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96.9 KDVB Topeka Upgrading

A

AnyHuman

Guest
AnyHuman said:
They have a modification to upgrade from their current 250 watts/30.5 meters to 50000 watts/122 meters. This is a huge boost in power and is also moving the station closer to Topeka. It will cover more area and the station is also being sold to Intrepid Companies, LLC or was already sold.

Does anyone know what will happen once it hits the air?
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Don Sherman (who owned half of KSJM in Wichita over 10 years ago) is buying it. Would be surprised if he flipped it to urban, considering Topeka’s demos and ad revenue.
 
ksradiogeek said:
Don Sherman (who owned half of KSJM in Wichita over 10 years ago) is buying it. Would be surprised if he flipped it to urban, considering Topeka’s demos and ad revenue.
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Topeka has always been a really difficult place to make money. KKYD "Wild 92.9" got okay numbers about 15 years ago with a CHR/Rhythmic format but billed terribly. I'd have to think some derivative of urban would get similar results, probably a 5-6 in the ratings and next-to-zero billing.

The story I had heard was that Cumulus bought the 96.9 Humboldt allocation with the idea of moving it into Topeka to replace KMAJ-FM, which it was planning to move into KC. Cumulus didn't want to just let KMAJ-FM go away, and it needed the other stations in its Topeka cluster for combo deals. However, it canceled its plans to move KMAJ-FM after buying Susquehanna and adding KCFX, KCMO-FM, and KCJK 105.1 to its previously existing portfolio of KMJK 107.3 and KCHZ 95.7 as it could no longer fit 107.7 into that cluster.
 
The last time I was in Topeka, I had no problem at all picking up KPRS. Topeka is 7% African-American. An Urban format in this small of a market doesn't make much sense, especially as a stand-alone. They won't do CHR, there are already 4 CHRs that you can pick up, 2 of them with city-grade signals. Country is over-saturated there, and so is Rock. Classic hits and Adult hits are covered.

I don't know what format I would try if I owned this station.
 
wastedtalent23 said:
The last time I was in Topeka, I had no problem at all picking up KPRS. Topeka is 7% African-American. An Urban format in this small of a market doesn't make much sense, especially as a stand-alone.
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I realize COVID skewed the numbers, but, less than a year ago, KPRS was tied for 4th in the market. The numbers are there for an urban format. The problem is selling them.

wastedtalent23 said:
They won't do CHR, there are already 4 CHRs that you can pick up, 2 of them with city-grade signals. Country is over-saturated there, and so is Rock. Classic hits and Adult hits are covered.

I don't know what format I would try if I owned this station.
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For the most part, people in Topeka don't listen to KC stations, even though they can pick them up on at least some radios. KCHZ used to be popular there, and, as we've discussed, KPRS gets numbers there, too. Otherwise, however, you’re looking at, maybe, a 6 share among all the others. That’s more than what most out of market stations would get in most places, but it’s not that much listening. Your point is otherwise valid, though. At most, Topeka has about 6 shares of CHR. Even with only two really viable ones, the market doesn’t have enough room for a third. Rock has a share or two more, but, again, that pie can only be sliced so much and remain filling. Rock is probably a more viable choice than CHR because only one of the stations targeting that audience is an actual Topeka station, but you'd still have your work cut out for you. Country may be saturated, but it has about 25 shares among all the stations in the format. Granted, KTPK alone got more than that 30 or so years ago, but every major player in the market has a country station for a reason.
 
News/talk? Alternative? Maybe Spanish? Just throwing out random ideas.
 
AnyHuman said:
News/talk? Alternative? Maybe Spanish? Just throwing out random ideas.
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Hard to say. Like I said, Topeka is a tough place to make money, especially as a standalone. I don't know if anybody there forces cluster deals, but, if I ran the Cumulus cluster, you'd have to do multiple buys to get on some of my stations. I don't see any way some of those stations make money on their own, though I'm sure the consolidation of management functions and hub and spoke programming Cumulus uses on some of them helps.

