cuchulainn
May 30, 2003, 12:16 PM
from the Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1054296756267860.xmlThe opposition facing independent radio stations may get even bigger
05/30/03
By JEFFREY KOSSEFF
THE OREGONIAN
KBNP makes an unlikely mascot for the grass-roots fight against media consolidation.
The business-news radio station airs programs with titles such as "Money Matters," "Biz Soup" and "Investor's Edge."
KBNP boasts that 38.1 percent of its listeners have net worths of more than $1 million. And the AM station's owner, Alan Gottlieb, wears a second hat as a nationally known gun-rights activist.
Gottlieb, like many owners of dwindling independent radio stations, worries about the Federal Communications Commission's plan to loosen media ownership rules further on Monday. But as a conservative who runs business-news stations, he finds himself in an awkward position.
"Being a small-business owner, I don't like the idea of having the big guys monopolize everything," said Gottlieb, who works out of a Bellevue, Wash., office. "On the other hand, I believe in free enterprise, owning a business-news station."
The 54-year-old privately owned station wants to stay that way. But as the Portland radio market becomes more concentrated, that goal is becoming more difficult. KBNP has acquired other small stations throughout the Northwest in an attempt to compete with the big boys, and it is looking to expand within Portland.
Three companies dominate
Three large companies -- Entercom, Infinity and Clear Channel Communications -- own 18 of the roughly 50 Portland-area radio stations, with the remainder owned by other independents, smaller chains, government entities or nonprofits.
KBNP's challenges and its approach to survival paint a broader picture of the obstacles stations face when they attempt to remain independent.
If the FCC loosens radio ownership rules, it will be even harder for small stations such as KBNP to survive, said Tim McNamara, vice president and general manager of Rose City Radio, the Paul Allen-owned company that operates KXJM, 95.5 FM, and KXL, 750 AM. The big competitors, namely Infinity and Clear Channel, will only get bigger, he said.
"This is a lobbying effort that's gone on for three years," said McNamara, a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters. "The people that want consolidation are obviously the bigger groups."
KBNP's owner and managers say it's important to provide a voice of financial advice that begins and ends in Portland -- not in New York or Chicago -- over the crackly airwaves of 1410 AM.
The station was founded in 1949 as a classical music programmer. KBNP switched to a business format in 1989, shortly before Gottlieb purchased it.
It broadcasts as much as 18 hours of local programs a week, an expensive venture for a single station. It employs between three and five people at its small office on the southern fringes of downtown Portland.
Professionals host shows
Gottlieb said the station has been profitable for nearly a decade. Rather than signing on a slate of full-time DJs, the station has many of its programs hosted by business professionals such as Portland investment advisers, who do so in exchange for advertising.
McNamara said such arrangements can work, as long as the hosts set high standards for their programs.
Station manager Keith Lyons said the live, local flavor appeals to advertisers.
"One of the questions that is frequently raised by advertisers is, 'Is your programming local?' " Lyons said.
Although advertisers demand local programming, they also want one-stop shopping for a wide range of audiences, Lyons said. Because KBNP has one station, it can't provide that variety.
"They frequently forget about targeting to a specific group," Lyons said.
So KBNP, which Gottlieb said receives about two offers a year to be acquired by national chains, has begun shopping around for other stations in the Portland market.
"If I can go out and offer to advertisers a business format or some other talk information programming that's more of the general consumer nature, that gives us a good sales stance," Lyons said.
National advertisers also flock to the big players because they offer one-stop shopping for more than one market.
"On a single buy, (advertisers) can buy four stations," Gottlieb said. "What we do very well is with the mom-and-pop advertisers."
KBNP realized the need for concentration, and in the past eight years it acquired business news stations in Spokane and Port Orchard, Wash., in the Seattle area.
"Of late, we've been in an acquisition mode simply to stave off the bigger guys," Lyons said.
Gottlieb acknowledges that he could easily take one of the offers to be acquired by the big players and walk away with a tidy profit. But out of principle, he's putting up a fight.
