KNDA Corpus Christi

[wastedtalent23]

I've been curious about this station and I wanted to see if anyone has info on it. They are listed as a Rhythmic CHR and I believe they are the only station owned by Guerra Broadcasting. They have been trying to do this format for nearly 20 years, since flipping from Tejano in 2000 or 2001.

Who is programming this station? I listed for about 4 hours yesterday, they were jockless, their imaging sounds decent, but musically they are doing the opposite of what I've been taught makes a winning station in ratings and revenue.

They sound Urban, not Rhythmic CHR, and all over the place. I heard a lot of stiffs and unproven mid-charters, with maybe a hit or two every quarter-hour. One of their positioners is "Breaking the hits in Texas". When Nielsen has released the non-subscribers, I've noticed that they pull about a 2 or 3 share, not making much of a dent in KZFM, who I've said has been vulnerable for years relying on their heritage. KNDA has the signal to compete, but perhaps that's not important to them. Nevertheless, they seem committed to the format.

How is this station making any money? They don't play enough hit music, they seem to be in business only to "break new music" and that boggles my mind. Very little street presence, no information on their website, no contests or listener interaction and no jocks?

 

[AnyHuman]

Here is their website.

I like the bass on the stream, and the music being real rap not that top 40 pop crossover stuff. As for their signal, the station is in Alice TX, not Corpus Christi. It does have a lot of power though.

 

[Kent]

When Nielsen has released the non-subscribers, I've noticed that they pull about a 2 or 3 share, not making much of a dent in KZFM, who I've said has been vulnerable for years relying on their heritage. KNDA has the signal to compete, but perhaps that's not important to them. Nevertheless, they seem committed to the format.

You wouldn’t be the only person who thinks KZFM sounds vulnerable. It has three different stations attacking it! Funny thing is, it’s pretty much always been top dog, or close behind KRYS. KZFM was never my cup of tea either, even going back to when I was in its target audience!

 

[wastedtalent23]

You wouldn’t be the only person who thinks KZFM sounds vulnerable. It has three different stations attacking it!

If you're talking about KKPN, KNDA and Wild 105.5, NONE of those stations are real competition. 105.5's signal is too weak, KNDA doesn't even sound like they're remotely serious about winning, and 102.3 The Planet is a Mainstream CHR that is owned by a company with little money invested, poor programming and internal problems. Just look at ICA's stations in Odessa. All of them are under-performing. As for iHeartMedia, they already have the top 4 stations in the market.

KNDA has the signal, but they either don't know how to beat KZFM or they don't want to. They'll just continue to "break the hits". I'm surprised they haven't gone broke or flipped formats by now. They'd be better off doing a Rhythmic AC "Old School" format.

 

[AnyHuman]

KNDA has been hip-hop so long they must be doing something right.

 

[wastedtalent23]

KNDA has been hip-hop so long they must be doing something right.

That's not really the point I was making. In nearly all cases, commercial radio stations are in the business to make money. The idea is to present a quality product that you hope people will like, execute a game plan, generate ratings, and sell advertising. I don't know how well KNDA does in billing, but it can't be much. They're a stand alone station, so they can't sell a combo with a sister station. Hip hop stations are a tough sell to begin with, and Corpus Christi is listed as 4% African-American. I understand that the format appeals to many Hispanic listeners, and Corpus is over 50% Hispanic, but dance music has been huge there for many years, and playing nothing but hip hop just doesn't make much sense.

The programming is way off target for the market. You can lean hip hop, but you're not going to beat KZFM as an Urban station. Not in Corpus, it's just not going to happen. They either can't afford to subscribe, or not interested in subscribing to Nielsen(why would you anyway if you're only pulling a 2 share), and I just find it strange that they are catering to the record labels so much. When I heard a promo saying something like "This week from Columbia Records...", it seemed to me like they're letting the record companies program the station.

 

[Kent]

If you're talking about KKPN, KNDA and Wild 105.5, NONE of those stations are real competition. 105.5's signal is too weak

105.5 is unlikely to ever be #1 in the market, but it can perform respectably and has in the past. The old KJKC 105.5 routinely pulled between a 4 and a 6 share, and it usually pulled a 4-5 when it was a rock station in the 90's. Granted, you have to go back about 20 years for it to have pulled respectable numbers, but the market has about the same number of signals it did then. I don't know how it's doing as Wild as I don't have access to the depth of information I once did. Nielsen releases less information, and being out of radio for a dozen years now doesn't afford me as much access as I once had either.

102.3 The Planet is a Mainstream CHR that is owned by a company with little money invested, poor programming and internal problems. Just look at ICA's stations in Odessa.

The Planet pulls about a 4 share despite all of those problems. I won't argue it couldn't, or shouldn't, do better. Part of KZFM's success may well be that its competition simply isn't very good. If that's the case, it certainly wouldn't be the first station to be successful for that reason. Besides that it's also a TV operator, I don't know much about ICA. I know it also owned some of the Slowdeatha stations that are now in the Townsquare cluster in the mid-90's. I believe it sold them to Tommy Vascocu, who sold his stations to Cumulus a few years later. I try not to think much about Slowdeatha if I can help it!

KNDA has the signal, but they either don't know how to beat KZFM or they don't want to. They'll just continue to "break the hits". I'm surprised they haven't gone broke or flipped formats by now. They'd be better off doing a Rhythmic AC "Old School" format.

KNDA has some signal issues around downtown, but it also should do well enough to perform respectably. I know it has struggled in the past. Don't know how it's doing now, but I suspect that hasn't changed much. Guerra also owns KJBZ 92.7/KRRG 98.1 in Laredo. KJBZ has always done well there. When Guerra took KRRG country, it was quite a surprise as it had a long history of AC and Top-40 formats. In the late 80's/early 90's, it was "Energy 98." I think it became "Big Buck Country" in '08. I was last in Corpus Christi in February '09, and I picked it up there. It was definitely Big Buck Country by that time.

 

[Kent]

it's just not going to happen. They either can't afford to subscribe, or not interested in subscribing to Nielsen(why would you anyway if you're only pulling a 2 share), and I just find it strange that they are catering to the record labels so much. When I heard a promo saying something like "This week from Columbia Records...", it seemed to me like they're letting the record companies program the station.

Guerra subscribes in Laredo but not in Corpus, or at least that was the case last I'd heard.

If they're running a promo saying, "This week from Columbia Records," they may be getting paid to play those songs. So long as their promo follows sponsorship ID rules, a song can be a paid promotion. That's perfectly legal, and you can make money doing that. That's only a problem when labels pay to play, and that's not disclosed.