What is the future of KTWV 94.7 FM?

[SJFAN]

With Smooth Jazz flipping in New York, Washington and Denver what is the future of the Wave? The Wave got low ratings last ratings period.

 

[vonrollskyway1]

dance music.

 

[calguy]

I seriously doubt that the Wave will be changing format. They're usually in the top ten and you don't blow up a top ten station unless you're nuts. This is LA, it's not the same as those other markets and if CBS learned anything from the mess it created in New York when it went Jack on WCBS FM it will not be doing any format flips with KTWV.

As for the suggestion that they go dance, that would be a huge mistake, it just doesn't fly here.

 

[davideduardo]

I seriously doubt that the Wave will be changing format. They're usually in the top ten and you don't blow up a top ten station unless you're nuts.

It's a top biller, 9th 12+ and 13th 25-54 which is still good enough to be very much in the money. the 25-54 is declining, but not fast enough to sound any alarms.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Keep an eye on The Wave's namesake and CBS cousin in Houston, KHJZ. There have been rumors here that SJ would get the axe, but nothing has happened yet, and they did have an uptick in the last PPM's.

KTWV has a 20+ year presence in LA, unlike five for KHJZ.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

David is correct; KTWV billed over $47,000,000 last year, so it's not going anywhere.

WQCD had been plagued by being mis-programmed from both a musical-positioning standpoint and a market-positioning standpoint, according to Paul Goldstein, former PD @ KTWV.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Keep an eye on The Wave's namesake and CBS cousin in Houston, KHJZ.

Update: Keep an eye on it no longer, as its Smooth Jazz format is gone as of Wednesday afternoon. Plenty of discussion on the Houston board.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Bull crap..... Dance doesnt fly here..... Hispanic Markets are havens for Dance and Rhythmic music. LA can, and could bill decent if they had a signal and a well programed Dance station with plenty of Spanish Flavor thrown in.

The problem with Groove and KDL is, they did nothing to serve the Hispanic community. They cant expect to play all DIVA ANGLO Dance, or nonstop underground techno on a market with a 60% Hispanic base. They need to play some Latin Dance and Latin Hip Hop tracks.

I think the KDL in Dallas, and even Party 93.1 Miami could have done much better if they would have served the hispanic audience, which is who mainly listen's to Dance anyway. The reason Power 106 lasted so long is because they have always embrased their Latino Roots, thats why Power lasted 11 years as a dance station.

 

[Big E]

Latinos are not a demo. I might be wrong, but I believe Power focused on Female 25-45. Power was never a "Dance" station, i think its was just a CHR. It played dance music along with lots of top 40 music for the time. It played whats now considered KROQ classics, R&B, Freestyle, Pop, and Rap. It was a great station because it had good programming and great peeps on the mic. Promotions was everywhere, they were in the streets, in the clubs, at the office lunches. I think that combination of things made it work for the period it did.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

The reason Power 106 lasted so long is because they have always embrased their Latino Roots, thats why Power lasted 11 years as a dance station.

What happened in the 12th year? Did the entire audience move to Dallas?

 

[vonrollskyway1]

latinos allways have a heart for techno trance and house.almost all of the raves i went to in losangeles back in the days,70% were latinos.dance does have a place in los angeles.just the right program directors would help.along with some old school radio personalities..

 

[Big E]

I might be wrong, but I believe Power focused on Female 25-45.

So I was wrong, it was actually Female 12-24

 

[davideduardo]

I might be wrong, but I believe Power focused on Female 25-45.

So I was wrong, it was actually Female 12-24

No, it's primary target is´persons 18-34.

 

[Big E]

I might be wrong, but I believe Power focused on Female 25-45.

So I was wrong, it was actually Female 12-24

No, it's primary target is´persons 18-34.

Now if you actually read what I was talking about in the prior threads, you would know that I was talking about Power 106 from the mid 80's. Now if you have a problem with my information. Take it up with Jeff Wyatt, whom the info came from...oh yeah, he was the PD at Power 106 from that time period.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

Power 106 played tons of top 40 hits during it's first 4-5 years of existence and took a rather hefty chunk of KIIS's teens in the process; many of top 40 radio's biggest hits of 1989 and 1990 (Phil Collins's 'Another Day In Paradise', #1 for the year in 1990) were routinely played at both stations.

 

[davideduardo]

No, it's primary target is´persons 18-34.

Now if you actually read what I was talking about in the prior threads, you would know that I was talking about Power 106 from the mid 80's. Now if you have a problem with my information. Take it up with Jeff Wyatt, whom the info came from...oh yeah, he was the PD at Power 106 from that time period.

