KBAY is awful compared to 95.3 KRTY

[MarkW]

Morgan Wallen 2x or even 3x an hour, every hour?

Sam Hunt, every hour?

A burnt to a crisp single from Shaboozey, every hour?

Choke me with a spoon. It's no wonder KBAY's share is only 50% to 60% of what KRTY typically enjoyed during its final 18 months on FM.

I'm somewhat surprised KBAY's ratings performance isn't even worse than it is!

I cannot think of a country radio playlist I've ever seen that I dislike more than that of KBAY. 90 percent of their spins seem to be devoted to maybe 15 artists (guesstimate on my part).

 

[TheBigA]

It's no wonder KBAY's share is only 50% to 60% of what KRTY typically enjoyed during its final 18 months on FM.

You're really comparing two different animals. KRTY was a heritage locally owned station, while KBAY is a corporate owned station, whose owner has just been sold. Their PD was just replaced. (see below)

‘J. Love’ Campbell Returns To San Jose As OM For Alpha Media.

Alpha Media appoints Jonathan “J. Love” Campbell as Operations Manager for its Bay Area cluster, effective Aug. 1. He will also oversee programming and strategy for hot AC “Mix 106.5”

www.insideradio.com

J Love is listed by Mediabase as both PD and MD of KBAY. So it's really a station in transition.

But Morgan Wallen is the Taylor Swift of country music. If you're a currents-based country station, you play Morgan at least once an hour. If you look at the country streaming chart, it is filled with Morgan songs. He is who people want to hear.

To be fair, KBAY didn't get great shares before the flip to country. It's not helped by the fact that they run the syndicated Bobby Bones in mornings, syndicated B-Dub at nights, and really don't do anywhere near as much local outreach as KRTY. In other words, the problems are more than the playlist.

 

[Negin]

I remember listening to KRTY when I lived in the area. I was sad when it went away and another clone of the KLove thing.

 

[semoochie]

You're really comparing two different animals. KRTY was a heritage locally owned station, while KBAY is a corporate owned station, whose owner has just been sold. Their PD was just replaced. (see below)

‘J. Love’ Campbell Returns To San Jose As OM For Alpha Media.

Alpha Media appoints Jonathan “J. Love” Campbell as Operations Manager for its Bay Area cluster, effective Aug. 1. He will also oversee programming and strategy for hot AC “Mix 106.5”

www.insideradio.com

J Love is listed by Mediabase as both PD and MD of KBAY. So it's really a station in transition.

But Morgan Wallen is the Taylor Swift of country music. If you're a currents-based country station, you play Morgan at least once an hour. If you look at the country streaming chart, it is filled with Morgan songs. He is who people want to hear.

To be fair, KBAY didn't get great shares before the flip to country. It's not helped by the fact that they run the syndicated Bobby Bones in mornings, syndicated B-Dub at nights, and really don't do anywhere near as much local outreach as KRTY. In other words, the problems are more than the playlist.

That's funny. I thought Taylor Swift was the "Taylor Swift" of Country music!

 

[Fighting Irish]

You're really comparing two different animals. KRTY was a heritage locally owned station, while KBAY is a corporate owned station, whose owner has just been sold. Their PD was just replaced. (see below)

‘J. Love’ Campbell Returns To San Jose As OM For Alpha Media.

Alpha Media appoints Jonathan “J. Love” Campbell as Operations Manager for its Bay Area cluster, effective Aug. 1. He will also oversee programming and strategy for hot AC “Mix 106.5”

www.insideradio.com

J Love is listed by Mediabase as both PD and MD of KBAY. So it's really a station in transition.

But Morgan Wallen is the Taylor Swift of country music. If you're a currents-based country station, you play Morgan at least once an hour. If you look at the country streaming chart, it is filled with Morgan songs. He is who people want to hear.

To be fair, KBAY didn't get great shares before the flip to country. It's not helped by the fact that they run the syndicated Bobby Bones in mornings, syndicated B-Dub at nights, and really don't do anywhere near as much local outreach as KRTY. In other words, the problems are more than the playlist.

So, it just proves that people listen to radio for reasons aside from music. Listeners apparently like local hosts, local content, local presence and a playlist that appeals to them, rather than appeal to the corporate office.

But the corporate office will never admit that. They believe taking shortcuts and cutting their way to success. I wonder how they'd do if they just made a deal with the current streaming operation of KRTY to come in and program the station. But we all know that will never happen, even with Connoisseur taking over.

On the other hand, can't imagine Connoisseur being any worse than Alpha.

 

[CTListener]

That's funny. I thought Taylor Swift was the "Taylor Swift" of Country music!

Country radio doesn't play much of her music anymore, just a few songs as gold. She moved on from country more than a decade ago.

 

[ted chittenden]

On the other hand, can't imagine Connoisseur being any worse than Alpha.

