KEXX Goes Adult Hits

[MarcR]

The Alternative Rock format is hardly on "life support". There are still some promising stations executing the format, like KNRK in Portland, KRBZ in Kansas City, WRFF in Philadelphia and 91X in San Diego. Maybe some Alt-Rock stations could adjust their sound to a more hybrid Alt-Rock/CHR one to bolster their ratings. The demographics for the Alt-Rock format are actually quite good; it has the highest percentage of female listeners of any of the Rock formats, while also boasting the better educated as its core audience (not that radio actually gives a damn anymore about college graduates).

 

[radioresearcher]

The Alternative Rock format is hardly on "life support". There are still some promising stations executing the format, like KNRK in Portland, KRBZ in Kansas City, WRFF in Philadelphia and 91X in San Diego. Maybe some Alt-Rock stations could adjust their sound to a more hybrid Alt-Rock/CHR one to bolster their ratings.

The format had nearly 100 reporters as recently as 2002 and after PHX went it will be down to 57... that is a pretty steep decline.

KROQ used to be #1 12+ and now they're routinely out of the top 15 ... Outside of San Diego, those markets don't have the high ethnic composition 18-34 that a market like Phoenix does which contributes the weak Alternative shares. Market differences ...

The other problem is 10 years ago, teens actually listened to Alternative. Today, the format struggles under 25.

 

[MarcR]

Sorry about that. I was adding some more to my post while you were responding to it.

 

[MarcR]

I still think that a hybrid Alt-Rock/CHR approach could work well nationally for the format. Some Alternative stations, like 96X in Norfolk, are already playing their top songs almost 60 times a week. And more Alt-Rock stations should have added the Lana Del Rey song "Video Game" by now! I can't believe only the End in Seattle has added that song!

 

[johndavis]

35-44 is probably the ten-year age range for Gen X person... Problem we have is Gen X was tainted as a 90's format which technically was wrong.

Which is why you wouldn't tell a media buyer it's a Gen-X format. You'd be better off saying it targets 35-44.

The question is whether or not there is passion for a station that plays pop/rock from Guns & Roses & Eurythmics anymore. KMXP used to do that and moved away from it. The last time this format was fresh and new, Bill Clinton was still president. Did anyone miss this format while it was away?

 

[DJ_Perry]

Classic Hits, Adult Hits, Classic Rock....its a fine line. Seems like 103.9 is trying to be all of the above. That article is hogwash. Acting like they will adjust to what Phx desires? Not. That's all predetermined by a consultant who I won't expose.

I didn't notice any songs that you can't hear somewhere else. To me, that's not a winning formula.

 

[Robctas]

Still can't believe they've destroyed this station - The only problem with it before was Dave Pratt, the music was fine (maybe the rotates were too tight for an alternative format).
Why couldn't they keep the alternative format but include bands like Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Slaughter, Cinderella etc... with it.
I'm sure some Gen-X listeners who like current Alternative music from today & from the grunge era would also not mind hearing some of the 80's rock thrown in (excluding stuff like Springteen, U2, The Police etc...).

 

[EricStein]

The question is whether or not there is passion for a station that plays pop/rock from Guns & Roses & Eurythmics anymore. KMXP used to do that and moved away from it. The last time this format was fresh and new, Bill Clinton was still president. Did anyone miss this format while it was away?

Basically, 103.9 sounds like The Peak did when it signed on in 2004, way before they decided to heavily target female tastes with P!nk, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, The Black Eyed Peas, and a lot of the "manufactured" music of the American Idol era.

Sure, there's a lot of overlap between 103.9 and a number of other stations in town (they said the same thing when 97.5 relaunched with its current format), but if it causes The Peak to get back into focus, then it's a small victory for them.

 

[Robctas]

The X ratings have gone down 1.5 - 1.0 - 0.8 (because of Dave Pratt) but ith this new format any takers on what number MY will be??

I'm hoping it'll be 0.1 so they bring back The Edge!

 

[DJ_Perry]

The X ratings have gone down 1.5 - 1.0 - 0.8 (because of Dave Pratt)

I'm not defending Pratt, but he was (and is) only on air 4 hours a day. I'm not so sure he is the only reason for the recent ratings. That .8 resembles the whole day (minus whenever PPM cuts off...midnight?), so that proves KEXX also had fewer listeners on all the dayparts recently. Unless you're saying he chased the previous listeners away for good, but that's pretty extreme. I can honestly say it was bad programming. You can't play the same 311, Social D, Tool, Rage bullcrap forever.

