KROQ

[Yabadabado1]

(WDBN, suburban Barberton, OH)

Actually, it was licensed to Medina in Medina county, a ways away from Barberton. Antenna was on Tower rd, , west of Wadsworth. Tower is still there, but they're now owned by RCRG and is now WQMX with antenna now on the Akron/Norton border. Almost ended up working at WDBN back in mid/late 70s but they pulled a "bait-and-switch" on me with the job offered.

 

[davideduardo]

I had an acquaintance many years ago that told me he grew up in Cleveland and listened to WERE but he said he couldn't remember exactly what format it was...do you know??

Depends when. In the 50's it was the first complete Top 40 conversion, with well-known jocks like Specs Howard and Bill Randall. Then came WHK under Kluge in the later 50's and WIXY in the mid-60's.

Before WHK, I listened to WERE. It had the Holy Rosary each and every day at, I recall, 6 PM. That was annoying to a pre-teen. Whatever set of call letters were on 1100 (KYW, WKYC, etc) had a bad Top 40 part of the time, so that was where we would go at 6 PM daily. WHK killed them all with Color Radio Channel 14.

WERE left Top 40 sometime in the early 60's and the battle was WHK vs. WIXY.

I was not in Cleveland except to visit after 1963, and don't recall what it became after that point. It had a horrible signal at night on the far East side of Cleveland.

 

[davideduardo]

(WDBN, suburban Barberton, OH)

Actually, it was licensed to Medina in Medina county, a ways away from Barberton. Antenna was on Tower rd, , west of Wadsworth. Tower is still there, but they're now owned by RCRG and is now WQMX with antenna now on the Akron/Norton border. Almost ended up working at WDBN back in mid/late 70s but they pulled a "bait-and-switch" on me with the job offered.

For some reason I remember Barberton, maybe due to advertisers... but I checked the Broadcasting Yearbook and it was indeed Medina. In Cleveland Heights, it was a marginal signal, however. Good power, not much antenna height in the very early 60's. I had a Zenith Deluxe Royal AM/FM then (1960s Zenith Deluxe Royal 755 LK Transistor Radio - Very Nice and Works | #345358056) and it would drift requiring constant fine tuning to listen to WDBN near Fairmount & Lee Roads.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Yeah, that’s the problem with KLOS - it’s not a true classic rock station. They try to be active rock and classic rock at the same time and that doesn’t work well (they call it “mainstream rock” I believe). I think if you had a more classic rock driven station, it would get better numbers than KLOS and KROQ in their current forms. Or, if you can get the rights to some of the professional sports teams, all-sports might work too. That’s more of a long-term play however.

If you say that a pure classic rocker beats a classic/active mix, then you are saying the classic rock of 40-50 years ago beats what they are making today.

I think this is more than just a theoretical point. I know a few millenials who have their classic rock down, but don't spend much time with the music of today.

 

[davideduardo]

If you say that a pure classic rocker beats a classic/active mix, then you are saying the classic rock of 40-50 years ago beats what they are making today.

There are other factors in play: the under-40 public has a lot less interest in rock than they did 40 to 50 years ago. As measured by the Edison research decennial studies in 2000 and 2010, rock has been on a decline for over 20 years and its lowest interest areas lie among the younger consumers.

I think this is more than just a theoretical point. I know a few millenials who have their classic rock down, but don't spend much time with the music of today.

And there are teens who like classical music and jazz. All rules have exceptions when it comes to personal taste.

 

[TheBigA]

Audacy already has the Rams, so they’ve got something to build around.

It wouldn't shock me if the Rams showed up on KNX-FM next season. Audacy has combined the Mets and news at WCBS in NYC.

The hard part in doing sports radio is having the right hosts. Audacy sports stations are getting killed in San Francisco and Boston. People point to their hosts as the reason.

Audacy's problem isn't format, but execution. So changing the format at 106.7 isn't necessarily going to solve their problem.

 

[CTListener]

There are other factors in play: the under-40 public has a lot less interest in rock than they did 40 to 50 years ago. As measured by the Edison research decennial studies in 2000 and 2010, rock has been on a decline for over 20 years and its lowest interest areas lie among the younger consumers.

Look at the demographics of country radio (and audiences at country concerts) and you'll see where a lot of those white under-40s have gone. That demo used to be rock's sweet spot and hardly had interest in country at all except in rural areas and the Deep South.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I miss hearing staples like Jed the fish Stryker and kat Corbett and Rodney on the rock on kroq. I miss his show I am over 40 but not 50 yet 47 and my formats of choice are alt and chr. Including AAA. However I do like Kevin and sluggo on klos.

I was disappointed by 97.1 going all news. Haven't put it on since they flipped from now.

I find it interesting how the 1 rock station klos stayed the same in ratings and alt 98.7 dropped a tenth of a point however Kroq went up by one tenth of a point. Maybe there is hope for the world famous Kroq

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Look at the demographics of country radio (and audiences at country concerts) and you'll see where a lot of those white under-40s have gone. That demo used to be rock's sweet spot and hardly had interest in country at all except in rural areas and the Deep South.

This is true. What that says is the Country music made today is much better than the rock (especially active rock) being made today.

I personally like a lot of the Country made today, but I don't listen a lot because a lot of it feels very formulaic to me (very similar song structures and themes) and I get bored - in short, I like it, but only for short periods of time. I like Classic country more. But culturally the new Country resonates with more older rockers than the new active rock does. I observe this a lot.

