For those that do not follow my Twitter feed or my Tumblr blog, I got yet another chance to get really pissed off at the big radio conglomerates.  As a big feature of this particular blog is my list of what I consider to be the only good English language radio stations left in this world, I thought it would be a good thing to reevaluate the few “corporate radio” stations I allowed on that list, remove ones that no longer warranted inclusion, and explain why the ones remaining stayed put.

Before I continue, hardly any commercial radio station on my list is a single-outlet enterprise.  Many are traditional as the owner holds one AM and one FM licence.  More are held by some of the new local groups where an owner might hold three or more licenses in a market.  A few others are regional where the owner concentrates on many stations in a single state or other well-defined area.  Regardless of that type of ownership, I look to see if such a station is still connected to the community, is not on automation or playing syndicated programming for more than a fraction of its broadcast day, and — of course — plays a good selection of music in its chosen format.

What I am talking about here are the big media conglomerates like Clear Channel, the behemoth that has set the pace for the ruination of having radio be a local service (although no CC stations have ever been on my list and, thus, need to be removed…they are simply the best known example).

The first group of stations I need to explain are owned by Entercom Communications Corporation.  Entercom is usually one of the better behaved radio conglomerates in the United States but that isn’t really saying much.  It is probably my disappointment with what Entercom did to one of my favorite stations that makes me want to purge as many of their outlets from my list as possible, and I will get to that in a moment.

Click on the logo to visit the WKQK website.

The first “keeper” I have from Entercom is WKQK that serves the Memphis, Tennessee market out of the suburb of Germantown.  So far in my searches across the Internet for good radio, it is the only station I have found playing the “classic hits” format not owned by an even more detestable conglomerate or, perhaps even worse, using the hideous no-DJ “Jack FM” type of presentation (known in some cities under other names like “Dave FM,” “Bob FM,” etc. and even used on country stations with monikers such as “Hank FM” or “Willie FM”).  For a format where the station obviously picks from only a set amount of songs, they do a very good job of it…yet another thing that is often so frustrating about Entercom stations in how they can do one thing so well but screw the rest of it up (again, more on that below).

Click on the logo to visit the KNRK - 94/7 - Alternative Portland website.

Entercom also stays on the list for another station that is also the only type of its format that I have found passable for sharing, KNRK that serves the Portland, Oregon market but is licensed to Camas, Washington. In this case, it is the “modern rock” format which has truly lost its way at almost every other station I have found still attempting to play it.  I cannot completely fathom how KNRK might still be good other than the fact that, if a station in a city that is proud to call itself weird gives itself a secondary name like “Alternative Portland,” it had better come through.

Click on the logo to visit the KSEG-FM - The Eagle website.

The last of the Entercom stations remaining on my list is KSEG-FM in Sacramento, California.  This is an admittedly personal selection because anybody looking at my Radio list can easily see there are several “classic rock” format stations to choose from.  This station has a lot going against it as it runs the syndicated morning atrocity known as the Mark & Brian Show and is what seems like one of over 9000 outlets in North America that has nicknamed itself The Eagle.  What saves this station is that it is located where I went to junior high and high school and is one of the only two that has some of the great disk jockeys of “my time” left on the air (60s & 70s oldies station KCCL being the other).  These are not just men that bring back fond memories, they are among the very people that made me want to get into the radio business myself and continue to have an appreciation for what makes a good announcer and overall show.  Of most note to me on KSEG-FM are Tom Nakashima who was a staple on the old KXOA-FM “K-108 The Mellow Beaver” soft rock station (back when “soft rock” meant singer/songwriter type stuff instead of glorified pop) and especially Bob Keller and his signature lunchtime segment, The Café Rock, that goes back to the late, lamented, original KZAP.

