Trends: The Real Story

[djdan]

Looks like the big shift that everyone was waiting for
didn't happen yet. First trend of the Winter book was
pretty much no news. KMPS was not hurt by WOLF and JACK
is beginning to decline, but other than that no big
surprises. Too soon to see where the Howard Stern
audience is going, in this trend most probably just figured
out he left. By Spring we will know if there is any impact
from all the format changes in December. Way too soon to tell.
For now it is business as usual.

 

[Jay_F]

> Looks like the big shift that everyone was waiting for
> didn't happen yet. First trend of the Winter book was
> pretty much no news. KMPS was not hurt by WOLF and JACK
> is beginning to decline, but other than that no big
> surprises. Too soon to see where the Howard Stern
> audience is going, in this trend most probably just figured
> out he left. By Spring we will know if there is any impact
> from all the format changes in December. Way too soon to
> tell.
> For now it is business as usual.
>



I think that country is one of the toughest formats for a new competitior to take on an established heritage station. The country audience is probably more loyal than most other formats. There is a new country station in Denver and their trend looked very similar to Seattle. Heritage KYGO stayed strong while the new country station in Denver had a weak first trend.

In Las Vegas, a new country station named the COYOTE came on the first day of the Fall book. They launched with "10,000 songs in a row comercial free", ran a HEAVY TV advertising schedule, and gave away a truck on the air. Some radio people thought COYOTE would do good right out of the gate. Yet, in the Fall book heritage country KWNR was #2 25-54 (behind a sister Soft AC station that was all Christmas for much of the book) while COYOTE was a non-impressive #16 25-54.

 

[jdweaver]

> > Looks like the big shift that everyone was waiting for
> > didn't happen yet. First trend of the Winter book was
> > pretty much no news. KMPS was not hurt by WOLF and JACK
> > is beginning to decline, but other than that no big
> > surprises. Too soon to see where the Howard Stern
> > audience is going, in this trend most probably just
> figured
> > out he left. By Spring we will know if there is any
> impact
> > from all the format changes in December. Way too soon to
> > tell.
> > For now it is business as usual.
> >
>
>
>
> I think that country is one of the toughest formats for a
> new competitior to take on an established heritage station.
> The country audience is probably more loyal than most other
> formats. There is a new country station in Denver and their
> trend looked very similar to Seattle. Heritage KYGO stayed
> strong while the new country station in Denver had a weak
> first trend.
>
> In Las Vegas, a new country station named the COYOTE came on
> the first day of the Fall book. They launched with "10,000
> songs in a row comercial free", ran a HEAVY TV advertising
> schedule, and gave away a truck on the air. Some radio
> people thought COYOTE would do good right out of the gate.
> Yet, in the Fall book heritage country KWNR was #2 25-54
> (behind a sister Soft AC station that was all Christmas for
> much of the book) while COYOTE was a non-impressive #16
> 25-54.
>
New stations typically grow the format share - which is why dominant country stations often remain dominant and the new-comer can still get 2-3 shares which ain't bad.

While KKWF has done a good job and developed a distinctly different sound than KMPS - they won't knock KMPS off for a while, if ever. But they will have a viable radio station. Makes sense to me.