What San Antonio/Austin needs is...

[wild949austin]

After listening to so many stations on my blackberry through iheartradio, I came up with some format ideas for our area.

What SA needs is a good Rhythmic Adult Contemporary (or Rhythmic AC) station, and also a Rhythmic CHR station. I feel that the SA market is a perfect place for any rhythmic-leaning music based on demographics and Arbitron ratings (Ex: KBBT 98.5 #1). A station like My 106.1 in Philadelphia or Wild 94.9 in San Francisco would be perfect for all ages who love dance and music that moves you!

What Austin needs is a Rhythmic CHR Dance station and a Classic Hits/Oldies formatted station. Austin lacks good oldies and dance music. A station like 103.5 KTU in New York would fill in the dance gap for Central Texas. Great station! Or even a Movin' branded radio station. Based on Movin' 99.7 in the SF Bay Area, 102.3 The River could become The New Movin' 102.3 with Fernando and Greg in the mornings! That's the perfect station! ;D Fernando and Greg do Mornings on Movin' 99.7 in SF. I love those two!

Also, Classic Hits/Oldies lacks in Austin. A good example of a great Classic Hits/Oldies station for Austin is 94.5 KOOL FM in Phoenix, or for generation Xers, a station similar to 100.5 Gen-X Radio in Louisville would help bring in ratings for that demographic.

Thought? Suggestions? Am I crazy? Anything helps.

 

[saradio1]

I agree. I think SA needs a good Rhythmic AC(KTU) station or Chr Rhythmic station such as WXRK-92.3 Now, KYLD or WPTY.


It would be cool to see BMP simulcast a station like WPTY and service both San Antonio and Austin. The demos are a little different but both cities love to PARTY!!!!
www.partymusicleader.com

 

[bgrn198]

If you want oldies in Austin check out True Oldies 92.5 KXXS but 94.5 in Phoenix is good I also like 96.3 KKLZ in Las Vegas and KONO in San Antonio

 

[fredcantu]

After listening to so many stations on my blackberry through iheartradio, I came up with some format ideas for our area.

These niche formats would have to compete against the very wireless devices you mentioned at the beginning of your post. We live in very different times where no one has territorial exclusivity on their format just because they're the only one with a broadcast tower.

 

[Iused2nothat]

We live in very different times where no one has territorial exclusivity on their format just because they're the only one with a broadcast tower.

Agreed...so, Fred, how do we save our investment in those broadcast towers?

I see many ads around for the new 4G network of Clear.com, and I wonder how long until (at least in the metro areas) IP in the car eliminates radio's last great strength?

 

[mmnassour]

On that last one, it's available right now, but you'll wind up spending $75-$100/month for it and the equipment. OTOH, as more and more stations become nothing more than repeater robots, it's looking better and better all the time.

 

[daypart]

On that last one, it's available right now, but you'll wind up spending $75-$100/month for it and the equipment. OTOH, as more and more stations become nothing more than repeater robots, it's looking better and better all the time.

Clear is just the first 4G provider. More are coming, and when they do, competition will drive the price downward in a hurry. In a couple of years from now, when an Internet connection for the car costs $10/month, listening Internet radio in the car becomes a lot more feasible.

I eagerly look forward to the day when Internet radio is a built-in option on the radio in my vehicle.

 

[beaun]

In a couple of years from now, when an Internet connection for the car costs $10/month, listening Internet radio in the car becomes a lot more feasible.

Keep in mind, this is about the cost of satellite radio, and when it comes to paying for something people are used to getting for free the transition will be much slower.

I would agree with you about wireless for the car, but you still have buffering issues, dropouts and streams that some providers don't pay attention to.

 

[mmnassour]

And with satellite radio you have bad audio quality, MUCH worse than many 128K streams. With commercial radio, you have mediocre versions of satellite channels WITH commercials. So everyone has their drawbacks, to be sure. But for those of us who value choice, Internet in cars is manna from Heaven!

