K ROCK vs RRK

[toddjammin]

What radio station will change formats first, K ROCK or RRK? thoughts?
I say K ROCK changes when Stern leaves

 

[BarryMcCockiner]

No KRock will carry Diamond Dave and WRRK will lose their ass to WDVE and flip to Ukranian polka. I was serious about everything but the polka. Though it might help the numbers. So would JACK.

> What radio station will change formats first, K ROCK or RRK?
> thoughts?
> I say K ROCK changes when Stern leaves
>

 

[Pratte4Life]

Where is this belief that K-Rock is not doing well?

Their ratings have gone UP since changing formats from B-94. And if you haven't noticed, Contemporary Hit Radio has been a dying format for many, many years.

Will Howard Stern's loss hurt them? Yes. Can K-Rock continue on?

I say yes. I had a look at their numbers and they are doing very well with their demographics and such.

Personally, the station mixes new and old rock music, which gets me to pre-set the button on the station and stay contemporary.

As far as WRRK, believe it or not I think the station is improving in terms of playlist and DJs. Whether that will translate to numbers, I don't know.

However, what I look at is where is the guarantee that JACK will pull in the 2.2 or whatever WRRK is?

 

[Radio_Realist]

> As far as WRRK, believe it or not I think the station is
> improving in terms of playlist and DJs. Whether that will
> translate to numbers, I don't know.
>
> However, what I look at is where is the guarantee that JACK
> will pull in the 2.2 or whatever WRRK is?

I have to agree with you on that. From the amount of commercials that RRK airs, and the advertisers that buy airtime on the station, I have to believe that though the 'RRK audience may not be all that large, it contains key demographic groups that some advertisers really want to reach.

 

[Part-timer]

> > As far as WRRK, believe it or not I think the station is
> > improving in terms of playlist and DJs. Whether that will
> > translate to numbers, I don't know.
> >
> > However, what I look at is where is the guarantee that
> JACK
> > will pull in the 2.2 or whatever WRRK is?
>
> I have to agree with you on that. From the amount of
> commercials that RRK airs, and the advertisers that buy
> airtime on the station, I have to believe that though the
> 'RRK audience may not be all that large, it contains key
> demographic groups that some advertisers really want to
> reach.
>

Steel city has a really simple business plan. As long as LTJ is around the top 5 in women 25-54 and RRK does OK with men 25-54, their overhead is so low that they make money. <P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[hollowman]

K-Rock does well only because of Howard. They have a precipitous drop in their numbers after he signs off, and their revenue is a problem as well. They give their inventory away for next to nothing, which leaves them with eight minute stopsets, and little to show for it. CC's "Less Is More" is beginning to resonate with listeners and advertisers, which means people aren't going to be waiting through eight minutes of commercials to hear Twisted Sister on K-Rock. K-Rock will likely try to hang around after Stern leaves, but they'll immediate take a dive, regardless of who is in their morning drive slot. Word from Foster Plaza is that they made a substantial offer to Alan Cox some time ago, and he turned it down. 'DVE and The X are already benefiting from Stern's imminent departure. As for 'RRK, they're locally owned and aren't expected to go toe-to-toe with the CC and Infinity properties. Their operating costs are much lower, so they're not as likely to make knee-jerk format flips. If they were, they would have blown up 'RRK a long time ago. Only time will tell if K-Rock can survive without Howard, but Infinity's lack of interest in their properties below the top 20 markets doesn't bode well for K-Rock's staff.

 

[Pratte4Life]

I don't believe you

Simply because I cannot believe anyone would make a substantial offer to Alan Cox.




