deep malaise.

A common thread with the KOMO people we've talked to is that the news talk station is doing OK at the moment, but they worry about the future. "We've got a lot of great people here, but we're just drifting along while KIRO makes all the changes."

There's a reason why there's no big picture stategizing for the 101-year-old Seattle company

which began as a flour mill. The future is what happens Wednesday at the annual Fisher shareholders meeting. As we've reported, a group of investors, widely believed to be bent on selling off the company, are attempting a Board takeover.

The takeover reflects the Board's long-brewing dismay with the many reversals of fortunes for the company, not the least of which are in the shrunken, long-neglected radio section.

A claque led by the excellent self-preservationist CEO Colleen Brown is seen by us and many others as having led the company down any number of rabbit holes, not the least of which is a white elephantine, multi-million dollar building in downtown Seattle, they neither can make pencil nor sell-off.

(What Brown and her teevee-centric management let happen to their radio stations was a mortal sin: they let KTTH steal Rush Limbaugh from KVI, and a let a seminal talk radio franchise, and market leader slide into oblivion. When KIRO stole back the Mariners, the handwriting was on the wall. KOMO radio was the deciding. KOMO radio was what took the hometown flour mill to a successful media company. They forgot who brung 'em to the dance, and threw million$ away buying teevee stations in far-flung places at "the wrong time and the wrong price.")

A KOMO radio staffer says: "We're thinking we'd be better off if we got sold, maybe somebody upstairs might give a shit."

What could a sell-off look like? Maybe not so good for employees. KOMO, KVI, and Star 101, could be turned into Clear Channel robot stations with more syndication and even fewer local staffers.

Barry Lucas, a Wall Street analyst associated with one of the dissident investor groups told the Seattle Times that in "the long term, regardless of this proxy fight's outcome, the industry has 'too many independent broadcast companies' without the scale to lower corporate overhead and bargain effectively with the networks."

So who do your root for? The local company struggling to keep its independence and its crummy management? Or the Wall Street hedge-funders who will almost certainly sell-off part or all of the company to the highest bidder in a bad sellers' market?

Guess we're rooting for the local company: with the vague, desperate, and probably silly hope that one day Colleen Brown & Co. will pull their collective dick out of Fisher Communications and let it be great again.

Comments

[Peaklimiter]

great commentary, though very, very sad.

[Chucks]

In the big picture, how much does this really Matter? It's not like they are going to change the Scone recipe.

[Cueburner]

Chuck, the company sold the Scone recipe after they sold the flour mills.

[John]

One thing Fisher IS good at: snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

KIRO handed KOMO the news image on a silver platter and the incompetent boobs in charge blew the opportunity bid time.

The only thing that's kept KOMO Radio afloat for the past decade is the professionalism of the staffers. It ain't due to the genius who put the format on the air or the genius who's in charge today.

[Rich]

I wonder if John is Mr. Carlson. In any event well said!

[Ray]

I've watched hedge fund types and corporate raiders rip companies apart and destroy local flavor for quick profits (Albertson's comes to mind as well as Morrison Knudsen in Boise.) The results are not pretty.

I'm starting to think, however, that the current top management at Fisher had this agenda in mind all along. When someone doesn't really know how to manage a company effectively, they run it into the ground and then sell the problems they have created to someone else.

The hedge fund managers, as mentioned here before, I think, don't want the broadcast properties, only the real estate.

Sad to say, Fisher Broadcasting may finally cease to exist.

[joanie]

They should have kept those flour mills.

I miss the old Seattle.

[Cueburner]

Ray,
Your comments about current management wanting a sale just might be right. With their golden parachutes, they'll land on their feet, even though everyone else will go down with the ship.

It also seems to me that Colleen Brown has experience selling properties since she was running broadcast for Lee Enterprises when they suddenly decided to sell broadcast to concentrate on their newspapers.

[Liberty, lover]

O, that private sector! O free enterprise! They are infinitely so much wiser and competent than the public sector socialists.
Seattle: eat your spinach and learn to love the freedom that's ripped-off another part of your day on the radio.

[JimF]

Switching KVI from talk to oldies has taken a huge hit in Fisher's bank account:

"Both radio and cash flow were affected by #1, the re-formatting of Seattle's KVI (570) from conservative talk to oldies, and #2, "the wind-down of the KING-FM Joint Sales Agreement", which is expiring now. Seattle-based Fisher Communications had been handling the ad sales of commercial-classical KING-FM (98.1), which just converted to non-commercial status. Almost all of Fisher's radio assets are in Seattle, and it says radio net revenue slipped 1% to $5.2 million, while radio cash flow dropped $52,000 to $304,000. The cash flow margin, a particular target of analysts and outside investor FrontFour Capital, declined from 6.8% to 5.8%. "

Wonder how PD Kent Philips feels now?

[Sarah]

Thanks Jim, you have provided added insight that aids in understanding why this rudderless ship is apparently sinking. So sad. Hope you conservative boys find a station you like.

[Itchy]

Switching KVI to a music station was a total bonehead move. Next, Fisher may come out with a rotary-dial cell phone.,

But what they've done to KOMO is even more absurd.

For years, decades even, KOMO radio was known for one thing: constant change. Finally, though, they hit on a format that not only worked, but made Entercom and KIRO crap their pants and start to make stupid moves.

The KOMO ratings went up and the KIRO ratings went down. Suddenly KIRO was the station making all the changes and looking stupid.

Sure, having the Mariners for 6 seasons helped, but it was finally having a consistent format that really put KOMO in a competitive position.

No more did we have Ernie Brown doing morning drive AND afternoon drive. No more Scoot. No more nighttime Coast to Coast shows being replayed the next day in afternoon drive.

And now that they finally had success with an all-news format, what do they do, they blow up the format and change back to news talk.

Why did they do it? Because John Carlson is under contract and they can't let that money go to waste.

John Carlson! The man who has NEVER, EVER EVER EVER EVER had good radio ratings in Seattle. Yet Fisher not only pays him a shitload of money, but they blow up a successful format to put his boring ass on the radio.

For that reason alone, the Fisher management team should be put out to pasture...maybe to a horse-farm in Enumclaw.

[JimF]

Carlson may have never had great ratings, but whenever Fisher did focus groups, John Carlson was THE conservative voice in Seattle, bar none. That's why they brought him back three times. He has incredible name recognition.

Kent Philips whooped and hollared on the Sunday afternoon when the last live weekend talk show ended when KVI flipped to oldies. He ran up and down the studio, sticking up the new logos in the control room, the studio, on the doors, on the walls....The flip was fought tooth and nail by sales, but they were only able to keep the revenue weekend shows to sell.

The M's kind of helped KOMO in TSL, but they were so, so, SO bad during that 10 year period, Fisher couldn't sell them and they were just an awful product. KIRO was able to get them at a fraction of the $100 million Fisher paid.

[Itchy]

Well if they kept paying a guy huge sums of money for doing well in 'focus groups' when he did terrible in ratings in proves one of three things:

1. Fisher doesn't know how to interpret focus groups.

2. Fisher brass are idiots.

3. 1 & 2.