there's an article source on radioinsight about KYMT "93.1 The Mountain" crumbling Las Vegas, so that means that station crumbling to different format?
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Las Vegas is "93.1 The Mountain" crumbling?
- Thread starter RoseCatkw_21
- Start date
Looks like Lance has put that story behind the paywall, so I guess you'll just have to either subscribe or wait until whatever is being referred to in the headline comes to pass. Maybe a format change, maybe an imaging change, maybe something related to the station's internet presence.
In the age of print, a headline was supposed to draw you into a story by telling you the basics of what was being reported: "City man killed in auto accident on I-95." If you weren't interested, you just didn't read it, and the paper suffered no financial loss from that unless you stopped buying the paper completely because nothing in it was interesting you anymore.
Now, with websites like RadioInsight doing what newspapers used to, the primary purpose of a headline is to get the reader to click on that headline and read the story while being fed advertisements that weren't displayed on the main page: "Tragedy on the Interstate devastates local family." Like the "crumbling" headline on the KYMT article on RadioInsight, this headline is unspecific; it doesn't even say there was an accident, or even a vehicle. But it attracts click-through precisely BECAUSE of that!
The advertiser, the website's owner, and Google or whoever is feeding the ads and gathering data on who's clicking through don't care all that much if you are disappointed or even uninterested in the article itself (although it would please the publisher if you found the content informative). For them, the headline has done its job -- getting the reader to click on it. And if that click leads to a paywall, so be it. The reader can choose to pay or not. But he's still clicked through and seen (albeit briefly) whatever adverting was on that page. And Google now knows what sort of ads, stories and suggestions to send that reader every time he gets online.
In the age of print, a headline was supposed to draw you into a story by telling you the basics of what was being reported: "City man killed in auto accident on I-95." If you weren't interested, you just didn't read it, and the paper suffered no financial loss from that unless you stopped buying the paper completely because nothing in it was interesting you anymore.
Now, with websites like RadioInsight doing what newspapers used to, the primary purpose of a headline is to get the reader to click on that headline and read the story while being fed advertisements that weren't displayed on the main page: "Tragedy on the Interstate devastates local family." Like the "crumbling" headline on the KYMT article on RadioInsight, this headline is unspecific; it doesn't even say there was an accident, or even a vehicle. But it attracts click-through precisely BECAUSE of that!
The advertiser, the website's owner, and Google or whoever is feeding the ads and gathering data on who's clicking through don't care all that much if you are disappointed or even uninterested in the article itself (although it would please the publisher if you found the content informative). For them, the headline has done its job -- getting the reader to click on it. And if that click leads to a paywall, so be it. The reader can choose to pay or not. But he's still clicked through and seen (albeit briefly) whatever adverting was on that page. And Google now knows what sort of ads, stories and suggestions to send that reader every time he gets online.
There is a free tier which I just registered for but there doesn't seem to be an article there. Other articles seem to work but not that one. And looking at the ratings they're in the upper half of the list. They're no KKLZ for sure but they're not floundering with almost no audience.
The article is under Domain Insights which is a $50/year subscription. If Domain Insights is no longer on the front page, you can find it under the “Headlines” drop-down.
Yeah, no disrespect to Lance (a man's gotta eat), but this has become epidemic.
Here's an example from The Sacramento Bee last fall (I'm only using this because I saved it---I'm sure I could do one for every day between then and now):
So---look at the middle photo in the righthand column: "50-year-old local pizza chain suddenly closes all locations".
You'd expect the "local pizza chain" to be a Sacramento institution---50 years!---given that it's in the same section as stories about an accident downtown, a restaurant in the Arden Arcade neighborhood and a football coach calling Sac State's president a "clown".
So you click. There's five paragraphs on why you might order pizza.
Ooookay.
There's a list of six pizza chains that have closed locations---not closed outright--- in recent years.
And then, after four ads and a stock photo of a pizza, we learn---
That it's Gina Marie's.
What's Gina Marie's? A chain of exactly four pizza places in Chanhassen, Plymouth, Edina, and Eden Prairie. Those are towns in Minnesota.
The story itself is not from the Sacramento Bee, but The Street, a financial news website. So's the "123-year-old mall anchor", which is Saks Fifth Avenue, and since their San Francisco store closed in May, the nearest one to Sacramento is in...Las Vegas.
There are local business and real estate stories. I know this because my friend and former CapRadio colleague Chris Campbell breaks 'em day in and day out for the Sacramento Business Journal.
This is just lazy and sloppy and a further devaluation of what was once a pretty solid newspaper. But it's also increasingly common in online news sources.
If you go to the RI Facebook page, there are comments there that predict a format change, perhaps to CHR.
Apparently The Mountain is being killed by The Point, and Vegas can't support two classic rockers.
The $5 per month/$50 per year subscription tier (which has not been raised in a decade and I have no intent to) is what keeps RadioInsight and subsequently THIS SITE alive.
