KRTY-FM Los Gatos has been sold

[davideduardo]

In the previous post you said the revenue decline was in the last 8-10 years. But the demographic shift happened between 1990 and 2000, before the revenue decline. So my sense is the revenue decline wasn't related to changes in regional demographics.

The last 10 years had the biggest decline, and, of course, much of it can be attributed to the effect of the PPM on stations that had high TSL in the diary but low cume. The PPM hurt that kind of station the worst, but overall it reduced TSL by nearly a third in every market; KRTY was hurt worse as there are few country fans in the coverage area.

Add that to the growing tendency not to buy San Jose separately and the gradual decline of the 2000-2012 period became free fall.

All of that built up over the last 25 years or so. That parallels the major change in the technology sector, going from Apple and Hewlett-Packard to PayPal and Cisco and Oracle.

That makes Nielsen pretty useless in San Jose, where Asians are over 30% of the population.

33.8% in fact. Nielsen measures "Asians" but they don't have language specific recruiters as there are at least a half dozen major languages and a number of other ones as well. And they do not have an HDAA in Santa Clara County for the same reason... Koreans are not the same as Desi residents neither is the same as Chinese or...

 

[davideduardo]

True the KRTY case is because of the sale of Bob Kieve estate as seen in the link.

But the station was declining horribly long before his passing.

The owner and staff were too close to see it happening.

I remember years ago when I switched format on a Miami station that had been country to Spanish CHR: I met a former listener who just could not understand why there was a need for a Spanish language station since he "never heard people speaking Spanish". It's just that his neighborhood and his friends were the same as always and he did not realize that Dade County was nearing 50% Hispanic then.

 

[Negin]

My new microwave is now online and is connected to Alexa. What would I use Alexa for? I guess if I were across room, burning popcorn, I could yell..."Alexa...Turn off microwave. lol

I do like the fact that I no longer need to set the clock on the microwave since it's on line.

I always call Alexa or Google speakers as spy speakers. I got one for xmas one year, still sitting in the barn sealed.

 

[semoochie]

Contemporary Worship is mostly consumed by and often preformed by College aged adults and Millennials. I didn't think this was the case at first, but it turns out that it's actually true. In other words, right now, Contemporary Worship is basically Christian Top-40. The streaming charts and the people who attend Maverick City Music, Elevation Worship and Chris Renzema concerts (For example), reflect this.

When I've tuned across it, it's always been softer music than before. I probably didn't listen long enough. I thought that was why EMF now has a Hip-hop station.

 

[CTListener]

In the previous post you said the revenue decline was in the last 8-10 years. But the demographic shift happened between 1990 and 2000, before the revenue decline. So my sense is the revenue decline wasn't related to changes in regional demographics.



That makes Nielsen pretty useless in San Jose, where Asians are over 30% of the population.

Do San Jose Asians underindex for certain musical genres. David has written often of the resistance of Hispanic listeners (other than the entrenched fourth- and fifth-generation Hispanics of San Antonio) to country music. Are listeners of Asian descent similarly poor prospects for country radio?

 

[MarkW]

I think country music on analog FM is kaput in the Bay Area, sadly. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[radio11]

KPFA has great country programs Sunday afternoon. Likewise is KVMR on Saturday morning, not to mention live broadcasts of bluegrass festivals.

 

[davideduardo]

Do San Jose Asians underindex for certain musical genres. David has written often of the resistance of Hispanic listeners (other than the entrenched fourth- and fifth-generation Hispanics of San Antonio) to country music. Are listeners of Asian descent similarly poor prospects for country radio?

There is no stratification of "Asian" listeners as Nielsen does not have differential survey techniques for Asians in any market. Any information on Asian usage of radio would first have to be segregated by subsets, such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Philippine, Indian, etc.

Do you see Garth Brooks or FGL doing concerts in Manila or Saigon?

 

[Identnut]

There is no stratification of "Asian" listeners as Nielsen does not have differential survey techniques for Asians in any market. Any information on Asian usage of radio would first have to be segregated by subsets, such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Philippine, Indian, etc.

Do you see Garth Brooks or FGL doing concerts in Manila or Saigon?

I think the only genre that could market to all Asians universally is a Asian pop format with a heavy contemporary K-Pop backbone. Those artists are popular among all Asians regardless of their language.

A format like that would be experimental, but it would have the added benefit of aiming at White and Hispanic listeners who also enjoy this kind of music. It's the kind of scrappy format that a translator or marginal signal could give a try.

 

[TheBigA]

Do you see Garth Brooks or FGL doing concerts in Manila or Saigon?

Not because they don't have fans there, but because the infrastructure for such shows isn't available. Lots of country stars play Tokyo. That's the home of Sony Records. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played Moscow.

You're assuming all Asians in San Jose still identify with their ancestral home, or still speak that language. There's nothing in the statistics that says they do.

 

[Identnut]

Not because they don't have fans there, but because the infrastructure for such shows isn't available.

