KROQ, again

[davideduardo]

K.M., please follow the etiquette of this board and do not mention other usernames unless you are quoting their previous statements. Thank you.

Just a clarification: there is no "etiquette of the board" in those terms. Good sense and courtesy are the abiding rule, but as part of the moderation team here, I see no harm in, accurately, referencing a statement or perspective from another post and poster.

I do think that K.M. made a kind response, and his logic in the referenced post is quite appropriate and correct.

 

[davideduardo]

They might have not been played on the KROQ "proper." They were fed Alt 923's playlist at night, where the spins probably came from. I don't remember them playing Papa Roach or much of any active-sounding rock except maybe Linkin Park since about 2020.

Were they really fed the Alt 923 playlist overnight? Avoiding "close plays" and other problems makes taking another station's list difficult. It is relatively easy to schedule the overnight hours when doing the other 18, and it only adds a few minutes editing time... far less than it would take to coordinate two logs from different stations.

 

[macattack]

Were they really fed the Alt 923 playlist overnight? Avoiding "close plays" and other problems makes taking another station's list difficult. It is relatively easy to schedule the overnight hours when doing the other 18, and it only adds a few minutes editing time... far less than it would take to coordinate two logs from different stations.

From late September 2020 to November 2021 WNYL's playlist was beamed onto the other Audacy stations from 7pm-6am. Occasionally the stations in Central time would have slightly different logs from the Eastern and Pacific time stations. It was literally the same show, with Kevan Kinney and Bryce manning the night and overnight shifts via voice tracking. After November 2021 the logs became unique again, just with occasional Kevan and Bryce commentary, until Bryce left Audacy earlier this year.

 

[davideduardo]

From late September 2020 to November 2021 WNYL's playlist was beamed onto the other Audacy stations from 7pm-6am. Occasionally the stations in Central time would have slightly different logs from the Eastern and Pacific time stations. It was literally the same show, with Kevan Kinney and Bryce manning the night and overnight shifts via voice tracking. After November 2021 the logs became unique again, just with occasional Kevan and Bryce commentary, until Bryce left Audacy earlier this year.

I wonder what the logic of that was? The propensity towards bad rotations and the like make this seem idiotic, but then again it is part of the alternative failure of the parent company.

 

[pjc1961]

Overnights on some of iHeart's classic rock stations have been voice-tracked with identical playlists.
I haven't checked in on this lately, so I can't say for certain if this is still in place.

 

[CTListener]

Overnights on some of iHeart's classic rock stations have been voice-tracked with identical playlists.
I haven't checked in on this lately, so I can't say for certain if this is still in place.

It's being done in morning drive up here in VT/NH by a small chain, Great Eastern Radio, on its country stations in Montpelier and West Lebanon. Different jocks, different ads, timing is slightly off, but the playlists are identical. I only discovered this yesterday after downloading the Great Eastern app, so they may very well be doing the same thing on their CHR and classic rock stations as well.

 

[MarkW]

I wonder what the logic of that was? The propensity towards bad rotations and the like make this seem idiotic, but then again it is part of the alternative failure of the parent company.

Perhaps Audacy should've named itself "Idiocy" instead.

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

I wonder what the logic of that was? The propensity towards bad rotations and the like make this seem idiotic, but then again it is part of the alternative failure of the parent company.

I have said it before - the more something makes no sense, the more likely it is Audacy will try it. Same goes for the other large consolidators. It's part and parcel of what ails our industry.

 

[TheBigA]

I have said it before - the more something makes no sense, the more likely it is Audacy will try it. Same goes for the other large consolidators. It's part and parcel of what ails our industry.

By the same token, Audacy and iHeart each have three stations in the LA Top 10, so they're not totally ignorant. As others have noted, KROQ's problems started many years ago, under different management and ownership. So finally someone starts making changes, and it ruffles some feathers. The alternative format is struggling in a lot of places. It's obvious they're trying different things to see what works. It's really the only way to know for sure.

 

[TheBigA]

From late September 2020 to November 2021 WNYL's playlist was beamed onto the other Audacy stations from 7pm-6am.

This was announced in September 2020. Audacy was responding to the pandemic which had affected revenues and staffing:

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/197652/entercoms-new-alternative-on-air-lineups/

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

By the same token, Audacy and iHeart each have three stations in the LA Top 10, so they're not totally ignorant. As others have noted, KROQ's problems started many years ago, under different management and ownership. So finally someone starts making changes, and it ruffles some feathers. The alternative format is struggling in a lot of places. It's obvious they're trying different things to see what works. It's really the only way to know for sure.

To be clear, and so that my words are not distorted, I have never said that any radio group is "ignorant" and by suggestion "doesn't do anything right". I stand by what I said - the less something makes sense, the more likely they are to try it. Plenty of anecdotal evidence over the past several years to support that.

 

[TheBigA]

I stand by what I said - the less something makes sense, the more likely they are to try it. Plenty of anecdotal evidence over the past several years to support that.

