Media: KFSD-FM Looks to Attract Runoff Advertising From Clear Channel’s 91X
It was in his teens, spending the school year in England and the summers in Detroit, that Mike Halloran’s passion for alternative music was first formed.
Used to the eclectic European radio stations, he would call Detroit DJs with frequent requests. When he was 18, one of the stations offered him a job.
Now a fixture in San Diego’s radio scene since the early ’80s, Halloran’s enduring interest in music has taken its newest turn.
He now programs KFSD-FM 92.1, which recently switched formats from classical to alternative with a local focus, based on his proposal.
It’s a change that is expected to lift KFSD’s sagging sales revenues, said station manager Chris McKay.
McKay, who is also director of operations, wouldn’t provide specific figures. Astor Broadcast Group Corp., which owns KFSD-FM, now dubbed “Premium Radio,” is privately held. Astor also owns KFSD-AM, financial station KCEO-AM and other stations in Ontario and Anaheim.
As a classical station, KFSD-FM had been in the red for “quite a while,” he said, again declining to give details.
The decision to switch the classical format was a painful one, McKay said.
“It had been under a lot of negotiation, of what we can do to increase revenue, and unfortunately, the national as well as local retail environment has not been supporting the arts,” he said. “Recently, the national buyers have pretty well informed us that they won’t be purchasing the format either.”
Having an alternative station brought Carlsbad-based Astor’s overall demographic down, so the company could sell to advertisers interested in a range of ages, McKay said.
Loath to dump the unprofitable format, however, Astor switched it from the clearer FM stereo signal to the company’s 1450 AM frequency, which had been adult-standards station KSPA.
“We had to make a call,” McKay said. “We wanted to continue the arts and let it be understood, we will continue to lose money on KFSD-AM.”
Art Astor, who owns the company, has always been a big supporter of the arts, McKay said. In fact, Astor Broadcast Group will continue to absorb the costs of having its programming available to Cox Communications customers, he said.
It’s not out of character for the company, which financed KSPA’s big bands format although it continuously lost money for 10 years, he said.
KFSD-AM’s previous big-band format is now running at Astor’s Ontario station.
Now, with KFSD-FM likely to become profitable, the two stations combined will pay for themselves, McKay said.
KFSD-FM’s signal, which is stronger in North County but often spotty further south, continues to be a challenge. “We’re working on that,” he said. “We have been for years.”
The 92.1 signal can be in conflict with Mexico, so the company has to be careful, McKay said. The station’s tower is in San Marcos, and Astor would like to improve reception in La Jolla and Del Mar and other “dead zones.”
McKay is unsurprisingly optimistic about the changes.
“With the new format with 92.1 and with Mike Halloran at the helm, we see a great increase in revenue,” he said.
For his part, Halloran said his interest in running another alternative station in San Diego began about a year ago. A friend of his who had been laid off at another station, approached him for work.
At the time, Halloran had been producer of MP3.com’s syndicated radio shows.
He had also made his mark on local radio, having been program director at alternative station XTRA-FM, called “91X,” and XHRM-FM “The Independent.”
Halloran suggested approaching Astor Broadcast Group with the idea of relaunching 92.1 as an alternative station.
With only one other station catering to the San Diego’s alternative market, Clear Channel Communications-run 91X, and limited time for commercials on the air, there was a lot of potential for sales runoff, he said.
The new format was launched in San Diego on May 1.
Halloran, who hosts KFSD-FM’s 3-7 p.m. shift, still continues to run his MP3.com shows. The details, such as permanent DJs, are still being ironed out, Halloran said.
