Why let it go? if people like it, it’ll come back. I literally explained in another post that Audacy, Cumulus and others have brought rock/alternative formats. I understand you didn’t like it. But, if there’s a formula to make the format work in other markets, what’s stopping iHeart from doing the same. If the Eagle returns, they don’t need talk. The station will survive just fine without Russ Martin. Why would iHeart waste the money on trying to compete with established country brands, and rap brands who are struggling themselves? Kegl’s current brand manager has a rock background
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If you were gonna change the format of . . .
- Thread starter Kramer
- Start date
There were rumors 10-15 years ago of 97.1 flipping to country. Didn’t happen then, probably won’t happen now. I realize you probably don't think it's very likely either, even if it is more likely than a flip to urban.
People didn’t like it, or at least not enough liked it. That's why it went away in the first place. If the market had enough people like you who had a passion for the station, it would still be here. Besides, seems that train has already left the station with KVIL making changes to sound more active rock.
DFW isn't Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, or Cleveland. The 25-54 white male isn't as large of a population segment. Plus, the rock format has been contracting for years anyway. Remember Q102? It's been gone 25 years now. The Zoo has been gone over 30; in fact, it'll be 35 this time next year. The Edge went away, and that didn’t help KEGL long-term. How many rock-based formats does DFW have today? Two? That's half as many as it had 30 years ago, and the market has roughly 20 more stations now.
Neither of those changes is likely to happen. Neither is a flip back to rock anytime soon.
I love how people waste their time typing and telling me how wrong I am and overlooking the part where i basically said iHeart like other companies would rather spend less money than more to build a new format. How many format flips in top 10 markets do we see nowadays compared to years ago?
Since you have insight why won’t you enlighten us on whats happening there. Ive seen a lot of “what’s not going to happen” in your response?
For all the talk on these boards of companies cheapening local radio, it's funny that people do nothing but complain when one of those companies does the opposite. I'll grant you the programming on The Freak is terrible, but, if it were to work well enough, odds are we'd see iHeart and other companies do similar formats that would require hiring more staff. In the days where entire clusters are nothing but sales offices and servers at the transmitter sites, that would seem like a nice change to me. If live and local radio has any future, it's probably going to be centered around personality, not announcing between songs and commercials.
We see few format flips in major markets now that operators have large clusters and can make good money with them. We do, however, see one or two every couple of years as markets and their demographics change. Going back to my previous post, most of your heritage AOR's in the early 90's are gone now because the rock format has fragmented and market demographics have changed. That's a natural progression and an inevitable byproduct of change. Major markets aren't immune, though the costs of new formats and startups are higher there than in smaller markets.
You've been hearing for the better part of a year, including in the second post on this thread, what's likely to happen at 97.1. You just don't like what you're hearing. The answer to what's likely to happen there, at least over the next year, is nothing (other than, possibly, some minor tweaks). Admittedly, companies occasionally make surprising and head scratching decisions, but, as you yourself mention, that's not common in major markets, especially among the players in most of them.
I couldn't agree more with this! RIGHT on the money!
Two years ago was at the peak of Covid. Stations had lost as much as 50% of their income and were not spending.
Better to compare with 2017 to 2020. Or, better yet, don't compare as too many other variables have changed, starting with much lower radio revenue than 10 years ago.
Keep in mind that companies with local clusters compete with other companies with local clusters to a greater extent than on a station to station basis. So if each of 3 groups own clusters of 5 FMs, each is likely to have their stations spread across the top 15 or so rank positions... one owner might have #3, 4, 7, 9, and 11. But they combine the numbers to sell several of their stations together in one buy.
So, the agency is buying the "Cumulus cluster of 3 stations" and not buying "Rock 107" and "Country 99" and "Kiss 94". All the buyer knows is that they are getting 1.2 Grips at a $365 CPP.
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Just flip it to "Real Recuerdo The Bull Rocks 97.1", with "The Breakfast Club" in the mornings, Spanish Hits in the middays, Rock in the afternoons, Country at night, and talk about ANYTHING overnight. Then everyone will be happy... Good Grief Charlie Brown!...
So…a KNON copy with a morning show.😂Just flip it to "Real Recuerdo The Bull Rocks 97.1", with "The Breakfast Club" in the mornings, Spanish Hits in the middays, Rock in the afternoons, Country at night, and talk about ANYTHING overnight. Then everyone will be happy... Good Grief Charlie Brown!...
Exactly!
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Deleted member 76036
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Now that The Eagle has been gone for over a year, I feel that Alt 103.7 is shifting back towards Alternative. They don’t seem to be playing as many Active Rock songs as they were right after The Eagle signed off. I don’t have the stats to prove this, but I feel that’s what is happening.
I think the view here a year ago was that the changes at KVIL under John Allers are what pushed KEGL to give up on the music format. The ratings at 103.7 have remained strong since then, and Allers has been tapped to work his magic at KITS in San Francisco. Apparently he continues to have the golden touch.
103.7 is what took The Eagle out in the first place. It wasn’t that long ago when 103.7 pivoted to sounding more Active (though not to the same extent as the KPNTs/WCYYs of the country) and killed KEGL in a matter of months. 103.7 hasn’t radically tweaked its formula either - they still add Active-to-Alternative crossover currents and still blast 2-3 00’s post-grunge/alt-metal anthems that were KEGL standbys every hour.
iHeart is not going to go back. Taking on Alt 103.7 before they have a chance to grow complacent would simply mean they’re a glutton for punishment.
Does anyone else think having 6+ hours of talk during important day periods on a music station, is what killed off the music on 97.1 and not what some other station in town did?
Does anyone think all the endless dissatisfaction and complaining about the music is what killed off the music?
I think I’m really going to have to write up a summary of what happened and save it so I can copy/paste it when people keep asking what really happened. It really was one of the clearest examples of a complacent radio station making dumb decisions ever. Coupled with a struggling rival who suddenly had a competent PD step in and make a few simple changes, it was one of the most stunning reversals of fortune for two radio stations that we’ve seen in a while.
It wasn’t just the talk shows. It wasn’t just the music. It wasn’t just what KVIL did. It was a lot of simple things that happened in close proximity to each other, coupled with KEGL not having the foresight to see a future without Russ Martin, who was by far their most popular personality who had been ailing for years before his death; which is what triggered the chain reaction in the first place.
For rock radio to succeed, it desperately needs a strong morning show. One that will overcome all the Goldilocks syndrome that happens to the music, where one group thinks the music is too cold, while the other group thinks it's too hot. That's what happened after Russ died. You'll find pages of comments here complaining endlessly about the music.
KVIL is doing pretty well for itself with minimalist DJing. If the music blend hits just right for the target market, it can make up for the lack of a morning show. Part of why KVIL hasn't reverted itself to bog standard Audacy is because their people found the right music mix for Dallas, which is apparently moderately hard alternative stretching from 1990's "Man In The Box" by Alice In Chains & "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion to current alternative music. They're not going to mess with it until the ratings and data tell them otherwise.
(I singled out those two songs because they seem to be the oldest songs that KVIL plays regularly, though a small amount of 80's songs do appear on occasion).
It really helps KVIL right now that the top 2 songs on both Active Rock and Alternative for the last month are by Green Day and blink-182, so they don't have to take a ton of risks to keep their "rock" cred for the migrated KEGL listeners at the moment.
It's only in one market, but the "Goldilocks syndrome" does seem to be resolved in Dallas for the time being, and Audacy found the solution before iHeart did.
Does the same fragmentation exist with active rock as it does alternative?
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