670 THE Q AWESOME SIGNAL & MUSIC

[4 Towers]

w/ 35kW day ... competes well with KDWN for coverage in the city limits and beyond ... including NW and SE ...

KXNT not so good to the NW and SE of Vegas ... protecting 830/Tucson, 840/Central Valley, CA, etc. ... nevertheless they are tops among talkers here ...

How is The Q promoting their station?

Does it do well in Vegas considering the market of retirees?

Do they have bumper stickers ?

 

[Jay F]

I agree that they have a good signal and music. But they are a total non-factor. They have never showed up in the ratings at all. I doubt they will with PPM either. If only they could get the attention they do on this board in real life but nobody listens to rock music on AM.

I did see a Q billboard. I believe it was around Spring Mountain and Valley View. They have advertised in the RJ as well. But it doesn't matter how much they promote this station nobody will listen except for radio geeks.

You mention retirees. This station mostly plays 80s rock. The demographic that grew up on this music isn't close to retirement age. They will be working for years to come (if they can find work). Now if they actually did play music that appealed to retirees such as real oldies or adult standards they could build up an audience. It wouldn't be the easiest format to sell but at least somebody would be listening.

 

[buzzdemming]

I disagree Jay,

I predict PPM will devastate our already mediocre FM dial by morphing the music stations down to even more bland - yes it’s possible – simpleton formats. There will be fewer formats playing the same stuff, each trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator listener. Arbitron is single-handedly killing Radio. How many panelists here?

AM may be the domain of talk but even the talk here sounds as bland and polarized as music does/will on FM. The Q represents an alternative to talk and dull FM and a good, diverse one. So what if it’s on AM. It’s largely commercial-free, programmed daily and readily accessible in my car.

 

[timekpr]

Too bad they couldn't keep Bill Gardner's morning show going a little longer. With more time, and his history of success in other cities, the station could have been a factor.

 

[4 Towers]

With promotions, I think the Q could take off to at least a share because of its novelty and signal. It could pull listeners away from 720 and 840 and 970, both nearby on the dial, w/ talkers who are becoming increasingly repetitive, monotonous, and dull, not to mention the infomercials. I rarely listen to talk radio in Vegas, except for Bob Brinker and on the skywave at night from KOA Denver and KGO San Francisco.

See a somewhat related thread:

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=151723.0

 

[Organizer]

Buzz is correct in that Arbitron has done plenty of damage to radio and the notion of quality content, and will continue to do so until someone big stands up to them. But it's hardly been "single-handed." Short-sighted management and bean counters have helped plenty. It wasn't Arbitron that fired thousands of our colleagues the past couple of years.

 

[THESOUND]

ANYBODY WHO THINKS ANGLO MUSIC IS A WINNING FORMAT ON AM IS LIVING IN THE PAST.

 

[4 Towers]

in Albuquerque A/C from the '70's, '80's, and today "K-Joy" got reasonable ratings for music on AM until AM 1550 went to All Talk. It had the highest TSL of any station ages 18-34.

many Adult Standards formats do just fine on AM such as KIXI Seattle

perhaps if the Q (670) promotes the station, and adds some modern rock of the past 10 years, they could take off with a young audience

 

[Jay F]

ANYBODY WHO THINKS ANGLO MUSIC IS A WINNING FORMAT ON AM IS LIVING IN THE PAST.

I agree with this. It's a total fantasy to expect people to listen to music on AM unless it's an old targeted format such as adult standards.

It's not just anglo. Spanish language music formats won't get listeners on AM unless there is no FM Spanish in the market.

 

[THESOUND]

Its nice to get nostagic and hopeful about music and formats. But AM is done as far as anglo music goes and talk is not far behind in markets like Vegas. If you are looking for long term success on the AM dial you have to look at asian and muslim formats. I am suprised that no one in Vegas is doing a chinese-korean east asian music format of some type. Just copy a successful station in a market that has the demo you are looking for or beam it in. You would make money, have low overhead without any ratings although you would probably nab some .5 12+ stuff. Thats enough to show you exist which is more than enough when you have a concept format. Any takers ?

 

[davideduardo]

Buzz is correct in that Arbitron has done plenty of damage to radio ...

Yeah, a quantification of audience that shows that popular formats are popular (redundancy intentional) is very damaging.

 

[GeorgeJ.]

The Q has quite a way to go to actually have "awesome music"....

I listened for a few hours last week while I was in Vegas and heard some real clunkers on this station...

Much techno 80's-90's on the station along with Classic Rock, plus quite a few titles I had never heard before...

But the real surprise was the AC-oriented stuff they included...such as soft titles by the Friends Of Distinction, and soft Urban AC such as Anita Baker and Sade.

Here's a tip: if you want to include Soul with your core Classic Rock stuff and 80's titles, try Stevie Wonder. Marvin Gaye, Staple Singers, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Spinners, Temptations, etc. NOT Anita Baker & Sade...

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

Yes, it was a strange playlist many times. I say it in past tense because I really haven't tuned in since Bill Gardner is no longer doing mornings on it. What a real shame. The Q got one of radio's best talent, they got the billboard, the bumper stickers, the cash contest, and didn't get it going. They didn't establish a team, an on-air staff-- it was Bill Gardner for four and a half hours, then personality-less automation for the rest of the day.