> K-Rock does well only because of Howard. They have a
> precipitous drop in their numbers after he signs off, and
> their revenue is a problem as well. They give their
> inventory away for next to nothing, which leaves them with
> eight minute stopsets, and little to show for it. CC's "Less
> Is More" is beginning to resonate with listeners and
> advertisers, which means people aren't going to be waiting
> through eight minutes of commercials to hear Twisted Sister
> on K-Rock. K-Rock will likely try to hang around after Stern
> leaves, but they'll immediate take a dive, regardless of who
> is in their morning drive slot. Word from Foster Plaza is
> that they made a substantial offer to Alan Cox some time
> ago, and he turned it down. 'DVE and The X are already
> benefiting from Stern's imminent departure. As for 'RRK,
> they're locally owned and aren't expected to go toe-to-toe
> with the CC and Infinity properties. Their operating costs
> are much lower, so they're not as likely to make knee-jerk
> format flips. If they were, they would have blown up 'RRK a
> long time ago. Only time will tell if K-Rock can survive
> without Howard, but Infinity's lack of interest in their
> properties below the top 20 markets doesn't bode well for
> K-Rock's staff.
>

 

[hollowman]

Re: I don't believe you

Agreed. Rumors and speculation on any element are just that, but The X does pay him quite a bit of money already. If an offer from K-Rock was made and turned down, it does indicate a lack of confidence in Infinity's dedication to that format.

 

[corpradiosux]

Regardless of who's doing better ratings & $ wise, I hope they get rid of K Rock. Pratte4life said they have a mix of new and old, but judging from what I hear, it's new Metallica and old Metallica.

I just don't find anything appealing about the format at all.

 

[Pratte4Life]

It's funny you say that-

Because that's what I always got the impression The X was doing.

Or if you really want to hear Wall-To-Wall Metallica- try DC 101- but this isn't the Washington board so I'll move on.

But if you listen to K-Rock- they have some shows such as the HairBall on Friday nights and House of Hair on Sundays that play a genre I happen to like but nobody else picks up.

Now, that's not Metallica. Nor is the Sunday "new bands" show at 6.

I'm not sold that Stern is the only reason to listen to the station. I personally never listen to Stern, and besides, if The X kept their format after Stern left, why wouldn't K-Rock?

For whatever reason, this board seems to have a lot of old B-94 fans and people who don't listen to rock. It almost seems like sour grapes- even though However, I have to tell you, I was making fun of people who listened to B-94 back when I was a teenager. Contemporary Hit Radio is a dying format. It needed to go.

Now, with all of the furor over WHAT STATION WILL GO JACK- let me ask you- what about The X? It's had its run of 11 years now. K-Rock does have a larger audience- and WRRK was only 0.3 points behind The X in July 25's ratings.

K-Rock's audience is only an average of two years over The X- and it gets better ratings. It provides the sort of mix of new and old that the modern day rock fan is looking for.

I don't want to see Pittsburgh lose ANY of it's rock stations. But it would seem to me that The X might be the most likely candidate the way things are going.

 

[hollowman]

Re: It's funny you say that-

Pratte4life, you're usually right on the money, but wrong here on a number of counts.

The X kept their format after Stern was booted because they had a station to keep. The morning numbers on the X plummetted immediately after Stern's departure, but the rest of their dayparts stayed just as strong as they were. K-Rock's numbers drop enormously after Stern signs off. K-Rock is winning in cume right now (anyone looking at 12+ is an amateur),but The X gets consistently better numbers in the target demos and they generate far more revenue (the real barometer of a format's health). The X is one of the least likely stations in the market to flip format.

The bottom line for K-Rock is this: Other than Stern, they are simply a mix of songs people already get on 'DVE and 'XDX. K-Rock is "the Stern station"; they have no musical identity that resonates with people. Their own research bears that fact out. Their younger end doesn't care about the Scorpions and Twisted Sister, and their older end doesn't care who Breaking Benjamin are. Is there any incentive (when they're giving their spots for a dollar a holler) for Infinity to keep K-Rock on the air, post-Stern? Will anyone in Pittsburgh care if David Lee Roth or Rover or Mancow replace Howard, or will they go to another stalwart local morning show?

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: It's funny you say that-

> I don't want to see Pittsburgh lose ANY of it's rock
> stations. But it would seem to me that The X might be the
> most likely candidate the way things are going.
>

But The X is a Clear Channel station, and with one or two exceptions, CC is staying pretty clear of the "Jack" fad...that is, probably, until it proves itself (if ever).

Infinity, however, as I continue to point out, has a Vice President of JACK Programming. No other large media company has such a position. You don't make up a VP position unless you intend for it to have something "to VP". A handful of Jack stations doesn't merit a whole new position. Infinity's gotta be expanding that format to other stations and markets to justify the position (and attendant costs).