I provide exclusive reports that I've had multiple corporate executives tell me I should be charging thousands of dollars for because of the competitive value the bring but keep them at a level that people can afford. Sharing the information behind the paywall though is an immediate violation of the terms of service and I will cancel subscriptions immediately. If the information holds any value to you and you can't afford $5 then I don't know what to tell you. You're not going to find that data anywhere else and the hundreds of format changes and even a few acquisitions that I've broken since my first domain report in 2005 that broke CBS' then upcoming launch of Free-FM speak for themselves.
That's why anything that's a RadioInsight exclusive is behind the paywall and nothing else.
CHR wouldn't make sense either. They'd be fighting KLUC. The question is, what is under represented in Vegas that has a chance of working?
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Personally, I have always been impressed with Lance's ability to scan for new domain registrations and then put 2 and 2 together to make the connections he reports on. I wouldn't have the patience.
That's not the only question. When you're talking about iHeart, the question is which format works best for their cluster and their national strategy?
That's usually more of a sales question than a programming question.
And that's where I have no knowledge. I've literally been in radio studios half a dozen times in my life and definitely don't have a broadcasting voice. But I certainly watch the goings on with interest.
Personally I'd love an alternative to Vibe 99.7 or a news station that comes in a lot better than KDWN 101.5 but there is no market for it so wait and see it is
Variety Hits, it is!
I like the move a lot. Flipping to CHR would've been a foolish move.
radioinsight.com
I have a feeling another major commercial FM stick in Vegas will also flip in 2026. I'd wager on KXTE being that station.
I like the move a lot. Flipping to CHR would've been a foolish move.
KYMT Returns To Variety Hits As Neon 93.1
iHeartMedia flipped Classic Rock "93.1 The Mountain" KYMT Las Vegas to Variety Hits "Neon 93.1" at noon today. The company
radioinsight.com
I have a feeling another major commercial FM stick in Vegas will also flip in 2026. I'd wager on KXTE being that station.
What is your thinking on that?
KXTE's ratings rebound following a return to a mostly music format sputtered quickly. KOMP following some much needed freshening has reclaimed a sizable lead and has completely taken the wind out of KXTE's sails.
KXTE's 25 to 54 share likely isn't a ton better than its 6+ share given the station's format. That's just a guess on my part.
Las Vegas in my opinion will get All Sports or at least some sort of commercial spoken word format on a major FM stick at some point (no, 101.5 doesn't count...LOL).
KXTE's prior attempt at a mostly talk format was lame. A very good morning show (Dave & Mahoney) paired with low hanging crap in the other dayparts. Airing morning shows from Michigan on tape delay wasn't wise programming strategy.
Beasley has experience doing sports radio in much larger cities. They own one of the top billing stations in the entire country, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. I could see 107.5 going Sports.
Classic Rock to siphon 97.1 The Point and to complement KKLZ is another possibility. Dave & Mahoney would fit well with classic rock; their flagship is the classic rock station serving Phoenix.
A third possibility could be KVGS and KXTE swapping signals. The "safe" Hot AC station would be returned to a blowtorch under this scenario and arguably would be a better utilization of 107.5.
KXTE's 25 to 54 share likely isn't a ton better than its 6+ share given the station's format. That's just a guess on my part.
Las Vegas in my opinion will get All Sports or at least some sort of commercial spoken word format on a major FM stick at some point (no, 101.5 doesn't count...LOL).
KXTE's prior attempt at a mostly talk format was lame. A very good morning show (Dave & Mahoney) paired with low hanging crap in the other dayparts. Airing morning shows from Michigan on tape delay wasn't wise programming strategy.
Beasley has experience doing sports radio in much larger cities. They own one of the top billing stations in the entire country, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. I could see 107.5 going Sports.
Classic Rock to siphon 97.1 The Point and to complement KKLZ is another possibility. Dave & Mahoney would fit well with classic rock; their flagship is the classic rock station serving Phoenix.
A third possibility could be KVGS and KXTE swapping signals. The "safe" Hot AC station would be returned to a blowtorch under this scenario and arguably would be a better utilization of 107.5.
I agree. Variety Hits is a good budgeting move by iHeart.
The problem is that Lotus has the rights to both the Raiders and the Golden Knights. Hard to do an all sports station with no PBP. It puts all the pressure on the local hosts. Very expensive.
Apparently iHeart has them for Las Vegas, Sacramento, and San Francisco.
Variety Hits, it is!
I like the move a lot. Flipping to CHR would've been a foolish move.
KYMT Returns To Variety Hits As Neon 93.1
iHeartMedia flipped Classic Rock "93.1 The Mountain" KYMT Las Vegas to Variety Hits "Neon 93.1" at noon today. The company
Interesting. I'm gonna have to compare this with Sunny 106.5
There was already extensive conversation as to why News Talk doesn't work so well in Vegas. Two AM stations an an FM all with less than stellar ratings. If it is spoken word I'd assume sports
that new format on 93.1 playing literally everything, so that comparing may not be necessary to "sunny 106.5" (unless it's for just in case that "sunny 106.5" playing christmas music on nov to dec)