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KFOG stays AAA with new PD Bryan Schock
- Thread starter david
- Start date
Aren't stupid names to be expected on free-form/alternative/modern stations? The legendary WBCN Boston had a PD/DJ with the air name of Oedipus and wasn't ridiculed for it.
Perhaps. In this case it was absurd. The guy was a horrible choice for a
AAA station and was removed after one month.
AAA formats usually have low key/high quality content...
It seems like the AAA format is pretty much dead in major market radio. Corporations that operate in cities don't seem to want to "waste" the frequency, time, and effort on a format that isn't a copy-cat of what is already working for another company. What a shame.
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
It's been going downhill in popularity for many years now. Los Angeles lost its commercial AAA station over 20 years ago and the format now runs on the Cal State Northridge station.
Small audience and older demos are a one-two punch on a format that really is better suited for non-commercial radio.
The demo that used to listen to rock as teens and rock-based alternative as young adults has been halved (my conservative estimate) by the prevalence of pure rhythmic genres as music of choice for at least 20 years. Those listeners aren't going to "mature" to AAA. They'll move to classic hip-hop.
As explained by KM and BigA, this is an older demographic format that has limited sales appeal.
I am familiar with the case of LA's last commercial AAA station. It got a low 1-share and had a somewhat older audience in the years prior to 1997, when it flipped format. Today, nearly two decades later, the audience in sales demos would be very small and not competitive.
In LA, Golden West blamed the "bad signal" for the low shares. But when we flipped to Spanish-language Regional Mexican, the station debuted with around a 7 share. Obviously the problem is the format.
Many of the large companies do hybrid, modified or unique formats to fit market conditions. That they don't do AAA is a reflection of the same reasoning that keeps them from doing Smooth Jazz, Beautiful Music, "True" Oldies or Standards: lack of sales potential.
It depends. From what I can see, a portion of them do. The portion that prefers less popular formats and is more into deep cuts and unfamiliar artists. This is the small group who loved progressive rock as kids. When grunge got popular, the rebelled and wanted something else. They tend to love World Café on NPR.
AAA continues on stations like KINK, where there's real heritage. How much longer is anyone's guess.
I'm referring to the teens/young adults of the last 20 years, post-grunge and way post-progressive rock. They're the ones who glommed onto hip-hop as it became not just the music of choice of urban black youth but the dominant sound of CHR and, consequently, of a good percentage of white suburban youth as well.
T
TeaPartyDude
Guest
Interesting, shifts in listener tastes is driving these changes.
http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/KFOG-axes-DJs-future-up-in-the-air-7223598.php
http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/KFOG-axes-DJs-future-up-in-the-air-7223598.php
SFGate story has 438 comments (and counting) - tells you that there is large interest in KFOG. Cumulus, take note! Hopefully Bryan Schock will introduce a new energized vision while retaining KFOG within the AAA format.
Let's put that 438 number in perspective. The metro area has over 7,500,000 persons. The largest cuming station reaches over 1.5 million people a week. Even KFOG cumes over 500,000 persons.
So 438 comments actually means that most people don't care. With a 2.2 average share of listening and only a 1.6% share of revenue, the station has been vulnerable for years.
Semoochie mentions KINK in Portland: average of around a 3.5 audience share but a 7 share of revenue. That is a station that has kept up its presence and is in a market where the format is sales-friendly.
Re-energizing is, unfortunately, something I believe won't happen. It's interesting to watch what has happened to AAA stations around the country, which are/were all very different in many ways - some leaning Americana, some more rock, some featuring more "jamband" acts, etc. In each case they've all tried to morph into something that can appeal to a younger audience while retaining their established core. It's a difficult challenge for sure. I'm in the camp that believes KFOG will be come a simulcast of KNBR. But who knows.
Dave B.
Dave B.
They really don't need it, since the station does well as an AM only. Plus their play-by-play partners would have to approve any simulcast.
Tom Taylor said this: KFOG/KKFG (104.5-97.7) could be along the lines of “a male-oriented variety hits format, perhaps modeled after KFMB-FM [100.7] down in San Diego.”
Thank you David, that's good news! It makes me think that KINK might actually make its 50th birthday at the end of 2018.
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
There will probably be an equally meaningless "Save KFOG" online petition next. I predict it will garner an equally-irrelevant 219 signatures.
Cumulus will "take note" of both and laugh at how few people (approximately 0.0009%) of their actual audience even cared enough to comment on a Chronicle article.
Thanks for reminding us of the data behind the demise of KFOG. However, the small number of comments on a newspaper article probably doesn't mean anything about KFOG, it means that few people read the newspaper, and fewer see the point of commenting on an article that few will see. It may reinforce your belief but it isn't meaningful data.
You and KM are 100% correct about radio being a business, and a station with a niche audience will likely never compete against broader mass audience formats, particularly in big markets. We stockholders of public companies expect them to be profit-driven and media companies are no different. Surely though, you can sympathise with those feeling the loss of KFOG. Sure they understand it on a rational basis, but it's still sad to see what looks like a narrowing of choices on the free FM band (all this said without actually knowing what will replace KFOG!).
I agree, and to me it's more of a statement about the music than it is about radio. Music has become Balkanized to the point where it's hard for anyone, including most of the musicians, to make a living with it. Sure there are the Biebers and Beyonces who fly in private planes. But the vast majority of musicians are still in vans playing to small clubs when they can. Hard to build an ad-driven radio format around that. And I don't see it changing.
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