-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
What’s wrong with KROQ 106.7 FM, and what can be done to fix it
- Thread starter Sean Cocca
- Start date
Probably because Alternative has always needed a mainstream format to act as an alternative to. Its roots are in progressive rock (later AOR), which offered listeners, mainly college age, deeper, more innovative rock than the cherry-picked commercial tracks played on Top 40 radio. As those sounds became commercialized and mainstreamed themselves, AOR pushed new bands, new singer/songwriters, new sounds and textures. Voila -- New Wave! But then even THOSE artists and sounds "sold out" and went mainstream, and AOR had to look again for something new.
On and on it's gone, trend after trend, fad after fad, and with mainstream rock a healthy genre with consumers and with radio programmers, Alternative remained relatively healthy. But there very little rock of any kind left on Top 40 (CHR), largely because the format has become targeted toward female listeners, but equally because white high school/college age listeners of both genders are more likely to listen to pure rhythmic genres like hip-hop today than 30, or even 10, years ago. Given that rock has never had much traction with black and Latino listeners, those are HUGE problems for Alt, which not only has fewer potential listeners, but also no longer has a single musical style to act as an alternative to!
Oldies is on its last legs. British Invasion and Motown's prime years are already on their way out, and soon the earlier hits of acts like Elton John and Chicago will follow them through the trapdoor. '60s/'70s pop and soul do not get along well with post-MTV pop and rock, so the format is, IMO, a dead man walking at present. Classic Hits, with its emphasis on rock-leaning hits, is already dealing with the divisions of the '90s and the decline of rock among white listeners in that decade and beyond. Its future is assured, but is likely to be far different from current Classic Hits -- more of a "throwback," largely rhythmic format than the current stuck-in-the-MTV-days, "nobody plays more '80s" iterations we hear today.
Call me crazy, but as I see more and more Black and Latino singers and musicians make alternative rock and punk music, and gaining popularity, I think rock is going to make inroads. With pop-punk/punk rock making a comeback in recent months as well, and many Alternative stations beginning to get louder as they start re-incorporating the 00's Active/Alternative crossover hits into their playlists and play Active Rock artists along with Alt artists, I wonder if rock itself is going to be the "alternative" for the 2020s. What this means for the Active Rock format I dunno, but I think Alternative is beginning to develop a lane for itself in the 2020s, and it's going to have an interesting mix of familiar, new, and unexpected faces (who would have thought the daughter of Will Smith would not only release a pop-punk song but see it become her first Hot 100 entry since "Whip My Hair" a decade ago...).
I really like willow smiths new song. It is a far cry from a decades old I whip my hair back and fourth. Hopefully it will gain traction and get lotso spins.
I hope you're right. We all should keep an open mind about all styles of music. If you don't like it, fine. Just don't reject a whole genre out of hand because all or most of the people who make it aren't the same race/ethnicity as you are. I don't like hip-hop, but I don't like smooth jazz either, or polka, or metal. I do like R&B, blues, Afro-pop and several Mexican genres, along with classic rock and pop, country music, classical music and Celtic folk -- music you'd expect a 60-something white guy to like. Why can't there be more crossover listening (and performing) from the other side? The idea that people of African or Latin American origins are somehow hardwired to reject any music that isn't mainly rhythmic bewilders me, especially when that rejection persists for generation after generation.
A good example is the station I programmed in Argentina for many years... not only was it 100% rock, all that rock was 100% by Argentine artists. It was totally #1 with share as high as 23 in a market that had well over 100 full signal as well as neighborhood and suburban stations.
The Top billing station in Mexico City plays English language gold based AC music.
40 years ago when I programmed in Lima, Perú, of 23 FMs, 17 or 18 played English Top 40, AC or rock.
Nearly 60 years ago, the #1 station in Quito, Ecuador, was my Top 40 station that played Latin American and Spanish pop and rock combined with American and European pop, from the Four Seasons to the Rolling Stones.
You are right... there is a stereotype that ignores the fact that huge percentages of Hispanics don't listen to rhythmic music.
Yet you often say in threads like this that Hispanics (and blacks) in the U.S. greatly "underindex" for rock formats. When someone suggests a rock format for a struggling station in Market X, you always point out that its signal is best over areas of Market X that are largely African American or largely Hispanic and therefore, rock would be a poor choice. Is this the fault of U.S. radio or is it peer pressure among U.S. Hispanics and African Americans not to listen to the music of their perceived oppressors?
Also, except for the Mexico City gold AC station, all the stations in the Spanish-speaking countries that you mention are ones that played non-rhythmic genres and/or English-language music. Some, I'd imagine were AMs and are now off the air or have moved to FM. Are any still playing AC/pop/rock today, or are listeners there closing their ears to such music?
Leopards can't change their spots, and neither can Mike The Show Killer. Even if he adjusts the amount of golds and currents, it's still ultimately going to be the same stuff. He literally cannot make adjustments for local markets and preferences except under the very most begrudging of circumstances (even he knew better than to try to stop Linkin Park and Foo Fighters in the 2000's).
They're getting killed by KYSR. Whatever KYSR is doing is giving them their best ratings ever, especially in 18-34. They've been #1 in that demo for FIVE straight months. And they own that demo by a huge margin, three full points above KIIS. All of that audience has to be coming from KROQ.
There is no history of Black usage of rock radio of any format. And the last time there was a significant "migration" of Blacks from sub-Saharan Africa was well over 200 years ago, so there is no "home country" point of reference.
