Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1995)
SpilyayTymoo Warm Springs, Oregon August 17, 1995 5 KWSI KIDD KTWI KTWSK-TWINS Location, fonnat changes meant to stabilize stations by Donna Behrend viduals were selected for the For the past five years, Cen- training. Of the 1 1, six went to tral Oregon radio listeners college, the remaining five have heard identical pro- went through intensive on-the- gramming on the Tribe's two job training in sales and air commercial radio stations work. Costs associated with ac- We were simulcasting, we wprp quiring KIDD totaled $273,000, basically wasting one signal, not including studio space, as rar as revenue was tower space rental, engineer ing and maintenance costs and ' additional personnel. The concerned.. ..If advertisers bought 98.3, they got 96.5 free....The fact that 96.5 had a better signal into Redmond $4.5 million. "This isextremely'' ' "We're buildim low information for Madras, Prineville and Warm euDourrbA ior tnis size or market," rue. we re building up all stoiz or central uregorv. ..ourintorma KTWI and KTWS, referred to Formatting, once the radio Tribe applied for and received as the TWINS. As of July 26, hit the airwaves January 17, a $149,500 BIA grant which and Madras" played an im that signal was split allowing 1986, was "adult contempo- helped offset some of those portant role in the TWINS' for separate programming on rary" and included top-40 hits, the two stations. The recent hits from the rrud-70s to 1984 KIDD "will im split and many other events and occasional oldies. Serving prove KWSI's pen have occurred over the years Warm Springs was the "para- etration into the since KWSI originally went on mount responsibility of Bend area," said the air in January 1986. Pro- KSWI, even though heard the March Oar gram changes, the move to throughout Central Oregon. tide and tribal of fi Bend and cutback in person- In the early days, there were cials anticipated a nel were all enacted to improve seven announcers, two news "strong turn the profitability of the Tribe's people and a four-member around in the investment. sales staff. Five of the 15-mem- station's financial IT ALL BEGAN WHEN.... ber crew were tribal members, stability due to the It was in 1981 that the Tribe It was anticipated that tribal strengthened sie- members would assume the nal." Once the pur- first started talking of going into the radio business. Own ers of a Bend radio station ap proached the Tribe regarding a station. There was a chan nel available in the Madras area and the Bend station wanted the Tribe to be a co-applicant for a grant with the Federal Commu nication Commis- The recent split of the TWINS signal is to bring more money into the tribal organization. Ratings show that the TWINS did very well with the classic rock fomat. jobs of non-members once training In the early years KWSI offered employment opportunities to tribal members and a voice beyond reservation boundaries. pro grams were c o m - leted. wo individuals who began with KWSI in 1985 and full- at chase was made, officials studied KWSI for matting, arranged for tower lease, purchased or leased equipment and rented studio space in Bend. The KWSI sales office moved from Redmond 96.5." ability to reach beyond Bend. "The TWINS wouldn't have been in t h e area without says It s not a lot whert you fteure there are 13 radio stations. You do the math on it and it's tdUjgh'," especially when the Tribe has two of those radio stations.... We should be able to' gross more dollars." If calculations are cor rect, the TWINS should be able to garner close to $700,000 an nually in sales. Considering the projected growth rate of Central Oregon, Springs. It is strictly a radio station that will be for" north Central Oregon, says Stolz. "It is not targeted for the ' Bend community at all." ' The stations' mission statement reads: "Serving the Central Oregon commu nity and our advertisers by providing quality entertain ment and information while returning a profit and em- advertising dollars should be much more plentiful and easier ployment opportunities to to come Dy, says dioiz. went tne warm, springs triDai or- now, "there are too many radio ganization. stations for the amount of rev- Success in this spring's enue. Five years from now, that ratings can be attributed to won't be a problem,"' Sfolz several factors, says Stolz. A comments. ' w new program director was During their first yeah of brought on and a trip to operation, tne i wxin sold In a survey conducted 18 $525,000 in advertising; mdre .i "... montns ago, listeners were quizzed on their choice of for matting. "Obviously," says Stolz, country was number to the Bend studio on Empire one" with adult