It looks like country is leading news for the new AM1520. There's a poll on the KRKO website that shows country leading 2 -1. Also Renae O'Keefe is back on KRKO doing news... http://myeverettnews.com/2011/05/04...on-format-search-down-to-country-or-newstalk/
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AM 1520 Choice down to News or 80s-90s Country-Renae O'Keefe back on KRKO
- Thread starter LDRADIO
- Start date
country is the way to go my fellow survey takers! glad to see this bias.
1) the AM/FM band is void of real country in this market.
2) 80's, and 90's is a good era to focus on, with occasional dips into the 70's and 60's. personally, would love to hear some new stuff on regular rotation as well. especially if its by a veteran country act. what will they program at 1520? pure speculation, but probably satellite "ABC real country network", like hundreds of other outlets in the country, and formerly with KGY. its a start!
3) this station potentially owns the braggin', advertisin', and meetin' and greetin' stage presence rights, when an artist of this country era comes to town. we're talkin' heavy hitters like mark chestnutt, doug stone, patty loveless, ricky skaggs, and hundreds of others. especially since the FM countrypolitans, aint playin' most of them artists no more.
4) dont discount the rating possibilitys with this type of format. no, it wont beat behemoths like KPMS, or the wolf howler. but, a 3+ year game plan, good programming, and an "in your face" community presence, through print media, on line media, and unique other ways, and it should find a good bunch of dedicated listeners. who will spend money with dedicated advertisers. finding those dedicated advertisers, and listeners is job #1.
5) AM 1520's start up date should be made known in advance through local print/on line media. getting a few veteran country artists in concert at a casino or out door venue, to do a station kick off would be a great advertising launch. hey, what is willie doin' this summer?
come to think of it, nobody else even plays willie in these parts. now thats an unbelievable travesty, which will soon be rectified with more people voting for country radio in the KRKO survey.
1) the AM/FM band is void of real country in this market.
2) 80's, and 90's is a good era to focus on, with occasional dips into the 70's and 60's. personally, would love to hear some new stuff on regular rotation as well. especially if its by a veteran country act. what will they program at 1520? pure speculation, but probably satellite "ABC real country network", like hundreds of other outlets in the country, and formerly with KGY. its a start!
3) this station potentially owns the braggin', advertisin', and meetin' and greetin' stage presence rights, when an artist of this country era comes to town. we're talkin' heavy hitters like mark chestnutt, doug stone, patty loveless, ricky skaggs, and hundreds of others. especially since the FM countrypolitans, aint playin' most of them artists no more.
4) dont discount the rating possibilitys with this type of format. no, it wont beat behemoths like KPMS, or the wolf howler. but, a 3+ year game plan, good programming, and an "in your face" community presence, through print media, on line media, and unique other ways, and it should find a good bunch of dedicated listeners. who will spend money with dedicated advertisers. finding those dedicated advertisers, and listeners is job #1.
5) AM 1520's start up date should be made known in advance through local print/on line media. getting a few veteran country artists in concert at a casino or out door venue, to do a station kick off would be a great advertising launch. hey, what is willie doin' this summer?
come to think of it, nobody else even plays willie in these parts. now thats an unbelievable travesty, which will soon be rectified with more people voting for country radio in the KRKO survey.
Seriously...there's almost no chance a music station will succeed on AM, as KVI has proved--- Ethnic formats might have a shot because of their unique audience and ability to sell without ratings. It's difficult to point to a successful AM music station in almost any market other than Spanish language or the occasional KIXI styled nostalgia station. It's surprising these guys would actually spend the money to build an AM station in this era. And while a station fully locally staffed and programmed might make some small dent, the bottom line and their own comments on how they might staff it don't support a major on onslaught attack in terms of programming. Andy Skotdal addresses this a bit in another thread on the board, it's a huge risk. He mention's brokered programming in the post as well. He's talking about 1 or 2 people as a staff. At least he's hoping to commit to that!
If news is the option, they could pick up the news format offered by America's Radio News Network...and supplement that with local Northsound news....
If news is the option, they could pick up the news format offered by America's Radio News Network...and supplement that with local Northsound news....
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AQH
Guest
scott salvatori said:
Because anyone under the age of 40 thinks Willie Nelson is a tax-evading pot-smoker. I know a particular someone will have an opinion of that lifestyle, but that's not the point.
Willie has his rightful place in Country music as one of the greats, if not the greatest. But Country today is all about the things you don't like, Scott. There are others that like the classic Country stuff, but they are significantly in the minority.
1520 would probably be better off doing News, but that is an expensive format to properly execute.
AQH said:
Pot smoking, yes. Tax evasion? Please. I may be many things, but the CEO of GE thankfully isn't one of them.....
But the point is a guy like Willie Nelson is an American icon. And so is Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Dolly Parton and Charley Pride. There aren't many old-school superstars left anymore and they opened the door and paved the way for today's country stars. And while some of today's country is alright, I do LOVE those classics of the '60s and '70s.....
