What’s wrong with KROQ 106.7 FM, and what can be done to fix it

[MarkW]

Maybe "rebranded," but this station has been alternative since 2013. There seems to be some mythology that CEOs program the radio stations their companies own based on personal taste. That's not really the case. Every decision is based on money. And there are a lot of people involved.

Buffalo is one of the smallest markets where Audacy programmed the format, and the market isn't even a PPM format.

Multiple Audacy stations have churned out medicore to awful ratings within the format over multiple years, yet nothing seems to change, other than even skimpier programming budgets. There is little doubt in my mind that Field's personal affinity for the format is why it persists on as many stations in the company as it does. Admittedly, that is pure conjecture on my part.

With KROQ, what hole exists in LA that they can fill?

One challenge KROQ faces is its signal is somewhat mediocre compared to the other core market signals. I think L.A. certainly has room for another Adult Contemporary-type station, but 106.7 would be the wrong place to try such a format.

I do think Audacy will find a way to flip one of its local FMs to All Sports within the next year or two.

At some point, they may need to migrate KNX Newsradio to the FM dial as the AM band continues its slow much toward irrelevance.

Would Audacy try Classic Rock? As I've mentioned in other threads on this board in the past, Los Angeles for most of the past 25 years has often had two or more stations playing classic rock or mostly classic rock. I'm sure there are still a decent number of people who miss 100.3 The Sound, and it is certainly possible 95.5 KLOS is dipping its toes a little too much into the newer music pool for some listeners' liking. One suggestion I previously made was to return the heritage KLSX calls to 97.1 FM and return that station to some sort of format that hypertargets men.

 

[TheBigA]

Multiple Audacy stations have churned out medicore to awful ratings within the format over multiple years, yet nothing seems to change, other than even skimpier programming budgets.

It depends on the format. The formats that make money get money to spend. The ones that don't get their budgets cut. However, Audacy Los Angeles is hiring lots of staff right now, and one key position is Events Director:

Audacy seeks an Event Director to join their promotions and experiences team. This position directly supports the Director of National Experiences for all aspects of live events Production for music, lifestyle, and sports events across the country. The position will assist in all of the aspects of in-person and virtual event execution, including timelines/deadlines, pre-sale/on-sale, promotional support and marketing, artist/talent advance, production advance, budget, publicity, sponsor integration, and of day of show production, etc.

This is what KROQ used to do so well. They're hiring people for this position in several cities. Radio needs to find ways to make money that don't involve on-air :30 spots. That's what this is about. So get ready to see some events later this year. If they can use these events to attract listeners to the stations, even better. I think they'll give KROQ time to build these events into revenue, and that's at least through the end of the calendar year.

 

[davideduardo]

One challenge KROQ faces is its signal is somewhat mediocre compared to the other core market signals. I think L.A. certainly has room for another Adult Contemporary-type station, but 106.7 would be the wrong place to try such a format.

It is certainly adequate for the Metro Survey Area, as is the other Alt station which has a similar non-Mount Wilson transmitter site along Mulholland in the Hollywood Hills.

I do think Audacy will find a way to flip one of its local FMs to All Sports within the next year or two.

The problem is that there are long-term commitments with the teams that matter, including fractional ownership in one case.

At some point, they may need to migrate KNX Newsradio to the FM dial as the AM band continues its slow much toward irrelevance.

The format is not relevant to most of the market's population... LA is around 70-some percent ethnic and first generation immigrants. That's not where all-news works. The format will stay on AM until it dies, and it won't be helped by being on FM.

Yeah, they might try it. But I doubt it will work and it is not a format for most non-Boomers who get their news in other ways and forms.

Would Audacy try Classic Rock? As I've mentioned in other threads on this board in the past, Los Angeles for most of the past 25 years has often had two or more stations playing classic rock or mostly classic rock.

And it worked three, four decades ago. LA is very different and we have a huge population that does not know the music, like the music or even understand the music.

I'm sure there are still a decent number of people who miss 100.3 The Sound,

Yeah, and both of them have found a stream that they like.

and it is certainly possible 95.5 KLOS is dipping its toes a little too much into the newer music pool for some listeners' liking.

That is the only way to get the format acceptable to a newer generation that is not made up of old flower power tie died hippies.

One suggestion I previously made was to return the heritage KLSX calls to 97.1 FM and return that station to some sort of format that hypertargets men.

Nobody cares about call letters, nobody remembers KLSX and most of the non-Hispanic whites that were KLSX listeners are in the group that has left LA for other states or cities as the market becomes more and more ethnic and those white guys become more and more a smallish minority.

