WBAP will be simulcasting on 93.3 FM

[Deleted member 76036]

I was the opposite. I hated that from Alt because most of the songs that were "deeeleted" were the good 90s/early 2000s alt rock and were replaced by Eminem, Adele, "Lights" by Ellie Goulding, along with some other non-rock/non-alternative/pop-ish songs that were from Kiss FM. Although it was a good-enough feature to radio, people seemed to rig the system instead and the ratings sure did show a dip as well, and this was before the talk radio came to Alt. It was like "lets bring back The Edge, but ohhhh I'm sorry, no Foo Fighters for you. May we suggest Justin Bieber instead? LOL!"

Hmm…if that’s true, I agree. From what I remember, a lot of the songs that were deleted and went away were the pop songs and songs that in my opinion were just bad and overplayed and you didn’t want to hear any longer. I don’t think this feature resulted in all the pop garbage being added, because there were a lot of other songs that could’ve been added from the 90s/2000s that were nowhere to be heard.

Regardless on how this feature affected the station, I added my likes from the text message thread to an Apple Music playlist and it grew to 44 songs before the feature was discontinued. I’ve had quite a few people stumble over this playlist and subscribe, but these are my likes and musical preferences, so they might not mirror yours:

 

[AlanB]

When KLTY was preparing to 94.9 F.M. from its brief exile on 100.7, I reminded the program director that Arlington bordered Fort Worth and is 20+ miles away from Dallas. He replied "You want us to I.D. KLTY Arlington, Fort Worth/Dallas, don't you?" Guess what they don't do?

If the format wheel spin that started this conversation does happen, I hope that the station looks at a map and records the legal ID as "WBAP-FM Haltom City, Fort Worth/Dallas."

 

[Deleted member 76036]

When KLTY was preparing to 94.9 F.M. from its brief exile on 100.7, I reminded the program director that Arlington bordered Fort Worth and is 20+ miles away from Dallas. He replied "You want us to I.D. KLTY Arlington, Fort Worth/Dallas, don't you?" Guess what they don't do?

If the format wheel spin that started this conversation does happen, I hope that the station looks at a map and records the legal ID as "WBAP-FM Haltom City, Fort Worth/Dallas."

I think that’s smart, especially considering the new format and because Fort Worth/Tarrant County is more conservative than Dallas/Dallas County.

 

[radiofan86]

I don’t think it was Jelli. It was used on station in Canada well before Jelli was introduced and seemed to work out well

There was LDR, Listener Driven Radio. I think that was from Futuri, a.k.a. the people behind RadioGPT. I think there was another competitor from someone else as well. This was around a dozen years ago, if my memory is correct.

 

[davideduardo]

You don’t need to meet everyone’s needs at the same time. That’s what you’re suggesting, which of course is impossible. If you create a playlist on Apple Music or Spotify and invite a few friends over. That playlist will only be personalized for you. Your friends may not like the songs you picked.

What we learn from music tests is that there are few consensus songs. A few are liked by nearly all, but the rest are loved by some, liked by others and just tolerated by the rest. There is no consensus.

Again, you can’t satisfy everyone at the same time. Sometimes you’re not going to like something with a station, but other people will. This doesn’t mean radio shouldn’t try to be creative. Radio is a creative medium and isn’t one-size-fits all.

The issue is that personal playlists are all songs each individual loves. No stiffs, no mediocre songs.

There’s a lot more that goes into deciding to change the format besides music testing and ratings.

Yes, we do several types of perceptual tests to find a format hole or vulnerability. We use the appropriate kind of test based on the market and the competitive array.

Reading a lot of the threads on here, that’s what you all seem to pivot to. If the format change for KLIF-FM happens, which is seems it will, it’s NOT because of music testing and ratings.

A music test is only done once the format is decided on. They are two separate kinds of research.

If it was, Cumulus would’ve dumped the format years ago. There are other unknown factors that we haven’t figured out and probably never will.

One factor is the estimate of available revenue for the demographic range, ethnicity and other aspects of a format not all formats deliver the same revenue.

 

[TheBigA]

If the format change for KLIF-FM happens, which is seems it will, it’s NOT because of music testing and ratings. If it was, Cumulus would’ve dumped the format years ago. There are other unknown factors that we haven’t figured out and probably never will.

This station has gone through several adjustments and brand changes over the last few years. They played fewer currents, added more gold, changed staff and on air personalities. It's been documented in detail on this board. None of the changes or adjustments improved the situation. That's why they're dropping music and replacing it with a simulcast.

Radio stations have a lot more control than you think. It’s what you do with that control that makes all the difference.

So what Cumulus is doing with their control, after several years and various adjustments, is changing the format.