AnyHuman said:
Wikipedia says the station is currently rebroadcasting V100 with rock. KDVB - Wikipedia
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Pretty sure it's been doing that since it signed on. Cumulus bought the station in auction in 2005 and didn't end up needing it after it got Susquehanna. Everybody expected Susquehanna's management would put together a group to buy the company. Comcast, however, broke the bank to acquire Susquehanna's cable systems, and the management's offer fell apart. 96.9 has just been filling airtime ever since.
 
AnyHuman said:
Still might enter into Kansas City on occasion during cloud cover.
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Possibly. The strong Topeka stations generally put a good signal into Kansas City, though KC stations always did better ratings-wise in Topeka than vice-versa. I had a co-worker who lived toward Lawrence and preferred KMAJ-FM and KDVV to the KC stations and listened to them on her boombox in her cubicle at the office in Lenexa, but she was an exception. 99.3 and 102.9 occasionally showed up but were fairly rare catches while 92.5 was a no-show. WIBW-FM (then on 97.3) was a bit iffy because its tower was west of Topeka. It did fine in Douglas County but tended to struggle past DeSoto on K-10. It would still appear to be operating from that same tower in Waubaunsee County, though Alpha seems to be trying to move it to the main tower just west of town.

When I lived in KC, I usually got KZKX from Lincoln on 96.9 (if I got anything at all). Once-in-awhile, I got KKOW-FM or KZBK. So, there might be some room for KDVB (or whatever calls it picks after Sherman launches its new format). I always thought KKOW-FM did worse than its signal parameters would indicate to the north while it did better to the south. Even on a crappy clock radio, it came in like a local in Fayetteville when I went to school there. A translator at 96.7 eventually signed on and blocked it out on the clock radio, but it still came in fine on the home stereo and car radio. That same lousy clock radio picked up KMAJ-FM just fine in Shawnee.
 
ksradiogeek said:
Don Sherman (who owned half of KSJM in Wichita over 10 years ago) is buying it. Would be surprised if he flipped it to urban, considering Topeka’s demos and ad revenue.
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The Topeka market is less than 8% Black, and no format serves all African Americans. I'm not sure if the percentages add up to a full market signal. However, being the only Black station in an era of greater ethnic awarness may be a good way to operate frugally yet get good advertiser interest.
 
There's also the Bott Radio translator on 96.9 on the Kansas side of KC. Not sure how the new station would do around there, but it might be able to go around sometimes.
 
DavidEduardo said:
The Topeka market is less than 8% Black, and no format serves all African Americans. I'm not sure if the percentages add up to a full market signal. However, being the only Black station in an era of greater ethnic awarness may be a good way to operate frugally yet get good advertiser interest.
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If 96.9 were to run an urban format, a 5 to 6 share would seem realistic to me. Granted, it would have to be well run and would have to get a portion of its audience from the white and/or Hispanic populations to do that, but urban stations typically can do that if they're not too narrowly targeted. Not sure what you'd have to run to warrant what you'd consider a full-market signal there. One could reasonably make the case that Topeka has too many of those as is. I'd always heard the Booth family, who were generally considered smart operators, regretted moving 105.9's tower from Lawrence to Lecompton to improve the signal in Topeka. Also, with Topeka being nearly 10% Hispanic, I suspect most of that population is Spanish-dominant. Running a regional Mexican format might be able to make similar numbers, though, much like with urban, selling those numbers would probably be a challenge. Although I lived within an hour of Topeka for about four years in the late-90's/early-00's, I only went there a couple times. I drove through it plenty of times, but only actually stopped a couple. There really wasn't much reason to go there if you weren't from there, and it wasn't known for being a place that welcomed outsiders and transplants. I hear it's trying to change that, but I'd have to think it would be slow going.

AnyHuman said:
There's also the Bott Radio translator on 96.9 on the Kansas side of KC. Not sure how the new station would do around there, but it might be able to go around sometimes.
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I forgot about that one. If I remember correctly, Bott runs slightly different lineups on KCCV 760 and KCCV-FM 92.3. I'm guessing 96.9 relays 760. I know KCCV 760 has had a translator at 101.5 for around 10 years, and it got out quite well for what it was. Looks like the translator for 96.9 is on the same tower as KCCV-FM 92.3, which you'll pass on K-10 on your way to Lawrence just past the 35/435 interchange. The tower's on the south side of K-10.
 