And there are no more PhotoMagic kiosks in all the shopping center parking lots, either.

 

[MarkW]

100.3 The Sound had a 3 share (or higher) before Entercom began dismantling the station.

There is room in the market for stations that broadcast something other than Reggaeton, Regional Mexican, Spanish AC, English AC, Classic Hits and English CHR/Pop, contrary to your apparent beliefs.

That is the only way to get the format acceptable to a newer generation that is not made up of old flower power tie died hippies.

There are pure play classic rock stations all over the country that earn strong numbers with Adults 25-54. Personally, I like the fact KLOS includes some newer music. That said, lately, the station has been a little too inconsistent with music selection day to day, which I think could be hurting its numbers a bit.

It is certainly adequate for the Metro Survey Area, as is the other Alt station which has a similar non-Mount Wilson transmitter site along Mulholland in the Hollywood Hills.

98.7's signal is only modestly better in OC; I'll certainly grant you that. My point was that 106.7's signal could be an Achilles heel for a format that relies heavily on at-work listening.

 

[MarkW]

To clarify my last sentence, the signal could be an achilles heel for a DIFFERENT format that relies heavily on at-work listening (such as Adult Contemporary).

 

[Rusty Muck]

They gave Alt a few years to grow. I personally can't wait until the interest in Country goes down, but as a format it currently draws in more than Alternative does. With Buffalo, the station drew a 1.0 in May (Radioinsight.com), and it wasn't performing high before, if I'm correct. So makes sense that if they can make more on Country, that's the way to go. With KROQ, what hole exists in LA that they can fill? I think that's the greater question. I'm personally an alternative listener, but there are major markets with no Alternative stations. Just speaking from here in Boston, we haven't had a commercial alternative station in a couple years. We have internet stations and college stations, but when (then) Entercom flipped our version of Amp, they went with a Jack-like station. In summary, I agree that they aren't all in on alternative.

WLKK 107.7 is a rimshot mostly between Buffalo and Rochester (slightly more to Buffalo, thus the need for the Buffalo translator) that Entercom got after Adelphia Cable’s fire sale. They’ve had a maze of formats and callsigns since the mid-1980s.

 

[Ryan Williams]

The format is not relevant to most of the market's population... LA is around 70-some percent ethnic and first generation immigrants. That's not where all-news works. The format will stay on AM until it dies, and it won't be helped by being on FM.

Yeah, they might try it. But I doubt it will work and it is not a format for most non-Boomers who get their news in other ways and forms.

Does your pessimism about KNX's future prospects also apply to KFI and the probability they will get an FM simulcast? The same demographic challenges would also apply for talk as much as it does for news?

 

[davideduardo]

Does your pessimism about KNX's future prospects also apply to KFI and the probability they will get an FM simulcast? The same demographic challenges would also apply for talk as much as it does for news?

Yes, I think both of those formats have upcoming expiration dates.

Because they are unique formats with established local images, both KNX and KFI bill way beyond their traditional 25-54 demo profile ranks. In 2019 (I don't look at 2020 for obvious reasons) KFI was the third highest biller in the market and KNX was fifth.

Both are really expensive operations. But they can run lots more commercials per hour than a music station, so they make up by quantity what they can't sell via higher rates. KFI in 25-54 barely makes the top 10 sometimes, and KNX hovers around 20th.

Clients like the because they are foreground stations and apparently get results for a certain type of account. Both stations have been "in the game" long enough to know how to sell and how to present their formats to clients.

KNX has the more questionable future. The owners, whatever their name is this week, did a horrible job in integrating the CBS stations, particularly the information-based ones. I don't think those formats are in their DNA, but for the moment in LA they have much bigger problems than a higher billing AM.

Were I at Audacy, I'd consider the options for putting KNX on one of the underperforming FMs. But the main consideration is that doing that pretty much erases the value of 1070 AM, as, similar to "added FMs" for news and sports in San Francisco, the AM become pretty much valueless.

Personally, I'd look at the possibility of doing geo-targeted all news streams that would have specific traffic for, let's say, the San Fernando Valley or Central or Central South or West Side or the San Gabriel Valley or the OC depending on where you are, plus news items that are more localized for each zone and even more specific weather. I think much of that could be done with voice synthesis and create a much more specific product for streamers; any technical impediments could be resolved with specific focus and a little $. The benefit is a new audience plus the ability to sell geographically specific ads to car dealers, single-location retailers, etc.

 

[davideduardo]

100.3 The Sound had a 3 share (or higher) before Entercom began dismantling the station.

But it was the worst performing of the Entercom station when they had to sell something after the merger which put them over the FCC limits. The keyword here is "worst".