Now I come to the two Entercom stations that I felt had to be removed from my list.  Perhaps one of the greatest disappointments in my entire life of radio fandom was listening to how Entercom ruined KQMT in Denver and its other “The Mountain” branded stations including KMTT in Tacoma/Seattle.  This was especially true of KQMT because it became my favorite station in Denver even before I moved there for a while in 2004.  It was everything I could ever ask for out of a commercial radio station — distinctive promos, bumpers, and station IDs that were effective without being overwhelming…disk jockeys that were connected to the community, knowledgeable about music, and that talked like real people…and, most of all, a rock format that was a great blend of old, new, and obscure.  It was the kind of station I had not experienced in years — one where I would not mind sitting though a song I did not like as something good was surely coming up next.  Even though KQMT got very good ratings, Entercom couldn’t help but try to make it “better” and, thus, fucked it all up every which way from Sunday.  They went to a strict classic rock format that was not much better than their Clear Channel competitor down the dial, alienated most of their best talent (most of whom seem to have escaped to “adult alternative” stations up in Aspen and Vail), and are now to the point where there are now only two live hosts with the remainder of the day being automated while churning out what now sounds like a crappy iPod.  I don’t think the fall at KMTT in Tacoma/Seattle was quite as bad as they kept a little “AAA” around plus one more disk jockey.  Still, what happened on these and all of Entercom’s other stations branded “The Mountain” ripped listeners’ hearts out who originally flocked to these stations in droves as an oasis in an otherwise barren radio landscape.  I simply cannot in good consience steer my readers to them anymore even if they do still have times of occasional competence.  The other “classic rock” and “adult alternative” staions on my list are just too much better to leave KQMT and KMTT up on my Radio list.

Click on the logo to visit the WVVR - The Beaver website.

Getting back to a radio conglomerate station that will remain on my Radio page, this one is owned by Saga Communications which, for some reason, seems to fly under the radar as far as making news for itself.  They own one of the two country stations that I can still tolerate, WVVR that is licensed to Hopkinsville, Kentucky and serves the overall market of Clarksville, Tennessee.  I am not keeping this station on the list just because it’s in my home state of Kentucky and the mascot leads itself to an almost infinite amount of double entendre jokes (which the station uses to perfection even with it lying in the heart of the Bible Belt).  The Beaver truly is a good country station, something amazingly lacking in North America considering it is the most popular music format found on the radio dial.

Click on the logo to visit the KZOK website.

One more station owned by a conglomerate that will remain on my list was a surprise to me when I spent two weeks being able to listen to it over the air in the summer of 2010.  KZOK is a “classic rock” station in Seattle and owned by CBS Radio.  Not only is the music selection not as repetitive as many of their ilk, KZOK is one of the last stations even in a big city to have a live disk jockey on at all times except during its very few syndicated programs and specials.  While many might find this surprising, KZOK recently hired Danny Bonaduce as its morning man.  For those not aware of this, the former “Danny Partridge” has been in radio for a while now and I thought he did a very good job during his time in Los Angeles on KYSR and never understood why he was let go.  After a stint in Philadelphia, it will be interesting to see if, on KZOK’s second attempt to do so, Bonaduce is the man to fill the shoes of the person that was on mornings at KZOK for ages, Bob Rivers, who most people know as the guy that does funny Christmas songs.  Aside from all that, KZOK is the only decent thing I can find in the CBS Radio stable that is not an all-news station.  It might not be my first choice for streaming a “classic rock” station, but it is still worth recommending.

Click on the logo to visit the KSLX website.

The final station owned by one of the “big boys” that will remain on my list is owned by Sandusky Radio.  KSLX is a “classic rock” station licensed to Scottsdale, Arizona serving the greater Phoenix area.  I don’t know why other Sandusky outlets of a similar genre can’t do the same, but KSLX is deeply embedded in its community.  It is also one of the few stations that still retain a “live “graveyard shift” disk jockey.  Like KZOK, it does a lot better than most at not being too repetitive with its song selections.

So…why do I even bother with these very few stations held by radio conglomerates?  While my Radio page does focus on smaller and non-commercial stations, I think it is also important that it focuses on good radio.  Despite the owners, these stations are good.  While I am certainly a supporter of the movements going on these days against too much centralized power of all types, I also believe it is only fair to point out that not every big corporation is always bad and not every small one is always good.  I also believe it is important to recognize when a big company does something well as there might be a small chance it takes hold and they start doing better everywhere they do business.

