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UNBELIEVABLE KOAI
- Thread starter wastedtalent23
- Start date
With an audience that is 90% over age 65, there are practically no markets where this could be profitable.
The WOW Factor is under-performing its cluster partners four to one in revenue and if it is making a profit, it is minimal.
Out of all of the secondary/marginal signals in Phoenix, KOAI is a huge success. It will NEVER be a big profit generator with its secondary signal no matter what format it runs. What format would you do with it that would be better? Makes a lot of sense to go after a forgotten about Niche market for listeners. They did it successfully so I give Sebastian and friends a lot of credit. Filled a void. Not always about making a huge profit, but just being financially successful or in the black in a challenging radio ad environment.
Translation: I like it, so everybody will like it.
I agree, and they've achieved great ratings without hiring any talent or spending any money. So much for all those people who say radio needs to hire live & local talent to get ratings. Same with WRME Chicago. Good 12+ numbers, unsellable demos, and no talent expense. The listeners don't really care about live DJs if they can hear the music they want.
I afternoons for a station thats been doing a big variety, yet slightly focused format for 10 years.. kinda like an upbeat mainstream AC.. with music from the 70s to today, spanning all genres. Check out Hits 106 if you like WOW, you might like hits 106
Another problem is that businesses and services for seniors, that have an advertising budget, do not want to advertise on radio. TV is where they go. Networks like Me-TV, Antenna, Cozi, and others are loaded with ads for Medicare, walk in bathtubs, hearing aids, etc They have proven success with their ads on TV, it's more effective.
So, if your radio station has primarily listeners 55 plus, you have to find local businesses in your area of coverage that can afford to spend money advertising. And to search them out, canvass, and convince them to get on board with you requires a good top notch person sales person. And someone like that is very hard to find.
Thus, that is why despite the large population of people who are 55+. There are very few radio stations that target that demo. You may kill in audience share like WOW, but good luck making any money.
So, if your radio station has primarily listeners 55 plus, you have to find local businesses in your area of coverage that can afford to spend money advertising. And to search them out, canvass, and convince them to get on board with you requires a good top notch person sales person. And someone like that is very hard to find.
Thus, that is why despite the large population of people who are 55+. There are very few radio stations that target that demo. You may kill in audience share like WOW, but good luck making any money.
But that's why if you keep your expenses low, and fill the time with a lot of national 1-800 and drug ads, you can make enough to keep the lights on.
I'm curious, being unable to stream WOW as they geofence. What type of ads are they getting? Local direct, any thing national. And are spots few and far between
Does the so-called "WOW Factor" still play re-recorded versions of classic songs? 
…in ratings. But not in billing. It’s two cluster mates are also rimshots, and each bills four times what WOW does. The issue is the over-65 age of almost all the audience.
I am not sure that it is independently profitable. More likely it is marginal, but I doubt it can even make its debt service.
Parts of Florida, like St. Petersburg / Tampa?
The retiree-heavy areas in Florida are more like Naples, Sarasota, and Punta Gorda. WCVU continues its light oldies format; however, WAVV drifted away from Easy Listening as of late. WJPT is far from oldies or the Wow Factor.
As for Tampa Bay, which is still older compared to sizable metros, WDUV had to evolve closer to a quasi-Classic Hits format to do well within 25-54. The Dove remains #1 within 6+, however, like they have been.
Not any more. Try The Villages, maybe.
Does Tom Selleck even DO radio ads for reverse mortgages? I'm just asking questions...
And while I do fit within ME TV's target demo, they're doing a bit more than just slapping a signal on the air and saying "wow! Yes we do play episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man!" They have a pretty strong brand and (as someone mentioned above) what appears to be a competent, focused sales operation competing with the likes of Antenna, Cozi, and other networks that target the "Silver Singles" demo. Wow Factor seems to be just a one-off after thought of a company that has a couple other rim-shot properties they put effort into.
I will give them this...if you want to listen to the Wow Factor on that antiquated technology called "radio," the KZON HD2 signal is a far better option. You don't have to flip back and forth between the two rim-shot signals, and for some odd reason the volume appears to have been turned up to 11. Wow.
KOAI at 95.1 FM...aka the WOW Factor, has a fairly good signal coming into the Chino Valley / Prescott vicinity.
I find it a good change of pace, occasionally. Lots of variety of music... Is this oldies style format John Sebastian's original idea?
Seems that I read that back a few months ago.
I find it a good change of pace, occasionally. Lots of variety of music... Is this oldies style format John Sebastian's original idea?
Seems that I read that back a few months ago.
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He claims it is and presented it as such four years ago:
Sebastian Ready To Unveil A New Format - Radio Ink
Programming mastermind John Sebastian tells Radio Ink he's created a new winning format for the 55+ demo which he says is "the most undervalued, under appreciated, under exploited, demographic in American life right now."
radioink.com
That article predates his deal with KOAI.
In their target demographic, that is likely a perfectly viable segue -- those songs were both big pop hits that came out within three years of each other in a time when radio stations played (and their listeners embraced) a wide range of musical styles.
Hearing those songs when they were new on the radio is somewhat before my time, but I remember hearing transitions like Nights in White Satin/Late Lament (Moody Blues) into Good Times (Chic) in the late seventies on a live, local Tacoma station in 1979. For that matter, the automated TM Stereo Rock format (very successful in multiple markets into the early eighties) routinely played combinations of songs that you would likely consider to be trainwrecks -- ie, Another One Bites the Dust (Queen) back to back with Woman In Love (Barbra Streisand), or Lady (Kenny Rogers) back to back with Whip It (Devo). And TM Productions prided themselves on providing a carefully researched playlist of music to their stations.
So while I have no idea as to how younger listeners might respond to the segue that you consider to be a trainwreck, I suspect that for many listeners my age or older (I'm 59), hearing a combination like that might be a nostalgic memory of the range of what we heard when we were young. I'm guessing that there is minimal audience research on this for the simple reason that almost no one is interested in reaching these listeners.
Looking at the music played on your station, it looks a little similar to KRXY 94.5 Shelton/Olympia, WA. Not quite identical, because I'd say that they lean a little more rock, but still similar.
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