There is room in the market for stations that broadcast something other than Reggaeton, Regional Mexican, Spanish AC, English AC, Classic Hits and English CHR/Pop, contrary to your apparent beliefs.

The issue is not whether there is "room" but whether the formats are attractive to advertisers.

I see three different Regional Mexican (a misnomer if one ever existed) formats in LA, a personality Spanish language "Jack" like format, a more music version, several successful talk stations, several similarly successful sports stations, CHR, Hot AC, AC, Country, an Urban AC variant, Urban, Churban, two Alt variants, rock, Hip Hip gold and all news.

All those were billing over $5 million prior to the pandemic and can be considered very successful.

There are pure play classic rock stations all over the country that earn strong numbers with Adults 25-54. Personally, I like the fact KLOS includes some newer music. That said, lately, the station has been a little too inconsistent with music selection day to day, which I think could be hurting its numbers a bit.

But LA, as I said, is now approaching 75% of all population that is in the categories where rock just does not perform as well or at all: Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, first generation immigrants, etc. The field is getting smaller and smaller.

98.7's signal is only modestly better in OC; I'll certainly grant you that. My point was that 106.7's signal could be an Achilles heel for a format that relies heavily on at-work listening.

Possibly, but most of the OC work locations are in the northern part of the county. The 65 dbu extends to about Irvine, and if you look at a Langly-Rice map, it looks even better due to an unobstructed path. Further, they have a great signal in the Santa Clarita area while the Wilson stations all have shadowing issues there unless they have boosters.

 

[tall_guy1]

But it was the worst performing of the Entercom station when they had to sell something after the merger which put them over the FCC limits. The keyword here is "worst".

The issue is not whether there is "room" but whether the formats are attractive to advertisers.

I see three different Regional Mexican (a misnomer if one ever existed) formats in LA, a personality Spanish language "Jack" like format, a more music version, several successful talk stations, several similarly successful sports stations, CHR, Hot AC, AC, Country, an Urban AC variant, Urban, Churban, two Alt variants, rock, Hip Hip gold and all news.

All those were billing over $5 million prior to the pandemic and can be considered very successful.

But LA, as I said, is now approaching 75% of all population that is in the categories where rock just does not perform as well or at all: Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, first generation immigrants, etc. The field is getting smaller and smaller.

Possibly, but most of the OC work locations are in the northern part of the county. The 65 dbu extends to about Irvine, and if you look at a Langly-Rice map, it looks even better due to an unobstructed path. Further, they have a great signal in the Santa Clarita area while the Wilson stations all have shadowing issues there unless they have boosters.

LA has a huge Hispanic population, so maybe they could try a format to appeal to that demographic.

 

[TheBigA]

LA has a huge Hispanic population, so maybe they could try a format to appeal to that demographic.

Maybe you've never been to LA? There are about a dozen radio stations in LA aiming at that demo.

The demo has been sliced and diced every possible way. They have a better chance sticking with what they know.

 

[davideduardo]

LA has a huge Hispanic population, so maybe they could try a format to appeal to that demographic.

Re-read my post: I mentioned the leading Spanish language formats already. Do you think no station is targeting Hispanics?

As someone who has programmed or consulted KWIZ, KWKW, KHJ, KLVE, KSCA, KTNQ, KRCD and KRCV in LA with all kinds of Spanish language formats going back 49 years I can say that there is no shortage of such stations. I frequently wish there were less of them.

We have four variants of "Regional Mexican", an AC station, a variety hits station, a pop gold station, a ranchera gold station, Spanish language religion, all sports in Spanish, Spanish language talk, two Spanish language Churban stations, and a personalty driven gold station.

23 out of 93 signals in the metro are in Spanish.

And remember that not all US Hispanics use or speak Spanish any longer, so as much as 40% of all LA Hispanics would not listen to a Spanish language station. Those assimilated Hispanics listen to KIIS and KOST and Power and The Wave and even the NPR stations and everything else.

 

[boombox4]

Re-read my post: I mentioned the leading Spanish language formats already. Do you think no station is targeting Hispanics?

As someone who has programmed or consulted KWIZ, KWKW, KHJ, KLVE, KASC, KTNQ, KRCD and KRCV in LA with all kinds of Spanish language formats going back 49 years I can say that there is no shortage of such stations. I frequently wish there were less of them.

We have four variants of "Regional Mexican", an AC station, a variety hits station, a pop gold station, a ranchera gold station, Spanish language religion, all sports in Spanish, Spanish language talk, two Spanish language Churban stations, and a personalty driven gold station.

