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Houston Chronicle: Radio One works to build it's all news station

All news takes awhile to build an audience, but these guys have been on the air for almost two years and haven't moved the needle at all. If some progress isn't made soon, I don't expect them to be around this time next year.
 
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I too expected to see higher numbers by now. I have to remember the frequency is challenged in some areas of the metro. Regardless of ratings, the question is whether the station's billing is where it should be. Paying the bills always beats ratings. Ratings without sales are like bringing a knife to a gun fight
 
On the plus side they are running 6X the 12+ numbers as KGOW so I would guess they have some demo they are selling too.
 
Well with the kind of numbers they're pulling they can't possibly be generating any decent sales numbers.

This dog has been an albatross since the day they paid something like $75 MILLION for it. Remember that? I was stunned that Radio One would spend so much money on a station with a less than adequate full-market signal. They tried the Spanish thing at first, which never gained any traction. Then they had some limited success with the gospel format. And now this.

I don't really know why they aren't gaining any traction. They've done a decent marketing job. And the signal shouldn't be as big an issue since so many people listen to that format in the car. My gut feel is that they are kind of dull and boring. Most successful news stations have a "bigger than life" feel that KROI is lacking. Or perhaps, there just isn't a market in Houston for all news. KTRH isn't exactly setting the world on fire either.

Whatever the reason for their lack of success, it's not logical to think that Radio One will support this format much longer. The all news format is very expensive compared to other formats. I expect that Radio One will pull the plug on this sooner rather than later.
 
radio-guy said:
they paid something like $75 MILLION for it. Remember that? I was stunned that Radio One would spend so much money on a station with a less than adequate full-market signal.
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Station valuations were in the stratosphere in 2004. A Class C Missouri City stick could have gone for $120 Million or more at the time. Then came the collapse. Michael Stude sold 92.1 when the market was hot.
 
92.1 only reaches half of the metro area, the half KROI doesn't need. All news radio is also a foolish format to undertake in this age. It is simply unsustainable in the age of 24-hour digital news via smartphone. "We just need a hurricane". That's a load of crap. There are plenty of major events in the Houston metro area each month which can be used to establish News92 as a dominant source of radio news. Pick a school crisis, corruption scandal or a court trial and "own it". Spot news does NOT establish a news operation. Continuing coverage and obsession with breaking news do. New versions of the big stories every hour, not just for every daypart. Lots of lives or look-lives.
 
I disagree. A school shooting affects only a small geographic area. A hurricane affects the entire area and can you name one other radio station with the staff to provide complete coverage? It seems the popular thing to do is air TV audio.

You are right about KROI's coverage. If they were full coverage of the metro, I think they might do better. Sure you can get news 24/7 via digital means but it is hunt and peck and you spend lots of time getting the whole story. I'd rather get a summary of it all at one place. Thinking out loud here. I recall wanting info when the lights were out during Ike when the cell had not a bunch of battery life left and when cable and internet was down. Guess where I turned. Load of crap? Maybe you hadn't thought things through.
 
I don't have anything nice to say about KTRH. Been there...done that. All things being equal though, KROI has done a decent job, IMHO, of being a "news" station. I am going to digress a bit about where people are getting their news. The bottom line is that with stagnant vehicular traffic in this market most of the day, the numbers should be better.
 
Drucifer said:
The bottom line is that with stagnant vehicular traffic in this market most of the day, the numbers should be better.
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Having lived in a handful of different markets, is there any reason that Houston stations are so obsessed with the "X minutes from the Grand Parkway to the Loop" or "X minutes from NASA 1 to Downtown" format?

Every afternoon, I'm stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic from Eldridge Pkwy. to the Beltway. I don't need to listen to News 92 to know that I'll be stuck in traffic. But if I'm bumper-to-bumper traffic further out at Park Ten, I'm interested to know what's causing the jam, and where it is... but the format of Houston traffic reports that I'm always hearing rarely allows for this.
 
I see your point Justin. I've noticed the same thing. I think the traffic service they use determined that was what folks wanted to know. I agree the additional information could be quite helpful if perhaps it is construction or an accident. That might make me take an exit but it is nice to know if I'm stuck a long time or short time and where traffic begins moving again. I know it's going to take a long time no matter what freeway I'm on during rush hour and it doesn't take as much as a stalled car to cause it. I wonder if the trend is now happening elsewhere.
 
radio-guy said:
All news takes awhile to build an audience, but these guys have been on the air for almost two years and haven't moved the needle at all. If some progress isn't made soon, I don't expect them to be around this time next year.
Click to expand...

Don't think KROI is going away any time soon. I look for them to be around for at least a couple more years because they are into
this format for the long term. This has been my belief from the start of this new all news format on KROI.

Broadcasting on Class C Missouri City stick would certainly help KROI in the ratings game in my opinion.
 
I tend to think it will be around, too. The issue isn't whether or not it moves the needle in terms of audience share; it's whether it moves the needle in terms of revenue. I remember one of Radio One's reports from about 9 months after KROI launched as "News 92," and it had already made more money as a low-rated all news station than it did in a full year as a much higher-rated gospel station. Of course, all news is one of the most expensive formats to operate, but it was projected to come very near the break-even point by the end of its first year. While I realize Radio One isn't in the business of breaking even, it's seemed pretty happy with the results so far.
 
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