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I know ALT 103.7 (KVIL) hasn't ever had great ratings, but a 1.1?!?!?

January is also routinely the worst month in terms of billing for almost every station. It’s not losing a whole lot on this promotion. I wouldn’t read too much into it.

You're right that 1Q is a good time to drop the spots. But my first thought when I saw the video was a reboot. It's as though they're changing format. But without changing the format. This is the kind of thing they did when they launched The Block in NYC. They know commercials are a tune out. Just as bad DJs are a tune out. So time for a reboot. Is it too late? We'll see.
 
Interesting Instagram; why is Audacy's alt braintrust (and I use that term loosely) so obsessed with Paramore? That is a third-tier artist at best.

With Alt 103.7's horrendous 2021 ratings, I doubt advertisers are pounding on the door seeking air time to begin with. :)

Nothing wrong with doing a music marathon; they have little to lose at this point.

I can count on one hand the number of local advertisers on the very similar Alt 98.7 in Detroit without even using up all my fingers. Most of the advertising that does exist seems to come from national purchases, and even that isn't vast by any stretch of the imagination. About one-half of the "commercials" on my local station are promos for Audacy app podcasts, Audacy app music streams, or PSAs.

Has the Dallas station been airing the "obligatory" 2021 year-end top 100 songs countdown at the same time every day all week long just like my local station? I am not sure airing the same songs, in the same order, at the same time every day is a good strategy for audience retention.
 
With Alt 103.7's horrendous 2021 ratings, I doubt advertisers are pounding on the door seeking air time to begin with. :)
The only two times I have had an advertiser come to the station to buy time had bad outcomes.

One never paid the bill.

The other had a business that did not fit our listener profile. I recommended a competitor, call the owner of that station, and had them meet that same day.

Revenue does not come to you. You have to seek it. There is as much skill in doing that as there is in programming, management or engineering.
 
Interesting Instagram; why is Audacy's alt braintrust (and I use that term loosely) so obsessed with Paramore? That is a third-tier artist at best.

With Alt 103.7's horrendous 2021 ratings, I doubt advertisers are pounding on the door seeking air time to begin with. :)

Nothing wrong with doing a music marathon; they have little to lose at this point.

I can count on one hand the number of local advertisers on the very similar Alt 98.7 in Detroit without even using up all my fingers. Most of the advertising that does exist seems to come from national purchases, and even that isn't vast by any stretch of the imagination. About one-half of the "commercials" on my local station are promos for Audacy app podcasts, Audacy app music streams, or PSAs.

Has the Dallas station been airing the "obligatory" 2021 year-end top 100 songs countdown at the same time every day all week long just like my local station? I am not sure airing the same songs, in the same order, at the same time every day is a good strategy for audience retention.
Because Paramore is still a core band and tests well.

And yes, the countdown is airing at roughly the same time and in the same order on all Alt stations (including the one in my home market).
 
A core band? I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that point.
Talk to the average late millenial (of which I am a part of that generation) who listens to alt/indie/emo rock on a daily basis (again, I’m actually one of them), and you will likely hear Paramore as a core group. They’re part of the soundtrack of our generation.
 
By my count, they've only produced three noteworthy singles despite being on the scene nationally for about 15 years, one of which is too Hot AC / Modern AC sounding to belong on Alternative radio (Audacy still plays that one frequently, though).

The other two singles are certainly compatible with the format, but core artist? I don't think so.
 
By my count, they've only produced three noteworthy singles despite being on the scene nationally for about 15 years, one of which is too Hot AC / Modern AC sounding to belong on Alternative radio (Audacy still plays that one frequently, though).

The other two singles are certainly compatible with the format, but core artist? I don't think so.
I mean…

“Misery Business”
“crushcrushcrush” (didn’t peak high but is a beloved track by the fanbase)
“Decode”
“Ignorance”
“Brick By Boring Brick”
“Ain’t It Fun” (became an Alt recurrent after a successful pop run)
“Still Into You” (same)
“Hard Times” (well known despite not peaking high)

That’s 8. 6 if you want to cut the pop hits that didn’t make the Alt chart when they were new.

Alt peaks are not always an indicator of longevity. 311’s “Amber” has been an Alt mainstay for the last 20 years and it peaked at #13, for example.
 
Misery Business, Decode and Ain't It Fun have been the only songs to receive meaningful airplay over any extended length of time. The third song on that list is best reserved for Hot AC or Modern AC. It is a B- artist at best.
 
It looks like John Allers made his call for KVIL and they’re going after KEGL. Songs by Seether, P.O.D., Shinedown, Linkin Park, and other 00’s Active Rock bands that crossed over to Alternative have been all over the playlist this week. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Active Rock currents start joining the Alternative currents on the playlist.

I think this was the only play left - go hybrid Active/Alternative and defeat KEGL by serving both rock and ALT fans equally. KEGL is increasingly more a talk and sports station than a rock station and the opening is there to lure KEGL listeners away while keeping ALT listeners happy - let’s see if the gambit works.
 
