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KISQ Flips To Soft AC



You are over-analyzing. They had an up year in billing in '15 so this looks like a cluster strategy to not have too much 18-34 and have more 35-54. That balances the demos and builds a nice wall from 18 to 49.

So, could I infer that Cumulus is moving the other way w/KFOG - they have too much 35-54, so go younger?
 
So are they now gonna add former KOIT jocks like Jack Kulp, Laurie Sanders and Larry Ickes?
 
So are they now gonna add former KOIT jocks like Jack Kulp, Laurie Sanders and Larry Ickes?

Maybe they should add Romeo On The Radio and also the three jocks that you mentioned.
 


You are over-analyzing. They had an up year in billing in '15 so this looks like a cluster strategy to not have too much 18-34 and have more 35-54. That balances the demos and builds a nice wall from 18 to 49.


But... didn't they HAVE older listeners a year ago with the disco/funk/NewWave hybrid? And didn't they then add '90s hip-hop (in a panicked attempt to compete with Q102) that pissed those listeners off? Seems to me they shot themselves in the foot with that move. But yeah, Soft AC with lots of '70s nuggets like "When I Need You" will gets them lots of over-50 women. :)
 
But... didn't they HAVE older listeners a year ago with the disco/funk/NewWave hybrid? And didn't they then add '90s hip-hop (in a panicked attempt to compete with Q102) that pissed those listeners off? Seems to me they shot themselves in the foot with that move. But yeah, Soft AC with lots of '70s nuggets like "When I Need You" will gets them lots of over-50 women. :)

The target is somewhere in 25-54, with this format obviously looking at 35-54.

There is no ad market for 50+ women.
 
So, could I infer that Cumulus is moving the other way w/KFOG - they have too much 35-54, so go younger?

Yes. KFOG finally decided to blow off all us geezers once and for all. They're doing "next gen" Triple-A (NOT "dance" as someone posted above) with few songs from pre-1990. And going after males. Which will only work if Live 105 disappears (as is the rumor).
 
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Why? Because lite rock listeners love their "less talk" jocks and really miss those guys reading liner cards?

So new listeners can hear familiar voices that they can bring old KOIT listeners that don't really like the new sound of KOIT.
 
Precisely my point :)

But seriously, are there that many 25-year-olds who like Firefall and Leo Sayer? It just seems that they had the demo you're describing covered perfectly before they screwed the pooch.

There are plenty of 40-54's who will like that music as it is familiar and creates a mood.

If you look aw WDUV or WFEZ, you find they have considerable spillage into 55+, but the 25-54 is solid due to the upper end of the demo and perfect to be combined with a cluster that is bottom heavy and needs more 35-54 or 40-54.
 
David, Give me proof of flipping KISQ to Hot AC? I think they just gave in, They lost to Q102

This is not a horse race or an NFL game where there is only one winner. In any market the size of SF there are around 20 winners, some just winning "bigger".

The issue here, after looking at the actual books a bit more, is the demo spread of the iHeart cluster. The needed 35-54 much more than more 18-34 for sales reasons.

KISQ had been in the 2.5 to 3.5 range going back to 2009 (and I did not look pre-PPM) so they knew the possible maximum and minimum. The 35-54 area has more vacant real estate.
 


There are plenty of 40-54's who will like that music as it is familiar and creates a mood.

If you look aw WDUV or WFEZ, you find they have considerable spillage into 55+, but the 25-54 is solid due to the upper end of the demo and perfect to be combined with a cluster that is bottom heavy and needs more 35-54 or 40-54.

Could this become a national trend in markets with ACs that are losing the top end of the marketable demo because of the prevalence of "hot" tracks and the near-extinction of soft songs? I looked at a typical hour's playlist for KISQ and was immediately taken back (in my mind) to a dentist's chair in the '90s, listening to Bette Midler, Paul Simon, Simply Red and Spandau Ballet through the sensory haze of nitrous oxide. I was 40 then and already thought of that music as boring. Now I'm 60 and a non-person to advertisers. Are there enough listeners still under 55 to make this "classic" form of AC work? And for how long before they age out of the format, with nothing but listeners brought up on a steady thump-thump-thump of uptempo pop and hip-hop to take their place?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n65OTj0-t4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgHmaD2rbgA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaS7jpQwhfI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GGeehvk8ak

Interestingly the last time a station did well in Soft AC was when KOST-FM Los Angeles had Dick Clark do TV promo's for that station.
Note as of 2016 KOST is MainStream AC for Iheart Radio. I'm not sure how Soft AC is going to work in 2016.

5 minutes and I'm ready for a nap. I'm certainly not the target demo. :)

Sad to see this station go. VERY good run for KISS! Having worked at iHeart in Sacramento, there were many years KISS and V101.1 mirrored each other. Now V101.1 is Old School / Throwback and Kiss is... well... The Breeze.

Michael Erickson must be rolling over in his grave. :/
 
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David, Give me proof of flipping KISQ to Hot AC? I think they just gave in, They lost to Q102

Having sampled both stations, I found their playlists considerably different. Just the other day I asked how Q102 was doing. I'm not saying Q102 motivated the flip but they certainly didn't help.
 


This is not a horse race or an NFL game where there is only one winner. In any market the size of SF there are around 20 winners, some just winning "bigger".

The issue here, after looking at the actual books a bit more, is the demo spread of the iHeart cluster. The needed 35-54 much more than more 18-34 for sales reasons.

KISQ had been in the 2.5 to 3.5 range going back to 2009 (and I did not look pre-PPM) so they knew the possible maximum and minimum. The 35-54 area has more vacant real estate.

Well put. I had no idea they only had a 2.5-3.5 share. My limited experience with KISQ dates back to 2000-2005. Pre PPM I remember them doing quite well but that was 10-15 years ago. :) The books don't lie, RIP Kiss!
 
Having sampled both stations, I found their playlists considerably different. Just the other day I asked how Q102 was doing. I'm not saying Q102 motivated the flip but they certainly didn't help.

Yeah I think it was stupid of them to try to change the format up at Kiss FM just because of Q102, but also Renel not doing mornings did not help them either. Their ratings also suffered when she left in 2009 and then they started to go up again when she came back in 2010. Now they finally really panicked and just straight up blew up the format.
 
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