 

[david]

It wouldn't shock me if the Rams showed up on KNX-FM next season. Audacy has combined the Mets and news at WCBS in NYC.
Audacy's problem isn't format, but execution. So changing the format at 106.7 isn't necessarily going to solve their problem.

I hope the Rams do NOT show up on KNX-FM (yet if they do, I hope the station at least keeps its all-news programming continuing on 1070).

Execution - absolutely. KROQ can easily be resurrected:

• Embrace its heritage imaging and brand
• Rest the burnt elements of the library
• Return to being the home for music discovery - be it pop, grunge, EDM, bands that have a new wavey sound
• Add specialty programming features
  • EX: For two decades KROQ was the only station in LA where one could hear reggae once a week
  • Alternalido on Sunday nights is a good example

 

[victorres43]

This is true. What that says is the Country music made today is much better than the rock (especially active rock) being made today.

I personally like a lot of the Country made today, but I don't listen a lot because a lot of it feels very formulaic to me (very similar song structures and themes) and I get bored - in short, I like it, but only for short periods of time. I like Classic country more. But culturally the new Country resonates with more older rockers than the new active rock does. I observe this a lot.

Nickelback really have a lot in common with the "bro country" artists of today. Probably AC/DC too.

No, the core bands of 2000s [active] rock radio weren't The Strokes or even The White Stripes.

 

[david]

Since this thread started the latest 6+ have come out: KROQ wobbled up .1 and KYSR wobbled down .1 - more evidence that KROQ is still treading water and should revisit its formula within the alt format. Not to abandon the format, but to toy with it. Along the lines I presented above, another idea (based on the job posting that initiated this thread) adding a bit of an active rock edge in the form of specialty programming or dayparting some active rock inclusion into the late nights could be worth testing.

 

[davideduardo]

Execution - absolutely. KROQ can easily be resurrected:

• Embrace its heritage imaging and brand

It has no heritage as for the last five years or so it was living off the morning show... which disintegrated. It lost the music position and image to Alt and that is now long gone.

• Rest the burnt elements of the library

We assume the library is researched. They are playing what the majority is determined to want.

• Return to being the home for music discovery - be it pop, grunge, EDM, bands that have a new wavey sound

The problem is that alternative rock is fragmented. There are incompatible subsets and few mass appeal new songs.

• Add specialty programming features
  • EX: For two decades KROQ was the only station in LA where one could hear reggae once a week
  • Alternalido on Sunday nights is a good example

Radio is not a specialty appointment listening source any more. There are hundreds of instantly listenable such things on the web. Nobody is going to wait around for a fixed appointment on radio today for a specialty shot.

 

[macattack]

Because it got brought up, here’s the interview with Gene Sandbloom where he talks about his approach to the music on KINK and the station’s ratings.

 

[bsr92336]

KINK is dying slowly of a demographic illness. It is 15th in 18-34, but gets into single digets on 35-64... typically 6th. If you go 55+, it is even higher, as most of its listeners are over 55.

In the Summer 3 books, of 5,900 AQH persons 12+, only 1,800 were 18-49. The rest were all over 50. In 18-49, they are 14th in the market.

You (David) have always been a 100% credible source when it comes to citing the numbers. Yet, there was an article from All Access dated October 18, 2021, that quoted the PD for KINK, Gene Sandbloom as saying the following:

"In less than a year KINK became #2 in teens in Portland. All while retaining our 55+ audience." and "....KINK was #1 in Women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54."

Source: 10 Questions with ... Gene Sandbloom

Is this discrepancy due to the station having few men listeners (highly doubt that), making them only highly rated with women as Gene quoted, or is Gene getting his information from some independent ratings survey that was conducted, or is he just simply not stating the true facts?

I've heard so many interviews and seen so many articles that are flat out untrue, when it comes to disclosure of ratings and I think the media sources like All Access should verify before they print these articles.

 

[semoochie]

Because it got brought up, here’s the interview with Gene Sandbloom where he talks about his approach to the music on KINK and the station’s ratings.

According to the interview, KINK is #1 in Women 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and teens, while retaining the previous base! That's no small accomplishment without completely changing format!

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Yeah, that’s the problem with KLOS - it’s not a true classic rock station. They try to be active rock and classic rock at the same time and that doesn’t work well (they call it “mainstream rock” I believe). I think if you had a more classic rock driven station, it would get better numbers than KLOS and KROQ in their current forms. Or, if you can get the rights to some of the professional sports teams, all-sports might work too. That’s more of a long-term play however.

That's because there aren't separate stations to cover those two rock formats and KLOS is trying to do it all. They'd like to please everyone but are really pleasing no one. If KROQ were to actually transition to an active rock leaning alternative, or outright active rock station, KLOS would potentially move to a pure classic rock format and would probably fare better doing that.

Honestly that would make the most sense, a classic rock, and active rock and an alternative station, instead of two stations fighting for the same alternative audience and remaining station trying to cover the whole too-broad rock side.

 

[TheBigA]

KLOS would potentially move to a pure classic rock format and would probably fare better doing that.

I bet that's correct. Seems to me they were doing better as strictly classic rock a few years.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I don't like the fact klos has a fare number of syndicated hosts on the station. Live and local I like

 

[radiojomo]

According to the interview, KINK is #1 in Women 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and teens, while retaining the previous base! That's no small accomplishment without completely changing format!

There's a lot more white people in Portland than LA. I believe Black and Latino listeners account for 15% of the population vs. 50% in LA.