100.3 The Sound?

[kentuckymedia]

Also David and everyone else.

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. And this is from one of the top research firms in America that has researched Lite (NY), KOST (LA), WCBS (NY), Z100 (NY), Sound (Cincy), KMPS (Seattle), WGCI (Chi), do i need to go on and on?

RESEARCH

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Also David and everyone else.

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. And this is from one of the top research firms in America that has researched Lite (NY), KOST (LA), WCBS (NY), Z100 (NY), Sound (Cincy), KMPS (Seattle), WGCI (Chi), do i need to go on and on?

RESEARCH

Kentucky, do you work for Bonnevile or what?

You seem to be new to this board, so let me clue you in. You don't need to capitalize RESEARCH for David E. He has forgotten more RESEARCH than most people have ever read, much less correctly interpret. David doesn't need me to take up for him, but please. You're putting me in the very uncomfortable position of sounding like KMR.

I am elated to have a station back on the dial that I will most likely enjoy, because I am in the target demo and have enjoyed similiar stations like KSCA and KFOG in the past.

That doesn't mean I don't understand what is going on here and all the research in the world won't get past the hard demographic realities. The station has a limited appeal for this market, and stations with niche target audiences get niche ratings, which are generally not enough to support major frequencies radio dial positions. So enjoy the next 18 months - they are yours for free, but they will cost Bonneville dearly.

 

[davideduardo]

There are still millions of white people in LA.

The term you want is "non-Hispanic white" because, per the Census Bureau, more than half of all Hispanics are white, too.

It's a huge city.

Yes, and 75% are NOT non-Hispanic whites. That means that formats that are niche in markets that are far less ethninc / immigrant can't work in LA because a format that might get a 5 share in Minneapolis might be able to get only a 1.2 to 1.5 with the same format.

Moreover, not everyone who is "ethnic" dislikes rock. Fellow KSCA listeners in my dorm back when I was in college here in LA included a Mexican guy from Downey, a girl from India, an Asian guy from Stockton, an ethnic Hawaiian, and an African-American guy who grew up in Capetown, South Africa. That group attended a Paul Simon concert at the Forum!

When you look at Denver or San Francisco ethnic composition in Arbitron, you see a different story with a much larger sample. KFOG has less than 10% Hispanic composition, in a market that is 21% Hispanic and which has a higher percentage of English dominants. Conclusion for LA... less than about 5% of the composition of 100.3 will be Hispanic. Similar issues pertain to Asians, because there is a significant first and second generation component among LA Asians since the community(ies) have existed for much less time than in San Francisco where they go back over a hundred years. Blacks, nowhere (per Arbitron), use AAA. And first generation Eastern European immigrants as well as those who are Persian and Arab, a huge group of about a million in LA, do not have AAA in their backgrounds.

There are excedptions, as your anecdotal evidence suggests, but overall there is no evidence to support your belief that anything but a tiny portion of the 100.3 audience might be anything but 35-64 year old non-Hispanic whites.

There are 70 stations in the LA metro in English. The significant players, save the 17 in Spanish (including a couple of limited signals) are going after some part of the non-Hispanic audience. That group is highly fragmented in any age cell.

 

[davideduardo]

The other side to this is that if The Sound can eventually pull a 1.5-1.9, but bill $30-40 million a year, who really cares? It's all about billing in radio now anyway. Look at WPLJ (though Hot AC) in NY...Averages a 1.9 share, but is the 6th highest biller in town at $35.8 million...Obviously the sales staff kicks butt there?

A 1.5 to 1.9 would put the station in the range of what KZLA had in its last country years, and in the same demos. It billed in the mid 20's at best,

A lot of the AAA audience is over 55, and is considered spillage and this means that in sales demos, 25-54, a 1.6 to 2 share would be possible... that would be about 17th to 19th in rank in 25-54. Not going to bill any more than KZLA did.

 

[davideduardo]

Also David and everyone else.

