Yeah, but the point is that there is no business value in blowing up a successful station (KLUV) and moving its format to 103.7.
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I know ALT 103.7 (KVIL) hasn't ever had great ratings, but a 1.1?!?!?
- Thread starter victorres43
- Start date
That was some years ago. The Churban or reggaetón based format has only really matured in the Southwest in the last couple of years, and did not work previously.
Mega in Houston did not get traction until it stopped being all reggaetón and instead became rhythmic including reggaetón. Now, it does very well in 25-54, but the UVN station, which is much more core reggaetón, is the leader in 18-34.
Remember, "Mega" is not a format... just a name. The original Mega is in Caracas and it is a rock station. There is also a pure Argentine rock station named Mega in Buenos Aires, and a CHR with mostly English music in Puerto Rico with the name.
Well said in that the pure reggaetón blend did not work in Hispanic markets that were not Afro-Antillean in origin. Mega in Houston became rhythmic Pop, with lots of crossover reggaetón but excluding the harder core... sort of like Churban stations in English.
As Mega is just a name and not a format, they could restart with a more appropriate rhythmic CHR blend for Hispanics, but they seem dedicated to the regional format they have now.
I'm seeing Audacy making more and more changes to their stations. I know 103.7 has to be on that list as well.
It has to be. Though I don't think it will be getting "The Block".
Of potential formats, I could strongly see Urban AC as a contender. Other than that, I'm not sure what else Audacy could put on this signal. A return to AC or Hot AC to compete with KDGE/KDMX?
I'm good with any of those.
I would think a format like The Block would be more likely than an urban AC. Audacy seems to like the throwback format. As I mentioned before, Audacy/Entercom has never launched an urban or urban AC on a full power signal it owns. It owns a handful of urbans that it acquired from other operators and seems to rarely, if ever, change them, but it, so far, has only launched urban as a flanker within its existing portfolio.
Urban AC or throwbacks might well make better sense for 103.7 than some derivative of AC. Star already has that audience covered, and it tried a formula similar to Now and couldn’t make inroads.
I can’t imagine it as a big moneymaker, but Alt might even be doing better than we figure. If nothing else, it has almost no local staff. If Audacy can bundle it with The Fan and/or Jack, it might be making a profit. Of course, Audacy had a sports station in Buffalo that should’ve been able to help with its alternative station, and we saw how that worked.
However, we have to assume they would have a different blend than the one in NYC. In NY, the target is Hispanic, Black and urban non-Hispanic whites. The largest group being targeted is Hispanic, representing a greater percentage of the population than Blacks.
But the NYC Hispanics are, very predominantly, of Afro-Antillean heritage and share considerable heritage with African Americans. In Dallas, Hispanics are Indigenous Americans who do not have a deep cultural and ethnic association with the Black community.
Thus, a slightly different focus, perhaps making Hispanic listening very secondary in Texas rather than primary in NYC.
Agreed. The earlier efforts a decade or so ago to do rhythmic oldies failed for these reasons.
The problem here is that alternative has splintered into factions with limited commonality. That means that most alternative partisans will be looking to custom streams, not over the air radio, to satisfy their needs. And, of course, rock in general is an aging marquee banner for formats. Classic rock is aging, AAA is out of the buying zone, Alt is fragged and there is nothing else that is broad and deep enough to get enough listeners.
In addition, Audacy having 95.7 The Game in San Francisco didn't keep Alt 105.3 from changing format.
Probably because the Game was also below water.
Here's a thought: With the holidays right around the corner, maybe Audacy is waiting to run Christmas music on 103.7 since they no longer do it on KLUV, and change formats afterwards...
Maybe, but that still leaves the problem of what to do with it after Christmas. No obvious big holes.
Also, Christmas can be useful in moving into certain formats AC/Hot AC/Adult Hits, but if 103.7 were to go Urban AC or Reggaeton or say CHR, then they are blowing out the Alt audience (as small as it may be), to do Holiday music for two months and grab a few bucks being the #2 Christmas station, then to blow out that audience for something that also has very little audience overlap.
Seems kind of like a double bank shot to me.
I just figured it would give them some extended time if they did decide to go with something else.
