Ratings: The Sound tanks!

[LA_Guy]

The Sound's ratings have dropped by over 40% according to the latest PPM ratings. This shows that people sampled them when they first signed on, but then left and never came back. Is there any hope for The Sound?

 

[davideduardo]

The Sound's ratings have dropped by over 40% according to the latest PPM ratings. This shows that people sampled them when they first signed on, but then left and never came back. Is there any hope for The Sound?

Since PPM became currency, the sound has been 0.9, 1.0, 0.9 and 0.9 in the four books issued. To me, that looks like it is flat, not off.

 

[calguy]

The Sound's ratings have dropped by over 40% according to the latest PPM ratings. This shows that people sampled them when they first signed on, but then left and never came back. Is there any hope for The Sound?

They may not have a hope. They're just aren't enough people living in the greater LA area that listen. Okay, I don't want to sound like a racist, I'm not, but therr isn't enough of a caucasian population to support KROQ, 98.7, KLOS and The Sound. So Cal has something like over 40% Spanish speakers, and as David Eduardo will tell you, they don't listen to rock very much. Plus there are a great many other nationalities here now who don't listen as well. The pie is just not big enough. It's sad too because I like The Sound, and I suspect a lot of people do, but they are a minority. I know that Bonneville thought that this format would be good for the PPM, but there are exceptions and this is one. Perhaps they should have bought some TV commercial time above and beyond a few big billboards. Stiil I supsect that may not work as the numbers seem to be stacked against them...

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

The Sound's ratings have dropped by over 40% according to the latest PPM ratings. This shows that people sampled them when they first signed on, but then left and never came back. Is there any hope for The Sound?

Since PPM became currency, the sound has been 0.9, 1.0, 0.9 and 0.9 in the four books issued. To me, that looks like it is flat, not off.

LA_Guy must be referencing the All Access story from Monday about it's demos: The Sound currently ranks 31st among adults 25-54 sliding 43% since August.

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

The Sound's ratings have dropped by over 40% according to the latest PPM ratings. This shows that people sampled them when they first signed on, but then left and never came back. Is there any hope for The Sound?

They may not have a hope. They're just aren't enough people living in the greater LA area that listen. Okay, I don't want to sound like a racist, I'm not, but therr isn't enough of a caucasian population to support KROQ, 98.7, KLOS and The Sound. So Cal has something like over 40% Spanish speakers, and as David Eduardo will tell you, they don't listen to rock very much. Plus there are a great many other nationalities here now who don't listen as well. The pie is just not big enough. It's sad too because I like The Sound, and I suspect a lot of people do, but they are a minority. I know that Bonneville thought that this format would be good for the PPM, but there are exceptions and this is one. Perhaps they should have bought some TV commercial time above and beyond a few big billboards. Stiil I supsect that may not work as the numbers seem to be stacked against them...

I guess this shows the people at Bonneville aren't too bright. All they needed to do was listen to a few of us who called this from DAY ONE. I wouldn't have even researched the format. It was a guaranteed loser for Los Angeles.

Talk or Sports. Go one or the other. Forget news, costs are too expensive for a start-up.

 

[davideduardo]

[
They may not have a hope. They're just aren't enough people living in the greater LA area that listen. Okay, I don't want to sound like a racist, I'm not, but therr isn't enough of a caucasian population to support KROQ, 98.7, KLOS and The Sound. So Cal has something like over 40% Spanish speakers, and as David Eduardo will tell you, they don't listen to rock very much. Plus there are a great many other nationalities here now who don't listen as well.

As to Hispanics listening to rock, remember that KROQ has about 26% Hispanic cume, and KYSR even more, at around 35%. That flavor works with Hispanics, while the classic rock does not do nearly as well, and AAA, which is the most Anglo of formats, does horribly.

Alternative rock does quite well in Latin America, too. But most of the things that make AAA different (not the overlap) are unheard there and are not generaly big with Hispanics... except really assimilated later generation folks like, well, Jerry Garcia was.

 

[fmboi]

Perhaps if The Sound was truly a AAA station, instead of a glorified classic rock station, it would do better. But at least 85% of their playlist is duplicated by KLOS and even Jack and KRTH!

If they'd be a true niche station and superserve the rabid music fans in So Cal, they'd likely do much better. They should dump the over-researched Dave Beasing and bring in Nicole Sandler to program the thing, and be a more accessible 24 hour version of Morning Becomes Eclectic.

But being the milktoast generic classic rock excuse for AAA isn't going to cut it, especially in LA!

 

[4UH8SIMBKAGN]

Perhaps if The Sound was truly a AAA station, instead of a glorified classic rock station, it would do better. But at least 85% of their playlist is duplicated by KLOS and even Jack and KRTH!

