100.3 The Sound goes Deep; 86s "World Class Rock"

[SuperRadioFan]

I just discovered the station about two weeks ago and I am totally sucked in. I am a notorious channel changer. When Jack and Klsx were tweaking this type of format they couldn't keep me past one song because I always hated the next song. I think KLSX killed my love of Supertramp by playing them into the ground.

I'm not sure why you compare JACK and KLSX (when they were classic rock) since around seven years separated the two. As to Supertramp, I'd like to know how much is "playing them into the ground". The Sound played 7 different Supertramp tracks - a total of 13 times in the last 9 1/2 days-- (from their website):

03-02-09 5:20 - Give A Little Bit by Supertramp
03-02-09 2:04 - The Logical Song by Supertramp
03-01-09 3:47 - Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp
02-28-09 4:13 - Dreamer by Supertramp
02-27-09 4:17 - Dreamer by Supertramp
02-27-09 2:11 - The Logical Song by Supertramp
02-26-09 12:49 - The Logical Song by Supertramp
02-26-09 5:31 - Bloody Well Right by Supertramp
02-25-09 1:47 - Take The Long Way Home by Supertramp
02-24-09 9:30 - Take The Long Way Home by Supertramp
02-23-09 10:08 - Give A Little Bit by Supertramp
02-23-09 4:30 - Breakfast In America by Supertramp
02-22-09 5:12 - Bloody Well Right by Supertramp

I like the song choices, but sometimes it seems a little neurotic. You might hear three soft sounding tracks and BAM they throw in JET or Nirvana.

The only Jet track was played 4 times in the last 9 days .. that's not too frequent I guess.
Nirvana 23x in that span.

Recently I checked on a few more popular artists on The Sound -
I did not include U2 because the stats would be skewed thanks to their new album--

Between Feb 17th and Feb 27th- 11 days' worth:

Talking Heads and The Cars tied with 32 tracks

Led Zeppelin - 52 (4-5/day)

The Police - 50 times plus Sting solo tracks another 14 for a total of 64 tracks combined (5-6/day)

and the Winner with a WHOPPING 82 tracks played in 11 days (7-8/day) !!!!! ----
..
..
The Rolling Stones

Yes I know it looks like I am salivating in anticipation of this station's impending demise, no I am just sorely disappointed at the direction they veered off to.

The alternatives are not pretty.

You mean terrestrial alternatives in SoCal I presume. No one has to resstrict themselves to that in 2009. That's why I listen online to (in this order): Legato Cafe; WXPK 107.1 The Peak; KINK-FM; Radio Paradise to name the most listened to. (also RichBroRadio for my oldies fix) And I make them all portable in my car by recording and then burning them on CDs for playback in my car (my ears only!!)

 

[tedbell007]

Superfan,

Where do you find the time? Never heard supertramp on the station. I have heard Elderberry Wine by Elton John
more than a few times, but I actually like the song, so no complaints. I don't listen to music online, though I have made many attempts.

I guess I haven't listened to the Sound enough because I sure have missed The police, talking heads, cars. Look, you can make everything into a clinical exercise by pulling playlists up the yazoo. All I was stating is when I turn on the station I do enjoy what I am hearing.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Ted that's the bottom line of course. If you enjoy hearing, great for you! I just don't see the great difference between The Sound and KLOS. Yes there are differences but a 0.7 rating is not going to be tolerated forever. Even 95.9 The Fish has equal ratings with a much much weaker signal.

The Sound's website makes it real easy to see how frequently they play a particular artist or an individual song. The search function checks the last two weeks or so.

Its really funny you mention having heard "Elderberry Wine" 'more than a few times'. Some of their DJs in pre-announcing it indicate they're going "deep" into the Elton John catalogue. ;D

 

[JPT]

Funny how they consider "Elderberry Wine" deep (and they're slowly playing it into the ground!) It was, in fact, the b-side to "Crocodile Rock" back in the day, and has had some air time over the years.

Now if they REALLY wanted to go deep on the "Don't Shoot Me" album, play something like "Teacher I Need You" or "High Flying Bird" - two of the best songs on the album.

 

[airpab]

The Sound is 2nd rate....Especially when you consider the size of this market. C'mon? Supertramp that many times? What is this, Des Moines? Are you kidding me? If you're gonna do this format and get 0.7's, at least do it right!!

DE, myself and countless others predicted this before they even flipped the 100.3 frequency. Bonneville is trying to create something that just isn't there in L.A. and on top of that, they're doing a crappy job of it!