contemporary Avenue. KWSI's twin was ex- coming in at number two. pectedtobeonairjune 1,1990, "There is too many country according to the article. This stations as it is. We wouldn t than double the revenue than when KWSI was still in Warm Springs. "Costs went up, but not thatproportionately," says Stolz. "In our best year, either 1992 or 1993," says Stolz, "I trunk we did 3b7U,UUU." London was given away. Plus, another Bend station was sold and the forma t was changed when new man agement took over. People began listening more fre quently and for longer peri ods of time, says Stolz. "We were able to get people away sion (FCC) under minority early 1986 remain workin; provisions. Upon considering time in the radio fieli the substantial economic value KWSO. of the license, the Tribe de- .According to a January 31 cided to go into the venture on 1986 article in Spilyay, the sta- eluded changing the format u it. u uivn. nit iiiuc av-itu uuiinaiicAcv.iEuiuucaiuiu- uiua uic uassii, iuvr quickly to "prevent some other making commercial entity and heard on the TWINS, organization from obtaining" be "totally self-supporting" the license, according to an ar- within five years, tide in the June 7, 1985 Spilyay. The radio station failed to After being granted the license meet financial expectations, by the FCC, the Tribe had to From 1986 through mid-1990, use it or lose it to off-reserva- KSWI did not meet the desired tion control. profit levels, with the bottom In December 1981 the line figures falling in the red Tribe's public relations firm each year. Following a review began a year-long study to de- of the station's performance, a termine the feasibility of an team of consul tantsfromTexas, educational radio station and hired by Economic Develop- low-power television station, ment Director Charles Jackson, The $30,000 study, funded by recommended, among other the National Telecommunica- things, that Nat Shaw be re- tion and Information Admin- placed and that a new man- istration, found that both sta- ager be hired, tions would be feasible and On February 7, 1990, the beneficial for educational pro- Warm Springs Tribal Council grams on the reservation. authorized the purchase of the At around the same time of construction license of KIDD, the study, the Tribe applied a low-frequency station (9,700 for and received an FCC edu- watts) in Bend. KIDD was the Following the move to Bend.' from listening tor five min- did not occur until January be able to get any revenue out the station was faced with yet . utes at A time and to begin 1991. of it." Stolz opted for a pre- another move. The Parkway 'listening for hours at a time. ictuiucu auuiL v-umcuiuuiaiy rrojeci rurcea me aemoiiuon jxi ratings, or snare or au formatthatcomesfromSeattle, of the studio on Empire Av- dience; went up. You can which targets 25- to 49-year- enue. The new studio is on ' have quantity but you need old women. "I think it's going Wilson Avenue in southeast quality'' says Stolz. to do very well up here," Stolz Bend. Due to the nature of FM ' ' Even with increases in said speaking of northern radio signals, the TWINS re ' revenue and personnel cut Central Oregon. "KWSI, when quired direct line-of-sight from backs, the stations continue . . a . a. - ' we changed it, did very well in the studio to the transmitters A news release eight months the ratings. There simply on Aubrey Butte and Grizzlev. later confirmed the reason to wasn't enough dollars here to "Thereweren'ttoomanyplaces Following a nation-wide search, John Stolz was hired in July 1990, shortly before Shaw left. Another recommendation offered by the consultants in- cational radio station license. KWSO was born. The Tribe also received a $102,000 fed eral grant for the purchase of the KWSO's tower and equip ment. This was beneficial be cause KWSI was able to use some of the same equipment, such as the 200-foot tower on Eagle Butte. The Tribe received three construction deadline exten sions on the commercial sta tion. In January 1985, the Tribe hired Nat Shaw as a consult ant to help get the commercial endeavor off the ground. He later became station manager of KWSI. Both stations, ac cording to the same article, were to be "temporarily" housed in the Kan-Nee-Ta Hamlet recre ation n g . KWSO to use the building as its studio. Early o n , Shaw was excited about the Tribe's newest economic ven ture. "It will provide tribal member employment....It will give the tribal community a voice" outside reservation boundaries, Shaw said in Spilyay. He expected KWSI to reach approximately 125,000 people as far south as Bend and LaPine and as far north as Hood River and The Dalles. KWSI "will eventually employ 15 full-time and five part-time