MEDIA / KEVIN BRASS : Two Stations Battle It Out for Rock ‘n’ Roll Listeners

Like a weathered boxing champion perennially forced to fight the new young punks in town, rocker KGB-FM (101.5) is again the target of aggressive competitors.

New KSDO-FM (Classic 103) has made no secret of its interest in the vast KGB audience. Privately, it discounts the lightweight competition of classic rocker KGMG-FM (Magic 102), which has never been able to generate anything more than ambivalent ratings with its relatively poor signal.

When KSDO switched to a classic rock format three weeks ago, after weeks of purposely attempting to confuse the local radio industry by spreading rumors that the station was going Top 40, it was really taking direct aim at KGB and its 8-10 ratings points.

Former KGB program director Larry Bruce, hired as a consultant by KSDO to implement the new format, has tried to hire most of KGB’s on-air staff. He has been successful with only one, John Leslie.

“Seven or eight years ago there were three AOR (album oriented rock) stations in the market and they totaled 18 (rating) points,” Bruce said. “All those people didn’t die or go away. . . . Logic would say there is an opportunity for an increased amount of radio listeners from these people who have been disenfranchised.”

XTRA-FM (91X) has always preferred to compete by differentiating itself from the harder-edged rock of KGB by billing itself as “the cutting edge of rock,” playing the new techno-pop and pseudo-punk music rarely heard on KGB. Under new program director Kevin Stapleford, XTRA-FM (91X) has been “fine tuning” its music programming, emphasizing more of the traditional rockers, such as U2 and Alarm.

The staffers at 91X take credit for playing these bands first, even if the groups are now stalwarts on the KGB playlist.

“Maybe all we’re doing is taking the credit we deserve for bands like that,” Stapleford said.

Paying more attention to the Who, Rolling Stones, U2 and other traditional rockers, at the expense of 91X favorites like Depeche Mode and Oingo Boingo, is more a natural progression than a new philosophy, Stapleford said. They are making more of an effort to naturally mix the songs into the playlist, instead of simply playing clumps of old rockers.

But there is little doubt the adjustments will put the station in more direct competition with KGB.

“We need to pay a lot more attention to the 18-34 listeners, especially males,” Stapleford said. “That’s why maybe we’re not doing as much Depeche Mode. . . . I did my own research and found that it is true that Oingo Boingo is popular, but they’re not U2. So we’re not going to play them like they are.”

Partly in response to Classic 103, KGB has been reminding listeners on the air that it too plays classic rock ‘n’ roll. It also started a “no-repeat work day” promotion, promising not to repeat songs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday--the type of gimmick often employed by classic rock stations.

“We’re just accepting the fact that the market is changing,” said KGB program director Ted Edwards. “And we’re taking the time and effort to show our audience that there is nothing missing here.”

Although it has been public knowledge for weeks that KSDO-AM (1130) afternoon talk host Stacy Taylor was having second thoughts about taking a job with WLS in Chicago, he didn’t think there was any chance of staying in San Diego. Finally, on Aug. 30, KSDO made a counter offer, after Taylor bypassed his agent and started talking directly with the station. Taylor received a letter from WLS attorneys threatening legal action if he tried to get out of his new contract, but Taylor has decided to fight it. His attorney says a provision in the WLS agreement nullified it if KSDO exercises its right of first refusal. Now the fun begins. “He can’t be signed to KSDO because he’s signed with me,” WLS general manager Tom Tradup said Friday. . . .

Roger Hedgecock might be mayor of San Diego again--honorary mayor, that is, through a competititon/fund-raiser sponsored by the Assn. for Retarded Citizens. For $1 a vote, people will select an honorary mayor from a slate of candidates, including Hedgecock, traffic reporter Monica Zech and San Diego Union columnist Michael Grant. A similar contest raised $32,000 for the association in Santa Rosa and Marin County. KSDO, Hedgecock’s employer, is planning a big push for the ex-mayor. The true entertainment may come at the end of the contest: Hedgecock’s old nemesis, Mayor Maureen O’Connor, is to deliver a proclamation to the honorary mayor. . . .

It’s not unusual, yet it still seems strange that KFMB-AM (760) bypassed its sister TV station down the corridor, KFMB-TV (Channel 8), to work with KGTV (Channel 10) on a promotion. The two stations recently teamed for a mailer, “How to Go Native in San Diego,” which touted Channel 10 as “first and last in bringing you local news.” “We’ve got to do what we got to do,” said a spokesperson for KFMB radio. “It’s business. We happen to be in the same building and the same owners, but everybody has their own objectives.” . . .

Not to be outdone in the marriage video department, Channel 8 showed gratuitous footage of Andrea Naversen’s recent wedding, just a week after Channel 39 practically did a news special on anchor Denise Yamada’s wedding. . . .

Reports that Gillett Communications is in the midst of recapitalization caused by cash-flow problems have fueled speculation that KNSD-TV (Channel 39) is once again for sale. But there is another way of looking at it. “If anything, it says this is the wrong time to sell a station because prices aren’t as good as they were,” Channel 39 general manager Neil Derrough said. . . .

The “Community Camera,” the roving van and cameraman supplying shots for Channel 39’s snazzy station breaks, has fallen victim to the budget ax. The station will rely on its unmanned remote cameras to supply visuals for the segues. . . .

XTRA-AM (690) has dropped the talk part of its format to concentrate on news, which means the people who regularly listened to “Ask the Doctor” and “Money Matters” will have to look elsewhere for help. . . .

In last month’s KPBS-TV (Channel 15) membership drive, which raised $191,360 during the 11-day campaign, the highest total of pledges was received during the Aug. 27 airing of the National Audubon Society’s special “Grizzly and Man: Uneasy Truce.” . . .

After hesitating, KKLQ (Q106) has released former morning announcer Jack Murphy from his contract, clearing the way for him to start his new gig in Atlanta with partner Terry McKeever. Murphy expects to be on the air in Atlanta by the end of the year. . . . Ex-Channel 39 anchorman Dennis Morgigno, who pursued careers in writing and restaurants after leaving the station, is back in television. He’s working as a reporter for KTTV (Channel 11) in Los Angeles. . . . Director Bernard Cohn is flying in from France to introduce the screening of his “Natalia” at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. . . . A Tokyo-based ad agency will be filming a “Diet Coke” commercial for Japanese audiences in Horton Plaza today.