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. And this is from one of the top research firms in America that has researched Lite (NY), KOST (LA), WCBS (NY), Z100 (NY), Sound (Cincy), KMPS (Seattle), WGCI (Chi), do i need to go on and on?

RESEARCH

I heard you. I am a bit familiar with the term, even WHEN YOU SCREAM in all caps. In fact, every other significant station in LA is likely as well researched as 100.3 may be... or better. And that includes the Spanish language stations, too.

As I told you before, research is not a guarantee of success, just a tool. When either poorly designed, improperly implemented or where the vulnerabilites of other stations are not correctly interpreted, a station can fail just as easily with research as without.

A good research company only guarantees that they will get a good sample to ask the things you want to know. The rest is up to station management.

 

[davideduardo]

Please David, give it a rest.

This is a radio geek board. Each of us geeks can post, as long as we follow the terms of service.

You dont like the format,

I don't have a horse in this race. I'm simply stating the facts and they do not support a significant area of opportunity for 100.3.

your(sic) old and stale on the future of radio.

I am quite optimistic on the future of radio, particularly using new distribution methods for our best content.

I know that LA is ethnic,

You forget that the influence of the majority affects the taste of the minority, which in LA is non-Hispanic whites.

I know that LA has a lot of people who only listen to KIIS.

There is practically nobody who only listens to KIIS. In fact, the average is 3 different stations per diary for the market, and in the 18-34 demo it is more like 4 stations.

And I know that Clear Channel half assed the last AAA station in town.

Not really. They did a pretty decent job considering the very limited signals and, consequently, limited budget that could be given the station. They actually did better than KSCA in the format.

What I am trying to say is...what do you expect Bonneville to do? Come run for your every whim?

I expect them to be looking for a new format in 18 months to two years.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Alot of you peeps said the same thing about indie"oh it won't last"well four years and 5 months later we still have indie 1031 so don't be so quick to say the sound will be gone in 18 months or whatever. I bet bonneville will do what it takes to make the sound successful.

Entravision still keeps indie around praise the heavens above!!!I love indie. You never know!!!

 

[davideduardo]

Alot of you peeps said the same thing about indie"oh it won't last"well four years and 5 months later we still have indie 1031 so don't be so quick to say the sound will be gone in 18 months or whatever. I bet bonneville will do what it takes to make the sound successful.

Entravision still keeps indie around praise the heavens above!!!I love indie. You never know!!!

The issue with the very limited signal Indie is what else to do with it. I would guess that should it be sold, it would go to an Asian format.

For the moment, it bills enough to make a decent profit, and if it holds up in the 0.5 range it will continue to do what it is doing.

But the income level of Indie is not going to satisfy Bonneville; unless they can breal a 2 share they are going to have to consider something else.

 

[briancraig]

Anytime I've ever been to a modern rock/AAA concert in L.A. there are more than just non-hispanic white people in attendance especially Asians.

KROQ does well with people of various ethnic groups and they play very "white" music.

I'm not saying the Sound will be a ratings winner, but I don't believe that Asians, Arabs, Indians, etc. are only interested in music that is in their background.

 

[semoochie]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't(what is now)KSCA spend years in the ratings basement until they focused on programming that actually reached the zip codes they served?

 

[leethalweapon]

So I have been reading this thread and I am amazed that the station isn't even 24 hours old, and (by a rough guess) 70-80% of you have said it is doomed to fail. Gotta love positive vibe .

 

[HotRadioPD]

This just goes to show how there is research and there is research. I see listeners every week who are excited about morning shows, about the music, about the talent on stations we talk about.

Radio is not bad... some stations are bad, though.

Things are changing, radio is evolving and thinking outside of the box (such as Bonneville has done) is whats going to help radio remain stellar and relevant.

WOW David! You're exhausted! Research vs. research? You have to come better than that. You may have a grip on signal evaluation, but when it comes to Research?.. Take more of those College classes you never got a degree in.