I disagree with macattack.

Texturally and in terms of music selection, KVIL is nowhere remotely as Active Rock friendly as KTBZ or KPNT.

Let me guess - the Seether add was "Broken." Am I correct? That song crossed over onto Hot AC for a spell and is probably the wimpiest single (albeit a successful single) that otherwise rock solid band ever released.

Let me guess #2 - the P.O.D. add was "Youth of the Nation." Again, a rather soft song that does not at all sound like hard rock.

Shinedown's latest material is very syrupy, as if it was intentionally designed for female / Hot AC crossover appeal. They also have some older material that qualifies ("Second Chance" immediately comes to mind). One of the lamest live rock concerts I've attended was headlined by Shinedown, by the way. Ended their set with three of their softest songs in a row. Yuck.

Any alternative station worth a darn *should* be playing multiple tracks from Linkin Park in gold rotation! I have no idea how much Linkin Park was being spun by 103.7 before, but if it was an unusually low amount, that might be one reason for their terrible historical ratings performance.

If I were a KEGL P1, nothing 103.7 is playing would likely cause me to change allegiance. However, the recent changes *might* cause me to consider tuning into 103.7 whenever KEGL is airing basketball or running commercials. I think the goal is to get 103.7 on more listeners' radars - i.e. increase cume. That's why a good amount of vanilla, non-controversial gold is being added to the playlist. Not at all seeing much guitar riff action or angry vocals in the new songs being added.
 
103.7 music log (might be a few days old):


KTBZ music log:


KTBZ plays many of the same wimpy / poppy currents and recurrents as 103.7, but KTBZ includes gold from the likes of Tool, Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, and even Guns 'N Roses.

I will note that KTBZ is not quite as texturally heavy as it once was. That station does rebalance the proportion of pure play Alt versus Active Rock from time to time. It went through a wimpy phase a couple years ago, then devoted more spins to Active Rock friendly tracks, and has since pulled back on that a bit.

105.7 in St. Louis at the moment definitely has more of an Active Rock lean than KTBZ.
 
I disagree with macattack.

Texturally and in terms of music selection, KVIL is nowhere remotely as Active Rock friendly as KTBZ or KPNT.

Let me guess - the Seether add was "Broken." Am I correct? That song crossed over onto Hot AC for a spell and is probably the wimpiest single (albeit a successful single) that otherwise rock solid band ever released.

Let me guess #2 - the P.O.D. add was "Youth of the Nation." Again, a rather soft song that does not at all sound like hard rock.

Shinedown's latest material is very syrupy, as if it was intentionally designed for female / Hot AC crossover appeal. They also have some older material that qualifies ("Second Chance" immediately comes to mind). One of the lamest live rock concerts I've attended was headlined by Shinedown, by the way. Ended their set with three of their softest songs in a row. Yuck.

Any alternative station worth a darn *should* be playing multiple tracks from Linkin Park in gold rotation! I have no idea how much Linkin Park was being spun by 103.7 before, but if it was an unusually low amount, that might be one reason for their terrible historical ratings performance.

If I were a KEGL P1, nothing 103.7 is playing would likely cause me to change allegiance. However, the recent changes *might* cause me to consider tuning into 103.7 whenever KEGL is airing basketball or running commercials. I think the goal is to get 103.7 on more listeners' radars - i.e. increase cume. That's why a good amount of vanilla, non-controversial gold is being added to the playlist. Not at all seeing much guitar riff action or angry vocals in the new songs being added.
I’ve caught three Seether songs over the past week: “Fake It”, “Fine Again”, and “Breakdown”. Not Seether’s heaviest songs but not “wimpy”.

P.O.D. is indeed “Youth of the Nation” and Shinedown is “Second Chance”. I’ve noticed “The Red” by Chevelle and “Last Resort” by Papa Roach along with an expansion of the Linkin Park catalog to include some of their rockers and not just their ballads. I’ve also caught “Headstrong” by Trapt and “I Hate Everything About You” by Three Days Grace. There’s probably some more that I haven’t caught because I don’t live in Texas and obsessively listen to KVIL or check their logs every hour.

Considering absolutely none of this was being touched before I would still consider this playlist to have put on some rock muscle.
 
Nah, really? I never knew that. :)

I have to say, the Seether song adds at 103.7 were better choices than I was expecting.

Trapt's Headstrong, though? Yuck. That song should only be heard at a butt rock concert at the local county fare.

I do wish to thank macattack for the song info.

I can also say none of those songs, with the exception of one of the Seether songs, have been heard by me on Audacy's Alt 98.7 in Detroit yet. It astonishes me that station refuses to go in a more rock friendly direction; WRIF is usually tops in A18-34, A18-49 and A25-54.
 
Now the Eagle is looking weak. It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Eagle. It looks like 103.7 trying to take 97.1’s audience with the harder music selection is a good move. Man, I know KXT isn’t supposed to get great ratings and the ratings don’t matter much to them, but I hate seeing KXT in the zeroes.
 
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