rbrucecarter5 said:
It sounds like everybody is getting brainwashed by certain posters and the "its all about ratings and money" attitude. Without ratings and money, of course, any business fails. But the last time I read a station license, it said "in the public interest". Nothing about ratings and money. I'm of the opinion if you do what the license says - really take care of your listeners, operate like it is a service to them, ratings will follow.
No one in this thread posted anything about money except you. Ratings came up since a claim was made that KOOI was being listened to in D/FW and Shreveport and taking listeners from local stations in the market. While there maybe some radio hobbyists that like to try to pull it in remote signals, the reality among the universe of radio listeners in either market is that the number of people overall interested in doing that is so tiny it doesn't register in either market's ratings. The only market outside Tyler/Longview where KOOI shows up is Lufkin/Nacogdoches, where KOOI delivers a strong signal to. But even there, the ratings are low since there is a local alternative.
As far as KOOI - it isn't so much "they have Delilah KVIL has Delilah" - it is about what song is playing at the moment. Another station on the dial, another chance of not hearing a burned out song that sucks. Good enough for me - I'd rather listen to a rimshot with a good song than a local with a bad. Next song - I'll decide whether or not to push the button and go back to a local, or stay on the rim shot. Most everybody else does, too - push buttons.
If Air Supply, Cher, Celine Dione, Lionel Richie, Elton John, etc. turn you on, go for it. No one is telling you can't get jiggy with KOOI if that is what you like. Neither is anyone saying button-pushing doesn't exist.
What was challenged was calling KOOI a Dallas rim-shot and saying it has listeners in either S'port or D/FW pulling ratings from the local ACs. I suppose it has some -- maybe numbering in the dozens.
The reality is Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, and Collin Counties fall outside a 40 dBu contour of KOOI. That is too weak for radios the vast majority of people use to generate meaningful listening...it's too weak to hear in office buildings, too weak to hear on walkmans, too weak to hear on most boom boxes or the average clock radio, not strong enough to get the car stereo to stop on it if doing a seek or scan, etc. Even if the radio could get it via an external antenna, unless it is pretty good (and most radios aren't), it's likely to have signal quality problems with KZZA 106.7 nearby. KOOI's stick is 99 miles from downtown Dallas; KZZA is 61 miles away and a max C that is stronger; KOOI is near max C0 strength.
99% of radio listeners will only tolerate a weak signal (<50 dBu) if there is absolutely no option locally. KKDA-FM has regularly scored in the top 5 in the 12+ Waco Arbitrons for years. Waco has no local urban station; the strongest signals available are Dallas' KKDA-FM or KBFB. If there was a local urban, KKDA-FM's ratings would drop off. It did in Tyler once KBLZ/KAZE came along...when it appears in the Tyler ratings now, it is well under a 1.0 share.
If putting a 30 dBu signal over a market was enough to generate meaningful numbers of listeners and make them a rimshot, KOOI and a dozen other stations within 200 miles of D/FW would immediately be targeting their program at D/FW and ditching their local markets. Certainly, Clear Channel would have demanded a hell of a lot more money for KNUE 101.5 Tyler, WACO-FM 99.9 Waco, KWTX-FM 97.5 Waco, etc. when they sold them if they were Dallas rimshots.
