Ehhh, not quite. KRBQ's signal is a bit weak in the South Bay. KRBQ is on Mt. Beacon, a site further from San Jose than SF's other two major sites (Mt. San Bruno and Sutro Tower). Also, the other three full-power FM's on Beacon are 75kw-82kw, and KRBQ is only 33kw. Spotty South Bay coverage is one reason why Classical KDFC, back when it was on 102.1, simulcast on AM 1220 in Palo Alto.
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Let’s discuss 102.1: KRBQ
- Thread starter Radiopaw
- Start date
So this is funny. Here we are discussing K-Pop in San Francisco, and now there's a K-Pop show coming to SF:
radioinsight.com
Except that its being done nationally by iHeart, and will air on KYLD Sunday nights from 9 to 11.
Can it save KYLD's ratings?
iHeart Accelerates Roll-Out Of KPop With JoJo Across Top 40 Stations
iHeartMedia is rapidly expanding its weekly K-Pop show hosted by 102.7 KIIS-FM Los Angeles afternoon host JoJo Wright. Originally launched
radioinsight.com
Except that its being done nationally by iHeart, and will air on KYLD Sunday nights from 9 to 11.
Can it save KYLD's ratings?
Yes, if you look at stations in Korea, they do just fine. As a CHR type format, it could work well with 80 to 120 songs. As a Hot AC a version, maybe 220 songs.
There already are 2 CHR stations in SF, and the second one is getting a 2 share. No room for a 3rd. Audacy already owns a Hot AC station. So those options are out.
K-Pop makes a great 3-hour specialty show for Sunday night, and KYLD just started one.
Article in today's New York Times about the alternative Korean music scene, which sometimes is considered under the umbrella of K-pop and which sometimes isn't. Gift link - it will work; I tested it - If It Isn’t Perfect, Is It Still K-Pop?
I never have understood Alice. I guess it's trying to be a more female-oriented version of alternative.
It's technically Hot AC, which is female, but more currents than traditional AC. Right now, Audacy is having better luck with Hot AC than CHR. They flipped a CHR in Philadelphia to Hot AC, and it is now a Top 10 station.
The main cultural center of Koreans in the Bay Area is in Oakland. (KoNo = Koreatown/Northgate). In the larger region, I believe nth-generation Chinese-Americans predominate; followed by Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, particularly around Daly City and vicinity; Vietnamese-Americans in the South Bay; with Japanese-Americans throughout the area (Japantown in San Francisco is a cultural center but seems a bit artificial). The current mayor of Oakland is the daughter of Hmong immigrants. While there are some cross-cultural linkages, these are quite distinct groups.
In short, I don't see that a 24/7 K-Pop format would have much broad appeal, even in a West Coast region such as the Bay Area. A specialty show would be about it, and it looks like KYLD is doing that.
I suspect the ghost of a music professor put a curse on 102.1 when it ceased being KDFC.
Correct, that's what I said in post #24
Don’t personally understand how, they are so different, aside from Alice randomly playing “hard rock” like Evanesence, which 106.5 KEZR also does. I think it is far more likely that Alice listeners went to KMVQ, KIOO and KOIT, as the 3 are all much more similar.
Don’t let these format labels overly influence your opinion on how the audiences will listen. Alice was basically KIOI with some rock thrown in. They also play a lot of genres that KMVQ will play, for example. Pop transcends formats. It is in alternative, Hot AC, AC and CHR
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Street Novelist
Banned
They play completely different music genres. Alice occasionally plays alternative, but it's mostly pop and "light" r&b.
Also with WBBM-FM in Chicago and WTDY in Philadelphia. They were extremely long suffering with WTDY, and their semi flip to hot AC has given the station some life back.
Look at when 97.3's 6+ share began sinking. That started right around the time 105.3 began surging. Did 97.3 make playlist adjustments at the time, I wonder?
As for 102.1, perhaps it should return to the type of playlist it featured before transitioning to classic hip-hop.
I think way too much attention is paid to month-to-month variations and to individual stations in isolation. I would look at this as a portfolio with diversification among formats in order to appeal to media buyers. Audacy's portfolio in the market comprises an all-news station, in a market where news-oriented formats do well; an all-sports station that's a bit of an underdog but enough of a threat that Cumulus blew up one of its only two FM stations in the market to simulcast KNBR; a hot AC with a strong morning team, not something that appeals to my tastes, but the station isn't targeting people like me; a revitalized alternative station with a storied brand; and a station that wobbles around various urban formats. Not every station in a portfolio is going to be a top performer - reversion to the mean is inexorable. There will be ups and downs. One has to look at moving averages and trends.