Hey, all. Total layman here. I've been lurking for a while and it's been fascinating hearing all the talk about this station and all of Entercom/Audacy's Alternative stations. I just want to say, I don't see KVIL flipping for at least a few months. Audacy did just add the old 2-6pm DJ, Camfield, to the 10-2pm spot. I think there was a Facebook group that was very vocal on getting Camfield back on the air. It wouldn't make sense to hire a DJ back and change the format a month or two later. I'm of the opinion that this station is fairly cheap to run, due to them syndicating as much as they can and cutting more expensive local content and DJs, so they don't really have to bill too much to stay in the black. Heck, Audacy has KLUV and KJKK, which both usually always seem to be in the top 10 most listened to stations in the DFW area and both probably bill well enough to cover KVIL's losses, especially if they're sold to advertisers in a bundle.
Personally, though, I've never liked Alt 103.7, just like I didn't like the last years of 102.1 The Edge. One of the earliest posts in this thread puts it best.
Personally, though, I've never liked Alt 103.7, just like I didn't like the last years of 102.1 The Edge. One of the earliest posts in this thread puts it best.
KXT is just so much better than this station. Less repetition in the mix and a much, much bigger playlist. The pledge drives they have are usually only a few weeks long, three times a year and no commercials the rest of the time. Despite KXT's low ratings, they seem to be one of the few stations in town that gets positive press. Both KXT and KTCU, which is an excellent college station, cover the indie-alternative scene very well.
This is probably where "alternative" radio is heading, to non-commercial college stations rather than those owned by commercial radio companies. Those companies can only make money on music that attracts large groups of people, and alternative seems to be splintering into a bunch of smaller groups. Fans of the music will support it financially, and that system works for KXT.
Unless it is serving a strategic purpose, subsidizing doesn't really make sense. I am not convinced Alt is serving any real strategic purpose at this point. If Alt can't carry it's own weight there is no reason for KLUV and Jack to cover the difference. I doubt Alt is losing money, but if there is an opportunity to make more money on a format that has a more promising future then they will make the change.
To your other point about the recent hiring of Camfield... that decision was likely made locally by the PD/OM/GM. It's full speed ahead with Alt... until its not.
Format changes involving an large asset like KVIL, might be proposed locally, but the decision to make that change will probably be coming from Philadelphia.
So I wouldn't expect that hire to have any effect on if the format wheel spins soon.
I suspect it's making a small profit, or it probably would've been flipped by now.
I remember when I was a senior in high school, and there was a massive format shuffle. KODZ "Oldies 94.9" went country as KSNN "Sunny 95," and Gannett re-launched 106.1 Kiss FM after several years of being off-air. The former KOAI "Oasis" format on 106.1 went to KCDU 107.5. Gary Reynolds, who had been a PD in St. Louis, was hired to be KCDU's next PD only to be fired roughly 10 days after starting. More recently, WJMK "104.3 K-Hits" in Chicago hired Brian Peck to be its new midday jock only to have Entercom take over the CBS Radio properties and fire him about two weeks after his start date. I doubt Camfield was hired with the intention of flipping formats, but, like you said, these decisions can happen quickly.
That was a time when 94.9 was spinning through formats at a rapid clip. It had been Top 40 as Y-95 for several years, but Y-95 and then-Top 40 KEGL had gotten into a destructive war where they spent more time responding to each other than their listener and it got to the point where Y-95 was blown up and briefly became "Power 95", then just "FM 95" before exiting the Top 40 format and flipping to oldies for a year, followed by a few years as classic country "Sunny 95". But Sunny was blown up in 1996 and replaced with all-news KEWS-FM. That, in turn, also lasted for only about a year, with the station next going to religious talk as KWRD (the format and call letters later moved to 100.7).
So that's five different formats under seven different names in less than a decade...
The company has announced a new brand manager for KVIL:
www.allaccess.com
So it looks like they're sticking with the format.
Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts
All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...
So it looks like they're sticking with the format.
The company has announced a new brand manager for KVIL:
Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts
All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...
So it looks like they're sticking with the format.
This move, unlike the previously discussed talent addition, does seem to imply there is not an imminent format change coming to 103.7.
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