>>I, and a number of former KING Broadcasting people are amazed that KING-FM is going listener-supported. It was one of the most successful classical music stations in the country, making a nice profit every year. Something really bad must have happened.>>
The “bad thing” that happened was farming out the sales force to another radio group about 15 years ago. It worked well when it was Bonneville & Entercom (KIRO), but when the JSA moved to Fisher things didn’t go well (financially and otherwise) for either party.
Not only that, these days KING’s running a ton of PI spots that – honestly – don’t fit very well with the station’s format or listener makeup.
Those are the reasons the station decided to go noncommercial.