If they'd be a true niche station and superserve the rabid music fans in So Cal, they'd likely do much better. They should dump the over-researched Dave Beasing and bring in Nicole Sandler to program the thing, and be a more accessible 24 hour version of Morning Becomes Eclectic.

But being the milktoast generic classic rock excuse for AAA isn't going to cut it, especially in LA!

If this was a true hardcore AAA station, they'd be doing even worse than they currently are. Can't anyone get a clue of what works in L.A.? Obviously not, if companies are idiotic enough to put formats like this on in L.A.. This format works as well as a dance format in L.A.. There is no need for it as it does not appeal to a large enough segment of the population to ever work and it won't ever. In fact, as the demographics continue to change in Los Angeles, its chances get worse every year.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Perhaps if The Sound was truly a AAA station, instead of a glorified classic rock station, it would do better. But at least 85% of their playlist is duplicated by KLOS and even Jack and KRTH!

If they'd be a true niche station and superserve the rabid music fans in So Cal, they'd likely do much better. They should dump the over-researched Dave Beasing and bring in Nicole Sandler to program the thing, and be a more accessible 24 hour version of Morning Becomes Eclectic.

But being the milktoast generic classic rock excuse for AAA isn't going to cut it, especially in LA!

I like that ... "milktoast" haha but true. Yes they are not a 'AAA' station but rather a hybrid of some elements of AAA (minus the female singer/songwriters) mixed with a little deeper classic rock tracks mixed in with a lot of Led Zep, the Who, the Stones, and a whole whole lot of U2.

I used to think as you about how much better The Sound would do if they became more eclectic and upped the visibility and vibe of the music mix they could have; have more street presence above and beyond having their logo on buses (saw one on Brea Blvd in Brea yesterday with '100.3' all over it), bus stops, and billboards. A much hipper and edgier music mix couldn't hurt. I used to think that way.

But now I have to agree with Glenn (the poster above this one) that this format just doesn't get the numbers in SoCal and it never will. Besides the fact that The Sound has not 'executed' the format very well, the station is now on a stay of execution. I have long given up hope and I just tune in now and then to see what they're doing. Thanks to the Internet, there are so many many AAA choices of over the air out of market stations and AAA Internet-only stations, and only a finite number of hours in which to listen, my radio music-listening needs have so far been amply met.

 

[RadioStarOne]

Why not try Beautiful Music "Spanish Style?"

 

[JPT]

I think what bothered me the most about The Sound (beyond the milquetoast AAA yawn-fest) was the subtle phoniness of the whole premise...it was never a real AAA station and never fulfilled its promise of "daring to be different." And yet, day after day, month after month, the whole staff (who are truly nice folks) acted as if they really were doing something different and really cared about what the listeners thought. The same suggestions came and went on their message board, and were either totally ignored or answered with a cursory "Thanks for listening...we really do care what you think" - when they clearly had no intention of changing anything.

In my opinion, The Sound's format was pretty much set in stone early on and was never going to deviate much from its safe, over-researched roots. I think the whole thing was doomed to fail from the outset because of its terrible, boring execution...it never really felt like actual people were minding the store and programming the station - no connection was ever established with the listeners or the community. It turned out to be just another corporately-programmed, faceless entity.

I agree with SRF and others here that a true AAA station will never make it in L.A. - I was hoping it was possible, but I should have heeded the warnings of some of the wise folks here several months ago. All I know is, AAA or not, The Sound failed miserably.

 

[scooty430]

Perhaps if The Sound was truly a AAA station, instead of a glorified classic rock station, it would do better. But at least 85% of their playlist is duplicated by KLOS and even Jack and KRTH!

If they'd be a true niche station and superserve the rabid music fans in So Cal, they'd likely do much better. They should dump the over-researched Dave Beasing and bring in Nicole Sandler to program the thing, and be a more accessible 24 hour version of Morning Becomes Eclectic.

But being the milktoast generic classic rock excuse for AAA isn't going to cut it, especially in LA!

Exactly. The Sound is KLOS without the heritage, jocks, morning show, or signal strength.

 

[davideduardo]

They should dump the over-researched Dave Beasing and bring in Nicole Sandler to program the thing,

Considering that KSCA with a nearly identical signal under that PD got around a 1 share, why would they do that?

The format, simply, has no roots in SoCal.

 

[scooty430]

What does KSCA have to do with the Sound?

KSCA was AAA. The Sound is classic rock.

 

[davideduardo]

What does KSCA have to do with the Sound?

KSCA was AAA. The Sound is classic rock.