That's my only opinion here......
raydioheadfm said:
Nice to see someone else willing to step up and speak the truth. Even before AM stations officially had even one foot in the grave, 'Classic Country' has been attempted on AM stations. Not only has every single one failed miserably, research came back similar to oldies stations.. The demographics are not appealing to advertisers nor are the listeners loyal because of wide gaps in what people consider classic anything.
Attempting to play music on any AM station, let alone country is a complete waste of electricity. Anyone with a lick of business sense or knowledge of radio today can see that.
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AQH
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crainbebo said:
Safe to say there are reasons it's a "rare" thing.
AQH said:
willie nelson is the musical hub, where all the musical genre spokes attach, regardless of age, ethnicity, or political affiliation. yep, it was willie in the 70's, who brought together the hippies and rednecks, to agree on one thing. we love willie. it is willie now, who brings together the rappers, country cats, reggae'rs, and rockers, to agree on one thing. we all love willie. ironically willie, who just celebrated his 78th birthday on 4-30, is more popular now than ever.
but no, willie is not the greatest country singer. what he is, is a real American icon, and 100% red, white and blue independent American character, who has sung and wrote songs all his long life. unlike most of the watered down, homogenized, assembly line, cookie cutter acts that are force fed to us, through todays nashville/countrypolitan music machine. could care less what willie is smokin', as long as he's just playin' cards in the bus, and not drivin' it slow on my roads.
every single one failed? not only failed, but failed miserably? so there is not one succesful AM country station left, huh? your flat out wrong, but at least you have enough balls to jaw away at the subject here, even if its a broad brush. but, these country listener demographics are appealing to advertisers. just not the same urban advertisers, that you been learned about, that advertise on KUBE. an AM country station can work. but, it takes time, patience and a very unique approach to building listeners, and advertisers. much of this requires unique advertising alliances, and barter with print media, and other outlets that benefit both parties. there is a lot of competition for ones time out there. most of those failed country AM'ers you speak of, sound like an AM red -headed step child signal, that was included with an FM radio group. they were unsure what to do with it. so they gave classic country a shot, with little promotion, heart, or knowledge. six months later it was deamed a failure. perhaps that 200-400 song classic country playlist, that was dictated by some feller consultant from NYC,got old tired and bored after one, or two months to most listeners? or at least the few listeners that even knew about it.TVradioguru said:
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AQH
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scott salvatori said:
Anyone choosing to go with a format direction based on corporate radio failing to fill a sizable need, then by all means go for it.
But choosing a station's direction based solely on an emotional, anti-corporate sentiment is doomed for failure.
semoochie said:
You sure about _K_DAF? I'm not aware of those calls--which doesn't mean they didn't exist, but they don't seem to exist on AM at present. _W_DAF definitely rings a bell, though. I think those calls were on 610AM in Kansas City MO for many decades (5 kW-U ND-U--same as the old KFRC). However the KC 610 is now KCSP. I have no idea what the format is now, but I suspect it's some flavor of (almost certainly conservative) talk.
scott salvatori said:
Really! Oh please educate us all Scott with what AM-only country stations have or are currenly working. And please, explain to all of us laypersons on the definition "unique advertising alliances". And how does barter make the station money? Have you looked at the print media business conditions lately? How would creating an alliance with another dying form of media help?
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Andrew Skotdal
Guest
There is a distinction to be made in this thread, and that has to do with the definition of success. It appears the definition of success is purely based on ratings for some, and generally the foundation of the argument tracks to large(er) markets or markets too small population-wise to allow one or two stations to live on as independents unless you are the heritage group in the area.
To some on this thread, if a station pulls a 0.3, then it must be a complete and dismal failure. That may be true for a station that once had a 3.0, but for a signal that could never be expected to pull a 3.0, it may be a success...it translates into 45,000-60,000 people - all within shooting distance of an advertiser's business (because the signal is limited to begin with). (and think of how many radio stations in America would kill to have even 25,000 listeners camped on their signals in markets below market 75, for example.) Then you look at the core of that 45,000 listeners...let's liken them to 'season ticket holders.' There are a couple of pretty successful minor league teams in this market with a base of 6,000 season ticket holders. I'd argue that from a consistent profitability standpoint, I'd rather own the Silvertips or the Aquasox than be a Mariners owner. It all comes down to overhead. It's also interesting that the focus has been siloed exclusively on stick performance. That's not thinking out of the box.
What is interesting to me is that most people who come from a ratings environment fail in what is essentially small market radio - even if they were top sellers at major stations. They don't know how to go local-direct without a number. The work load is far greater. They don't have resources. They have to use their gut. While no, or very few, major markets have music based AM stations, an overwhelming majority of small markets do. All talk AM or FM often fails in smaller markets. How many markets below Market 30 have all news? We're fortunate that we're in an area where we could probably go either way.
The desire to draw a hard line and say this works or this doesn't work makes for interesting debate, but like party-line politics, it's not necessarily the reality of the situation.