Then, when considering KRBQ, one has to ask, what else could they do? Would country be a better performer? In the Bay Area, probably not. The historical record on that is strong. Country is as much a lifestyle thing as a musical genre. There's a reason you don't see FarmersOnly.com ads on Bay Area television. For a country format to succeed in the Bay Area, it would have to have some regional flavor that doesn't really exist - maybe Americana, but that's never going to be a ratings powerhouse. CHR? Who wants to be the third station in any genre in a market? Hot AC? They've already got one. Softer AC? See comment regarding CHR. Another language? A remote, though not unthinkable possibility, would be a Spanish-language format. That would require building up expertise that Audacy doesn't have in the market. It could be done, but costs would be associated with that. Something more Asian-oriented? "Asian" is a very broad umbrella composed of a diverse set of groups and any kind of broad appeal is unlikely. AAA? That's a slow build requiring some expenditure of resources, and KEXP is knocking on the door. When all is said and done, Audacy may be just as well off sticking with what they have on KRBQ and running it as cheaply as possible until Audacy's broader corporate situation gets sorted out.
Then, when considering KRBQ, one has to ask, what else could they do? Would country be a better performer? In the Bay Area, probably not. The historical record on that is strong. Country is as much a lifestyle thing as a musical genre. There's a reason you don't see FarmersOnly.com ads on Bay Area television. For a country format to succeed in the Bay Area, it would have to have some regional flavor that doesn't really exist - maybe Americana, but that's never going to be a ratings powerhouse. CHR? Who wants to be the third station in any genre in a market? Hot AC? They've already got one. Softer AC? See comment regarding CHR. Another language? A remote, though not unthinkable possibility, would be a Spanish-language format. That would require building up expertise that Audacy doesn't have in the market. It could be done, but costs would be associated with that. Something more Asian-oriented? "Asian" is a very broad umbrella composed of a diverse set of groups and any kind of broad appeal is unlikely. AAA? That's a slow build requiring some expenditure of resources, and KEXP is knocking on the door. When all is said and done, Audacy may be just as well off sticking with what they have on KRBQ and running it as cheaply as possible until Audacy's broader corporate situation gets sorted out.
I doubt that the target audience for an all-Kpop station
When I was going to high school in the late 2000s (in a part of San Jose with a large Asian immigrant population), I had friends who used blogs and other online communities to find music that wasn't on mainstream radio such as underground rap, indie rock, or more closely to this discussion, Japanese and Korean pop music.
Back then an Asian music station would've appealed to them. But today, the intended target audience is already captured by YouTube, Spotify, and other online sources, so where would the value be to advertisers?
In the Bay Area, 92.3 KSJO (formerly a rock station) already has an all-Bollywood music format. It doesn't even show up in the latest Nielsen ratings for San Jose.
Good intentions, but some flaws.
When I was going to high school in the late 2000s (in a part of San Jose with a large Asian immigrant population), I had friends who used blogs and other online communities to find music that wasn't on mainstream radio such as underground rap, indie rock, or more closely to this discussion, Japanese and Korean pop music.
Back then an Asian music station would've appealed to them. But today, the intended target audience is already captured by YouTube, Spotify, and other online sources, so where would the value be to advertisers?
In the Bay Area, 92.3 KSJO (formerly a rock station) already has an all-Bollywood music format. It doesn't even show up in the latest Nielsen ratings for San Jose.
I know it isn’t intentional, but I think it is disingenuous to compare Bollywood and K-Pop.
K-Pop isn’t just a “ethnic” appeal or party to Asian culture. It has become something larger then that. Look at how 9 of the top 10 selling CD’s in the US. are K-Pop. Credit is where credit is due. I have Hispanic friends who love it, I have Caucasian friends who love it and of course I have Korean friends who love it. Now that’s anecdotal, but what isn’t is the dozens of articles talking about its dominance on streaming or even how it has been highlighted for its dominance in our culture among Gen Z and Millenials.
I always advocate for trying something new, especially if it has been growing for as long as K-Pop. It is very cool to see genres transcending the typical boundaries of communities.
The power of K-Pop is it has the appeal to multiple parties - but is it billable is a whole new story. If it has ratings? Maybe.
I’m no expert, but I can certainly understand that it is about making money and the long term trend of radio has to be able to appeal to younger generations, radio is struggling with that. Streaming is part of it, but anytime I see radio brought up in people my age (late 20’s) or younger it’s generally complaints that the music is just “too safe”, being much of the same artists.
I’d love to see a study in that area, because radio isn’t dying as a medium yet - only its appeal to advertisers. And truly the status quo won’t reverse this trend.
At least, that’s just my opinion: i like the idea of
“less corporate and traditional knowledge, more heart, experimentation and emotion”
But I’m a computer software developer. I won’t pretend I know anything about what I’m talking about beyond a deep interest in music and how society interacts and engages with it and its forms of broadcast.
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Hasn't the driving force been mainly teens? I get press releases from Tomorrow X Together and BTS, and it all looks like teen appeal to me.
Somewhat, looks like the majority are over 16 according to this from Billboard. Over 62%.
Other studies like an online census put 23-27 as the largest age group. I imagine K-Pop would fall largely at an average age of 23, based on a few sources.
Maybe this would be a format concept for 2 years from now — if the trends stay stable or continue growing, it’ll be hard to not advocate for it.
I definitely would like to see radio adapt regardless though, as I can’t recall ever seeing Apple Music or Spotify top charts share so little with modern radio’s playlist.
That is why agencies and big advertisers with in-house ad departments use multi-month averages, not just the most recent one. And they may skip in their averages periods like December-Holiday and July-August as not being representative.
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