Dare I hope that this is a positive sign that these stations are going back to being live and local?Meanwhile, changes are coming to Audacy Alternative stations...
"Meanwhile, KROQ/LOS ANGELES middayer NICOLE ALVAREZ and afternooner MEGAN HOLIDAY will be focusing on their home market with HOLIDAY continuing to do middays at KKDO (ALT 94-7)/SACRAMENTO.
ALVAREZ was previously hosting middays at MIAMI, SEATTLE, PORTLAND, and LAS VEGAS.
HOLIDAY relinquishes afternoons in SEATTLE."
I think it is premature to assume KROQ is on the way out. I think as the economy recovers, the pandemic programming measures will decrease. This may restore some audience as events reintroduced into station promotional activities.Dare I hope that this is a positive sign that these stations are going back to being live and local?
It's not just KROQ. Alternative, along with active rock, is floundering. You cannot really build a station that relies on new music if there aren't many playable new releases. And, for the record, grunge music is becoming a core component of classic rock radio.One of the reasons Kroq is floundering is no weenie roast no almost acoustic Christmas. Alt 98.7 just suspended there alter ego for one year but was back this year. So Kroq needs to bring there concerts back. The virus has receded enough plus ways to deal with it so you can have events safely. Like for alter ego you had to either get a neg test right there they had testing on the spot or be vaccinated.
Like it has been said before, Los Angeles is not St Louis. St Louis is a somewhat conservative market, so nu-metal and post-grunge play better than it does in LA. Also Boston, which once had iconic stations like WFNX, WBCN, and WAAF, has no alternative. And alternative rock has a flounder in Miami, which is a heavily Latino market like LA (though with Cubans and South Americans instead of Mexicans).But stations like kpnt St Louis does really well and Alt 98.7 does pretty good so it just can't be the format. The programmers and consultants have to take some of the blame for there respective stations. Plus program for each individual market. Don't program nationally so to speak. Kroq in la has a Sunday night an hour of emo but I don't believe it's local and I miss when Alt 98.7 use to have there punk rock show on Sunday nights. It was local with Joe sib whom use to do the same show on the defunct Indie 103.1
But stations like kpnt St Louis does really well and Alt 98.7 does pretty good
Wonder what'll happen to Megan Holiday? She's already out of the KC and Seattle areas.
There are MANY playable new releases and Alt needs to get onboard with them. It looks like a few of them have caught fire like “MYSTERY” by Turnstile, “KEEP IT UP” by Rex Orange County, “Love Brand New” by Bob Moses, and “Re-Entry” by A Day To Remember. Alt legends Red Hot Chili Peppers dropped a lead single too, “Black Summer”, which is charging up the charts fast in its first full week of release. This is not a dead format by any means.It's not just KROQ. Alternative, along with active rock, is floundering. You cannot really build a station that relies on new music if there aren't many playable new releases. And, for the record, grunge music is becoming a core component of classic rock radio.
Well klos did not get much of a bounce with 100.3 the sound being blown upLike it has been said before, Los Angeles is not St Louis. St Louis is a somewhat conservative market, so nu-metal and post-grunge play better than it does in LA. Also Boston, which once had iconic stations like WFNX, WBCN, and WAAF, has no alternative. And alternative rock has a flounder in Miami, which is a heavily Latino market like LA (though with Cubans and South Americans instead of Mexicans).
If KROQ leaves, I'm not sure if KYSR will get a boost. KFOG signing off didn't help KITS.
So many of these releases have potential to contribute to restoring the format, if they can land with the listeners. Which is the big question of course.
That’s not what I said.If the alternative audience doesn't know these songs exist without radio airplay, that indicates a problem.
You cannot really build a station that relies on new music if there aren't many playable new releases.
Sometimes I wonder if programmers don't actually try hard enough. There is a whole world of music out there that would fit within the Alternative format, but programmers are transfixed on burnt out music that may well serve the older (end of the) audience