I was tipped off that a consultant was retained by a broadcast group in Houston to discuss the viability of an AAA or Alt formatted station on a "poorly performing" signal. The only station that really fits that is KROI.
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AAA/Alt KROI????
- Thread starter Fieldtech1
- Start date
Isn't KROI owned by Urban One? There entire business is targetted at African Americans? There's no way they will launch an Alternative/AAA? They don't have the knowledge of how to operate or sell it.
Didn't Urban One at one point run at least one modern/alt outlet? Louisville, KY I think.
Urban/Radio One has never owned a station in Kentucky.
Exactly!
With that said... 96.5???
How does the billing compare on KLOL vs KHMX? If the rumour is true, either could be targets, right?
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2007--Radio One, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROIAK and ROIA) today announced that it has entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to sell all of its radio stations in Dayton, Ohio and five of its six radio stations in Louisville, Kentucky, to Main Line Broadcasting.
So yes, they did own in Louisville. And it appears, for a time, they ran modern rock on 105.1 as WLRS.
So yes, they did own in Louisville. And it appears, for a time, they ran modern rock on 105.1 as WLRS.
While KROI's ratings have been horrible during the CHR incarnation, the station recently added new morning and afternoon shows. Also seems to have tweaked the music a little bit, though I'll admit my sampling is brief. I would think they'd give it another year or two before blowing it up, given the recent changes. Still, a quick change wouldn't shock me.
One "poorly performing" station might be KTHT. While the Country Legends format pulls decent numbers for a rimshot, the audience likely skews very old. It has also been mentioned that it is a poor biller, though almost certainly sold in combo with 93Q.
AAA would bomb in Houston, demographics not favorable to the format, and AAA doesn't work elsewhere, with rare exceptions.
Alternative? How do you go against or differentiate yourself from KTBZ? That genre is fragmented and losing audience in general.
KLOL? No. Fits nicely into the Entercom cluster with its current format.
KHMX? Alt would not get anywhere near the current audience.
Nonetheless, I would love to check out a new and innovative format, just to see what that would sound like in 2020 and beyond.
One "poorly performing" station might be KTHT. While the Country Legends format pulls decent numbers for a rimshot, the audience likely skews very old. It has also been mentioned that it is a poor biller, though almost certainly sold in combo with 93Q.
AAA would bomb in Houston, demographics not favorable to the format, and AAA doesn't work elsewhere, with rare exceptions.
Alternative? How do you go against or differentiate yourself from KTBZ? That genre is fragmented and losing audience in general.
KLOL? No. Fits nicely into the Entercom cluster with its current format.
KHMX? Alt would not get anywhere near the current audience.
Nonetheless, I would love to check out a new and innovative format, just to see what that would sound like in 2020 and beyond.
Wrong. KLOL has a huge audience level and very strong billing.
In its target of 18-49 (agency buys for Hispanics target younger than general market), in the last normal month, February, KLOL was tied for 4th in the whole market. Even in the less targeted 25-54, it was 5th.
You don't kill a top 10 radio station. And KHMX is in the top 10 in the 25-54 sales demos, too.
Both are strong billers. Why in the world would you think that either might change format right now when the whole nation is going through a double barreled crisis?
They even had a bit of culture shock trying to deal with a Mexican Regional station on that facility...
Houston seems more accepting of a Mainstream Rock or Active Rock, IMO.
Based on what?
The demographics and musical preferences of Houston-area posters to radiodiscussions?
C
cotton belt
Guest
Nicely done! I got a good laugh at this.
An underperformer in Houston? There are several. I don't see KROI as the likely candidate. How do you sell spots on it as a standalone? How do you "compete" with the well established 94.5, especially with that signal? I can't imagine CL 97.1 as the likely candidate, either. Same issue, it fits nicely in the CXR portfolio, as a combo buy with 93Q.
I'll speculate with you guys for a moment, and swing for the fences. KQBT 93.7 The Beat. The facility has a fairly recent 20 year history as a rock station of some form, and "The Beat" has not exactly set the world on fire in Houston, nor been able to dethrone The Box as "Houston's home for Hip-Hop", since launching in 2014. IHeart knows the Alt format well, and has the market experience from its years of Buzz ownership.
Based on my opinion, as I stated. I know it was a long time ago, but KLOL and KSRR were successful for a long time as well. I didn't realize the idea of a Mainstream Rock outlet doing well in Houston was an absurdity.
There was also a time when country was the top rated format in Houston. Then the demographics changed, and a lot of what worked in Houston 20 years ago doesn't work as well any more. That's a problem for longtime Houstonians who either haven't noticed the changes, or don't understand why they should affect radio. But that's what happens in places such as Houston, LA, or Miami, where the demographics have changed so greatly that active rock music isn't a commercially viable format anymore.
Add to that the changes in the music itself. When KLOL was a rock station, rock music was far more popular as a genre, there were consensus groups and songs, and the format attracted a big audience. That explains why classic rock is so popular in Houston. But today's active rock is such a narrow, niche genre that fans just focus on their favorite bands and aren't really interested in the genre as a whole. So it becomes a very fragmented audience that isn't sellable to advertisers in the way it was 25 years ago.
The Beat is a solid performer in its target 18-49 and 18-34 demos. It is frequently in the top 5 in 18-34 and not far behind in 18-49. Considering the African American population of Houston, there is certainly room for three strong performing Black targeted stations. And in the current social environment, such stations will likely benefit from increased advertiser attention.
An Alt station appeals to a shrinking audience in a market that is more and more composed of not just Blacks and Hispanics but huge Asian and other ethnic communities where Alt is a definite underperformer.
Which full market signals are not billing well?
KSRR's AOR format (97 Rock) only lasted five years. In 1986 the format was flipped to CHR (KKHT "Hit 96.5") then AC (same call) then Rythmic CHR (KNRJ) then briefly to Alternative, before the launch of KHMX in 1990. (I enjoyed both the AC and Alternative incarnations...oh well.) So KSRR was hardly a "long time success."
KLOL lasted 34 years with its "Rock 101" format, but it was starting to slide in the mid-90's. By the end of the format in 2004 it was a rotting carcass of its former self, and ready for a major change, especially with shifting demographics in the market.
Welcome to 2020...and beyond.
+1000 on that. Many people just don't have a grasp of how much Houston has changed over the past few decades. Check out the work of Dr. Stephen Klineberg at the Kinder Institute at Rice University. Fascinating studies of the changing face of Houston. https://kinder.rice.edu/houstonsurvey2020
I always found Houston an interesting market for how progressive and alternative KRBE and its dance programming was at times. Could never figure out quite why it worked but it was a unique sound.
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