I'm sure CBS thanks Bonneville from the bottom of their heart for not flipping to Top 40 and coming at KIIS!

What a waste.....A huge Mt. Wilson stick and an utter garbage product!

Bonneville.....If you're reading this, wake up, cut your losses and finally see what's right in front of you! Unless you like 0.7's and think you can sell those numbers??

Flip it to Talk...Try and go get the KLSX line-up for half of what they were making and go get the significant revenue KLSX was bringing in......Not that hard!

 

[SuperRadioFan]

The Sound is 2nd rate....Especially when you consider the size of this market. C'mon? Supertramp that many times? What is this, Des Moines? Are you kidding me? If you're gonna do this format and get 0.7's, at least do it right!!

DE, myself and countless others predicted this before they even flipped the 100.3 frequency. Bonneville is trying to create something that just isn't there in L.A. and on top of that, they're doing a crappy job of it!

I'm sure CBS thanks Bonneville from the bottom of their heart for not flipping to Top 40 and coming at KIIS!

What a waste.....A huge Mt. Wilson stick and an utter garbage product!

Bonneville.....If you're reading this, wake up, cut your losses and finally see what's right in front of you! Unless you like 0.7's and think you can sell those numbers??

Flip it to Talk...Try and go get the KLSX line-up for half of what they were making and go get the significant revenue KLSX was bringing in......Not that hard!

Here's something interesting I've discovered over the last few weeks.

Since The Sound has incorporated the "10 at 10" into their daily schedule, that feature alone gets more response and feedback from the few posters in The Sound's Forum than any other topic. Between noon and 10 am the next day, there's maybe 1 to 4 posts in there, then they go off the playlist and play their 10 at 10 and voila! lots of positive comments. Even negative comments about playing the Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira", or a Donna Summer track or a Michael Jackson tune, but whether positive OR negative, they are getting a response.

Some 10 at 10 had off their playlist artists like The Tubes ("White Punks on Dope"), Foghat, Styx ("Lorelei"), Van Halen, the Bangles, to name a few of late.

Maybe The Sound should adopt this as their new format.. every hour a "10 at 10" type playlist, featuring a different year each hour. 8)

Now I'm sure all this doesn't translate very much to their ratings but I thought it was interesting.

As to your point, airpab, about KSWD grabbing the talk lineup KLSX had, keep in mind the ownership of KSWD. I doubt very much they'd have that kind of content on their radio station. Regardless of potentially higher #s.

 

[IknowwhatIknow]

I am from NJ but I was just out in LA and I have to say this station had me hooked. I doubt it will work if LA is anything like where I am from because "deep cuts" usually only lead to deep cuts in your revenue, but while I was there I liked it.

 

[scooty430]

I just discovered the station about two weeks ago and I am totally sucked in. I am a notorious channel changer. When Jack and Klsx were tweaking this type of format they couldn't keep me past one song because I always hated the next song. I think KLSX killed my love of Supertramp by playing them into the ground.

I'm not sure why you compare JACK and KLSX (when they were classic rock) since around seven years separated the two. As to Supertramp, I'd like to know how much is "playing them into the ground". The Sound played 7 different Supertramp tracks - a total of 13 times in the last 9 1/2 days-- (from their website):

03-02-09 5:20 - Give A Little Bit by Supertramp
03-02-09 2:04 - The Logical Song by Supertramp
03-01-09 3:47 - Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp
02-28-09 4:13 - Dreamer by Supertramp
02-27-09 4:17 - Dreamer by Supertramp
02-27-09 2:11 - The Logical Song by Supertramp
02-26-09 12:49 - The Logical Song by Supertramp
02-26-09 5:31 - Bloody Well Right by Supertramp
02-25-09 1:47 - Take The Long Way Home by Supertramp
02-24-09 9:30 - Take The Long Way Home by Supertramp
02-23-09 10:08 - Give A Little Bit by Supertramp
02-23-09 4:30 - Breakfast In America by Supertramp
02-22-09 5:12 - Bloody Well Right by Supertramp

I like the song choices, but sometimes it seems a little neurotic. You might hear three soft sounding tracks and BAM they throw in JET or Nirvana.

The only Jet track was played 4 times in the last 9 days .. that's not too frequent I guess.
Nirvana 23x in that span.

