KYMS PLANS CHRISTIAN NETWORK

Plans to launch a nationwide satellite network of contemporary Christian radio stations are under way at Interstate Broadcasting Systems in Orange, owner of Orange-based KYMS and two other radio stations.

Officials at Interstate, a 5-year-old company, hope to start the network by spring or early summer, according to KYMS program director Gem O’Brien.

KYMS-FM (106.3), considered a pioneer in the contemporary Christian format, will serve as the flagship station for the network, O’Brien says. Although traditional Christian formats are talk oriented, contemporary Christian radio is a music format featuring contemporary pop- and rock-flavored Christian tunes. Artists include Christian performers, such as Amy Grant, and a scattering of such secular artists as Donna Summer and the rock group U2, who sometimes employ Christian themes and messages.

Under the plan, stations that join the network will receive a continuous signal from KYMS, relayed by satellite. Affiliate stations will use the signal live, with scheduled breaks for local insertions. “There will be a certain number of breaks per hour, where the local stations will be able to insert their own news, their own weather, their own sports, their own traffic, their own commercials, etc.,” O’Brien said. Programming for a national feed will require some adjustments at KYMS, according to O’Brien. Now targeted at a predominantly white Orange County audience, the station will add more black artists to its play list as it expands into urban markets. “We’ll need to add some of the black influences we haven’t had,” O’Brien said. “On the other hand, it’ll mean the softening of some of the local hard-rock bands. We’ve played some bands that have been real local but not known nationwide, and now we’ll have to be a little more selective. The music will have to reflect a nationwide audience.”

Interstate has arranged for a satellite to carry its signal, the first step in getting the network started, and has ordered the sophisticated transmission equipment needed to beam KYMS’ signal to the satellite for relay to affiliate stations. O’Brien says hookup dates are still tentative.

“Dates are really hard to pin down because you’re at the mercy of equipment manufacturers,” O’Brien said. The technology, he added, is still relatively new and “not everybody in the world makes satellite equipment.” First to be plugged into the system will be two Interstate-owned stations: KRDS in Phoenix and KLTT in Denver.

For potential affiliates of a satellite network, an initial stumbling block can be the cost of receiving or “downlink” equipment. O’Brien declined to give an estimate of such costs--”The cost of going on line will vary with what a station wants,” he said--but outside estimates range from $10,000 to $15,000. Affiliates will also pay a monthly subscription rate, which Interstate has yet to establish. O’Brien said typical rates for existing satellite networks can run about $1,500 per month.

“There is a flat fee for the service, but stations can pick up as much or as little of it as they want to,” O’Brien said. “Most of the stations that we’ve talked to . . . think that they would like to put on their own morning show and then join us at maybe 9 or 10 a.m.”

Interstate is marketing its network idea to radio stations across the country. “We’re contacting both existing Christian stations and the non-Christian stations, and we’ve had a real good response,” O’Brien said. So far, about 1,200 stations have sent response cards to Interstate expressing interest in the network, O’Brien said, which is a response rate of about 50%. Interstate is sending a demonstration tape to interested stations.

Satellite networks have found success in such secular radio formats as country, adult contemporary and jazz. There also are networks featuring Christian talk formats, but none featuring a KYMS-style contemporary Christian music format.

Interstate is patterning its effort after such successful secular satellite networks as Dallas-based Satellite Music Network, which boasts 495 affiliates in four formats, and Transtar Radio Network, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., which has 225 affiliates in three formats.

These networks make their money not only through subscription fees but also through selling national advertising on a network-wide basis. “Where you make your money and recover your costs will be through the advertising, and it’ll be the same with us,” O’Brien said.

Interstate has set goals for gauging the network’s success, O’Brien said. “If, in the first year, we could have between 10 and 20 affiliates, we’d be pleased; if, in the second and third year, we could be well on our way to 50 or 75 affiliates--which is not unreasonable--we’d be ecstatic.”

O’Brien is scheduled to spend the next several weeks studying the operations of successful networks. An active church-goer who has worked in both secular and contemporary Christian radio, O’Brien came to KYMS last November from KGOL-FM in Houston. In addition to his duties as program director, he is on the air from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Interstate owner Paul Toberty is launching his network in an effort to improve the quality of Christian broadcasting, O’Brien said. Toberty entered radio following his success as a real estate developer in Orange County. In his travels, O’Brien said, Toberty became distressed over the widely varying quality of Christian radio in the United States.

“He’s had a vision of really reaching out and making Christian radio good, nationwide,” O’Brien said. “There are several ways you can do that: you can take the long route, and over a period of many years influence owners to upgrade their facilities, or you can impact that a little more immediately by setting up a satellite network and offering quality programming.

“The advantage to the owner-operator in Whatever Town, U.S.A., who picks up the satellite is that he can hold down his staff costs. He still needs a staff, but he can cut his operating expenditures 40, 50% and still offer a quality product,” he said.

According to O’Brien, several secular stations have expressed interest in the network, including stations in such large markets as Seattle and Indianapolis. O’Brien attributes this to a generally soft AM market. “Maybe they’re sitting there saying: ‘There’s nothing we can do. We don’t have a niche in the market.’ We come along and say: ‘There is a niche in the market: contemporary Christian radio.’ ”

O’Brien said there is an element of risk in the venture: “I think it would be a major setback to Christian radio if it did not work because everyone has viewed KYMS as the pioneer. If the satellite (network) failed it would set Christian radio back; it would lose confidence for a few years.

“But I’m confident; otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”