Courtesy St. Louis Post Dispatch

(May 21, 2010) The arrival next month of Tim McKernan and his cast of characters at KFNS as the new morning drive-time hosts, as well as the station's pending sale to a local group headed by current station general manager Dave Greene, will trigger a bevy of changes at 590 AM as well as the sports-talk station they are leaving, KSLG (1380 AM).

Among those expected to have their roles either eliminated or reduced at 590 are Howard Balzer, Andy Strickland, Maurice Drummond and Rich Gould, with Brian McKenna expected to gain a more prominent spot.

McKernan, Jim Hayes and Doug Vaughn will be on from 7-10 a.m., with Martin Kilcoyne bumped from morning drive to teaming with Frank Cusumano from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Greene said the rest of the lineup isn't finalized, but Jay Randolph Jr. and a co-host to be determined could man the 1-3 p.m. block, which will be controlled by McKernan's insideSTL Enterprises LLC. Jeff Gordon and Jeff Vernetti, along with McKenna, tentatively are penciled in for the 3-6 p.m. slot currently occupied by Balzer and Strickland. Gordon and Vernetti, who will have their 1,000th show together June 3, currently are on at middays and McKenna now is on late at night.
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The moves take effect June 14.

The big picture

Greene's group, Grand Slam Sports, has operated KFNS on a lease arrangement from Big League Broadcasting since October and he said it now has exercised its option to buy 590 AM and expects the transaction to be complete this summer provided the FCC approves — which often is a formality. He said the lead investor is Todd Robbins, a Southern Illinois businessman who has several entrepreneurial interests including Stonewolf Golf Club.

A source said the price will be about $1.5 million, a mammoth drop from the reported $11.5 million Atlanta-based Big League paid for the station in 2004. (Big League also is believed to have recouped a little more than $1 million when it earlier sold its two other stations in the market.)

When Big League came to town, the now-weak economy was robust and there was minimal competition in the format — KSLG was an upstart and WXOS, the FM station that has developed into the market leader, was five years from entering the fray.

"Our group is all local people who have a passion for sports and radio," Greene said, adding that the seven months he has been overseeing the station is a big plus. "We're going into it with a lot of information other people wouldn't typically have."

"We're feeling the economy, the toughest competition we've faced and not just in the sports business but overall," he said.

He said the goal is simple.

"We want to continue the existing product and be fiscally responsible," he said. "You can run it lean and we do run it lean. We're going to run it the way that is the most sound" business-wise.

To that end, the amount of non-sports programming on Sundays will grow, with a home improvement show soon set to join programs dealing with finances, real estate and fitness as they provide a different form of revenue.

"We're definitely a sports station, but men 25-54 years old (the station's target demographic) are interested in other things, too," Greene said.

Impact on 1380

The loss of McKernan and friends is a monumental blow to KSLG.

Craig Hanson, president of KSLG owner Simmons Media, said they "have been absolutely fantastic. We really like them and are sorry to see them go."

It's easy to see why. A station that once had big local names Bernie Miklasz, Randy Karraker, Kilcoyne and Randolph Jr. and moved to the top of the sports-talk radio ratings heap in 2008 now has the three lowest-ranked shows among the 14 weekday offerings on the three sports-talk stations, according to Arbitron figures. And in addition to McKernan's show leaving, 1380's midday program his company controls also is on the way out. It features Joe Pelusi, Charlie Marlow, and Mike Wellington.

Hanson said it is not known how the gap, which will stretch from 7 a.m-1 p.m., will be filled. It is possible syndicated fare (Dan Patrick and/or Jim Rome) could occupy some of the time.

"We're starting to put out feelers," he said. "What we've got to find somebody who's relevant locally and can get the job done."

All this will leave Kevin Slaten as 1380's lone prominent local host and an argument can be made that his afternoon-drive show, which has done well ratings-wise in the past, has been hurt by the poor performance of the lead-in shows — Pelusi-Marlow-Wellington followed by Evan Makovsky. No matter, Slaten wants to stay put.

"I couldn't be happier, I've been treated well," Slaten said. "My show continues to sell and continues to be a very profitable venture for me. It works for me, I'm as content as I've ever been."

Meanwhile, Hanson emphatically said KSLG will continue in the sports business as long as Simmons owns it — but was noncommittal about how long that will be.
"We like the format because it is very interactive, it engages listeners and gives advertisers bang for their buck," he said. "As long as we're in the market, that's what we'll be doing."

But how long will that be?

"We have 25-plus radio stations (nationwide) and everything is for sale at the right price — but again nothing's for sale," he said. "In our business when someone says, 'Hey we're interested,' we'll talk to them. But are we actively marketing the station? We have in the past, we're not right now.

"Everything is subject to change on a daily basis. Like the stock market, it goes up and it goes down. When business is good you want to hang on forever, when it's bad you want to bail."

Make no mistake, these are far from the best of times for 1380.

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