 

[Holstead]

That was doomed from the start Susquehanna/Service Broadcasting proposal to the City of Dallas. The city would get 105.7 for WRR, Service would get 93.3 for KRNB and Susquehanna would get 101.1for KDBN. The Friends of WRR killed that quick, fast and in a hurry!!!

I bet that 60mil looks pretty tasty now...

 

[Deleted member 76036]

There was LDR, Listener Driven Radio. I think that was from Futuri, a.k.a. the people behind RadioGPT. I think there was another competitor from someone else as well. This was around a dozen years ago, if my memory is correct.

Thanks! Maybe that’s what it was. This was 10+ years ago, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the Jelli format.

 

[Deleted member 76036]

One last thought and I’m bowing out of this conversation…

If there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent the exodus of listeners to personalized digital formats, what’s the point of keeping music on FM radio? Why don’t we just flip everything to conservative talk, sports and religious formats and move on? It seems like this is the direction we’re heading and no one wants to seem to innovate and come up with exciting and fresh new ideas, so let’s just flip everything and be done with it.

For Cumulus:

93.3 KLIF-FM News & Information
96.3/96.7 The Ticket
99.5 WBAP-FM

For Audacy:

98.7 The Bet
100.3 KRLD
103.7 CBS Sports Radio (full time)
105.3 The Fan
107.5 KRLD 2

For iHeart:

92.5 Black Information Network
97.1 The Freak
102.1 Talk Radio 1190/102.1
102.9 Fox Sports Radio
106.1 - Another talk format?

For Salem:

94.9/660 The Answer
100.7 The Word

There we go! Done!!! No one has to think about anything ever again. Of course, this won’t happen…but I hope everyone understands my frustration about not questioning the current state of terrestrial radio and accepting the way things are. It’s a fact that we can improve radio, not just my opinion.

 

[HTX]

106.1 - Another talk format?

This would be great for KRLD. You also forgot about AFR for all your transphobic talk!

 

[TheBigA]

If there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent the exodus of listeners to personalized digital formats, what’s the point of keeping music on FM radio?

Because there's still enough listeners (at least among the Top 10 stations) to make a profitable business around.

But most of these companies are transitioning to apps and streaming sites so people can access these stations there.

Radio stations don't create the music or own it. They just play it. Formats change and evolve every week, adjusting to the trends and tastes of listeners, and to the new music that gets released. The job is to recognize those trends and respond to them.

 

[Ryan Williams]

One last thought and I’m bowing out of this conversation…

If there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent the exodus of listeners to personalized digital formats, what’s the point of keeping music on FM radio? Why don’t we just flip everything to conservative talk, sports and religious formats and move on? It seems like this is the direction we’re heading and no one wants to seem to innovate and come up with exciting and fresh new ideas, so let’s just flip everything and be done with it.

For Cumulus:

93.3 KLIF-FM News & Information
96.3/96.7 The Ticket
99.5 WBAP-FM

For Audacy:

98.7 The Bet
100.3 KRLD
103.7 CBS Sports Radio (full time)
105.3 The Fan
107.5 KRLD 2

For iHeart:

92.5 Black Information Network
97.1 The Freak
102.1 Talk Radio 1190/102.1
102.9 Fox Sports Radio
106.1 - Another talk format?

For Salem:

94.9/660 The Answer
100.7 The Word

There we go! Done!!! No one has to think about anything ever again. Of course, this won’t happen…but I hope everyone understands my frustration about not questioning the current state of terrestrial radio and accepting the way things are. It’s a fact that we can improve radio, not just my opinion.

What are Radio One, Service, and Univision going to broadcast!?

 

[HTX]

What are Radio One, Service, and Univision going to broadcast!?

They’ve sold to EMF

 

[Lite107]

They’ve sold to EMF

Except Univision, they've flipped all their stations to TUDN. 😉

 

[RadioGuy1864]

but some of the best selling cars are EVs

Agree with everything you said, except the EV's. They are still a small minority of cars sold, and an even smaller minority of cars on the road. Just ask Ford how EV sales are going.

 

[Kent]

Again, you can’t satisfy everyone at the same time. Sometimes you’re not going to like something with a station, but other people will. This doesn’t mean radio shouldn’t try to be creative. Radio is a creative medium and isn’t one-size-fits all.

Personal playlist services can theoretically do that because each user has playlists of his/her own. You are correct when you say that those playlists might not appeal to everyone at the party or in the car, but everyone can theoretically listen to their own unique playlist at the same time.

There’s a lot more that goes into deciding to change the format besides music testing and ratings.

The biggest factor that decides changing the format is money. You can have poor ratings and make money. Great ratings alone don't mean money in and of themselves. If every teenager in the market listens to you, you'll almost definitely lead the market, and you'll almost definitely lose money.