In Latin America, the rock stations... as well as the stations that play American or English language pop, AC and gold of any kind... appeal predominantly to High, Upper and Upper Middle income persons (generally classified as A, B, C+ out of the full range that includes C-, D and E income levels). Those groups do not emigrate from their home nations as they generally live much better there than they possibly could in the US.
Using Mexico as an example, the huge majority of migrants come from smaller towns and rural areas, not the biggest cities. They are the most economically disadvantaged and the least educated. The C and D income level people in the big cities of Mexico are also from the same rural areas where most boys do not go beyond 6th grade and girls average even less formal education.
Those immigrants are not likely to become attached to Foo Fighters and Blind Melon.
The dial all across Latin America is filled with stations that play English language pop, rock and gold. Those stations are very profitable as they appeal to the high income listeners. While there is less English "Top 40" being played, that's because most English language Hip Hop just does not make it across to a different culture. But otherwise, there is substantial interest in English language music.
The transition of music to FM occurred in most nations of Latin America only a few years later than in the US... for example, in Puerto Rico by 1979 over 60% of all listening was on FM and the only viable AMs left were all news operations. In Ecuador, the transition was pretty solidly achieved by around 1975 or 1976, with only the stations appealing to D and E socioeconomic levels hanging on on AM for perhaps a decade longer before moving or closing. This mirrors nearly all the rest of Latin America.
KYSR, to their credit, now boasts consistency and reliability while KROQ's slate of (sorely needed) changes have produced the near exact opposite on 106.7.
Vacillating back and forth on a musical focus—as what KROQ now appears to be doing—is not going to help their situation one bit. They're risking alienating the current audience that is expecting to hear a certain sound and feel, and won't really woo back those that left because they didn't like that specific sound.
That's bad news if the format is one that you just can't attract a musical consensus on.
When the show killer left alt 98.7 and lisa took the reigns there ratings have consistently gone up where as kroq's have done the opposite. Show killer aka Mike kaplan may not be the best man to steer the Kroq ship...Just saying
Once a few yrs ago on the woody show show killer came in studio and they had a debate w show killer saying play one more song during the hour it will help your numbers. It was funny debate and at the end woody played when Mike left the studio MUDVAYNE just to tick him off. Here is the clip.
Once a few yrs ago on the woody show show killer came in studio and they had a debate w show killer saying play one more song during the hour it will help your numbers. It was funny debate and at the end woody played when Mike left the studio MUDVAYNE just to tick him off. Here is the clip.
The majority of this thread is about how the Alternative format is dead and doesn't work. Clearly, it does work -- in LA of all markets. It's even beating the legacy CHR format in one of its key demos.
KYSR's success in LA sparked a new wave of Alternative stations across the country. But no one has been able to replicate that success elsewhere.
Some great posts, and I want to thank BigA for the ratings data he posted earlier!
Those are impressive numbers for KYSR.
I suspect the music tweak at KROQ is in reaction to KYSR, another station that leans pretty heavily on proven gold tracks. That, and a lot of the new stuff released in the past year just isn't that good.
Texturally, nearly all the Entercom alternative stations look like near replicas of each other. Any differences in music are nuanced.
I love Mudvayne, by the way. Late 90s and very early 00s were a great time for rock radio. The aggressive music posture resonated with me.
Those are impressive numbers for KYSR.
I suspect the music tweak at KROQ is in reaction to KYSR, another station that leans pretty heavily on proven gold tracks. That, and a lot of the new stuff released in the past year just isn't that good.
Texturally, nearly all the Entercom alternative stations look like near replicas of each other. Any differences in music are nuanced.
I love Mudvayne, by the way. Late 90s and very early 00s were a great time for rock radio. The aggressive music posture resonated with me.
It also doesn't hurt Alt 98.7 to have as PD the former one from Kroq. When Kroq did well. Genius I might ad
Is anyone actually attached to Blind Melon? LOL
In terms of KYSR's appeal to Latinos -- I think we are forgetting the impact the morning show has on the station. Sure, The Woody Show plays a few songs per hour in the AM, but it is very heavy on talk. It is truly an anomaly in so many ways!
Two months after leaving KROQ, Stryker announces his own podcast:
radioink.com
To be honest he will have to really do something spectacular if he wants to compete with other former radio hosts.
There's a reason why you don't hear artist interviews on the radio: Not much of an audience.
Former KROQ Host Turns To Podcasting - Radio Ink
Following more than 20 years on KROQ in Los Angeles, Ted Stryker will host a new podcast called Tuna on Toast with Stryker. Each episode will feature Stryker interviewing some of the biggest names in music and up-and-coming stars.
radioink.com
To be honest he will have to really do something spectacular if he wants to compete with other former radio hosts.
There's a reason why you don't hear artist interviews on the radio: Not much of an audience.
True. When SiriusXM introduced a channel called Volume that focused on artist interviews and chat with music journalists, I thought it might be an interesting listen. Instead, I found myself quickly bored and wanting to hear some actual music. Haven't had it on for a minute in months.Two months after leaving KROQ, Stryker announces his own podcast:
Former KROQ Host Turns To Podcasting - Radio Ink
Following more than 20 years on KROQ in Los Angeles, Ted Stryker will host a new podcast called Tuna on Toast with Stryker. Each episode will feature Stryker interviewing some of the biggest names in music and up-and-coming stars.
To be honest he will have to really do something spectacular if he wants to compete with other former radio hosts.
There's a reason why you don't hear artist interviews on the radio: Not much of an audience.
- Status