What Is The Future of L.A./Southern California Radio?

[emailfailed]

This is a very open-ended question:

What do you think is the future of L.A. and Southern California radio in light of the internet and other rapidly technological changes, and, of course, changing listener habits (such as Pandora apparently being the most-listen to "station" in L.A.)?

 

[michael hagerty]

Well, first of all the Pandora thing is hype. Let's go back to the L.A. Times article:

The research group estimated that 1.9-million people in Los Angeles listened to Pandora between September and October of 2011. The No. 2 station, KIIS-FM, garnered 1.4-million listeners in the same time frame, according to the survey.

See, that's pure crap, because Arbitron estimates KIIS-FMs monthly cume at 3.5 million. And according to Arbitron, there are nine other stations that have monthly cumes higher than 1.9 million. So maybe.....maybe....Pandora's #10. And "between September and October of 2011" could mean two months (9/1-10/31). In which case, Pandora's monthly cume would be 950,000...in which case they're 24th. Maybe.

In the near term...the next year to three...I'd say any major changes would have more to do with the health of the companies that own the radio stations. If declining fortunes force sale of some stations, that could be a big deal depending on the ownership. If Clear Channel can't make that big payment that's coming up, that could be a market-altering thing. If CBS suddenly got sideways, that's a lot of stations affected. If Cumulus falls apart, it would just mean new owners for KABC and KLOS...again.

Three to five years...Pandora, Spotify or some other music service we're not talking about yet could (maybe) become a serious factor.

Ten years? Too far out there. But before we start envisioning jetpacks, remember 2002...ten years ago: The top stations then are pretty much the top stations now. KLSX is Amp. Star's more of a factor for KROQ now. KRTH plays more and newer oldies. That's about it.

 

[RadioStarOne]

All religion all the time! Except the biggest players! Or sports all the time!

 

[Dick Skinner]

This is a very open-ended question:

What do you think is the future of L.A. and Southern California radio in light of the internet and other rapidly technological changes, and, of course, changing listener habits (such as Pandora apparently being the most-listen to "station" in L.A.)?

Which pandora channel is that?

 

[RadioStarOne]

ha ha ha

 

[radiojomo]

Well, first of all the Pandora thing is hype.

Pandora and other streaming radio/on-demand options ARE the future of radio. With an expansion in mobile broadband internet access and the growth of smartphones, internet devices and in-car streaming solutions, internet streaming will be THE THING THAT CHANGES RADIO in the coming decade. Just take a look at this article recently published in Mashable, if TargetSpot's statistics are correct, terrestrial radio's future looks very bleak: http://mashable.com/2012/05/15/internet-radio-social-media/

The big problem for Pandora and Spotify, etc. will be the costs of providing their service. Not many free, streaming services have found a way to monetize their product to the point of success. Unlike FM/AM radio, more listeners for a streaming service ultimately means more costs and figuring out a way to offset costs and increasing value in their ad spots will be the challenge to overcome with streaming.

 

[nmoore6676]

Well, first of all the Pandora thing is hype.

Pandora and other streaming radio/on-demand options ARE the future of radio. With an expansion in mobile broadband internet access and the growth of smartphones, internet devices and in-car streaming solutions, internet streaming will be THE THING THAT CHANGES RADIO in the coming decade. Just take a look at this article recently published in Mashable, if TargetSpot's statistics are correct, terrestrial radio's future looks very bleak: http://mashable.com/2012/05/15/internet-radio-social-media/

The big problem for Pandora and Spotify, etc. will be the costs of providing their service. Not many free, streaming services have found a way to monetize their product to the point of success. Unlike FM/AM radio, more listeners for a streaming service ultimately means more costs and figuring out a way to offset costs and increasing value in their ad spots will be the challenge to overcome with streaming.

I think that radio stations and particularly those with a niche audience will be the future on streaming radio. Clear Channel is heavily promoting their I-Heart Radio with apps for mobile devices and WSM Nashville does likewise especially during broadcasts (webcasts0 of their iconic Grand Ole Opry.

The problems or the crunch will come when companies realize that their networks are being slowed because of bandwidth consumed by employees streaming their favorite station at their desks. Likewise when mobile services start more stringently metering and / or capping mobile date usage. If streaming services were to charge and they well might given the issue of selling ads and gaining sufficient revenue to offset costs plus the ISPS begin charging for bandwidth consumed the advantage to listeners might become too costly to sustain. Then if business starts filtering streaming servers off their corporate networks that would eliminate a great number of ears and eyes targeted by the advertisements.

I would think that video services over internet might have a better chance given the attraction of watching your favorite show on your schedule. Now you can easily "rent" movies and You Tube gets a lot of views. However I can not see watching TV on my little handheld screen with a giant TV in my home. However all TVs I've looked at have an option to connect a computer so watching TV using my computer is easy and will look no different than from cable or satellite.

Yes I am aware of cables' "On Demand" service however that means additional fees for "renting" a smart cable box to enable using it and so long as I can get my desired channels with a digital tuner on my TV I have no desire to send them more $$$$ every month. This stance however is leading Comcast and other operators to restricting streaming video services over their lines. Should be an interesting fight in the years to come. :-\

 

[the_wanderer]

noob question,

have all the stations gone digital yet?

 

[michael hagerty]

Well, first of all the Pandora thing is hype.