 

[Kent]

I almost exclusively listen to streaming radio from my iPhone in the car. It costs me about what I was paying for Sirius and XM when they were two separate platforms, and it's a lot better. The only real drawbacks are that you can't conveniently change stations when you're moving, and, yes, the signal rebuffers and drops out entirely on occasions. My commute to work, for example, takes me through about 20 miles of rural land, and there are about two dropouts there. So, I just listen to the iPod going to and from work. 3G and EDGE are just fine for most streams.

Maybe the plus to all of this for radio is that the big broadcasters have, for the most part, invested in all of this technology. Cox Radio stations, like KISS, have a mobile page that loads first when you go to the website, and the first link it gives you is one to listen live from your mobile device. I understand all mobile devices are supported, but I've only seen the page on an iPhone and a Blackberry. KISS, by the way, also has an iPhone app, though it's the only Cox station I know that has an exclusive one. Several other Cox stations are also available through FlyCast (which has an iPhone and a Blackberry version, and I understand an Android version has either just come out or is to be released very shortly). Of course, Clear Channel has iHeartRadio, and the iPhone has Wunder and FStream for stations that don't have their own mobile link. All Entercom stations, except for Wichita, are available on FlyCast while CBS streams all of its stations over its own app, AOL Radio, Yahoo! Radio and the Nobex Radio Companion (for Blackberry). Emmis is also working on individual iPhone and Blackberry apps, though all of their stations should now be accessible to Blackberry users through Nobex. If Blackberry users pay a one-time cost of, I think, $5, they can add stations to the Nobex Radio Companion that don't otherwise have apps. I believe Moodio also works well on Blackberry for that purpose.

In spite of all of the choices available now, I still find myself streaming terrestrial radio from out-of-market to my iPhone most of the time. I will admit to streaming AOL and Yahoo! Radio along with AccuRadio at times, too, but terrestrial is where probably 2/3 to 75% of my listening goes.

 

[bgrn198]

What do you use to stream the music from your Iphone to your car stereo? I bought an Iphone and would like to stream stations on my car stereo but am not shure what accessories to get. My car stereo doesn't have a jack to plug the phone into it i've looked at the apple website at there accessories for the Iphone and they have a couple of adaptors and stuff but i'm not shure which one is best to get lol. Also another thing I bought a while back is a logitech Squeezebox and I love it I can stream stations from all over the world to my home stereo.

 

[Kent]

What do you use to stream the music from your Iphone to your car stereo? I bought an Iphone and would like to stream stations on my car stereo but am not shure what accessories to get. My car stereo doesn't have a jack to plug the phone into it i've looked at the apple website at there accessories for the Iphone and they have a couple of adaptors and stuff but i'm not shure which one is best to get lol. Also another thing I bought a while back is a logitech Squeezebox and I love it I can stream stations from all over the world to my home stereo.

I use an iTrip, which will let me broadcast my iPhone to a radio that doesn't have an auxiliary jack. Plug it into the cigarette lighter, and you're ready to go. It will even find the best FM signal in the area, though I recommend using an app like ClearFM until you find a frequency that works well for you and when you travel because I've found myself next to a 100 kw FM a time or two. You can also plug your regular connector cable into the top of it and charge your iPhone while you're driving. Newer iTrips than mine can even be controlled with an iPhone app. The total retail cost is about $40.

 

[daypart]

But for those of us who value choice, Internet in cars is manna from Heaven!

Exactly. If I don't like the song that Jack FM in San Antonio is playing, I'll be able to switch my car radio to one of the dozens of other Jack stations around the country.

For $10/month, it'll be like satellite radio with 20-thousand channels, instead of 10 dozen channels.

 

[mmnassour]

And sound considerably better than SatRad as well!

