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KPNW back to Country?

Theater of My Mind said:
I'm not in the market but Nielsen shows a larger population of Hispanic than Black, and no Spanish language stations at all. But I guess the focus group research came back saying the hole in the market is for three Country stations when it could previously not support two? Shrug.
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For Spanish language in the metro there are two AMers (1360 out of Tacoma and 1210 out of the south county) and a couple FMs -- one a rimshot (102.9), the other one more of a rimshot (99.3). Point taken, though. Three Country stations seems like overkill. My gut is that one of the three will disappear in a couple years.
 
boombox4 said:
Three Country stations seems like overkill. My gut is that one of the three will disappear in a couple years.
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The decision won't be based on the music, but on results. Country will likely outdo AAA in the first book. The question will be how much audience will it take away from the Wolf. Knocking it out of first place is good enough. I would be surprised to see 101.5 improve in 6+, but they will get better demos.

How long will there be three country stations? As long as they get results, because what else are they going to do? Audacy flipped an alt station to country three years ago, and it continues to be a 1 share station. But it took enough share from the competing country station that it's worth doing. Plus it clears the Audacy national country shows.
 
Since you can't even sports bet in WA (illegal), probably zip-a-dee-do-dah. AKA, nothin'.
 
boombox4 said:
KPNW's HD3 is the VSIN Sports Betting Talk network. I wonder if they make any money off of that?
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I highly doubt it is on there for free. VSIN is owned by DraftKings and I would bet (sorry) they pay something for that spot. Even though DraftKings isn't legal in Washington it could be eventually and this could be to build up a ready to go user base on day 1.
 
Maybe I was thinking of DraftKings. Constant advertising on NFL games yet you can't use it in half of the country, including WA. Imagine the $$$ the state could be making from it.
And here in my local area, Legends Casino in Toppenish hasn't adopted sports betting yet. They aren't on the list. Northern Quest does.
 
I don't care for sports betting as a hobby or as a radio format, but the format is basically just sports radio with a betting aspect. It's radio for men, and there are bound to be advertisers.
 
Back to KPNW for one second, it really seems like Seattle would be a market that is best suited for a AAA on a noncommercial frequency. Ironically, that's basically what KEXP is (yet at the same time, it isn't). As I've stated before, the KEXP approach just doesn't work for me. It's too "out there" and weird. I like unique music, but I feel like I'm listening to a philosophy major's strange playlist that they listen to on the way to class every time I've sampled it. Add that to the fact that the signal really is not good for anyone who doesn't live very close to Seattle.

If there were a rimshot signal that needed a format, AAA might just be the ticket. Let the listener funding guide it to success or failure. Maybe listenership would be small, but who knows, maybe people would avidly donate to keep it going.

Country is a much safer format, and Hubbard has no choice but to make the highest and best use of a full market signal. If they approach 98.9 with the same vigor and energy they had when KPNW first launched, I could see this station pealing listeners away from The Wolf.
 
I've often thought if KBCS needed to do something that broadened appeal and fundraising, making the format a more consistent Triple A in prime dayparts could be a good strategy. The appeal of their programming in general seems a bit more "upper demo" than KEXP.

Note that I'm not saying they need to, just a thought. I do think you could build a non-commercial station with more traditional Triple A artists and rotations and the talents of Fisher, Collins, etc.
 
Andy Travis said:
I've often thought if KBCS needed to do something that broadened appeal and fundraising, making the format a more consistent Triple A in prime dayparts could be a good strategy. The appeal of their programming in general seems a bit more "upper demo" than KEXP.

Note that I'm not saying they need to, just a thought. I do think you could build a non-commercial station with more traditional Triple A artists and rotations and the talents of Fisher, Collins, etc.
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I’m not sure it would ever happen, but I could definitely see it being a good idea. A lot of their programming is already knocking on the door of AAA anyway. Give listeners the chance to listen to something that isn’t trying to be hipster and weird, and let the listeners decide if it should ultimately continue in that direction or not.

Aside from the programming aspect, KBCS has a better signal as well. Even if I was a KEXP fanatic, I’d still be stuck with online streaming.
 
TheBigA said:
FYI Seattle is a market that once supported three stations. Including one that called itself Young Country.

KMPS, KRPM, and KYCY. So this is nothing new.

But then again, someone thought the market could support two AAA stations.
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KMPS lasted a really long time as country stations, too. KMPS actually started out on the AM band in 1975. They added the FM in 1978 and since they stayed in the country format until late 2017, that means that KMPS had an almost 40 year run at 94.1.

KRPM didn't last quite as long. It launched as a country station in March of 1980 and kept those call letters for 15 year and the country format for 16 years.

In contrast, KYCY didn't last long and was more of a flash-in-the-pan like pretty much every "Young Country" station. It lasted just five years, from 1994 to 1999.
 
The AAA format can work if it is done right. KINK in Portland has been doing this format for at least 35 years, and they were number 5 in the last book. I stream that station all the time. Great mix of old and new. Seattle has always tried it, it will go for awhile, and then management wants more. I have been a fan of the format since I was in High School in Kitsap County in the Seventies.
From my dusty recollection-- KZAM 92.5FM 1974-1983, KEZX 98.9FM 1983-1990, KMTT 103.7FM 1991-2013. I listened to KPNW also, but they were still tinkering and were never given a chance.
 
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