KRLD

[Gregg.]

I don't have the data about which Dallas station bills the most. But I wouldn't be surprised if KRLD is Audacy's #1 biller in Dallas. Or a close second to KRLD-FM. While All-News formats skew older, the ones that have been doing it a while bill very well. In many of its markets, Audacy's spoken word formats do markedly better than music formats.

These days, audiences just won't put up with too many spots on an FM music station. Outside of morning drive, you'll find many FM stations running only 10-11 minutes per hour. They know they're not just competing with a crosstown rival. They're competing with streaming services too. But if you want Dallas news or Dallas sports, you can only go to KRLD, KRLD-FM or KTCK-FM. They're not on Spotify or Apple Music or Accuradio.

Does KRLD 1080 have so-so ratings. Yes. Are its listeners mostly older? Yes. Is it billing better than nearly all other Audacy stations in Dallas? You bet.

Audacy knows it can't stake its future on FM music formats. Someday soon, KRLD and WWJ will need FM simulcasts. For that matter, iHeart's KFI, KLAC and WBZ will as well.

 

[Deleted member 76036]

I don't get this at all. Why would Audacy screw with a station that's their #1 in Dallas, cuming almost 1 million people, by adding songs from a much weaker station?

They wouldn’t. At least I hope not!

KRLD is doing just fine on AM, just as WCBS is doing just fine on AM. Why would anyone want to screw it up?

It is, although I do think Audacy wants KRLD on FM, considering KRLD is on 98.7 HD2, 100.3 HD2 and 105.3 HD2…

 

[TheBigA]

Does KRLD 1080 have so-so ratings. Yes. Are its listeners mostly older? Yes. Is it billing better than nearly all other Audacy stations in Dallas? You bet.

But what we notice is that in most cases, just moving an AM format to FM doesn't really improve ratings or demos.

The general view is that all-news in the south, as demonstrated in Houston or Atlanta, is not going to get big ratings.

 

[Gregg.]

But what we notice is that in most cases, just moving an AM format to FM doesn't really improve ratings or demos.

The general view is that all-news in the south, as demonstrated in Houston or Atlanta, is not going to get big ratings.

Even if you don't improve your ratings much, switching to FM stops the AM bleeding. Did you see the statistic that 75 to 80% of radio listeners never tune in the AM dial--NEVER? That number will get higher every year. If you stay on AM you will keep losing listeners, even if you have the best programming on the planet.

It's true that you can't start a new All-News station in the Sunbelt. The experiments in Atlanta and Houston crashed. But two long-established All-News stations in the Sunbelt bill quite well, KNX and KRLD. When Audacy had an underperforming Top 40 station in LA, it was sacrificed for KNX's simulcast. Audacy has no underperforming FM in Dallas.

So owners will face a choice in the near future. Do we sacrifice a healthy FM music station to save a better billing AM spoken word station?

 

[durobeurunway]

Would KRLD AM eventually move its programming to FM?

It wouldn't work on FM. It would need a talent overhaul. Nice voices on the AM.

 

[durobeurunway]

Thank goodness for technology!! Krld could easily simulcast on FM and target a new revenue stream by selling spots targeted to an FM listener.

 

[TheBigA]

Thank goodness for technology!! Krld could easily simulcast on FM and target a new revenue stream by selling spots targeted to an FM listener.

In markets where it has happened, its not a new revenue stream. All they've been able to do is retain the existing one. Which in some cases is better than the alternative. That's what happened in LA with KNX. I don't expect to see any big revenue boost by moving WBAP to FM either. But it's better than the slow death they had with KLIF.

 

[Holstead]

It wouldn't work on FM. It would need a talent overhaul. Nice voices on the AM.

KRLD has had some pretty significant updates and upgrades in the past few years. As for *talent* I'd challenge you to assemble a staff as experienced as that one. I know it is just your opinion (and you are entitled to it) but that is a horrible and incredibly far fetched idea.

 

[durobeurunway]

KRLD has had some pretty significant updates and upgrades in the past few years. As for *talent* I'd challenge you to assemble a staff as experienced as that one. I know it is just your opinion (and you are entitled to it) but that is a horrible and incredibly far fetched idea.

They have good old team of talent and characters.

It's a bit of a revolving people. I expect some retirements soon.

 

[durobeurunway]

In markets where it has happened, its not a new revenue stream. All they've been able to do is retain the existing one. Which in some cases is better than the alternative. That's what happened in LA with KNX. I don't expect to see any big revenue boost by moving WBAP to FM either. But it's better than the slow death they had with KLIF.

When you have a team so focus on AM they will consider FM a whole new world.

 

[Robert Douglas]

The problem is they don't own a dog FM that they could blow up for an older skewing format.

Last time I looked, all of us are getting older every day. What makes you think that any generation will not get tired of stupid music and start to look for something more important, like news or talk radio? But newer generations can't stand the sound of the new lo fi AM radios. So, look for everything to move to FM. Sad, but true.

 

[TheBigA]

What makes you think that any generation will not get tired of stupid music and start to look for something more important, like news or talk radio?

The fact that in markets where news and talk are on FM, they have mainly older listeners. NPR is struggling with it too.

We live in an interactive world now. So top down reading of news is incomplete without the ability to comment, as we do here.

 

[Triple Fake Jerry]

I am not necessarily a P1 of KRLD, but I do set my wake-up alarm to their top-of-the-hour CBS News to find out what's going on at least. I appreciate their effort at being all-news and not just another Russian radio bot.

 

[TexasTom]

Last time I looked, all of us are getting older every day. What makes you think that any generation will not get tired of stupid music and start to look for something more important, like news or talk radio? But newer generations can't stand the sound of the new lo fi AM radios. So, look for everything to move to FM. Sad, but true.

I wouldn't count on it. I got more news from the radio when I was a teenager than I do today. Why? I'm old enough that I grew up in a time when Top 40 radio stations ran news outside of morning drive because doing so enhanced their chances of getting through a license renewal without a lot of hassle. Often times, I'd listen through the newscasts instead of changing stations. Come to think of it, when Mt. Saint Helens erupted in the spring of 1980, I first learned of it through radio news (KNWR Bellingham). Once I heard the news on the radio, I went outside and could see the smoke in the distance from the volcano.

Today, there are so many other places I can get news -- and with so few radio stations providing any significant amount of news, I don't even think about radio if I'm looking for breaking information. I'd say that radio has done a pretty good job of training listeners to not look to radio as a source of news.

 

[dfwrunner2]

KERA does pretty well with news on FM.