I think having a willingness to try something different, no matter how crazy, is a good thing. There's a lot of criticism about radio companies that aren't willing to experiment with music or formats. So it goes both ways.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Perhaps Audacy should've named itself "Idiocy" instead.

Or, given this case, perhaps "Oddacy".

 

[macattack]

I wonder what the logic of that was? The propensity towards bad rotations and the like make this seem idiotic, but then again it is part of the alternative failure of the parent company.

As TheBigA linked the nationalization of the night playlists was a reaction to the pandemic. It probably was a drastic measure to reduce costs. Considering Audacy is gradually rolling back on that it likely did more harm than good.

It did not stop there as the changes were dramatic as every part of each station felt the nationalization effects. 90-95% of the day part music was literally the same across the board as well, with a heavy emphasis on alternative pop. All currents were nationalized and had to be approved by the format captain. Pop-punk golds were eventually mixed into the alt-pop base in the spring of 2021 as that genre had a couple of pop crossover hits during that time. This brought back a few veteran artists like blink-182 that had largely vanished after the initial nationalization and the ratings stabilized a bit.

Each station was allowed a tiny sprinkling of exclusive gold songs to sprinkle in that were otherwise banned from airplay. KNDD was allowed to play “Daughter” by Pearl Jam a couple of times a week, KROQ spun “Anything, Anything” by Dramarama 2-3 times a week, KRBZ was allowed to play “Amber” by 311 at a similar frequency, as examples that I still remember.

I think a better programmer who had been more transitional in the shift from alternative rock to alternative pop could have made this work. But the approach with the music was instead so sudden that it proved alienating towards older and rock listeners and played a big role in the ratings plunges that occurred. The person in charge also failed to foresee the pop-punk renaissance that occurred which increased interest in guitar-driven music, and reacted much too slow and clumsily to the shift. Coupled with the extreme reduction in on-air and engineering talent at all of the stations in question and it was a recipe for disaster.

 

[TheBigA]

As TheBigA linked the nationalization of the night playlists was a reaction to the pandemic. It probably was a drastic measure to reduce costs. Considering Audacy is gradually rolling back on that it likely did more harm than good.

As I recall, they told investors that revenue dropped about 50% as a result of the pandemic. It had only been a few years since the CBS purchase, so I imagine finding out that your company lost 50% of its revenue can be a huge shock, and you want to show that you're addressing it in some tangible way. So that's what they did. As to your comment about the way it was done, my view on that is at the time, there was no hotter music creator in the genre than Finneas. He won Grammy awards, he was working with multiple artists, and he lives in LA. Who else was doing as much as he, or getting as much attention? My take is they saw this as a popular trend, and hoped to cash in on it. The fact that it didn't work shows that sometimes trends are not indicative of long-term success.

 

[KilowattKat]

In what so far is the exception and not a new trend yet with Audacy's Alt stations, KBZT San Diego recently dropped VT Megan Holiday of KROQ, and rehired their former MD and mid-day host Alyssa Haberman for the same duties as before. Most likely the move was made in reaction to 91X's change in music direction and their live and local lineup during the day and into the evening. She has the personality and music knowledge to really connect with listeners, but it's too early to tell, if, or how much this will benefit KBZT.

 

[K.M. Richards]

My take is they saw this as a popular trend, and hoped to cash in on it. The fact that it didn't work shows that sometimes trends are not indicative of long-term success.

And any programmer who relies too much on trends, with no clue what to do if one doesn't work, isn't as astute as he or she might think they are. Any national radio company that does the same thing needs to replace the upper management that thinks trends are always going to work.

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

And any programmer who relies too much on trends, with no clue what to do if one doesn't work, isn't as astute as he or she might think they are. Any national radio company that does the same thing needs to replace the upper management that thinks trends are always going to work.

Perfectly said. Trying something "different" for the sake of trying it is a fools errand when you're competing at this level. If you're going to try "different", you better research the hell out of it first. The first rule should always be "don't make it worse".

 

[TheBigA]

And any programmer who relies too much on trends, with no clue what to do if one doesn't work, isn't as astute as he or she might think they are. Any national radio company that does the same thing needs to replace the upper management that thinks trends are always going to work.

Keep in mind, I said "my take." I have no actual knowledge of why changes were made. Just that they were, and we can all see the results. So once again changes are being made. The changes are back to something more familiar. That doesn't mean it will be better or that the ratings will automatically shoot up. But for a while, people asked why they didn't do things differently. So now they're doing things differently.

 

[ragazzo-pazzo]

Keep in mind, I said "my take." I have no actual knowledge of why changes were made. Just that they were, and we can all see the results. So once again changes are being made. The changes are back to something more familiar. That doesn't mean it will be better or that the ratings will automatically shoot up. But for a while, people asked why they didn't do things differently. So now they're doing things differently.

It's a lot easier to destroy something than it is to rebuild it. I'm hopeful for a positive and speedy rebound, but I'm not naive enough to believe it won't take months, if not years.