 

[prodigy3]

I agree with the initial post... I believe that the San Antonio and Austin markets have so much potential to be as impacting as San Francisco (which has one of the best stations to me)... I love Hip Hop and Top-40 and after listening to stations from other cities I just feel as though San Antonio radio stations lack enthusiam and pride in their work.. I understand that the radio business isn't doing good but can we stop blaming everything on that! I'm 18 and I've had a passion for radio since I was 12 and I still to this day can't get a non-paid internship anywhere... I spoke with the superintendent of my school to arrange a way for me to get credit and everything and CC just said that they didn't want to go out of the way basically to make it happen... If people took out the time and if the Top-40 and Rhythmic formats were controlled by such arrogant people then I think that the doors could be opened to people with a strong passion for radio that wuld be willing to actually liven up the station... I have really nothing positive to say about SA radio (as far as Rhythmic and Top40 go) and with the departure of Hot933 in Austin I really don't care to much for them anymore either... If people with a true passion were programming and managing websites I believe that this market would be a little bit more exciting... But I guess I'll be listening to other CC CHR stations because 96.1 isn't my first choice on the list and 98.5 is garbage to me...

 

[bgrn198]

I agree with the initial post... I believe that the San Antonio and Austin markets have so much potential to be as impacting as San Francisco (which has one of the best stations to me)... I love Hip Hop and Top-40 and after listening to stations from other cities I just feel as though San Antonio radio stations lack enthusiam and pride in their work.. I understand that the radio business isn't doing good but can we stop blaming everything on that! I'm 18 and I've had a passion for radio since I was 12 and I still to this day can't get a non-paid internship anywhere... I spoke with the superintendent of my school to arrange a way for me to get credit and everything and CC just said that they didn't want to go out of the way basically to make it happen... If people took out the time and if the Top-40 and Rhythmic formats were controlled by such arrogant people then I think that the doors could be opened to people with a strong passion for radio that wuld be willing to actually liven up the station... I have really nothing positive to say about SA radio (as far as Rhythmic and Top40 go) and with the departure of Hot933 in Austin I really don't care to much for them anymore either... If people with a true passion were programming and managing websites I believe that this market would be a little bit more exciting... But I guess I'll be listening to other CC CHR stations because 96.1 isn't my first choice on the list and 98.5 is garbage to me...

What about 105.9 here in Austin?


http://www.1059thebeat.com/main.html

 

[prodigy3]

What about 105.9 here in Austin?

http://www.1059thebeat.com/main.html

Oh I forgot about 105.9 they are the greatest hip hop station I've ever heard, if there was a representation on hip hop it lives on 105.9 the beat
lol they're horrible!!!! Worse than the Beat in SA ha

 

[wild949austin]

What about 105.9 here in Austin?

http://www.1059thebeat.com/main.html

Oh I forgot about 105.9 they are the greatest hip hop station I've ever heard, if there was a representation on hip hop it lives on 105.9 the beat
lol they're horrible!!!! Worse than the Beat in SA ha

Well hey... I miss the old Jammin 105.9.

I think the FCC should raise the power of KBPA 103.5 FM from 100,000 watts to 175,000 watts, like WNCI-FM 97.9 in Columbus, Ohio for example. At that power, it would be able to reach Line-of-Sight reception from South San Antonio to Georgetown. And 103.5 would be a station for BOTH Austin AND San Antonio - Ahh ... I can picture it now ... "Austintonio's Hit Music station, Movin 103.5!" lol

 

[fredcantu]

Power is not everything. Ask anyone who remembers KQUE in Houston that used to run 280,000 watts. It gets much better coverage now with 100,000 watts and a taller tower.

KBPA has had line of sight issues with Austin because it's licensed to San Marcos. The current stick solved that but any attempt to extend coverage to the south will cost it listeners in growing Williamson County.

Besides-- Wouldn't serving two markets make it harder to sell local ads. Would Austin merchants want to pay for SA listeners and vice versa?

 

[prodigy3]

Power is not everything. Ask anyone who remembers KQUE in Houston that used to run 280,000 watts. It gets much better coverage now with 100,000 watts and a taller tower.

KBPA has had line of sight issues with Austin because it's licensed to San Marcos. The current stick solved that but any attempt to extend coverage to the south will cost it listeners in growing Williamson County.

Besides-- Wouldn't serving two markets make it harder to sell local ads. Would Austin merchants want to pay for SA listeners and vice versa?

I don't think so, when listening to The Beat and Hot933 you'd always here the same Dr Pepper commercials and Morthers Window Tint.. I think it would help because the message would be given to a larger audience