All of that being said, I would not be honest if I also did not say that all of the stations featured above are always on a very short leash with me at all times.  With the owners of these outlets more beholden to the whims of all too many overly-selfish shareholders instead of the public (or, at least, the audience ratings), they are always in danger of turning bad on a moment’s notice.  That’s one reason why I so often close my posts on this blog by saying, in one form or another, keep sticking it to the man…because — especially in radio which has always been a flighty business — if you don’t stick it to him first, he will surely stick it to you.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Jim Ladd and “The Tribe” that used to listen to him on KLOS.

Interstate 5, one of the United States’ great border-to-border superhighways, is definitely a road of extreme contrasts.  From its southern starting point in San Ysidro (a suburb of San Diego) up to where I spent last night in Redding, it is almost universally despised.  Coming from the south, it runs through the counties of San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles and gives one only brief respites from views of poorly-planned suburban sprawl or urban decay…not to mention traffic that can be excruciating to deal with even late at night.

From there, I-5 goes across the Tejon Pass in a stretch also known as “The Grapevine.”  This is where, on steep grades, many drivers either become so frightened that they cannot bring themselves to touch their gas pedals or, on the other side of the coin, want to relive their own version of The Grapevine’s mention in the great old song, Hot Rod Lincoln.

Once down from The Grapevine, one is met with the wide expanse of the Central Valley, the main part of the Golden State that people are referring to when they say that California feeds the world.  Unfortunately, feeding the world is very boring visually as — for reasons still unknown to me — I-5 was plotted along the far western edge of most of the Central Valley instead of using the old US Route 99 route through big cities such as Bakersfield, Fresno, and Modesto.  Thus, with only the quick touches I-5 makes on the western edges of Stockton and Sacramento, there’s a whole lot of nothing to look at for mile after excruciating mile.

Thankfully, this changes just after one pulls out of Redding.  Some might not like the sharper turns and steeper grades than those found on most other Interstates (as compromises to the general rules for the superhighways had to be made to get the road through such rough terrain), but the views are simply amazing and well worth some occasional white-knuckle driving.  While I am usually never one to recommend traveling by the Interstate Highway System as so much of it is surrounded by such blandness and hardly any locally-based businesses, I-5 from Redding up until the next big metropolis, Portland, Oregon, is a joy to behold and probably one of the five best stretches of Interstate in the country.

Upon leaving Redding, it does not take long to be surrounded by beautiful pine forests.  Then, at one point after traversing a turn in the highway, one is confronted with a full and powerful view of the area’s major landmark, Mount Shasta.  It’s almost as if the builders of the road intentionally designed this sudden unveiling of Mount Shasta not only as a visual delight, but also as a statement on behalf of the mountain as a reminder that it is a force to be reckoned with whether one tries to climb it, deal with the weather it helps to generate, or dare to live in its volcanic shadow.

Not far beyond the “debut” of the mountain when approaching it on I-5 from the south, there is a “vista point” where one can pull off of the Interstate to take pictures or just soak in the view.  Even at 8:10 a.m., the parking spots were almost all full and even truckers were stopping to at least take a quick shot with their cell phone cameras.

It is this kind of view that would make me almost want to stay in California if things were better in the state with the economy and government.  Sadly, Redding and points north are not exactly economic powerhouses even in good times.  On the other hand, Mount Shasta has a lot of brothers and sisters to the north.  As I write this, I sit in the shadow of Mount Hood and within relative shouting distance of Mount Saint Helens.  Sometime in the next few days, I will be up to visit the area dominated by Mount Rainier.  There is also a chance that I might end up back in Denver where Mount Evans dominates the western skyline with all of its own tight family of other peaks.

While I had left this morning thinking that I would end up making today’s K-POD something from one of the new places in which I hope to plant myself for the remainder of my life, perhaps it was more appropriate that my best photo of the day ended up being Mount Shasta and I saying goodbye to one another.  We used to have dreams and plans…to live there in a cabin and spend the warm months on the waters of Shasta Lake in a pontoon boat.  But, alas, as with many potential romances, the timing was never right for us and, now, other circumstances have driven us apart.  Still, I can leave knowing that Mount Shasta’s beauty will remain for thousands if not millions of years to come and that there will be many more loves in its life long after I am gone and forgotten.

Yep…I’m pretty happy with this.  It’s a good ending to a story that was not always so good.

Mount Shasta on July 2, 2010 - Copyright © 2010 by KoHoSo