Recently I checked on a few more popular artists on The Sound -
I did not include U2 because the stats would be skewed thanks to their new album--

Between Feb 17th and Feb 27th- 11 days' worth:

Talking Heads and The Cars tied with 32 tracks

Led Zeppelin - 52 (4-5/day)

The Police - 50 times plus Sting solo tracks another 14 for a total of 64 tracks combined (5-6/day)

and the Winner with a WHOPPING 82 tracks played in 11 days (7-8/day) !!!!! ----
..
..
The Rolling Stones

Yes I know it looks like I am salivating in anticipation of this station's impending demise, no I am just sorely disappointed at the direction they veered off to.

The alternatives are not pretty.

You mean terrestrial alternatives in SoCal I presume. No one has to resstrict themselves to that in 2009. That's why I listen online to (in this order): Legato Cafe; WXPK 107.1 The Peak; KINK-FM; Radio Paradise to name the most listened to. (also RichBroRadio for my oldies fix) And I make them all portable in my car by recording and then burning them on CDs for playback in my car (my ears only!!)

Wow.

That list of Supertramp songs really proves it. This is simply NOT a deep classic rock station, by any stretch of the imagination. All of those tracks are burned, burned, burned.

And ALL of them are also played by KLOS and JACK. (Perhaps one or two not by JACK.)

If you were really going deep on Supertramp, you might play:

It's Raining Again
Cannonball
Child Of Vision
Crime of the Century
School
Hide In Your Shell
Sister Moonshine
Even In The Quietest Moments
Gone Hollywood
Crazy

Or Roger Hodgson's solo tunes "Had A Dream" and "In Jeopardy."

All GREAT songs.

THIS is the failure of the Sound. They are, just like everyone else, playing overly tested, "safe" songs. They are NOT "all about the music" and the audience figured it out and is ignoring them.

 

[goriajk]

Re: TO MY BUD JOHN THE SRF

John, what's up with the Sound's website? I noticed Sammy made some remark on the site. Did he get a little 'tired' of all the critical remarks on the Sound Board and targeted you and PT ?? I need to revisit and see why Sammy said to 'Go Enjoy Your Weekend?' (Something Goin' Wrong Around Here - Isn't that a Joe Jackson song I'm hearing on 100.3 right now>? Joe G

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

I saw their new digital ORANGE (no blue at all) billboards this morning. HORRIBLE. All I see is ORANGE as the white lettering for The Sound and 100.3 are so small. It didn't even register at first that this was for a radio station until I took a closer look. I haven't seen so many dumb moves made by a radio station since, well, the last station that occupied the 100.3 frequency.

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

By the way......this afternoon I drove past the VERY huge sign for The Sound in Lawndale off the 405.

It proclaimed, very largely, "WORLD CLASS ROCK."

And the "now playing" said.....Turn The Page by Bob Seger. Not deep, and not AAA. Classic rock, as it's always been. zzzzzzzzzz

I just passed by it and it still says "World Class Rock". That after seeing their new orange digital billboards this morning. It would be good if they could get on top of their own marketing campaign. I'd be firing someone by this time.

 

[radioresearcher]

By the way......this afternoon I drove past the VERY huge sign for The Sound in Lawndale off the 405.

It proclaimed, very largely, "WORLD CLASS ROCK."

And the "now playing" said.....Turn The Page by Bob Seger. Not deep, and not AAA. Classic rock, as it's always been. zzzzzzzzzz

I just passed by it and it still says "World Class Rock". That after seeing their new orange digital billboards this morning. It would be good if they could get on top of their own marketing campaign. I'd be firing someone by this time.

The one in Santa Clarita refers to something about Deep Rock - can't remember exactly

 

[ocer]

I saw their new digital ORANGE (no blue at all) billboards this morning. HORRIBLE. All I see is ORANGE as the white lettering for The Sound and 100.3 are so small. It didn't even register at first that this was for a radio station until I took a closer look. I haven't seen so many dumb moves made by a radio station since, well, the last station that occupied the 100.3 frequency.

I posted in the other forum before seeing this one...they're orange signs have made their way onto the sides of busses now too. Those say something like:

"Deeper Rock. 100.3 The sound."

Not really any better than the billboards :-\

 

[scooty430]

I actualiy think the advertising for The Sound is pretty good. Very big, very loud, easy to see, clear. The "Now Playing" concept is novel.

The problems are....

- The song they are "playing" is typically pretty boring.
- If it isn't a "now playing" billboard, if you tune in The Sound, you will find out soon enough that it is boring.

