Time for a change?

[musicfan101]

Hey guys, I was just reading the arbitron ratings for April. I noticed that KROQ and KYSR were both falling in the ratings. I am wondering three things: Where could all those listeners have gone? and Is it time to bring in more eclectic tunes to both stations like KDLD used to? Are music tastes changing among alternative music?

 

[Hunter]

Hey guys, I was just reading the arbitron ratings for April. I noticed that KROQ and KYSR were both falling in the ratings. I am wondering three things: Where could all those listeners have gone? and Is it time to bring in more eclectic tunes to both stations like KDLD used to? Are music tastes changing among alternative music?

I noticed this earlier today as well, but since I was looking at 6+ numbers at the time, it's really hard to know whats really going on without considering demos. Could be a couple of things....like younger cume sampling losses with the launch of Amp who has Stryker in PM. It may also not be so much the tastes of Alt Rock fans that is changing, but the lack of quality new product to play. There's gotta be more than Kings of Leon.

Looking at the 6+ share and cume it is interesting to note that over the last 3 monthly's KYSR's cume has increased about 4%, yet their share has dropped 20%, while KROQ has lost about 9% cume and has dropped 17% in share - which equals a .6 for both stations.

I'm sure that David will pop in here to shed some light on what's the story in demo....

 

[Buckethead]

Kroq and 98.7 are rock versions of top 40 stations.
My guess is they both lost some people to Amp.

 

[davideduardo]

Looking at the 6+ share and cume it is interesting to note that over the last 3 monthly's KYSR's cume has increased about 4%, yet their share has dropped 20%, while KROQ has lost about 9% cume and has dropped 17% in share - which equals a .6 for both stations.

I'm sure that David will pop in here to shed some light on what's the story in demo....

In 18-49 rank, KYSR is in, now, exactly the same +/- range it has been in for the last 7 books or so. KROQ is off by about 0.7 to 0.8 from its historic range, but a good deal of this comes from about a 1.5 to 2.0 decrease over the range and "best of" level in morning drive, which is not music driven. This is likely a KROQ issue, not a competitive one.

 

[radioresearcher]

Looking at the 6+ share and cume it is interesting to note that over the last 3 monthly's KYSR's cume has increased about 4%, yet their share has dropped 20%, while KROQ has lost about 9% cume and has dropped 17% in share - which equals a .6 for both stations.

I'm sure that David will pop in here to shed some light on what's the story in demo....

In 18-49 rank, KYSR is in, now, exactly the same +/- range it has been in for the last 7 books or so. KROQ is off by about 0.7 to 0.8 from its historic range, but a good deal of this comes from about a 1.5 to 2.0 decrease over the range and "best of" level in morning drive, which is not music driven. This is likely a KROQ issue, not a competitive one.

Shares of 98-7 and KROQ exceed what KROQ used to have diary

Lack of product is something

AMP has pulled from KROQ

Younger audience leaning more toward Top 40 and Rhythmic music rather than rock.

Teen numbers for Alternative on the decline.

Rock does have Hispanic appeal - but still favors "other" and the younger demos do not

 

[davideduardo]

Rock does have Hispanic appeal - but still favors "other" and the younger demos do not

And KYSR, in particular, has done a good job peeling Hispanics from KROQ in the last year or so.

 

[davideduardo]

Looking at the 6+ share and cume it is interesting to note that over the last 3 monthly's KYSR's cume has increased about 4%, yet their share has dropped 20%, while KROQ has lost about 9% cume and has dropped 17% in share - which equals a .6 for both stations.

I'm sure that David will pop in here to shed some light on what's the story in demo....

In 18-49 rank, KYSR is in, now, exactly the same +/- range it has been in for the last 7 books or so. KROQ is off by about 0.7 to 0.8 from its historic range, but a good deal of this comes from about a 1.5 to 2.0 decrease over the range and "best of" level in morning drive, which is not music driven. This is likely a KROQ issue, not a competitive one.

Shares of 98-7 and KROQ exceed what KROQ used to have diary

Lack of product is something

AMP has pulled from KROQ

Younger audience leaning more toward Top 40 and Rhythmic music rather than rock.

