Former employee Jeremy Bryant looks over remodeling efforts at KFLP studios (201 West California) in 2001 (FCR Photo)
FLOYDADA — An overnight success — can you name one? More than likely not. The reason is that as Luis Romero, an MIT-trained economist and author explains, “overnight success does not exist.”
Writing for Forbes, Romero says that “at the very least, it is statistically so rare that people would have a better chance at ‘succeeding’ by playing the lottery.”
Locally, it’s taken 20 years for All Ag, All Day to find that ‘overnight’ success.
Originally devised as a radio format to replace classic hits on the AM dial (900 AM), today the all-farm programming can be heard not just in Floyd County but nationwide as well.
On November 5, 2001, the small staff at Floyd County-based Paramount Broadcasting Corp. launched All Ag, All Day, describing the format as a Headline News approach to farm and ranch news. Actually, they realized that radio listeners had left the AM band for music, relying solely on the FM instead.
As station owner Tony St. James noted at the time, they looked at all the options and the final decision was either an all ag, or all comedy station. “We quickly determined that none of us were funny and to find content to broadcast would require too much work for our small staff, so All Ag, All Day was born.”
The original line-up on that Monday in 2001 was as follows:
8:00 a.m. Morning Agri-Business Report
9:00 a.m. The Cotton Show
10:00 a.m. Agriculture Today (Part I)
11:00 a.m. Agriculture Today (Part II)
12:00 p.m. Larry DeSha & Miki McRee Show
1:00 p.m. Midday Agri-Business Report
2:00 p.m. The Melanie West Show
3:00 p.m. The Cotton Show (repeat)
4:00 p.m. Afternoon Agri-Business Report
An article by Roger Haldenby in Cotton News from Plains Cotton Growers (11/02/01) said that “in mid-November, the programming will also stream live to the internet and will be available from the station’s web presence at kflp.net”
The idea of “full-time farm radio for full-time farmers” seemed to make sense. After all, the coverage area of 900 AM includes the largest contiguous cotton patch in the world and at least one-quarter of all the fed-beef cattle in the United States.
It’s been a long and challenging road, St. James explains. “We experimented on many different fronts, including buying time on radio stations in Amarillo and Dumas, which ultimately didn’t work out, and we’ve attempted to produce shows that never found an audience.”
On the 20th anniversary of the first All Ag, All Day programming, however, there are signs that some of those early risks are paying off.
In addition to the Agribusiness Report, which still features a daily interview with the likes of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, other administration officials, members of Congress, and leaders of commodity organizations. It also airs on a handful of stations in Texas and Kansas as part of the All Ag Network.
Agriculture Today, the second show actually launched by Paramount, has grown to be one of the biggest with 30 affiliates in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois.
Just a few years ago, the network also acquired American Cattle News — a short daily program from a broadcaster in California — and paired it with their existing Ag News Update and Growing Cotton programs to establish nationwide syndication. The programs today air on radio stations in California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
What’s next for All Ag, All Day? “Ag News in stereo,” exclaims St. James. Actually, he’s kidding, but not really. In December, KFLP-AM will sign on a new translator (98.5 FM) and all-farm programming will be available on the FM dial as well as the AM.
Until then, as Paramount’s sister-station (106.1 FM) commands: “Don’t flip us off, flip us on!”
To read more about All Ag, All Day or to listen live, visit AllAgNews.com.
Below is an excerpt to “Overnight Success Is A Myth — Here Is Why” from Luis E. Romero:
Most people have a strong desire to be successful. Many times, however, we do not know exactly what success means or how to pursue it. This introduces much of the confusion and frustration we experience in life. This is why, as a business mentor, a major part of my job is to help people figure out who they are, what they want, and how to achieve it. This assists them in shaping a clear notion of success and facilitates their pursuit thereof. After mentoring hundreds of business executives and entrepreneurs, I have realized that one of the most common obstacles in becoming successful is the unconscious wish for overnight success and having it all. Such wishes make people impatient, shortcut-minded, and capricious, all of which have devastating effects on performance and judgment. Debunking these myths is key. In essence, overnight success does not exist. At the very least, it is statistically so rare that people would have a better chance at “succeeding” by playing the lottery. In this regard, I share the following two lessons with my mentees: 1. What most people call overnight success is actually the market suddenly realizing the value of a great product or service that had been kept in obscurity for too long while its creators refused to give up. 2. There is a difference between overnight success and early success.