What is interesting is that KBAY has a better signal than KRTY ever did. Though it's probably not going to happen, it would be nice if Connisseur resumed the classic hits format the station had before it flipped to country...

 

[TheBigA]

So, it just proves that people listen to radio for reasons aside from music. Listeners apparently like local hosts, local content, local presence and a playlist that appeals to them, rather than appeal to the corporate office.

It depends on the format. Country is very host-oriented. KRTY is still available with the same local hosts, and I believe its the reason why KBAY isn't doing as well.

I wonder how they'd do if they just made a deal with the current streaming operation of KRTY to come in and program the station.

The KRTY people have more independence now. Why would they make such a deal?

 

[MarkW]

J. Love - now there's a name I've not seen in ages!

He was the afternoon guy and Music Director for a year or two at WKQI in Detroit many, many years ago. I'm talking 2001 - 2002. He began at the station the same day Mojo in the Morning was launched, a show that remains at WKQI to this very day (although the entire cast except Mojo himself has changed over time).

Tim Herbster (known as "Romeo" at Z100 New York but who went by "Booker" during his Detroit stint) also started at WKQI that very same day and handled evenings.

 

[Weiserguy]

What is interesting is that KBAY has a better signal than KRTY ever did. Though it's probably not going to happen, it would be nice if Connisseur resumed the classic hits format the station had before it flipped to country...

That's an interesting point. Some background: KRTY/95.3 is a Class A station, which has always been licensed to Los Gatos, a bedroom community in the southwest corner of the Santa Clara (aka "Silicon") Valley, the last city you drive through before the Santa Cruz Mountains. When it got acquired by Robert Kieve's Empire Broadcasting the transmitter was moved to a higher location that covered the valley better, but it was never going to be a full-market signal, so Kieve wisely chose to superserve South Bay listeners. That plus the country format (which has never able to succeed on a San Francisco station) made for a very loyal listener base. Successfully symbiotic.

KBAY originally was a beautiful music station at 100.3, but back in the mid-'80s, in a multi-station swap, ended up on 94.5, a lesser (than 100.3) signal that's licensed to Gilroy (a farming ~30 miles southeast of downtown San Jose, famous for growing garlic). New ownership relocated the transmitter site up to Coyote Peak in South San Jose, which put a better signal into the Valley. But because they still need to deliver a city-grade signal to their community of license, they've moved about as far north as they're able to get and still do that. So while they seem to have intentions of being the Bay Area's country station, a chunk of the market can't receive them very well, and the rest don't seem willing to buy what they're selling. Especially since KRTY never really died, it just moved into streaming, and apparently many of their listeners followed them onto the Net. (Wouldn't you love to know their share numbers compared to KBAY?)

When Alpha gave up Classic Hits, iHeart's KOSF cornered the market on that music. 103.7 isn't the strongest signal when you're in the Valley, but it is still there, so there really isn't enough of a format hole for Connoisseur to exploit.

 

[davideduardo]

I remember listening to KRTY when I lived in the area. I was sad when it went away and another clone of the KLove thing.

The "KLove thing" is not a clone. It is the United States' first true implementation of a "national station" which is how radio is surviving much better in most other nations than in the U.S.

 

[davideduardo]

So, it just proves that people listen to radio for reasons aside from music. Listeners apparently like local hosts, local content, local presence and a playlist that appeals to them, rather than appeal to the corporate office.

Actually, in most of the world we have seen that a strong national "network" (what we tend to call "syndicated") show does much better than local shows. Those national shows "appeal" to the corporate office because they do so very well in a variety of markets and are salable, as a "brand" to agency accounts.

Those national shows have access to trend-setters, artists, celebrities and the like. The local station, even in a big market that is not LA or NYC, does not.

Radio competes with international streaming brands. It's best way to do so is to have content such as what Seacrest, Bobby Bones or Charlemagne have which is topical, interesting and full of "stars".

But the corporate office will never admit that.

Because it is not correct. Listeners today want something different. They get their weather, traffic and local headlines on their phone. They do not look for that on the radio any longer, and doing that stuff is a tune-out for most people under about 50.

They believe taking shortcuts and cutting their way to success.

Cutting is a different issue. Radio revenue is down nearly 70% (inflation adjusted) over the last 20 years. So stations can't afford the things they did two decades or more ago. Fortunately, listeners don't want that anyway.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Listeners today want something different. They get their weather, traffic and local headlines on their phone.

The extent of such content on KRKE is a 30-second weather forecast hourly (half-hourly between 6:00am and 9:00am). No news, no traffic reports. At all.

 

[KilowattKat]

So how is it that everyone thinks KRTY is doing very well? Where are the facts and numbers regarding this? Is KRTY even making money. At least there is transparency with the KBAY numbers and audience size. Everyone is just assuming about KRTY.