Teen numbers for Alternative on the decline.

Rock does have Hispanic appeal - but still favors "other" and the younger demos do not

 

[musicfan101]

Hey guys, I was just reading the arbitron ratings for April. I noticed that KROQ and KYSR were both falling in the ratings. I am wondering three things: Where could all those listeners have gone? and Is it time to bring in more eclectic tunes to both stations like KDLD used to? Are music tastes changing among alternative music?

I noticed this earlier today as well, but since I was looking at 6+ numbers at the time, it's really hard to know whats really going on without considering demos. Could be a couple of things....like younger cume sampling losses with the launch of Amp who has Stryker in PM. It may also not be so much the tastes of Alt Rock fans that is changing, but the lack of quality new product to play. There's gotta be more than Kings of Leon.

Looking at the 6+ share and cume it is interesting to note that over the last 3 monthly's KYSR's cume has increased about 4%, yet their share has dropped 20%, while KROQ has lost about 9% cume and has dropped 17% in share - which equals a .6 for both stations.

I'm sure that David will pop in here to shed some light on what's the story in demo....

Funny, when I first heard of AMP radio coming about, I felt this was CBS's was of "chessboarding" listeners over to KROQ. Kind of like what happened with the whole Indie 103.1 and KIIS fm thing.

 

[radiojomo]

What I think is that the blame for this is the demise of Indie 103.1...

-Indie 103.1 influenced the new music KROQ would play. Most notably Death Cab For Cutie, MGMT, Feist, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Airborne Toxic Event, etc. Indie played all these artists before KROQ and when most songs were popular on Indie, KROQ would consider it for its playlist.
-KROQ fuels the playlist of the entire nation's alternative stations. Just look at how many stations add a song after KROQ adds it.
Remember Handlebars by the Flobots?
When KROQ added it to its playlist, every other alternative station in the nation added it!
-Right now, without Indie, the playlist is lacking the "fresh new artists" that it usually adds. The Fray on KROQ??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
-Alternative stations are relying more on gold than before. It seems that stations believe that adding more gold will draw a LARGER crowd but really, we've all heard "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction AT LEAST A MILLION TIMES. People want new music to keep them drawn into the station.
-Ignoring local and new artists. It seems that alternative stations have been more picky on picking new songs to place on the playlist. They're afraid to launch songs into the public without the security of knowing if people will like it or not when in fact, alternative stations SHOULD be doing this to keep the sound of the stations fresh.
-Losing younger demographics. AMP is winning crowds from KROQ because of the younger demo's shift to new music. They're tired of listening to 90's gold and are shifting to hear something they've never heard before.
-Saying that alternative is no longer the station of the youth is a HUGE understatement. Have you ever seen the trends of the artists most teens are listening to along with AMP artists? Most listen to punk pop artists like Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., Panic At The Disco, Paramore, 3OH! 3 etc. These artists SELL OUT shows and sell millions of dollars of merch at concerts and at stores like Hot Topic. Alternative stations seem to be leaving these artists out of the playlist. WHY? Because they believe no person over 20 would listen to pop punk! But I'm sure if there was a station in LA that mixed pop punk artists and KROQ artists, this station would surely steal audiences from KIIS and AMP. KROQ used to add these artists, artists like Yellowcard etc. But now they just seem to look over them.

All that I have just stated may not be 100% true but that's my theory why alternative is downfalling.

 

[briancraig]

I certainly agree that Indie 103.1 was a very good influence on KROQ.

Just today, I was looking with someone at KROQ's top 106.7 songs from various years. I was a huge fan of the station in the 1980s, but by the late 1990s hated the music they were playing. At the time, I figured I was just getting too old for current rock music (born in 65). But looking at the lists from 2003 to 2007, I started liking quite a bit of the music KROQ was playing and that to me was Indie's influence forcing KROQ to play more interesting music.

In the last year, I've once again not been much of a user of the alternative format. Maybe the new Green Day will make it cool for KROQ to play more pop punk.