"With mass ownership and the multiple licensing, radio has lost the flavor it used to have," Gottlieb said. Today it's more formula broadcasting decided in the back room." Jeffrey Kosseff: 503-294-7605; jeffkosseff@news.oregonian.com
©2003 OregonLive.com.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1054296756267860.xmlThe opposition facing independent radio stations may get even bigger
05/30/03
By JEFFREY KOSSEFF
THE OREGONIAN
KBNP makes an unlikely mascot for the grass-roots fight against media consolidation.
The business-news radio station airs programs with titles such as "Money Matters," "Biz Soup" and "Investor's Edge."
KBNP boasts that 38.1 percent of its listeners have net worths of more than $1 million. And the AM station's owner, Alan Gottlieb, wears a second hat as a nationally known gun-rights activist.
Gottlieb, like many owners of dwindling independent radio stations, worries about the Federal Communications Commission's plan to loosen media ownership rules further on Monday. But as a conservative who runs business-news stations, he finds himself in an awkward position.
"Being a small-business owner, I don't like the idea of having the big guys monopolize everything," said Gottlieb, who works out of a Bellevue, Wash., office. "On the other hand, I believe in free enterprise, owning a business-news station."
The 54-year-old privately owned station wants to stay that way. But as the Portland radio market becomes more concentrated, that goal is becoming more difficult. KBNP has acquired other small stations throughout the Northwest in an attempt to compete with the big boys, and it is looking to expand within Portland.
Three companies dominate
Three large companies -- Entercom, Infinity and Clear Channel Communications -- own 18 of the roughly 50 Portland-area radio stations, with the remainder owned by other independents, smaller chains, government entities or nonprofits.
KBNP's challenges and its approach to survival paint a broader picture of the obstacles stations face when they attempt to remain independent.
If the FCC loosens radio ownership rules, it will be even harder for small stations such as KBNP to survive, said Tim McNamara, vice president and general manager of Rose City Radio, the Paul Allen-owned company that operates KXJM, 95.5 FM, and KXL, 750 AM. The big competitors, namely Infinity and Clear Channel, will only get bigger, he said.
"This is a lobbying effort that's gone on for three years," said McNamara, a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters. "The people that want consolidation are obviously the bigger groups."
KBNP's owner and managers say it's important to provide a voice of financial advice that begins and ends in Portland -- not in New York or Chicago -- over the crackly airwaves of 1410 AM.
The station was founded in 1949 as a classical music programmer. KBNP switched to a business format in 1989, shortly before Gottlieb purchased it.
It broadcasts as much as 18 hours of local programs a week, an expensive venture for a single station. It employs between three and five people at its small office on the southern fringes of downtown Portland.
Professionals host shows
Gottlieb said the station has been profitable for nearly a decade. Rather than signing on a slate of full-time DJs, the station has many of its programs hosted by business professionals such as Portland investment advisers, who do so in exchange for advertising.
McNamara said such arrangements can work, as long as the hosts set high standards for their programs.
Station manager Keith Lyons said the live, local flavor appeals to advertisers.
"One of the questions that is frequently raised by advertisers is, 'Is your programming local?' " Lyons said.
Although advertisers demand local programming, they also want one-stop shopping for a wide range of audiences, Lyons said. Because KBNP has one station, it can't provide that variety.
"They frequently forget about targeting to a specific group," Lyons said.
So KBNP, which Gottlieb said receives about two offers a year to be acquired by national chains, has begun shopping around for other stations in the Portland market.
"If I can go out and offer to advertisers a business format or some other talk information programming that's more of the general consumer nature, that gives us a good sales stance," Lyons said.
National advertisers also flock to the big players because they offer one-stop shopping for more than one market.
"On a single buy, (advertisers) can buy four stations," Gottlieb said. "What we do very well is with the mom-and-pop advertisers."
KBNP realized the need for concentration, and in the past eight years it acquired business news stations in Spokane and Port Orchard, Wash., in the Seattle area.
"Of late, we've been in an acquisition mode simply to stave off the bigger guys," Lyons said.
Gottlieb acknowledges that he could easily take one of the offers to be acquired by the big players and walk away with a tidy profit. But out of principle, he's putting up a fight.
"With mass ownership and the multiple licensing, radio has lost the flavor it used to have," Gottlieb said. Today it's more formula broadcasting decided in the back room." Jeffrey Kosseff: 503-294-7605; jeffkosseff@news.oregonian.com
©2003 OregonLive.com.