employees in sales, announc ing and news positions," the article stated. Additionally, a training program, designed to prepare tribal members for radio work, was initiated. Eleven indi- last remaining FCC license in bend. According to a news release, the purchase would allow KSWI to simulcast its pro gramming in the Bend area, which "will greatly improve the station's profitability sta tus," said an article in the March 9, 1990 edition of Spilyay. KWSIKIDD were to be among very few, if not the only FM stations, in the United States that simulcast from two differ ent cities. The Confederated Tribes, with the TWINS, also known as KTWI and KTWS, broke new airwaves. According to minutes of the February 7, 1990 Tribal Coun cil meeting, Council considered five options concerning KWSI and KIDD with the chosen option be- purchase KIDD: Help stabilize support it. This is not a step the economic footing of KWSI. backwards," Stolz emphasizes. mm , a v a a . a a avia a a a a . - Ihe whole idea, he says, is to become profitable. 98.3, heard in Bend, continues assic rock tormat which appeals more to men. "The classic rock format was not popular among north-central Oregon adver tisers," says Stolz. Clientele in Ma dras, Prineville and Redmond would not buy us" be cause of the format. One important factor in increasing revenues in the ra dio business is ratings. Adver tisers are very interested in a The release also stated that "all current KWSI employees, ex cept one, have been retained to work at the new station in Bend." Very few tribal have "worked at the station since it moved to Bend. The drive, if inconvenient, is time-consuming and sometimes im possible to make due to road conditions. Jackie Simtustus, who lives in Bend, is the only 98.3 FM Consultants recommended that a new station manager be hired to turn the financial status around.The format was changed from adult contemporary to classic rock. The Classic Rock Station! that we could locate the sta tion," Stolz says. The tribal at torneys and Charles Jackson negotiated with the State re garding the move of the sta tion. "The lease took six months to negotiate. The move was ?aid for by the State. In fact, I rought tne project in with a ! !30,000 surplus that went back o the general fund. We moved into the new facility in August (1994). It's smaller than the one station's ratings the higher on Empire and it's specifically the ratings, the more listeners designed tor radio. We gave a station has and the more a the State fits with regard , to tribal member employed there station can charge for adver- equipment and what they were. now; she works less than mil- rising, and still remam corn time. "Providing tribal jobs has petitive. In the 1995 sprine not been successful," adds Willhight Report, KTW Stolz. There are currently 11 placed very well in the ratings, full-time employees and three Among all listeners part-time employees workmg 11 years ot age and at the TWINS. Stolz says, too, the radio sta tion has an employment pro gram for tribal members at tending Central Oregon Com munity College. "We started a program two years ago, for any tribal member students at COCC, regardless of their major....(it gives them) an op portunity to work for us whether they're looking for a older, KTWS was number one in Deschutes County. In the tri-county area, KTWS fared very well too, plac ing second among listeners 12 years of age and older be tween 6 a.m. and midnight, daily. "A lot of our revenue is just based The purchase of KIDD in Bend was to improve the station's financial stability and to improve KWSI's penetration into the Bend market. ing to "build KIDD radio job or just looking for so much on ratings. When the and combine op- income. (They can) do the fil- station was up here in Warm mg, answering phones, hling bprings, we couldn t get the records, all those kinds of ratings because we didn't have things, just in order for them to the signal down there and have some income. We pay that's where all the dollars are," them more than we generally Stolz says ping to pay for in the move. Sovereignty played a big part in getting the State to cooper , . ate and move us. : ' Stolz adds that' t ' h -! e monthly r' e n t went up slightly after the move to the Wil- vs., o n sight. "The rent increase was due to 'tenant improvement' ., costs. We leased the shell of the Even with increases in revenue and personnel cutbacks, the stations continue to lose money. Council members have asked, "When is enough enough?" erations with KWSI". In his pre sentation to Coun cil, Jackson stated the tribal invest ment, coupled with operating losses, "totaled about $1.2 million in the first five years." He es timated the Tribe would