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New Tucson Station Targets 40-64 Demo
- Thread starter landtuna
- Start date
Yup...been discussed already.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/sh...on-Radio-to-Acquire-KFLT-AM-and-K269FV-Tucson
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/sh...on-Radio-to-Acquire-KFLT-AM-and-K269FV-Tucson
And a lively discussion it was too. Only problem.....only two of those many posts addressed the age demo target which I thought was the most interesting subject. I guess I just didn't read far enough (as I am not living in Tucson nor do I know all those personalities mentioned).
From their web page:
"KDRI Tucson originates 24/7 broadcasting from Scott and Broadway downtown. The station is designed to appeal to baby boomers whose radio options have become overlooked and underserved by local radio. With a catalog of over 2,000 songs, the distinctive presentation will be unlike anything in the region and maybe in the country."
Old-school AC? 21st century version of the legacy MOR format?
The personalities? It would seem that most have been around the industry long enough to know you can either do the same thing over & over again in corporate radio, or you could try something 'different'.
Does 'different' start paying the bills?
I've not listened long enough to make an honest comment, but my wife has enjoyed what she's been hearing on her work commute.
"KDRI Tucson originates 24/7 broadcasting from Scott and Broadway downtown. The station is designed to appeal to baby boomers whose radio options have become overlooked and underserved by local radio. With a catalog of over 2,000 songs, the distinctive presentation will be unlike anything in the region and maybe in the country."
Old-school AC? 21st century version of the legacy MOR format?
The personalities? It would seem that most have been around the industry long enough to know you can either do the same thing over & over again in corporate radio, or you could try something 'different'.
Does 'different' start paying the bills?
I've not listened long enough to make an honest comment, but my wife has enjoyed what she's been hearing on her work commute.
Aside from very few (what the Old Gringo would call "instant pre-set pushes") I've liked most of their music choices and I am well past their <ahem> older demo number.
There are some problems of course:
I do not live in their market, and
Despite just dropping $30 heavy on a back yard remodel I am a member of the coupon clipper generation with no discretionary money to spend. (ATTN Marketing guys....my number is 520-ESY-MARK).
And their supposed 50 kW comes in very poorly in Mesa, and always has. On 830, 50 kW should be noise-free or close to it at 110 miles, even with our lousy desert terrain.
The station has an extreme almost no power null to the NW. You should not be able to hear it at all deep in the null, and only minimally to the sides of the null.
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KDRI&service=AM&h=N
The station has a severe, almost absolute null towards WCCO in Minneapolis at night. The way the pattern was built, it has a sympathetic null on the mirror side of the pattern, as it is obviously not protecting a dominant station to the NW.
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I was due south 8 miles from the transmitter....which is located with a couple of miles from the Tortolita mountain range - near the Dove Mountain community.
The station itself is in the fringes on NW Tucson; main night lobe pointed southeast, as the map indicates.
Naah...it shouldn't sound *this* bad.
The station itself is in the fringes on NW Tucson; main night lobe pointed southeast, as the map indicates.
Naah...it shouldn't sound *this* bad.
C
CAVEMANager
Guest
It's clear that the management of KDRI considers the 250 watt FM translator to be vastly more important than the 50,000 watt AM even though the AM's daytime signal covers about three times the population of the directional FM translator. I think that a music format is not the best choice as I'd go with some kind of talk programming that would utilize the AM's signal which is about the best in the entire state. The music they play is nothing out of the ordinary.
It appears that the AM is getting its audio from an internet link. The FM is likely using a microwave link. A couple nights ago I noticed that the station on 830 was transmitting pure noise when the internet system went haywire.
KDRI isn't a bad choice of call letters but instead of calling it the "drive" I'd call it K-Dry. Slogan would be "It's dry in the desert"
It appears that the AM is getting its audio from an internet link. The FM is likely using a microwave link. A couple nights ago I noticed that the station on 830 was transmitting pure noise when the internet system went haywire.
