Alt 105.3 Flips to Adult Hits "105.3 Dave FM"

[CassChopper96]

When they flipped from Soft AC, also a hard sell due to older age, they lost well over half of their billing. That is terrible, even taking into account the arrival of the pandemic. The mistake Oddity made was flipping to Alt; they could have remained in the Soft AC arena and modified the format the way WFEZ did in Miami but they seem to have the old "Not Invented Here Syndrome" mentality of not seeing trends and adapting to them.

"When William Orton, President of the Western Union Telegraph Company, was offered the patent to the newly invented telephone by Alexander Graham Bell for a mere $100,000, the mogul dismissed the outsider’s invention as nothing more than a “toy”"

https://learnosity.com/not-invented-here-syndrome-explained/

The only station in Detroit that is owned by audacy that is doing well is WOMC. And it looks like WDVD picked up the audience when the breeze flipped

 

[CassChopper96]

Shame the alternative format is no longer in the Bay Area. This definitely shows the core audience for the format has shifted off to streaming platforms and other alternatives (no pun intended).

I do think there's a good opportunity for a non-commercial alternative/AAA station to pop up in town, much like KEXP in Seattle or KCMP in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

WXRT and KBCO are really the only commercial AAA stations that exist

 

[TheBigA]

The only station in Detroit that is owned by audacy that is doing well is WOMC.

Not exactly. Audacy has 3 stations in the Top 5 6+. WXYT-FM is not only #4 in 6+, but also 25-54. WYCD does well in the 18-34 demo.

 

[Ryan Williams]

I've been listening and the presentation and imaging aren't bad at all, but I keep wondering who is Dave and why was that brand chosen?

Jack FM is inspired by a Jack in the Box., you don't know when or what you will get.

Bob is rather a generic and short male name. Same for Joe (average joe).

But why Dave? Is there some connection to the Bay Area that I am missing.

If if was Steve or Willie or Chesa, it would at least feel market specific.

 

[Delete My Account]

David Field, Audacy CEO?

 

[MarioMania]

Who the hell cares anyways

It's different

 

[MarioMania]

I will try to listen to this when I'm in Vallejo

 

[Negin]

Could've been Fred!

 

[Alan Smithee]

Been listing off and on today because it’s like a train wreck- for the past HOUR they’ve been playing the same set of commercials on a loop! This can’t be intentional, but nobody’s at the station and their people don’t even care enough to monitor it. SO fitting for this format’s second night on the air- it exemplifies how dead radio has become, even on what used to be my favorite station.

 

[e-dawg]

Just turned on to 105.3 as of 10-17-2021 @ 12:41am. They went back to their old format. ALT 105.3fm. What is going on?

 

[davideduardo]

Been listing off and on today because it’s like a train wreck- for the past HOUR they’ve been playing the same set of commercials on a loop! This can’t be intentional, but nobody’s at the station and their people don’t even care enough to monitor it. SO fitting for this format’s second night on the air- it exemplifies how dead radio has become, even on what used to be my favorite station.

Let's remember that we are still under COVID conditions and many radio folks are doing their jobs from home. Because of the extra steps involved in doing logs, shows, voice tracking, commercial production and other tasks, errors can happen.

 

[MarioMania]

Just turned on to 105.3 as of 10-17-2021 @ 12:41am. They went back to their old format. ALT 105.3fm. What is going on?

When did the New Format take Place?

 

[MarkW]

Let's remember that we are still under COVID conditions and many radio folks are doing their jobs from home. Because of the extra steps involved in doing logs, shows, voice tracking, commercial production and other tasks, errors can happen.

One would think that for something as important as a FORMAT CHANGE, all hands would be on deck (and in the office, if necessary) to ensure it functions properly.

 

[Gregg.]

I just heard a promo on Dave-FM. It says "Here's our promise to you. We'll only play two commercials at a time on Alt 105.3!"

Alt 105.3? I thought it was now 105.3 Dave-FM?

Sometimes format changes are hasty when you think a competitor is going to debut the same format you intend to use before you can do it. But I don't think anyone in SF was planning to switch to Adult Hits. Why not get the bugs worked out first before you switch?

 

[tbolt909]

One would think that for something as important as a FORMAT CHANGE, all hands would be on deck (and in the office, if necessary) to ensure it functions properly.

I just heard a promo on Dave-FM. It says "Here's our promise to you. We'll only play two commercials at a time on Alt 105.3!"

Alt 105.3? I thought it was now 105.3 Dave-FM?

Sometimes format changes are hasty when you think a competitor is going to debut the same format you intend to use before you can do it. But I don't think anyone in SF was planning to switch to Adult Hits. Why not get the bugs worked out first before you switch?

It just shows that attention to detail doesn't matter anymore. The on air content is irrelevant. It's just another slipshod rehashed format idea anyway. No one will care. David Field just hopes to get investors interested with talking points about "exciting new opportunities and formats". His Audacy ship as already hit the Titanic's Iceberg...

 

[CassChopper96]

It just shows that attention to detail doesn't matter anymore. The on air content is irrelevant. It's just another slipshod rehashed format idea anyway. No one will care. David Field just hopes to get investors interested with talking points about "exciting new opportunities and formats". His Audacy ship as already hit the Titanic's Iceberg...

Will Audacy eventually file for bankrupcy and go away as a company

 

[MarkW]

They will probably have no choice but to (a) do a distressed debt exchange on an out of court basis or (b) file Chapter 11 at some point.

Much like Cumulus and iHeart before it, it is unlikely Audacy will "go away as a company" anytime soon. The only way I see that happening is if some overseas outfit or a non-radio focused tech company acquires Audacy, and even under that type of scenario, it is possible the "Audacy" brand name would still live on.

 

[TheBigA]

Been listing off and on today because it’s like a train wreck- for the past HOUR they’ve been playing the same set of commercials on a loop!

Are you listening to the stream or on air? The stream typically has different commercials from on-air.

The station has no audience data on the current format to sell to advertisers yet. It will take a couple months for that to kick in.

 

[TheBigA]

They will probably have no choice but to (a) do a distressed debt exchange on an out of court basis or (b) file Chapter 11 at some point.

The debt they have right now isn't too bad. They've actually paid down some of the principle in the last year. Remember that the reason they changed the company name was to represent the diversity of revenue streams in the company to investors.

 

[MarkW]

Cash flow leverage multiples are far too high. Time will tell if the company can "grow" its way out of its quandary.

I suspect they will fail in that pursuit. They layered on too much debt in conjunction with the CBS radio takeover. General AM/FM broadcasting industry headwinds are not helping. In the digital audio space, there is quite a bit of competition, too.

A distressed debt exchange out of court might be an OK outcome for existing equity holders. An in-court proceeding, on the other hand, would almost certainly erase all or mostly all value ascribed to current outstanding shares.

Someone might like the digital platform enough to want it (most likely as an add-on acquisition), but I don't know who that would be as we sit here today.