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.