KDRI isn't a bad choice of call letters but instead of calling it the "drive" I'd call it K-Dry. Slogan would be "It's dry in the desert"
The AM is just a way of retaining a translator. Were I the owner, I'd file to reduce the power of the AM closer to the same as the night power... 5 kw on 830 should cover the market for anyone who actually listens to AM any more.
While I do not have any data on Persons Using Radio in Tucson, I looked at Phoenix which has a fairly broad spectrum of AM offerings, including second tier talk. Only about 7% of all radio listening is to AM in 12+, and even in the expressed target of KDRI, 35-64, there is no greater listening.
Generally, in smaller markets with plenty of FMs, the AM listening is even less. So there is little or no potential for the AM station. The station's greatest opportunity is likely to make sure that KDRI has a "skill" on Echo devices and other smart speakers that will allow those units to carry the PPM encoded stream into homes where no AM radio exists any more.
And, in the actual Tucson market, the translator covers 80% of the population with a 60 dbu or better signal. That is actually quite competitive. If they can add a translator to cover the Green Valley area, they will cover nearly all that matters.
The AM - granted, the number listening on AM might be close to zero - at those daytime power levels is covering GV as well as Benson fairly well.
As I was listening to the morning show a few days ago, they did take a caller who'd asked that very question of getting KDRI as a skill, but I didn't here the response from Bobby Rich.
C
CAVEMANager
Guest
101.7 goes about two miles east of the Pima/Cochise County line and then rapidly fades out. There is a 101.7 in Sierra Vista but neither station gets into Benson. Many Tucson stations show up in the Cochise County Nielsen survey but KNST(AM) tops the field. In fact KNST is ranked third in Cochise County which is far better than it does in the Tucson ratings. So the notion that AM radio is worthless is simply untrue. In the daytime KDRI-830 likely reaches the southern part of Metro Phoenix. There's no comparison between the daytime coverage of 830 compared to the low powered FM. Incidentally, Tucson is still a diary market.
They have had an STA for 25KW daytime for sometime. It's possible could explain the weaker signal people talked about.
My exact first thought when I saw the call letters. "The Drive" seems more appropriate for a rock station.
I'm listening to the morning show on the stream right now and it feels like I've been dropped back into the mid-1970s and I'm listening to WHEN Syracuse, one of the first MORs to go more uptempo and modern, complete with breezy chat and songs I haven't heard on the radio since then, such as Loggins and Messina's "Thinkin' of You." And most of the later songs on the playlist seem to fit into that mold, so I can see how older listeners might enjoy it. I'm not sure anyone at the lower end of 40-64 is going to be interested just because they might hear Sheryl Crow or Howard Jones occasionally amid all the '70s pop and light rock. And, needless to say, the huge playlist is going to drive (play on words unintentional) away more listeners than it attracts.
I won't beleaguer that point about the playlist, however, that was one of the things that was a 'selling point' by the ownership team to listeners.
I heard Rupert Holmes "Him" yesterday for the first time in 15 years - ugh.
In six months - after the holiday season music is put back into storage - does it really become a clone of KMXZ?
I tuned in on and off on a drive to the White Mountains earlier this week. In the Show Low area 830 was the strongest signal from the Tucson area, but not that much stronger than 5kw KNST.
I also noticed that 1030 KVOI had a weaker signal than usual on the drive up and back. In the Winkleman-Globe area KVOI's signal was no stronger than 1kw 1080 KGVY.
but but... old underemployed radio guys who havent been in the business in 20 years will tell you a huge playlist is the formula for success!
I see that KDRI went with Securenet for their stream, which is known as the low-cost streaming provider that hosts hundreds of smaller station groups. They do offer apps and skills, but their apps seem to be lacking and I don't know about how well they do the Alexa skills. I've advised them to update their TuneIn information, but they still haven't done so. Maybe the IT guy is on call.
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