KCXX makes progress, up to 2.9, while rocker KCAL FM, slides down to 1.4

[36james]

pretty sad when you think about it, , i remember back in the early 90's, KCAL always was in the top 5 for 25 to 49 year bracket, and even in the 18+ bracket sometimes in the top 5,, there are alot more Hspanics living out in Riverside and San Bernardino, that enjoy listening to KLVE, and KLYY, and Krqb, and the fact that alot of KCAL listeners were 9 to 5 workers, and white, so the demographic has changed dramatically over the last few years, add to that that alternative music is mostly current product, if KCAL wants to improve its ratings, it should add more currents to the playlist. it used to back in 2000, to about 2005 play currents, cause i listened to KCAL back when i lived in the IE. maybe David can add some insight, but i believe im right, alot of KCAL listeners are white, and alot of that group has moved out of the IE, example job losses etc, and KCAL catered to that group, the working class mostly. but i do want to congratulate KCXX on their ratings gains, keep it up!

 

[36james]

Part of the issue is that a lot of the DJ's have been there at KCAL for years, Razz has been there well over 12 years, their morning guy Stu, has been at KCAL since the early 1970's, you are looking at a different generation, then you had. Back then, and a lot of hispanics have moved here recently, which have a different feel for music, than classic rock, they should have Stu move over to KOLA and lay off their staff and change format, if they don't adjust the music for the right audience.

 

[davideduardo]

pretty sad when you think about it, , i remember back in the early 90's, KCAL always was in the top 5 for 25 to 49 year bracket, and even in the 18+ bracket sometimes in the top 5,, there are alot more Hspanics living out in Riverside and San Bernardino, that enjoy listening to KLVE, and KLYY, and Krqb, and the fact that alot of KCAL listeners were 9 to 5 workers, and white, so the demographic has changed dramatically over the last few years, add to that that alternative music is mostly current product, if KCAL wants to improve its ratings, it should add more currents to the playlist. it used to back in 2000, to about 2005 play currents, cause i listened to KCAL back when i lived in the IE. maybe David can add some insight, but i believe im right, alot of KCAL listeners are white, and alot of that group has moved out of the IE, example job losses etc, and KCAL catered to that group, the working class mostly. but i do want to congratulate KCXX on their ratings gains, keep it up!

I'd add that you are correct in the changing demographics of the IE. Harder rock formats tend to underindex among Hispanics, so the available primary audience for KCXX would have declined as a percentage of the market.

In addition, we see from things like the Edison youth survey for 2000 and 2011 that there is a declining interest in rock... a rather severe one, too... so fewer people are "coming into" the rock demos.

And, as you say, there is a general exodus from the core IE areas like Riverside, Moreno Valley, San Bernardino, etc. That's economic, and we know that the economy has affected 18-34's and even 25-44's very hard. People in older demos are likely to have more community ties, and may even have real home equity and such. They will stick it out in a greater percentage than younger folks.

So you have three things: gradually shifting ethnic composition, gradual decline in the interest in rock and the hard blow that the recession gave to the IE. Beyond that, there is the question of whether, in adjusting to the new reality, the station programming has suffered; you seem to be a listener and can better evaluate that.