More on KDB

Having gotten my first attempt at this completely wrong, here’s more up-to-date and accurate info about the disposition of KDB in Santa Barbara.  From Ben Mook at Current: Under a deal announced Tuesday, KCRW will buy 93.7 KDB-FM, a commercial classical station for 88 years, but will not broadcast on the frequency. Instead, all-classical KUSC will move to the channel and transfer its 88.7 FM signal in Santa Barbara to KCRW. KCRW will turn its new acquisition into an outlet for its hybrid format of news and contemporary music, with localized content within … Continue Reading

Classical Losses, West and East – UPDATE

Update to my reporting on KDB.  From Tom Thomas of SRG (I’ve repeated this from the comments): This report about Santa Barbara muddles an admittedly confusing story. There will continue to be full-time classical music on KDB. Classical KUSC is taking over the programming on KDB’s current frequency, 93.7. KCRW will take over the programming on KUSC’s current operation in Santa Barbara, which is at 88.7. Why the do-si-do? The Santa Barbara Foundation, which currently owns and operates KDB, wanted to preserve the classical heritage of the call sign and frequency and KUSC … Continue Reading

Classical Station For Sale

Want to live in Santa Barbara?  The Santa Barbara Independent reports that legacy station KDB is for sale. The 87-year-old classical music station is owned by the Santa Barbara Foundation, but the philanthropic organization recently decided to relinquish control after KDB ran more than $400,000 in deficits over the last three years with even more loss expected this year. It’s a small station, about 20,000 listeners.  Santa Barbara is such a great town and it has a music-loving audience, but there’s strong competition in the listening area from LA powerhouse KUSC. With an annual operating … Continue Reading

Ratings Anomaly in L.A.

At the risk of sounding like a Republican who doesn’t want to believe the polls, there’s a weird thing happening in Los Angeles with KUSC’s ratings. From the LA Times: Arbitron says KUSC has lost more than half its core audience over the last 20 months. Ratings declined moderately during 2010 and the first half of 2011, then went into a tailspin. According to Aribtron’s reports, KUSC’s average core audience has sunk from nearly 26,000 listeners in 2009 to 9,500 in its latest report — a 63% fall. Core listeners are people who … Continue Reading

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