Manila is one of the highest population cities in the world, particularly known for its malls.

Garth Brooks may not play in the Philippines, but BTS and TWICE have. Asia has its own homegrown stars.

 

[KilowattKat]

A K-pop station might work in the South Bay. I see there's one in Honolulu, and an AM in Los Angeles has the format. And how perfect if they could get the call letters KPOP.

 

[Marcos_C]

A K-pop station might work in the South Bay. I see there's one in Honolulu, and an AM in Los Angeles has the format. And how perfect if they could get the call letters KPOP.

That call sign has already been taken by a Christian contemporary music station in Oklahoma.

 

[Marcos_C]

I think the only genre that could market to all Asians universally is a Asian pop format with a heavy contemporary K-Pop backbone. Those artists are popular among all Asians regardless of their language.

A format like that would be experimental, but it would have the added benefit of aiming at White and Hispanic listeners who also enjoy this kind of music. It's the kind of scrappy format that a translator or marginal signal could give a try.

As someone who volunteered for NYC's Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Festival, I can say that such a format would have a limited appeal, even among the various Asian American groups. The music at the festival ranged from the traditional to the contemporary. Among the performers were Indians, Filipinos, Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. My point is that Asian music is more than just K-pop, and each group has its own set of music genres. That is why there are so many radio stations that specialize in particular groups of Asians.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

I think the only genre that could market to all Asians universally is a Asian pop format with a heavy contemporary K-Pop backbone. Those artists are popular among all Asians regardless of their language.

I know many in the Bay area, The first generation adults like 70s and 80s English language pop-AC and Classic Hits. I know one who loves Kenny Rogers, despite not being very fluent in English. The younger Asian Americans I know like Top-40, pop, alternative, and one guy who likes rock and metal. I'm sure there are some who like hip hop too, they basically mirror what everyone else listens to, apart from country.

Here in the NYC area they pipe K-pop nice and loud into the Korean supermarket I shop at, and English pop in a lot of other Korean businesses. In Chinatown, I don't hear much music being played in the stores.

 

[CTListener]

Not because they don't have fans there, but because the infrastructure for such shows isn't available. Lots of country stars play Tokyo. That's the home of Sony Records. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played Moscow.

You're assuming all Asians in San Jose still identify with their ancestral home, or still speak that language. There's nothing in the statistics that says they do.

I have a San Jose Asian sister-in-law. Mother was born in Japan and both Japanese and English were spoken in the home. She loves the food of her mother's homeland but prefers American and European musical genres, mostly alt and singer/songwriter pop.

 

[davideduardo]

Not because they don't have fans there, but because the infrastructure for such shows isn't available. Lots of country stars play Tokyo. That's the home of Sony Records. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played Moscow.

There is a difference between a show a couple of times a year in Todyo and one or more every week in places like Houston.

You're assuming all Asians in San Jose still identify with their ancestral home, or still speak that language. There's nothing in the statistics that says they do.

No they do not remain as entrenched in their language as other immigrant groups. In fact most Asian groups are the fastest in full assimilation, including language proficiency and adoption of American customs, traditions and even mannerisms.

This rapid assimilation is, in no small part, due to the fact that Asians have no shared language commonality and very diverse national and even regional cultures. Unlike Hispanics, who share a common, albeit diverse, language and heritage, Asians have only a common geographic origin in common.

Even seemingly universal music, like K-pop, is mostly a youth genre and Asian youths born or raised in the US tend to gravitate to English language music forms.

 

[TheBigA]

There is a difference between a show a couple of times a year in Todyo and one or more every week in places like Houston.

A big difference is proximity. I've spoken with artists who play Australia regularly, and they always bemoan the long flight and the lack of proper transportation between venues, such as tour buses. When I talk about infrastructure, that also includes having record label reps there to handle some of the relationship issues.

No they do not remain as entrenched in their language as other immigrant groups. In fact most Asian groups are the fastest in full assimilation, including language proficiency and adoption of American customs, traditions and even mannerisms.

I understand that, which is why I question your point that changing demos in San Jose led to a drop in revenue. There are a lot of people of Asian descent who love country music.

 

[CTListener]

There is a difference between a show a couple of times a year in Todyo and one or more every week in places like Houston.

No they do not remain as entrenched in their language as other immigrant groups. In fact most Asian groups are the fastest in full assimilation, including language proficiency and adoption of American customs, traditions and even mannerisms.

This rapid assimilation is, in no small part, due to the fact that Asians have no shared language commonality and very diverse national and even regional cultures. Unlike Hispanics, who share a common, albeit diverse, language and heritage, Asians have only a common geographic origin in common.

Even seemingly universal music, like K-pop, is mostly a youth genre and Asian youths born or raised in the US tend to gravitate to English language music forms.

Including country?

 

[davideduardo]

Including country?

Yes, depending on exposure and other factors, later generation persons of Asian heritage may listen to country.

The two main country stations in San Antonio depend on Hispanics for half of their cume.