When KLTY was preparing to 94.9 F.M. from its brief exile on 100.7, I reminded the program director that Arlington bordered Fort Worth and is 20+ miles away from Dallas. He replied "You want us to I.D. KLTY Arlington, Fort Worth/Dallas, don't you?" Guess what they don't do?

As you might remember, predecessors on 94.9 did mention Ft. Worth before Dallas. "KHYI Arlington, Ft. Worth, Dallas, with another 10 hits in-a-row, coming up NEXT!" "We're the Texas oldies station, KODZ Arlington, Ft. Worth, Dallas!" "KSNN Arlington, Ft. Worth, Dallas, easy country from the 60's through today, Sunny 95." I'm thinking the all news incarnation, KEWS, was the first station to mention Dallas before Ft. Worth.

The issue is that personal playlists are all songs each individual loves. No stiffs, no mediocre songs.

My personal experience is that hasn't been true. Whenever I listen to a playlist of my own, I will almost always find a song or two that I either don't like and was mistaken when I added it or a few of which I have grown tired. Granted, I can skip those songs and remove them later, and I keep listening to the same playlist. When radio plays a song I don't like, I just find a new station, turn off the radio, or listen to something completely different. The big question is going to be if the current younger generation will continue to listen to personal playlists when they get older and have more important things to do than curate their own playlists. It's not as much work as the mixtapes we used to create when I was a kid, but creating new playlists is a lot of work.

 

[mightynine]

If there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent the exodus of listeners to personalized digital formats, what’s the point of keeping music on FM radio? Why don’t we just flip everything to conservative talk, sports and religious formats and move on?

At some point, that might be what the FM band is, following the path of AM Radio.

As it stands right now, there's still money that can be made in music on FM. What's happening now is that it's becoming tougher for stations that aren't the market leader in their format to make that viable - that also includes the formats you mentioned.

If Cumulus decided they've put enough resources into KLIF-FM as a music station and would rather see if they can protect/boost WBAP-AM - and give some of their network program a presence on FM and possibly a larger audience - that's their prerogative.

Moving an AM to FM is not a magic bullet though, and you could end up with just two sticks that combined put up similar numbers to what came before. I'd imagine Cumulus will go for single line reporting in the ratings, so we'll only ever see one number in the 12+ results and never know which signal is driving what.

 

[neosolbrudda]

One last thought and I’m bowing out of this conversation…

If there’s nothing anyone can do to prevent the exodus of listeners to personalized digital formats, what’s the point of keeping music on FM radio? Why don’t we just flip everything to conservative talk, sports and religious formats and move on? It seems like this is the direction we’re heading and no one wants to seem to innovate and come up with exciting and fresh new ideas, so let’s just flip everything and be done with it.

For Cumulus:

93.3 KLIF-FM News & Information
96.3/96.7 The Ticket
99.5 WBAP-FM

For Audacy:

98.7 The Bet
100.3 KRLD
103.7 CBS Sports Radio (full time)
105.3 The Fan
107.5 KRLD 2

For iHeart:

92.5 Black Information Network
97.1 The Freak
102.1 Talk Radio 1190/102.1
102.9 Fox Sports Radio
106.1 - Another talk format?

For Salem:

94.9/660 The Answer
100.7 The Word

There we go! Done!!! No one has to think about anything ever again. Of course, this won’t happen…but I hope everyone understands my frustration about not questioning the current state of terrestrial radio and accepting the way things are. It’s a fact that we can improve radio, not just my opinion.

The way we're going, we will be known as, "Market #5... All Talk, No Music..."

 

[Mediafrog+]

As you might remember, predecessors on 94.9 did mention Ft. Worth before Dallas. "KHYI Arlington, Ft. Worth, Dallas, with another 10 hits in-a-row, coming up NEXT!" "We're the Texas oldies station, KODZ Arlington, Ft. Worth, Dallas!" "KSNN Arlington, Ft. Worth, Dallas, easy country from the 60's through today, Sunny 95." I'm thinking the all news incarnation, KEWS, was the first station to mention Dallas before Ft. Worth.

Back in the KAMC days (50 years ago) 94.9 would ID as “Arlington-Cleburne”. At what point was Cleburne dropped? I don’t remember.

At some point, that might be what the FM band is, following the path of AM Radio.

As has been said many times on these boards: “If you want to know what the future of FM sounds like, just listen to what AM has already become.”

 

[semoochie]

Back in the KAMC days (50 years ago) 94.9 would ID as “Arlington-Cleburne”. At what point was Cleburne dropped? I don’t remember.

As has been said many times on these boards: “If you want to know what the future of FM sounds like, just listen to what AM has already become.”

Stations used to require a waiver for anything beyond the original community of license. Now, if you're licensed to Arlington, you can say anything after that. You can say, "Arlington-San Francisco" or for that matter, "Arlington-refrigerator"!