It ain't the advertising, it's the product.

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

I actualiy think the advertising for The Sound is pretty good. Very big, very loud, easy to see, clear. The "Now Playing" concept is novel.

The problems are....

- The song they are "playing" is typically pretty boring.
- If it isn't a "now playing" billboard, if you tune in The Sound, you will find out soon enough that it is boring.

It ain't the advertising, it's the product.

KFI was actually listing the current host or KFI News on the digital billboards prior to The Sound even hitting the airwaves.

Which incarnation of their advertising campaign? The new Orange digital billboards have the song so small you better be right on the them. Of course, you could go down to the South Bay curve on the 405 and still see the old campaign with the old blue color scheme. Or maybe we could look at their recent mailer which doesn't list any current positioning statement and the blue color scheme.

Would be nice if they could make up their minds who they are. What station throws away their major advertisng campaign every week?

This station is a complete JOKE. And I thought the Emmis had the worst run station of all time in Los Angeles. My bad.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I actualiy think the advertising for The Sound is pretty good. Very big, very loud, easy to see, clear. The "Now Playing" concept is novel.

The problems are....

- The song they are "playing" is typically pretty boring.
- If it isn't a "now playing" billboard, if you tune in The Sound, you will find out soon enough that it is boring.

It ain't the advertising, it's the product.

KFI was actually listing the current host or KFI News on the digital billboards prior to The Sound even hitting the airwaves.

Which incarnation of their advertising campaign? The new Orange digital billboards have the song so small you better be right on the them. Of course, you could go down to the South Bay curve on the 405 and still see the old campaign with the old blue color scheme. Or maybe we could look at their recent mailer which doesn't list any current positioning statement and the blue color scheme.

Would be nice if they could make up their minds who they are. What station throws away their major advertisng campaign every week?

This station is a complete JOKE. And I thought the Emmis had the worst run station of all time in Los Angeles. My bad.

I thought KDL was a much worse station than V-100, but this is just nitpicking...

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

I actualiy think the advertising for The Sound is pretty good. Very big, very loud, easy to see, clear. The "Now Playing" concept is novel.

The problems are....

- The song they are "playing" is typically pretty boring.
- If it isn't a "now playing" billboard, if you tune in The Sound, you will find out soon enough that it is boring.

It ain't the advertising, it's the product.

KFI was actually listing the current host or KFI News on the digital billboards prior to The Sound even hitting the airwaves.

Which incarnation of their advertising campaign? The new Orange digital billboards have the song so small you better be right on the them. Of course, you could go down to the South Bay curve on the 405 and still see the old campaign with the old blue color scheme. Or maybe we could look at their recent mailer which doesn't list any current positioning statement and the blue color scheme.

Would be nice if they could make up their minds who they are. What station throws away their major advertisng campaign every week?

This station is a complete JOKE. And I thought the Emmis had the worst run station of all time in Los Angeles. My bad.

I thought KDL was a much worse station than V-100, but this is just nitpicking...

KDL was horrible. V-100, Rock With A Beat, The Sound, Movin, KDL certainly all deserve their part in Los Angeles radio's hall of shame.

 

[JPT]

The station really is a joke - the ever-changing marketing campaign alone is a telltale sign the ship is sinking. Consistent branding and positioning statements is Marketing 101...they seem to be in panic mode right now.

Also, I just noticed their forum is down and being revised. I imagine they're going to wipe out all the negative posts and start fresh...interesting timing since a member of their management team recently posted that he'd had enough of the negativity. What a mess.

Update - According to their site, the old forum posts will be going to an "archive area." ???

 

[SuperRadioFan]

The station really is a joke - the ever-changing marketing campaign alone is a telltale sign the ship is sinking. Consistent branding and positioning statements is Marketing 101...they seem to be in panic mode right now.

Also, I just noticed their forum is down and being revised. I imagine they're going to wipe out all the negative posts and start fresh...interesting timing since a member of their management team recently posted that he'd had enough of the negativity. What a mess.

Update - According to their site, the old forum posts will be going to an "archive area." ???

Hey JP I assume you saw my posts? Pretty ironic Glenn (4UH.. above) asked "Would be nice if they could make up their minds who they are" since I basically asked that question on their forum just this afternoon in a different way - "Does the station really know what they are?" ???

 

[JPT]

SRF - Yes, I saw your posts, plus the others as well. Why are you guys being so mean to them??

Can't believe the station is almost a year old - such high hopes back then. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.