July Ratings

[davideduardo]

The Eagle will always be fine because it’s the first station that comes to mind to any male local direct advertiser in Dallas.

No, the first choices of advertisers seeking just men is sports. Then you have a variety of music formats, from country to rock to classic hits that deliver men well.

Heritage branding. Same reason how KROQ has survived for so long.

And it was, for many years, totally dead and with very low revenue. It has been resurrected, but it does not have a flawless history.

Everyone grew up listening to the Eagle in the market. They remember Russ. They remember Howard. Its brand is generational as well. The eagle will always make money.

"Everyone" never just listened to rock. More people listened to country and urban/r&b and even Regional Mexican in many periods and in many books.

And the agency ad buyers who determine what stations to buy are often in other cites. And Dawn and Heather and the like at agencies in NY and Chicago and Atlanta and LA have no idea about the heritage of The Eagle and don't care. They care about the last 6-month rolling average vs. the CPP or Average Persons. They are not radio historians.

 

[TheBigA]

There's no money playing rock music on the radio.

This comment and those like them is why I come to this board only about once a month.

Good for you!

 

[Radiopaw]

That's still more often than some who use Radio. Truth may be unpleasant to you. AAA stations are almost all listener supported non commercial ones. Some Classic Rock stations are still making money. Unfortunately, Rock is largely a nostalgia genre now. Pearl Jam just released a a very good new album, but it went unnoticed by Radio. That's just one example.

It takes effort to put together a compelling Rock format that will generate listener passion. Radio is just scrambling for survival, so I wouldn't expect much change...

Rock isn’t popular but it’s not unpopular, if K-POP can’t sustain a format then Rock can’t. Spotify genre listening stats are very interesting, the top 100 is basically all what you find on Classic Rock, CHR, Hot AC and Alternative stations.

Broadcasting

 

[TexasTom]

The Eagle will always be fine because it’s the first station that comes to mind to any male local direct advertiser in Dallas. Heritage branding. Same reason how KROQ has survived for so long. Everyone grew up listening to the Eagle in the market. They remember Russ. They remember Howard. Its brand is generational as well. The eagle will always make money.

No, everyone didn't grow up listening to the Eagle -- a long time ago when rock was really big in the market, the Eagle was far from the strongest station. When I moved to the Dallas area forty years ago, the Eagle was getting stomped by Q102 and the Zoo. It responded by flipping to a Rock/Top 40 hybrid format, and it was in that format it was probably at its most successful. But that only lasted a few years, and that era of Rock 40 success ended a bit over 35 years ago -- which means that anyone who remembers the station from that era is getting up in the years. After a few years of various tweaked Top 40 formats, the Eagle did return to rock in the early nineties, but my recollection says it was never more than a mid-pack station from that point on.

So, no, I don't think that the Eagle is "top of mind" for all that many people.

 

[TheBigA]

It responded by flipping to a Rock/Top 40 hybrid format, and it was in that format it was probably at its most successful.

Rock of the 80s, also done by KROQ in LA around the same time.

 

[TexasTom]

Rock of the 80s, also done by KROQ in LA around the same time.

No, from what I understand, the KEGL format that went heavier on the new wave music came a few years earlier. What KEGL ran in the mid-80s was just Top 40 with a rock lean -- I remember hearing things like "Eagle free flights" of ten hits in a row that started with songs like "Stairway to Heaven". So definitely not like KROQ.

A friend who lived in the area in the early 80s does say that there was a year or two when KEGL went heavy on new wave, but that was definitely gone by 1984.

 

[davideduardo]

So, no, I don't think that the Eagle is "top of mind" for all that many people.

And whatever a station was some time three, four or five decades ago is of no significance to listeners today. We don't run museums.

 

[macattack]

I actually looked into it and as late as 1992 KEGL was actually on Radio & Records’ CHR panel due to running so many rock-to-pop crossovers. The annals of radio history are quite fascinating.

During 1993, as alternative rock became the primary version of rock to cross over, KEGL got moved to AOR as they were extremely reluctant to play that type of music. I wonder if KEGL would have stayed on CHR longer or had more sustainable, long term success if they had embraced the alternative wave for a while. Or, perhaps more importantly, had done so before 94.5 The Edge showed up.

 

[txchipk]

I actually looked into it and as late as 1992 KEGL was actually on Radio & Records’ CHR panel due to running so many rock-to-pop crossovers. The annals of radio history are quite fascinating.

During 1993, as alternative rock became the primary version of rock to cross over, KEGL got moved to AOR as they were extremely reluctant to play that type of music. I wonder if KEGL would have stayed on CHR longer or had more sustainable, long term success if they had embraced the alternative wave for a while. Or, perhaps more importantly, had done so before 94.5 The Edge showed up.

KEGL was "Rock of the 80s"-ish -- here's audio from December 1982 when it was a mix of new wave, pop, and rock: The Dallas/Fort Worth Radio Dial: April 7 1987. There's also some audio from 1987 in the same link during its more recognizable rock-leaning top 40 years. They shifted to rock in '83 and then went to rock-leaning top 40 in September 1984. In late '89, they began moving towards more mainstream top 40 adding in dance and R&B they never really played much. In the June of 1992, the got rid of the staff, including Kidd Kraddick, stunted all weekend with Eagles songs and rebooted back to top 40/rock. With only KEGL representing top 40 and it not a mainstream CHR, 106.1 flipped back to top 40 "Kiss" in November and would go on to hire Kraddick.... and KEGL finally evolved to AOR in July 1993 (R&R moved them from CHR to AOR reporter 7/9/1993).

 

[TexasTom]

KEGL was "Rock of the 80s"-ish -- here's audio from December 1982 when it was a mix of new wave, pop, and rock: The Dallas/Fort Worth Radio Dial: April 7 1987. There's also some audio from 1987 in the same link during its more recognizable rock-leaning top 40 years. They shifted to rock in '83 and then went to rock-leaning top 40 in September 1984. In late '89, they began moving towards more mainstream top 40 adding in dance and R&B they never really played much. In the June of 1992, the got rid of the staff, including Kidd Kraddick, stunted all weekend with Eagles songs and rebooted back to top 40/rock. With only KEGL representing top 40 and it not a mainstream CHR, 106.1 flipped back to top 40 "Kiss" in November and would go on to hire Kraddick.... and KEGL finally evolved to AOR in July 1993 (R&R moved them from CHR to AOR reporter 7/9/1993).

I notice that you actually got a on air callout in one of those airchecks.

Aside from that, the two minute long attack on Y95 in another of your airchecks ("Disco 95") was a reminder of how destructive the on-air war between the Eagle and Y95 eventually became -- even at the time, it didn't impress me as a winning strategy to spend two minutes repeatedly attacking your competitor. I think that I remember hearing that on the Eagle at the time, and my reaction was to change stations -- to Y95.