KAMP still a failure?

[davideduardo]

I'd say the opposite - get Kevin Weatherly to also oversee 92.3 Now in New York.
Amp has better ratings, and even a bigger cume compared to its sister CHR station in NYC. That speaks volumes about the success of Amp, and the troubles of Now in New York.

Good comeback! Certainly Amp is the most successful of the CHR conversions at CBS, and while not everyone may like it, it's worthy of congratulations for a good job.

 

[musicfan101]

I'd say the opposite - get Kevin Weatherly to also oversee 92.3 Now in New York.
Amp has better ratings, and even a bigger cume compared to its sister CHR station in NYC. That speaks volumes about the success of Amp, and the troubles of Now in New York.

Good comeback! Certainly Amp is the most successful of the CHR conversions at CBS, and while not everyone may like it, it's worthy of congratulations for a good job.

But DE, isn't major success right out of the gate typical of all new stations that are still relatively new?

 

[justpassingthough]

I don't see how anyone could classify KAMP as a failure, regardless of whether you like the station or not.

The real winner in all of this is CHR's showing in the PPM. Add the shares for KIIS, KPWR, and KAMP- 12+ and in the demos- and its clear that LA has a very strong listener base for CHR.

 

[davideduardo]

But DE, isn't major success right out of the gate typical of all new stations that are still relatively new?

No, it's not. Look at Now in NY (speaking of another CHR) which much less success. Or KKGO and The Sound here in LA...

And 2 years is hardly "new" for a CHR... and KAMP is going to be 2 years old in just a matter of days (2/18 I believe).

 

[robnokshus06]

At the time of it's demise (2/20/09) middays and afternoons were #1 men 25-54, KLSX's target demographic. You can talk 18-49, 25-54 females, whatever, but those demos are irrelevent when talking about whether or not KLSX was getting ratings in ppm. The fact is that KLSX was trending upward and achieving success in it's target demographic.

That said, I would classify KAMP as a success. At least ratings wise. I have no idea whether or not they are pulling the kind of sales numbers that KLSX did or if they are anywhere near what KLSX did in NTR dollars. Maybe someone else does?

It should also be noted that KLSX was consistently the #2 streaming property in ALL OF CBS Radio, second only to WFAN. That and the content was wholly proprietary, owned by CBS Radio. With the reality of a performance royalty soon to be imposed upon radio, the benefits of programming content owned wholly by the broadcaster will become increasingly more valuable. One can wonder just how many different ways content from Adam Carolla, Tom Leykis and FHF could have been digitally distributed and how many different revenue streams could have been created, all without having to pay any royalties.

I am happy for KAMP's success and for my friends who work there, but the "what ifs" surrounding KLSX make for some interesting pondering.

 

[davideduardo]

At the time of it's demise (2/20/09) middays and afternoons were #1 men 25-54, KLSX's target demographic. You can talk 18-49, 25-54 females, whatever, but those demos are irrelevent when talking about whether or not KLSX was getting ratings in ppm. The fact is that KLSX was trending upward and achieving success in it's target demographic.

I'm guessing that the decision was made based on PPM up to the October or November PPM books. December includes the Thanksgiving to week-before-Christmas period, and Holiday would have been too late.

In November, KLSX was 10th middays in 25-54 men. In 3-7 PM it was 12th. It was 18th and 19th in the dayparts in women, so there was no overall 25-54 story. Coupled with very high costs and a format that was not in favor with the new guard at CBS radio, it's pretty obvious that the format was not successful and that they saw no real future in it, either.

As to revenue, they are billing lower... but the whole market is down by nearly $400 million from the pre-recession peak. I'd place a bet on the EBITDA being higher now than it was pre-change.

Stations that are getting revenue from streams are doing so at the local level and tied in with web/new media presence. The only two stations to have streams appear in the 2008 PPM books were KOST and KROQ.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

I agree with David 100% that to suggest that KAMP has been a 'failure' makes no sense; the combined 10.1 share total for KIIS (6.0) and KAMP (4.1) this past September is substantial proof that KAMP's arrival has only grown CHR/Pop's share in LA.

With the return to 6.0 and better shares at KIIS in early 2008, ratings which the station hasn't enjoyed since 1991 according to Birch, it made perfect sense for CBS (or anybody else) to launch a new CHR/Pop station in LA, and 'blowing up' KLSX was the correct choice, since JACK, KROQ & KRTH are all doing very well.

With superb 18-34 numbers to boot, it's been a spectacular success from day one.

Furthermore, since LA has been the most closely-watched and imitated radio market in the nation for decades, the decision by CC and other radio companies to launch tons of new CHR/Pop stations in numerous markets nationally over the past couple of years once KAMP's spectacular results gave those radio execs the unassailable proof they needed to do so.

This avalanche of launches shouldn't have surprised anybody, since CHR/Pop has enjoyed a great renaissance over the past 4-5 years, and especially among 18-49 & 25-54 females, as Sean Ross has pointed out in his newsletters recently.

The last time KIIS had a 10.0 share was in the fall of 1984 according to R&R, when top 40 radio was really enormous, and was really a songwriter-driven format.