lose an additional $1.2 million over the next five years if opera tions continued as they were. Additionally, the value of the radio station was discussed by Council and consultant Tom Pickell. He estimated the sta tion, in 1990, was "probably worth $500,000." But, he said, if the station was expanded, operations were improved and more sales were obtained, the station would be worth "$1.3 million in a worst case and $1 .9 million in a most likely. In the best case scenario, it would be worth $4.9 million." A recent appraisal although not a pub lic record, shows actual station value much less than that. building, 2,700 square feet, put walls up" and made additions specific to radio requirements, says Stolz. At, the end of five., says Stolz, "after six months, years, the rent will drop dra- Council can take a look at to lose money. Tribal Coun cil member Delvis Heath asked in 1990 when the Tribe was "going to draw . ' the , line and say enough is enough." Uther Council mem bers expressed similar concerns, saying re taining the station was like "throwing good money down the drain. Profit can be measured in a coupe of ways, says Stolz, lone-term and month-to-mpntn, year-to-year: When asked it the sta- ?v ' 1 : t r-. nons nave maoe a prom, Stolz counter-questioned with, "What is a profit? Last year was our best year, even with poor numbers." Stolz would not release the amount lost over the past five years, but instead said, ' "Tribal Council has to an .' swer that, I don't think I can . give out those numbers in my capacity." Financial fig ures were not made avail able to Spilyay. - ; (Stolz, in meetings with Tribal Council, says he has discussed the stations with the Tribe's governing body. ! "The studios in Bend are worth a lot more money than tne racfiity on tne reservation... '.pecause there are no fixed assets here (Warm Springs) and because , there is a tower that sits on a 'piece of land that nobody can buy....That is part of the problem with the value of 96.5. We basically have a li cense and no assets. So, what we're trying to do with the format split is to show an actual cash flow. Radio sta- . tions are sold on multiples i of cashflow." "What we're thinking is," pay our part-time people. laking advantage or tne maticany, possiDiy in nair. ine itriistning and decide wnat We've had as high as three Bend market was the primary station currently pays $3,200 a -they Want to do. Is 96.5 pro (tribal members in the pro- reason behind the purchase of month rent. The Empire sight ducing enough revenue to gram) in 1993. Following a KIDD and moving the station was about $2,7U0 a month plus justify hanging on to the sta recent discussion with Mike Clements, tribal COO, the program will be put in high gear again for the upcoming school year, says Stolz. WHY SPLIT? The decision to split the sig nal on the TWINS is to "bring more money into the tribal or ganization, says Stolz. "When to Bend. Advertising dollars taxes, according to Stolz. 1.11 Sf 1 1 riM 1 . t (ffldffil V , r .;. appeared to be plentiful be tween $3.5 million and $3.75 million annually. This figure increased to $4 million, ac cording to the Oregon Asso ciation of Broadcasters infor mal survey conducted in 1993. Once Stolz received the fig ures, he did "guesstimations" on the growth in the market. "It started out at eight percent, now it's slowed tremendously, so it's now less than five percent rev- The short-term goal, says Stolz, is to "get this thing prof itable. I think this new format is a step in the right direction. We want to develop the format on 96.5." WARM, as it is called now, is completely automated, thanks to ''Hal, an "audio tion? Do they want to get out of the radio business and develop more issues here on the reservation? That's no secret. That's a hot topic amongst the Council people right now. What I'm doing is what I was hired to do to advise the organization on how to best get the stations 96.5ro vault". The computerized sys tem plays music and ads with . profitable." very little assistance. The sta- Stolz feels that if the Tribe tion mtends to keep operating'- ' decided to sell the stations costs down until we can get now, the Tribe would real- some cashflow, so we re not hiring new ' people ' for this.... What we're trying to do is run with the staff we nave," enue growth per says Stolz. ' year. Available Formatting "on 96.5 is not revenue for 1996 being programmed to Bend, it's is estimated at just generic," adds Stolz.' ize a pront trom lyyu, put not from 1986. "Only be- Eause they were so far in the pie for five. years." In a phone interview August 15, Stolz added, "The Tnbe will realize a profit over their initial investment when they decide to sell the stations.