 

[romer979fm]

So I have been reading this thread and I am amazed that the station isn't even 24 hours old, and (by a rough guess) 70-80% of you have said it is doomed to fail. Gotta love positive vibe .

agreed.

BTW...what else could Bonneville do with 100.3?
I think some posters here don't remember that Bonneville has been successful in the market before,
and seemingly have a grip on the makeup of the population.
I listened for many hours yesterday (on in the background), and the music had a "same-ness" to it until about 3p,
when the tempo picked up. I'm not an avid AAA listener, but I would make 100.3 a preset as it sounds now.
I think I'll label it "familiar/obscure".

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Heard this morning...
Hollywood Nights - Bob Seger
From the Beginning- Emerson Lake and palmer
Mony Mony <gasp!> - Billy Idol
Like a Rolling Stone - Dylan
So Far Away-Dire Straits

They've got a fine line to straddle.... KRTH might play the Seger and Dylan songs, Mony Mony geeez couldn't they play something less pop?, KLOS might play all except Billy Idol... Also heard <OMG!!> Margaritaville , yes Margaritaville. Mayyyybe KPRI San Diego would play that, but KRTH I'm sure does.

Also heard One Week-Barenaked Ladies ... They're going to have to dip a little deeper into the "Ladies" bin and play ohhh maybe "If I had a Million Dollars" or "The Old Apartment" or "Shoebox".

The Sara Bareilles song is good, but has been around a while.

So they've got some bugs to work out, they cannot expect to get the KLOS audience and the JACK audience with pop songs.

 

[qtpieislit]

WOW David!  Research vs. research? Take more of those College classes you never got a degree in.

That's it. There it is. A new format. David Eduardo presents radio fusion 100.3. The world’s favorite top researched songs played again, every 3 songs. The ultimate 3 in a row, formant. 3 dance, 3 Latino, 3 rock, 3 meringue, 3 slow jamz, 3 pop, 3 conjunto, 3 country, 3 Tejano, 3 oldies, etc..... Multi lingual, French Canadian DJs'. News at the top of every hour. Contests at once. It's amazing. Like never before.

If the hear it all research doesn't work, well, then, there's always the 9 format.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

LOL, Sam!!

The question is WWHD* with a AAA format?


* What Would Hy Do?

 

[davideduardo]

WOW David! You're exhausted! Research vs. research? You have to come better than that. You may have a grip on signal evaluation, but when it comes to Research?.. Take more of those College classes you never got a degree in.

Yes, there is research and there is research. Some is excellent, some is not. A lot has to do with how well the client, in thios case a radio station, determined the objectives of a project before making decisions on recruiting specs and content of the project (questionnaire, songs to test, etc). Research happens to be a big part of what I do, but don't let that stand in the way of a cheap shot.

The issue, again, with any research is that it is only a tool. Understanding intangibles like market mood and the strengths of the competitive array are just as important, yet often either not considered or not understood.

 

[davideduardo]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't(what is now)KSCA spend years in the ratings basement until they focused on programming that actually reached the zip codes they served?

The location of Hispanics, who are 42% of the market, is just as dispersed as any other group. Signal matters for serving Hispanics just as much as it does for any other group in LA today.

KSCA did not do well pre-February, 1997, because it had a niche format.

KSCA 4,800 watts. KRBV 5,300 watts. Coverage difference... about 2%. So KRBV has essentially the same coverage as KSCA has and also what it had in 1997... there is no signal advantage to KRBV compared to the AAA era on 101.9.

KRBV 5,300 watts and KIIS 8,000 watts. Coverage difference compared to KRBV of about 12.5%... remembering it takes 4 times the power to double the coverage.

 

[henry]

If the hear it all research doesn't work, well, then, there's always the 9 format.

;D WVWA Pound Ridge ... NINE!!!

BTW - Does anyone have an MP3 of that tape?

 

[henry]

Found it, BTW ....
http://profile.imeem.com/4XoDBJM/music/stz0r9pC/pete_salant_nine_the_ultimate_radio_format/

Sorry ... I'll get back on topic now!