The target is the same. There is enough differentiation between The Sound and a classic rock list to know that it is not the same thing... it's never about the songs that overlap, it's always about the songs that are different.

 

[scooty430]

What does KSCA have to do with the Sound?

KSCA was AAA. The Sound is classic rock.

The target is the same. There is enough differentiation between The Sound and a classic rock list to know that it is not the same thing... it's never about the songs that overlap, it's always about the songs that are different.

This what The Sound just played in the last two hours:

Oasis - I'm Outta Here
Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man
STP - Sour Girl
Bruce Springsteen - My Hometown
Counting Crows - Accidentally In Love
Eric Clapton - Motherless Children
Green Day - Good Riddance
Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
CSN - Carry On
Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun
PHIL COLLINS - IN THE AIR TONIGHT (wow! NOT AAA)
Talking Heads - Nothing But Flowers
Supertramp - Blody Well Right
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Eric Hutchinson - Rock And Roll
Smashing Pumpkins - Today
The Who - Behind Blue Eyes
U2 - Desire
Tom Petty - Out In The Cold
The Police - Canary In A Coalmine
Fleetwood Mac - Heroes Are Hard to Find (pretty cool song, actually!)
REM - It's The End Of The World
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit

Folks, this ain't AAA. Only ONE new song. The rest are oldies/classic rock. KLOS would play all these songs, except Eric Hutchinson and Oasis.

It's a wimpier KLOS. Who needs that?

If you're going to play rock, as someone else said, "super serve" the LA rabid music fans (many of them) and make it a hipper, harder KCRW. Or, forget rock and do something else.




It's KLOS Lite.

 

[briancraig]

"The format, simply, has no roots in SoCal."

Couldn't you argue that in some ways, KNX-FM between 1973 and 1983 was the first AAA station.

 

[davideduardo]

If you're going to play rock, as someone else said, "super serve" the LA rabid music fans (many of them) and make it a hipper, harder KCRW. Or, forget rock and do something else.

There are very few "rabid music fans" in LA, because the non-ethnic and non-immigrant percentage of the population is so low.

There are, however, rabid posters.

KCRW? The AAA hours have horrible ratings, below that of The Sound.

 

[scooty430]

If you're going to play rock, as someone else said, "super serve" the LA rabid music fans (many of them) and make it a hipper, harder KCRW. Or, forget rock and do something else.

There are very few "rabid music fans" in LA, because the non-ethnic and non-immigrant percentage of the population is so low.

There are, however, rabid posters.

KCRW? The AAA hours have horrible ratings, below that of The Sound.

As someone who used to live in Eagle Rock, I can tell you that Glendale is very, very different from the Westside and much of the Valley. Especially these days, as it has become largely Armenian.

There are actually many rabid music fans in LA: the entire music industry is based here - session musicians on up. And you've got all the film industry folks, who are also typically informed musically.

KCRW is not AAA by the way. It's very obscure (and very boring, IMO) But it serves a niche. If you're going niche, go for it. The Sound is trying to act "niche," and they talk all day about being "about the music." But in reality they are hedging their bets with boring, safe music. You can't have it both ways. Either be a JACK or a KLOS and play it broad, or actually BE about the music, take some chances, and develop a passionate following.

It's too late for the Sound. And if I owned it, I'd ask someone else to pick a format other than rock and program it. But if rock is the plan, then a "quality" station with fantastic music would be wonderful for the city. Not AAA - that's just another dumb corporate label.

Instead, an informed, intelligent station playing ALL the great music from 1954 to now, programmed by people who love music, and owned by management who GETS OUT OF THE WAY.

I'd listen...

(And as for "rabid posters," I have 600 posts. You have 14,000.)

 

[davideduardo]

As someone who used to live in Eagle Rock, I can tell you that Glendale is very, very different from the Westside and much of the Valley. Especially these days, as it has become largely Armenian.

Who is talking about Glendale? I mentioned my office as being in that area, but there is no Iron Curtain around the town, and I drive about 20 thousand miles a year, which would be hard to do inside Glendale alone.

You, do, however, come up with the strangest non sequiturs in your post.

There are actually many rabid music fans in LA: the entire music industry is based here

I think Nashville and New York would take issue with you. In any case, only a fraction of the music industry is here.

- session musicians on up. And you've got all the film industry folks, who are also typically informed musically.

And they all like AAA? Yeah, right.

Either be a JACK or a KLOS and play it broad, or actually BE about the music, take some chances, and develop a passionate following.

There are not enough people here that might like any kind of AAA to develop a passionate following, even more so than 12 years ago when KSCA failed, too.

(And as for "rabid posters," I have 600 posts. You have 14,000.)

"Rabid" is not a quantity, but a quality. And it's one you have an overabundance of.