To some on this thread, if a station pulls a 0.3, then it must be a complete and dismal failure. That may be true for a station that once had a 3.0, but for a signal that could never be expected to pull a 3.0, it may be a success...it translates into 45,000-60,000 people - all within shooting distance of an advertiser's business (because the signal is limited to begin with). (and think of how many radio stations in America would kill to have even 25,000 listeners camped on their signals in markets below market 75, for example.) Then you look at the core of that 45,000 listeners...let's liken them to 'season ticket holders.' There are a couple of pretty successful minor league teams in this market with a base of 6,000 season ticket holders. I'd argue that from a consistent profitability standpoint, I'd rather own the Silvertips or the Aquasox than be a Mariners owner. It all comes down to overhead. It's also interesting that the focus has been siloed exclusively on stick performance. That's not thinking out of the box.
What is interesting to me is that most people who come from a ratings environment fail in what is essentially small market radio - even if they were top sellers at major stations. They don't know how to go local-direct without a number. The work load is far greater. They don't have resources. They have to use their gut. While no, or very few, major markets have music based AM stations, an overwhelming majority of small markets do. All talk AM or FM often fails in smaller markets. How many markets below Market 30 have all news? We're fortunate that we're in an area where we could probably go either way.
The desire to draw a hard line and say this works or this doesn't work makes for interesting debate, but like party-line politics, it's not necessarily the reality of the situation.
Andy, we did okay down here with bird chirping for several weeks. Since the source was my clock radio, we had very little programming costs. And at that point didn't need to worry about BMI, ASCAP, or Sesac.
Seriously, many formats, AM or FM, are not given enough time to establish before the plug is pulled. It is my understanding that the Mt. Vernon AM stations do okay revenue-wise.
You have some portion of over 3 million listeners to choose from. I know you'll make a good choice. Regardless of the numbers, if you know how to sell local direct, you'll do okay.
And I want my transmitter back.
Seriously, many formats, AM or FM, are not given enough time to establish before the plug is pulled. It is my understanding that the Mt. Vernon AM stations do okay revenue-wise.
You have some portion of over 3 million listeners to choose from. I know you'll make a good choice. Regardless of the numbers, if you know how to sell local direct, you'll do okay.
And I want my transmitter back.
Have to agree with Bill. For years the Keene brothers did just fine running two music formatted stations on AM. They raised their families, sent kids to college, were leaders in the community, paid their business and personal bills and sold them for more than a million bucks. I'd call that a success and I think AM 1520 will do the same thing with immersion in the community, 80s to 90s country and local, local, local with a one or two person staff. It can be done, you won't be a market leader but you will be profitable in more ways than one.
Gotta agree that execution of a format, and an unwillingness to give a format-change time to catch on (plus creative promotions to get people to try your station - not just expensive billboards or TV ads) are behind the demise of many an interesting radio format. Not the inherent viability of the programming. Just because one licensee didn't do a good job at connecting with its listeners doesn't mean someone else can't figure it out and do a more "successful" job at a particular format - or even devising a new one.
It's gotta be more than just a list of songs, or syndicated talk shows. If a station doesn't have an overall "personality," and if it has a lot of annoying elements cluttering up the hour (whether it's particular announcers, slogans, "sounders" etc) -- those are things that will make many listeners tune away. What's gonna make 'em want to come back, when they keep getting annoyed? Even if they would otherwise like the main programming elements you're offering.
There's no simple yes or no to being a creative radio licensee in a small to medium-population market. Just know you can't expect agencies to phone in the ad sales on auto-dial, just like the "talent" can't afford to sound like they're "phoning it in" on the air as well - even if it is voice-tracked.
My only fear for AM 1520 is that it's going to end up being yet another outlet for Bustos' "La Grande" low-ridin' Mexican "banda" music format (same as on 99.3 FM) - since that comes in loud and clear in Snohomish County during curitical hours and at night on 1520 from one of their high powered stations in Oregon. Why no "rock en espanol" or "musica romantica" up here like elsewhere on the West Coast? Just "banda" en espanol in Washington state??
It's gotta be more than just a list of songs, or syndicated talk shows. If a station doesn't have an overall "personality," and if it has a lot of annoying elements cluttering up the hour (whether it's particular announcers, slogans, "sounders" etc) -- those are things that will make many listeners tune away. What's gonna make 'em want to come back, when they keep getting annoyed? Even if they would otherwise like the main programming elements you're offering.
There's no simple yes or no to being a creative radio licensee in a small to medium-population market. Just know you can't expect agencies to phone in the ad sales on auto-dial, just like the "talent" can't afford to sound like they're "phoning it in" on the air as well - even if it is voice-tracked.
My only fear for AM 1520 is that it's going to end up being yet another outlet for Bustos' "La Grande" low-ridin' Mexican "banda" music format (same as on 99.3 FM) - since that comes in loud and clear in Snohomish County during curitical hours and at night on 1520 from one of their high powered stations in Oregon. Why no "rock en espanol" or "musica romantica" up here like elsewhere on the West Coast? Just "banda" en espanol in Washington state??
I'm sorry about the confusion. WDAF continued to top the ratings, with its Full Service approach to Country, for years. I recently ran across a post, mentioning that they had moved to FM and thought it referred to a simulcast. I was taken by their ability to consistently do so, on the AM band. As far as I know, that's the only AM music station, in recent memory, that can make that claim, which was my only point.
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