 

[indieradioguy]

Why are they calling it "Gen X music"? It's 80s-based.

Um..."Gen X," for those who don't know, is in fact synonymous with 1980's. Generation X'ers are typically associated with Reagan and Alex P. Keaton, Max Headroom and The New Coke, the Challenger explosion and Ryan White dying from AIDS. That's Generation X. Not Generation Y.

And they'll play what I want? Okay, when can this Generation X'er expect to hear "Killing An Arab" by The Cure, "88 Lines About 44 Women" by The Nails, "Throw Your Arms Around Me" by Hunters & Collectors, "Streets Of Your Town" by The Go-Betweens, and "Legal Tender" by The B-52's? In between all the Boston and Kansas and Chicago? Just what we need: another station literally playing the lyrics of Huey Lewis' "Heart of Rock and Roll." Brilliant. :

Edited to add: Oh, and "Spirit In The Sky" by Fuzzbox. I definitely want MY 103.9 to play "Spirit in The Sky."

 

[Robctas]

I agree - the station as a whole did have very tight rotates, too much for an alternative station as I think Alt music fans like a lot more variety than your usual radio listener. Alt music fans are right into their music so wouldn't listen to the radio for just "background".

However the breakfast show sets the tone for the rest of the day & supposedly "keeps" listeners for the station.

If that shift rates badly so does the rest of the station (eg: K-ROCK New York when Howard Stern left, it's now Top-40), so when you have a presenter that's not liked by your core audience & plays music that's different to the rest of the stations format - you're gonna see number fall.

I think management let him get away with it because this was part of a long term plan - It's pretty sad

 

[Robctas]

Yeah - another station playing - Don't Stop Believin', Matchbox 20, Train etc... *spew*

 

[DJ_Perry]

And they'll play what I want? Okay, when can this Generation X'er expect to hear "Killing An Arab" by The Cure, "88 Lines About 44 Women" by The Nails, "Throw Your Arms Around Me" by Hunters & Collectors, "Streets Of Your Town" by The Go-Betweens, and "Legal Tender" by The B-52's?

Good tunes, but they will only play the ones that test well. So therefore it's false advertising. But while we're at it, how about Front 242 - Headhunter, Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio, Devo - Satisfaction, or Talking Heads - Life During Wartime?

 

[indieradioguy]

And they'll play what I want? Okay, when can this Generation X'er expect to hear "Killing An Arab" by The Cure, "88 Lines About 44 Women" by The Nails, "Throw Your Arms Around Me" by Hunters & Collectors, "Streets Of Your Town" by The Go-Betweens, and "Legal Tender" by The B-52's?

Good tunes, but they will only play the ones that test well. So therefore it's false advertising. But while we're at it, how about Front 242 - Headhunter, Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio, Devo - Satisfaction, or Talking Heads - Life During Wartime?

Bingo-! I'd love to hear "Mexican Radio" on *MY* 103.9, either the original or the Authority Zero cover (will local bands be persona non grata on *MY* 103.9?), but I won't be holding my breath. I'm glad we've still got KWSS-LP.

 

[DJ_Perry]

I'm glad we've still got KWSS-LP.

Indeed, I feature all that stuff on "The Factory" Fri late nights 8)

 

[puddingpop]

Alternative is on life support with the plug pulled in Chicago, New York, Vegas (1 of them), San Jose, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston (rimxhost WFNX is left),and Baltimore to name a few.

One could debate taking Baltimore off that list. I'm assuming you're referring to the demise of Clear Channel's short-lived Alternative station there; since then, CBS has resurrected WHFS as an HD/FM translator combo, and it's not doing so awful considering the disadvantages it faces (low-power signal, heritage Active Rock competition, and likely little or no operating and marketing budgets).

 

[2Son]

Well, I'm sitting in my living room in PHX listening to FM radio on my cell. I never knew how much BETTER KWSS comes in than 103.9.

 

[Ford]

I said this on the other thread:

If the "classic rock" thing is really a smokescreen, and if what I've heard about Pratt's problem with following music logs is true (he seems to think he knows better what people want to hear on his show), then perhaps we've been hearing the new music format of 103.9 all along. So maybe it is "My 103.9, your home of Dave Pratt in the morning, and musical train wrecks all day!"

Okay maybe the last line was a bit of snark, but I was at least in the ballpark.

 

[OneHorseTown]

I decided to listen to KWSS today for the first time ever. The puker belched into the mike in the middle of his spiel.

Classy.