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Looking back at KLOL 11 Years After Its Demise

stan said:
KLOL is still ruined to this day.
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Yet it has higher ratings and more listeners. Explain how it is "ruined" today?
 
DavidEduardo said:


Yet it has higher ratings and more listeners. Explain how it is "ruined" today?
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It's not. We may have been disappointed by (then) Clear Channel's choice to end Houston's heritage rock format. Even I wish they could have gone with something different but I understand why they did it. It's doing better than it's previous incarnation, doesn't sound ruined to me.

I've said the same about KKBQ. It ran almost 9 years as a CHR. 24 years doing country. Someone called it a disaster. No, not really
 
stan said:
Opinions are like ******* - everyone has one.
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What is not a matter of opinion is the fact that KLOL is doing much better today as a CHR than it did in its last era as a rocker. It's fame was greater than its usage.
 
KLOL was number 10 in billings for 2003 (their last full year as a rock station): ratings had started to tumble by then.

KLOL in the early 80's and again when Ken Anthony was PD registered in the 7's. Given the increased amount of stations and competitors, it's hard to see this version of KLOL achieving those heights.
 
dlf1 said:
KLOL was number 10 in billings for 2003 (their last full year as a rock station): ratings had started to tumble by then.

KLOL in the early 80's and again when Ken Anthony was PD registered in the 7's. Given the increased amount of stations and competitors, it's hard to see this version of KLOL achieving those heights.
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When KLOL fell 25% in revenues between 2000 and 2001 and was passed by KTBZ and KKRW it was clear that the market did not need one of them... at least. KKRW had also fallen nearly 20% in the same two years so it seemed apparent that there was more rock leaning radio than there were spot buys.
 
What's also happened is the audience for the format has splintered and become less tolerant of certain aspects of the music, so it's become harder to program for consensus than it was 20 years ago. Especially if you want to keep the target age under 45.
 
TheBigA said:
What's also happened is the audience for the format has splintered and become less tolerant of certain aspects of the music, so it's become harder to program for consensus than it was 20 years ago. Especially if you want to keep the target age under 45.
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Good point.

What this type of discussion often does not take into account is that the revenue a station in the top 5 might achieve on, let's say, a 7 share, is not the same as the combined revenues of two 3-share stations that split the former 7 share. Almost always we see that those lower rated stations don't get high enough on buyers' rankers to even get some of the money. And the smart buyers try to cover a variety of formats, and don't buy rock stations several deep unless they offer good reach gains for the buy.
 
KLOL did have a significant drop between 2000 and 2001. Interesting that in 2002 and 2003, they rebounded and were the highest biller of the then "Houston Rock Wall".
 
What was also going on during this time was a demographic shift in the population. For the past ten or so years, Houston has become more Hispanic than it was 20 years ago. There was a 5% increase just between 2010 and 2015. The changes in that demographic are reflected in what you hear on the radio.
 
None of this discussion changes the fact that Houston lost a legacy station with a dedicated following. And it doesn't obligate those of us who listened to KLOL in its rock days to listen to it now that it is foreign language - or to be excited about the foreign language programming. 101.1 is not on my presets any more, nor will it ever be again until it programs a format I like, in a language I understand. Other people may listen, and that's fine for them. I hope the owners make a big pile of money. But I don't and won't listen to 101.1 any more. I think the vast majority of former KLOL listeners feel the same.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
None of this discussion changes the fact that Houston lost a legacy station with a dedicated following. And it doesn't obligate those of us who listened to KLOL in its rock days to listen to it now that it is foreign language - or to be excited about the foreign language programming.
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Of course not. Nothing "obligates" you to listen to anything on the radio. My point is that what changed was the city of Houston. All radio did was reflect the changes in the city. I'm sure there are a lot of other legacy things that have changed from 30 years ago, things you once enjoyed doing that are no longer there. It's all part of the same thing. There is no law that "obligates" radio stations to stay the same while everything else changes.
 
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It seemed KLOL floundered in their final years grasping at any straw that might make them bounce back. I recall a conversation with a couple of station owners over a beer that KLOL should have embraced classic rock, embracing their 'heritage'. At that time Z-107.5 was the classic rocker but The Arrow was yet to appear. I can't say that would have been the right move but it sure seemed logical to me especially since the air talent was there.

That does not mean other group owners would not have tried to skim off the audience with competitors but in the years that followed indicated the station seemed to hit some real bumps in the road.
 
b-turner said:
KLOL should have embraced classic rock, embracing their 'heritage'.
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That's what some stations did. That way, they could keep their air-staff, who would age with their audience. It made sense. In other cities, the heritage staff had to change stations when classic rock appeared. That's what happened in NYC when WNEW changed formats, and the staff went to WAXQ. WNEW could have beaten them and classic rock and would be a Top 10 station today.

What I recall was there was a trend of some big radio companies, like CBS, wanting to reach out to Hispanic audiences. It was obviously a growing market. They did it in Houston and DC. Clear Channel also tried it in a few markets, but with lesser success than CBS.
 
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