Then when you read "is" and not "was" you should have known I did not understand the era issue. Nobody reads other threads to understand current posts.

The fact is, even in the mid 80's 12-24 was not a particularly viable sales demos. The sales target was 18-34 persons, while the PD may have used younger demo listeners to drive the sales demos.

Plenty of 18-34 stations, like KIIS today, use teens to push a station but get no sales advantage out of the 12-17 listeners... they are simply like the propellant in a can of aerosol deodorant... otherwise useless but needed to get the stuff that does the real job in place.

 

[davideduardo]

Bull crap..... Dance doesnt fly here..... Hispanic Markets are havens for Dance and Rhythmic music.

Is that why the dance station on FM in Mexico is about dead last, only ahead of a couple of the University and IMER (government) stations?

Dance has generally been quite strong among Caribbean Hispanics, but not among Mexican Hispanics to the same degree. Remember, WKTU in its original 70's version, was propelled to the top by the huge Puerto Rican community as well as the general market listener. Nothing similar ever occured with Mexican-origin Hispanics in the Southwest.

They cant expect to play all DIVA ANGLO Dance, or nonstop underground techno on a market with a 60% Hispanic base.

The market is 42% Hispanic.

I think the KDL in Dallas,

KDL was owned by Hispanic broadcaster Entravision.

and even Party 93.1 Miami could have done much better if they would have served the hispanic audience,

Party was focused principally on Hispanics. They are 50% of the market there.

which is who mainly listen's to Dance anyway. The reason Power 106 lasted so long is because they have always embrased their Latino Roots, thats why Power lasted 11 years as a dance station.

At one point, when Jay Thomas was on mornings, I believe the station did quite poorly among Hispanics...

 

[CHRles]

When Power 106 launched in 1986 (same time as Hot 103 New York) they were classified as Top 40/Dance. Most of the playlist was Dance and Dance/Pop, and there weren't a whole lots of ballads. The station's ratings pretty quickly surged to the top of the L.A. ratings, and it was actually more successful then Hot 103 New York. By the late 80s Power 106 broadened its sound (since KIIS-FM became more Dance/Pop friendly) but was still very Dance heavy. The only Hip Hop station in L.A. at the time was on AM via K-Day. In the early 90s 92.3 The Beat came on the scene, and fairly quickly they switched from an Adult friendly R&B station to one that played some Hip Hop. At the same time Power 106's playlist was changing, and becoming more Hip Hop friendly as well. Power 106 was pretty much a Hip Hop CHR/Rhythm station by late 1992 though they did play some Dance and House in regular rotation in the mid 90s, especially in 95 and 96.

David, Midwestclubber suggested a station that would play a LOT of Dance music, but not just Dance. Such was the case with Hot 103 KTFM San Antonio, and Power 102 El Paso, in the 90s. Both as you know are markets where pretty much all the Hispanics are of Mexican origin. These days 104.3 Hit FM El Paso is Dance friendly, and has been so from the start. Wild 104 Mcallen has become VERY Dance friendly in recent weeks. In fact, both Hit FM and Wild 104 are playing Dance titles that even the Dance stations havent jumped on to yet. T2's "Heartbroken" is big on Hit FM, and Federico Frenchi's "Cream" is huge on Wild 104:
http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/Stations.asp?c_let=KBFM-FM
http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/Stations.asp?c_let=XHTO-FM

You'll also notice that Samim's "Heater" is doing well on Wild 104. I'm sure most of the Dance fans on this board are familiar with this tune.

 

[davideduardo]

David, Midwestclubber suggested a station that would play a LOT of Dance music, but not just Dance.

I think one of the issues is that folks who are not totally into dance tend to see a very vague distinction between "rhythmic" and "dance" and lump everything short of the European electronica stuff into an overall rhythmic category or genre. I know I have difficulty making clear distinctions between trance and electro, etc. Yet if you call a "norteña" song "banda I will screech.

Rhythmic hits are really strong all across Latin America; pure dance is a thing that has much more of a tendency to come and go in waves. I think that this is a valid observation for US Hispanics in the Southwest, too. It all depends on the amount of crossover (in this case, crossing from clubs to radio and iPods) exposure there is.

Power, like any good CHR or CHR derivitive, changes the genre mix according to what is hot and what is not. Today's Power is no different in that sense than the one in the late 80's or during the 90's in that it reflects what was strong musically in each period.

 

[Big E]

Then when you read "is" and not "was" you should have known I did not understand the era issue. Nobody reads other threads to understand current posts.

Sorry, meant prior posts.