Radio One is not going to have two of their own stations competing against each other because they’re scared one of their competitors might flip. That’s not how this works.
Given that ratings are declining at KBFB, a flip would seem possible, if not likely. I would expect a tweak at minimum. In the end, the decision will come down to whether KBFB and KKDA make enough money together and whether a new format will bring in more money. Urban One surely knows all of the KBFB listeners won’t go to KKDA (or vice-versa) if it flips. Still, if either station is at or below the break even point, a flip is likely.
K104 is the stronger urban, and KRNB is the stronger UAC from both a ratings and revenue perspective. R1 is not about to blow up either station for an inferior product, although they’ll probably be some tweaks.
I agree blowing up KKDA would be crazy. Having said that, my experience has been that doesn’t play much of a factor when a company buys a competitor and decides to remove one station. Usually, the acquirer keeps its property while toasting the incoming one. Heritage and ratings don’t matter much in these situations, especially if that higher rated station doesn’t have the margins the new company wants. Still, I would think Urban One will ultimately decide to keep K104, though it might not be the K104 of today. I have to go way back to find a time when Urban One added a heritage urban station to an existing operation, but, in Cleveland and Indy, it acquired WZAK and WTLC, both of which it flipped to urban AC to take out of competition with its existing urban stations. It kept the heritage brands but changed the formats. Those transactions, though, didn’t involve an Urban AC already existing within either operation.
That’s the exception not the rule, and Cumulus would likely do better revenue wise if they diversified their format offerings.
KSCS and KPLX used to be the highest billing music stations in the entire company. Cumulus did adjust the formats so the two targeted slightly different demos, but it was never going to blow one of its highest billing stations up in the name of format diversity. It had (and probably still does have) enough stations in that cluster that don’t perform well.
KKDA-FM probably will not be touched.
If there's a change at KBFB, I expect K104 will absolutely be touched. It may not mean a format change, but, if The Beat has any successful talent, it will find its way to another station, probably K104. As I mentioned above, I'd be shocked, but I wouldn’t be surprised, if the urban AC format on KRNB or KZMJ finds its way to K104.
Moving KRNB to the 97.9 stick makes sense, but will they keep Harvey or move Smiley. So what to do with the 105.7 stick as far as programming.
Maybe. It might make sense on paper, but how much better would KRNB do on 97.9? What could be placed on 105.7 that would do better than what’s already there? Also, do K104 and 105.7 have any high-priced talent Urban One might not want? Urban One has to think about the practical element and how to make the most money it can with the cluster it has. You are right, though, when you say nobody knows. Liggins, Hughes, and Sneed might know, but the rest of us don’t.