Kent said:
If 96.9 were to run an urban format, a 5 to 6 share would seem realistic to me. Granted, it would have to be well run and would have to get a portion of its audience from the white and/or Hispanic populations to do that, but urban stations typically can do that if they're not too narrowly targeted. Not sure what you'd have to run to warrant what you'd consider a full-market signal there. One could reasonably make the case that Topeka has too many of those as is. I'd always heard the Booth family, who were generally considered smart operators, regretted moving 105.9's tower from Lawrence to Lecompton to improve the signal in Topeka. Also, with Topeka being nearly 10% Hispanic, I suspect most of that population is Spanish-dominant. Running a regional Mexican format might be able to make similar numbers, though, much like with urban, selling those numbers would probably be a challenge. Although I lived within an hour of Topeka for about four years in the late-90's/early-00's, I only went there a couple times. I drove through it plenty of times, but only actually stopped a couple. There really wasn't much reason to go there if you weren't from there, and it wasn't known for being a place that welcomed outsiders and transplants. I hear it's trying to change that, but I'd have to think it would be slow going.



I forgot about that one. If I remember correctly, Bott runs slightly different lineups on KCCV 760 and KCCV-FM 92.3. I'm guessing 96.9 relays 760. I know KCCV 760 has had a translator at 101.5 for around 10 years, and it got out quite well for what it was. Looks like the translator for 96.9 is on the same tower as KCCV-FM 92.3, which you'll pass on K-10 on your way to Lawrence just past the 35/435 interchange. The tower's on the south side of K-10.
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Because translators are a secondary service, Bott will likely have to move it if there’s enough interference complaints to warrant a relocation.
 
ksradiogeek said:
Because translators are a secondary service, Bott will likely have to move it if there’s enough interference complaints to warrant a relocation.
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Absolutely correct. I wouldn't think, however, that would be likely unless it were to cause interference around Lawrence. On paper, there's no overlap. Granted, on paper doesn't always match the real world, but the signal contours should be very close in that area. Plus, with the FCC's recent changes in complaint procedures, I'd have to think getting enough interference complaints would be a challenge for KDVB once it launches.
 
Kent said:
If 96.9 were to run an urban format, a 5 to 6 share would seem realistic to me.
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If they do a rhythmic CHR, often called Churban, they might get around a 3 share at the very best. Urban is in a slump now, due in part to listeners going to streams and the fact that stations can't play about 70% or so of the current songs.

Not all African Americans listen to Urban... the big format today is Urban AC, but that format does not get significant non-Black listening.
Kent said:
Granted, it would have to be well run and would have to get a portion of its audience from the white and/or Hispanic populations to do that, but urban stations typically can do that if they're not too narrowly targeted.
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Again, Urban is in a really serious slump now and no recovery point can be seen.
Kent said:
Also, with Topeka being nearly 10% Hispanic, I suspect most of that population is Spanish-dominant.
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The usual data shows Spanish dominants to be, at most, around 50% and in some cases like ABQ and SAT around 20% of all local Hispanics.

And not all Spanish dominant Hispanics listen to or like Spanish language music. Some of the highest rated stations all over Mexico and Latin America play all or mostly English language music.
Kent said:
Running a regional Mexican format might be able to make similar numbers, though, much like with urban, selling those numbers would probably be a challenge.
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"Regional Mexican" is the "Country" music of Mexico. What percentage of Americans listen to country?

In Mexico City, less than 25% of the AQH audience listens to Regional.
 
It's now on-air from it's new upgrade, or appears to be as I'm getting it in Kansas City during tropospheric happenings tonight. I'm hearing 80's dance/retro music and funk. I also heard an announcement with construction sounds but the signal was weak during it, I'm pretty sure they said to listen this Thursday at noon for details on the new radio station. They also played a PSA about registering to vote. I can't ffind a stream for it online but maybe you guys can.

They also changed call letters to KQRB.
 
They've really broadened their playlist since last night. I'm not only hearing retro, but now they've got country, classic rock, R&B, and I even heard Nipsey Hussle.
 
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