 

[KilowattKat]

So how is it that everyone thinks KRTY is doing very well? Where are the facts and numbers regarding this? Is KRTY even making money. At least there is transparency with the KBAY numbers and audience size. Everyone is just assuming about KRTY.

 

[TheBigA]

So how is it that everyone thinks KRTY is doing very well? Where are the facts and numbers regarding this?

Here's what we know. The station continued to encode for PPM after moving online, and they received a 4.6 share as an online station. That's almost twice what KBAY is getting now.

Online-Only KRTY San Jose Ranked Unofficial Fifth In July Nielsen Survey.

Empire Broadcasting was able to keep more than half of the audience for country KRTY San Jose by continuing to stream the station online after selling the 95.3 frequency to

www.countryinsider.com

Once Nielsen discovered that they were no longer broadcasting, they were dropped. But we have that apples-to-apples comparison.

That would mean that KRTY’s online stream would rank fifth ahead of KBAY, the Alpha Media station that quickly flipped to country to fill the market void. KBAY posted a 4.3 in the July survey.

Now, three years later, KBAY has a 2.7, so they've lost a lot of the listeners they had after the move.

 

[alok]

I remember when KBAY was on 100.3, if I recall correctly back when I lived in the SF Bay Area. 80's / 90's, etc.

My dentist in Fremont - his helpers (all ladies) would have KBAY on throughout the office and every so often KBAY ran a contest, and you had to be the first caller . . . well the ladies would leave their positions as my dentist drilled . . . 3 or 4 of them would run to the phones and try to be the first caller.
I told my dentist he needed to call a meeting after hours and teach them work ethics.

Could that be why my tooth in the back is crooked???

 

[Negin]

The "KLove thing" is not a clone. It is the United States' first true implementation of a "national station" which is how radio is surviving much better in most other nations than in the U.S.

I stand by my comment. I seen 3 stations I liked fall to them.

 

[Negin]

That's an interesting point. Some background: KRTY/95.3 is a Class A station, which has always been licensed to Los Gatos, a bedroom community in the southwest corner of the Santa Clara (aka "Silicon") Valley, the last city you drive through before the Santa Cruz Mountains. When it got acquired by Robert Kieve's Empire Broadcasting the transmitter was moved to a higher location that covered the valley better, but it was never going to be a full-market signal, so Kieve wisely chose to superserve South Bay listeners. That plus the country format (which has never able to succeed on a San Francisco station) made for a very loyal listener base. Successfully symbiotic.

San Francisco always had issues keeping a country station. There was many that tried and KSAN 94.9 had the most luck doing country for a decent period of time.

 

[K.M. Richards]

The "KLove thing" is not a clone. It is the United States' first true implementation of a "national station" which is how radio is surviving much better in most other nations than in the U.S.

I stand by my comment. I seen 3 stations I liked fall to them.

For everyone who has heard me rant about this previously, I politely invite you to go read another thread.

I believe EMF is the worst offender in "gaming the rules" to acquire a network of stations which is even larger than iHeart, the largest commercial operator.

Even before the main studio rule was eliminated, EMF constantly asked for -- and received -- waivers on every new acquisition, allowing them to send the same exact programming to all their stations by installing satellite receiving equipment at the transmitter site. I try not to think about how many local radio positions were eliminated by that tactic alone.

They have also encroached -- or perhaps "invaded" is a better word -- onto the commercial part of the FM band and then converted their acquired stations above 92MHz to non-commercial status. That means they are exempted from the annual FCC fee for their entire "empire". I wonder how much revenue the Commission has declined from that move alone.

And there is no stopping them to acquire any station they want which becomes available. With the pile of cash they have from listener donations (and I would bet that most of them don't even realize that they are funding the demise of secular radio ... and the ones that do know and condone it are closer to zealot status than they would likely admit) to outbid anyone and everyone. Certainly, no local potential owner can defeat them.

Plus, as I have been rhetorically questioning for some time now: Why does God need all these transmitters? Being omnipotent, He should be able to communicate with the faithful directly if He so chooses.

I personally believe that there should be an ownership cap for non-commercial owners. Let EMF keep their existing stations grandfathered, but if a station goes up for sale in a market where EMF wants in, they can only bid if there isn't already a local bid in place.

And I also believe that non-commercial stations in the commercial part of the FM band should no longer be exempted from the annual fees. In fact, I believe non-comm status should be revoked for all such stations (other than LPFMs) outside the 88-92MHz band.

Finally, if any of the stations above 92MHz owned by non-profits are put up for sale, only commercial operators should be allowed to bid.

Yes, I know this is never going to happen unless pigs develop flight capability, but it's my opinion, I have been consistent about it for a couple of decades now, and I will keep saying it whenever the context of a thread allows it.