Pandora and other streaming radio/on-demand options ARE the future of radio. With an expansion in mobile broadband internet access and the growth of smartphones, internet devices and in-car streaming solutions, internet streaming will be THE THING THAT CHANGES RADIO in the coming decade. Just take a look at this article recently published in Mashable, if TargetSpot's statistics are correct, terrestrial radio's future looks very bleak: http://mashable.com/2012/05/15/internet-radio-social-media/

The big problem for Pandora and Spotify, etc. will be the costs of providing their service. Not many free, streaming services have found a way to monetize their product to the point of success. Unlike FM/AM radio, more listeners for a streaming service ultimately means more costs and figuring out a way to offset costs and increasing value in their ad spots will be the challenge to overcome with streaming.

Jomo:

When you don't take what I wrote out of context, it's clear that I think Pandora's got possibilities. The one sentence you quoted had to do with the Pandora-paid survey purporting to show that Pandora is #1 in Los Angeles today.

 

[ocer]

Don't underestimate iHeartRadio... I have a lot of 20-something friends doing the Pandora thing on iHeartRadio and then flipping back and forth to traditional radio streams.

 

[henry]

The problems or the crunch will come when companies realize that their networks are being slowed because of bandwidth consumed by employees streaming their favorite station at their desks. Likewise when mobile services start more stringently metering and / or capping mobile date usage.

Exactly! I just drove 1600+ miles over the weekend to Albuquerque and back.

And that is how broadcast will die and Pandora-ish services will win. I really wanted to listen to KFI but the bandwidth required for live streaming has to be constant, reliable, and plentiful. Three attributes that don't exist between Gallup and Flagstaff.

Pandora could download files quickly (15-30 seconds) in the background and play the file as needed. Podcasts of KFI work in a similar manner, but Clear Channel doesn't monetize their podcasts.

If you want to see the future of Los Angeles radio, all you need to do is look at the rest of the country. Look at Albuquerque. Look at Salt Lake City. Look at Oklahoma City. All of these were once vibrant, fun, well-promoted and well-listened-to markets. Today they're all pretty much jukeboxes with a couple of morning shows and maybe an out-sourced traffic report from Texas (pretending to be a local reporter).

The good aspects of Los Angeles radio (big market, high-billing stations, long commutes) have been a friend to LA and helped the radio dial postpone the effects of a collapsing radio market. There will always be a KFI and a KIIS and a K-Earth. But you'll begin to see those products erode over the next decade and become ghosts of the excellent products they are today. The rest of us in middle America have already been there and seen it.

 

[K6JHU]

Cell phone service su*** on the drive from LA to ABQ. It is more that Flagstaff to Gallup. The hills from Kingman to Williams are bad as well. Difficult to make even a cell phone call much less stream. My answer to making the trip was Sirius/XM. No dropouts the entire trip.

 

[henry]

Well, aren't you the cheery one.

Haha ... nah. Just a Gen. Y radio guy who feels like he was born 30 years too late.

The flip side: As radio collapses, some type of internet-based in-car talk entertainment will develop to fill the gap. I have no idea what shape it will be in (some outcropping of podcasting, I assume). I think it may even be a career-saver for some of the future's brighter talents which have been abused in radio for far too long. Maybe Leykis is developing a new business model? Time will tell.

 

[Wildstyle K]

Future of LA radio? Doesn't look very bright to me. The past of L.A. Radio was much more desirable. Never imagined a day would come when I'd look forward to coming back to Phoenix Az. over LA in regard to which place has the station(s) and mixshows I find more fascinating. I'd rather listen to our Hot 97.5 KMVA here in Phoenix than any station in LA at the moment. No one in LA plays Spencer Hill & Nadia Ali, Example, Avicii, Cascada, Alex Clare, and Skrillex in regular rotation. I remember how excited I used to be when my mom announced we were going to LA all because of the stations there. 99.1 KGGI, B100.3, Power 106, 102.7 KIIS FM, Groov Radio 103.1, and I still remember some spanish station at 98.7 doing an all day mix for Christmas and they dropped "funky melody" by Stevie B while I had my tape recorder going and I INSTANTLY fell in love with the song; THOSE were the stations I loved who had all the dj's I admired. As far as names go, I can remember Dj Enrie, Dj Speedy K, and... Dj Jimmy Kim? Jimmy Kim was a CLUB KISS dj. I also remember Dj Lynwood, of course. That name has been tattooed into my brain.
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With DJ Laz on LA 96.3, I believe 96.3 MIGHT be something to be excited about. Power 96 Miami, the last really interesting rhythmic party format in the nation (that I know of), has actually "downgraded" and quickly became more "boring and traditional" ever since Dj Laz left there. Hopefully Dj Laz has some power of influence over the LA 96.3 format and can make the station more exciting and party-like. Does anybody remember how fun and exciting the rhythmic party format used to be in the mid to later 90's? Now a party format is simply just a typical rhythmic format that often sounds like any other traditional top 40 format.
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And lastly, thanks to the Power Workout at Noon on Power 106 in '96, I was introduced to Dj Laz's music and a lot of latin bass and latin house tracks, which greatly influenced my music passions and the way I sound today. Dj Laz has been a big part of my life, although he doesn't know it. Maybe not as big to me as Lina Santiago, Jocelyn Enriquez, Rockell, Lil Suzy, or Angelina, though.