23 out of 93 signals in the metro are in Spanish.

And remember that not all US Hispanics use or speak Spanish any longer, so as much as 40% of all LA Hispanics would not listen to a Spanish language station. Those assimilated Hispanics listen to KIIS and KOST and Power and The Wave and even the NPR stations and everything else.

But you're talking a massive sized market. Isn't there 11 million in the LA market? Some of the top LA stations have a cume that's larger than most metros in the US. Why couldn't that be sliced and diced further, theoretically?

As for LA's Hispanic audience, here in Seattle there appear to be about 6-7 Spanish speaking stations right now (more if you include brokered programming), and there are only somewhere around 400K Hispanics in the market. Certainly, there are millions more Hispanics in the LA market (5 million, according to Nielsen).

 

[davideduardo]

But you're talking a massive sized market. Isn't there 11 million in the LA market? Some of the top LA stations have a cume that's larger than most metros in the US. Why couldn't that be sliced and diced further, theoretically?

As for LA's Hispanic audience, here in Seattle there appear to be about 6-7 Spanish speaking stations right now (more if you include brokered programming), and there are only somewhere around 400K Hispanics in the market. Certainly, there are millions more Hispanics in the LA market (5 million, according to Nielsen).

There is about 25% of the LA market that is Spanish dominant. There are about 25% of the stations in LA that are in Spanish.

Just under about 50% of Hispanics are English dominant. They generally listen mostly or totally to English language stations.

There are also many Spanish dominant Hispanics who don't like the available Spanish language stations... that can be because they are from, perhaps, Puerto Rico or Colombia or somewhere other than Mexico. There are not enough people from any of the other nations to support a station in LA, but together they are a large group, perhaps 20% of all Hispanics there.

Remember, agencies and sophisticated direct accounts that buy Spanish language campaigns buy by the numbers and they don't buy eight, ten, twelve stations in Spanish. They buy the top stations, or buy packages of several stations from groups like Entravision, Univision and SBS that include several stations in various formats in Spanish.

Every viable format in Spanish for LA is covered, and in some cases several stations deep.

The significant stations in Spanish in LA are either full signal FMs or combos of lesser signals that together cover the HDHAs well. Yet one of the best of those signals spent nearly a decade under the ownership of Mexico's most successful group of stations and lost tens of millions before selling for half of what they paid for the station. It's not an easy market and it's very crowded.

Oh, and none of those Seattle stations is a full signal FM. Trying to succeed with bad signals and AMs won't work; AM is nearly dead in most of Latin America and the much younger median age of Hispanics in the US means they are even less likely to be loyal to an AM today when they have many, many choices online... and Hispanics over-index on smartphone ownership.

 

[TheBigA]

Stryker says goodbye:

KROQ's Ted Stryker Says Goodbye, Looks Forward To ‘Next Chapter Of My Life.’

“It’s been a wild, wild ride, man.” That's how KROQ Los Angeles' Ted Stryker closed his final broadcast Tuesday morning after 22 years at Audacy's legendary alternative station, the past

www.insideradio.com

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Stryker says goodbye:

KROQ's Ted Stryker Says Goodbye, Looks Forward To ‘Next Chapter Of My Life.’

“It’s been a wild, wild ride, man.” That's how KROQ Los Angeles' Ted Stryker closed his final broadcast Tuesday morning after 22 years at Audacy's legendary alternative station, the past

www.insideradio.com

Now when will they change the imaging they still say stryker and klein? They need to get someone to pair with klein. Ya need to bounce off each other. Klein alone won't cut it.

 

[TheBigA]

Now when will they change the imaging they still say stryker and klein? They need to get someone to pair with klein. Ya need to bounce off each other. Klein alone won't cut it.

There are two other people besides Klein.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Yes but they need someone to take stryker's place. Allie and Omar are not replacements for stryker. It just sounds like someone is missing without stryker.

 

[TheBigA]

Yes but they need someone to take stryker's place. Allie and Omar are not replacements for stryker. It just sounds like someone is missing without stryker.

When Stryker announced he was leaving, the PD announced they're searching for a replacement. It usually takes 3 months.

 

[macattack]

Stryker says goodbye:

KROQ's Ted Stryker Says Goodbye, Looks Forward To ‘Next Chapter Of My Life.’

“It’s been a wild, wild ride, man.” That's how KROQ Los Angeles' Ted Stryker closed his final broadcast Tuesday morning after 22 years at Audacy's legendary alternative station, the past

www.insideradio.com

Interesting final song to choose...