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When will we see an AOR station in Houston again?
- Thread starter rgradio
- Start date
Demographic changes as well as fragmented musical tastes do not favor traditional AOR formats. Newer music is being played on KTBZ, while the older stuff is on KKRW. A Rock 101 style format would skew too old. And much of the AOR audience has moved to other platforms for their music fix.
Any examples of a current AOR station in another market that you have in mind that might actually work here in 2013 and beyond, capturing demographics that advertisers want?
Any examples of a current AOR station in another market that you have in mind that might actually work here in 2013 and beyond, capturing demographics that advertisers want?
As Mediafrog mentions, I'm not even sure AOR exists anymore. With the fragmentation that happened roughly 20 years ago, pretty much every AOR either became alternative, active rock, classic rock or just left the format altogether. Some, like KLOL, held on well past their prime because of their heritage, but most of those that failed to evolve simply fell by the wayside and left the format altogether.
Even 99.5 KISS is San Antonio skews too much like Classic 90's rock.
AOR has been dead for a while now.
I will bet my Total Cereal on a Big Band format than an AOR format coming back to Houston dial, and it will most likely be on the AM dial.
In Austin we only have KLBJ Austin's Rock Station or should I say Austin's Classic Rock Station, and 101x Alternative with some CHR crossovers. And I don't think 101x will last for 2 more years.
What you probably will see is another Spanish or brokered station, maybe a bluegrass/zydeco/Cajun format coming to the Houston airwaves if a next flip would occur and they want to think outside the box with the latter format.
I would like to see an Oldies station come back to the FM airwaves, I still think there is a market for it in Houston, sad part about it if they play a whole lot of 80's people will think of The Point, and turn it off.
The radio landscape in Houston has a whole lot of rimshots and only the strong signals are making the dollars.
Makes me wonder if I will see shuffling of station frequencies for example 106.9 moves to 107.1, 105.5 moves to 105.9 so on and so forth in my lifetime.
One thing I know about Houston is the radio dial is messy, full of one time stations from the outskirts wanting to move into Houston abandoning cities like Beaumont, Winnie, Port Arthur, Conroe, etc.
AOR has been dead for a while now.
I will bet my Total Cereal on a Big Band format than an AOR format coming back to Houston dial, and it will most likely be on the AM dial.
In Austin we only have KLBJ Austin's Rock Station or should I say Austin's Classic Rock Station, and 101x Alternative with some CHR crossovers. And I don't think 101x will last for 2 more years.
What you probably will see is another Spanish or brokered station, maybe a bluegrass/zydeco/Cajun format coming to the Houston airwaves if a next flip would occur and they want to think outside the box with the latter format.
I would like to see an Oldies station come back to the FM airwaves, I still think there is a market for it in Houston, sad part about it if they play a whole lot of 80's people will think of The Point, and turn it off.
The radio landscape in Houston has a whole lot of rimshots and only the strong signals are making the dollars.
Makes me wonder if I will see shuffling of station frequencies for example 106.9 moves to 107.1, 105.5 moves to 105.9 so on and so forth in my lifetime.
One thing I know about Houston is the radio dial is messy, full of one time stations from the outskirts wanting to move into Houston abandoning cities like Beaumont, Winnie, Port Arthur, Conroe, etc.
You can tell by the top rated formats what demographics are still listening to radio, and it isn't the AOR generation. Radio has written off AOR and oldies and the people with the money who would listen. It has sold its soul for demographics with less money per capita. Judgement day will come eventually for broadcasters with much debt. We'll see how well that works.
Yeah I don't see another AOR station coming to Houston anytime soon. However i'd love to see Active Rock. Many markets still have one pulling good numbers too. It just hasn't been tried here and i'd love to see the numbers if one came here. It just always seems like Houston rock radio is soft compared to other markets. More alternative leaning. It'd be nice to hear something edgier and more "rockin" like Big Dog 106 or 99.5 KISS.
This city needs a station that plays AC hits from the 60's and 70's. KODA-FM (Sunny 99.1) dropped the 70's in 2011 and KLDE-FM is no more.
TXCalradio said:
Sunny dropped the 70's tunes because the fans of that era of music had aged out of the station's target demos.
A 60's-70's AC hits station would have bigger challenges than a straight up Oldies format. Aging demographics. Not happening. Tried in DFW with the Platinum format, didn't last.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
Mediafrog+ said:
That wasn't the situation with Platinum. First off, 96.7 had a lousy signal over the East part of the metroplex where a lot of wealthy suburbs are. People in that area proved they wanted something different when they made KMAD a popular rim shot - before it got jammed by a stupid translator. What really ended Platinum, though, was when WBAP decided they wanted to be on FM like so many other AM stations around the country. Platinum didn't have a chance the moment WBAP wanted the frequency.
rbrucecarter5 said:
Platinum was overwhelmingly 45+. It's possible the signal didn't help it get enough of the under 55, or the even more important under 50 crowd, to listen, but the more probable explanation is that the audience would still have been too old. If Platinum were doing what Citadel wanted, it probably would've outweighed the need for WBAP to get on FM. Of course, Citadel wanted WBAP on FM because it, too, was getting too old.
KMAD has also never been a "popular rim shot" as you put it. If there were enough regular listeners to the station in Dallas (and it doesn't take many; 28 listeners to a Toledo station got a Detroit translator shut down), the station could've complained and gotten that translator shut down. When was the last time it showed up in the ratings? I don't believe it's ever gotten above the minimum listening as I don't recall it ever having shown up.
Bringing this back to Houston, KLDE left the oldies format and KODA jettisoned the older tunes because they weren't getting the listeners the advertisers wanted. There is no hatred of older people, at least not by radio programmers. If the advertisers wanted to reach the 55+ crowd, radio would have no problem programming to it. The problem remains that advertisers buy sets of ears, and those who listen to 60's and 70's soft AC don't get the ears the advertisers feel are attached to the brains that can be persuaded to buy their products.
rbrucecarter5 said:
The wealthy suburbs are actually on the north side of the DFW Metroplex. The 96.7 signal is just fine there, from all my listening when in those areas.
KMAD would have no listeners in the Metroplex other than FM DX geeks even if the translator wasn't there. It is not even a rimshot. Look at the coverage area.
rbrucecarter5 said:
KMAD is not remotely a rimshot to any part of the DFW Arbitron survey are. It's 65 dbu signal ends a full half-county away from the closest, northern, edge of the MSA.
I spot checked and found no instances of the station showing in the DFW ratings... so either it never showed or only occasionally bounced into the ratings. "Popular" is wishful hyperbole.
The 60s and 70s format that was Platinum 96.7 was doing surprisingly well and gaining nicely. It seemed a nice continuation of Memories 96.7 that had been programmed by John LaBella who did AM Drive ( a name you know from KZEW). His tragic death on the way home from work sort of brought the station to its knees. A change to The Twister was short-lived before Ron Chapman spearheaded Platinum 96.7.
The station could be heard in several businesses in the Keller and South Lake area where my parents lived.
I was rather shocked at the ratings and more shocked about the format choice. It certainly was not a typical or expected choice. Sure a simulcast of WBAP is cheaper and not a bad move at all but I wonder if the move had not taken place if Platinum might have been more successful in revenue generation.
The station could be heard in several businesses in the Keller and South Lake area where my parents lived.
I was rather shocked at the ratings and more shocked about the format choice. It certainly was not a typical or expected choice. Sure a simulcast of WBAP is cheaper and not a bad move at all but I wonder if the move had not taken place if Platinum might have been more successful in revenue generation.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
DavidEduardo said:
Check just Collin county - it was being listened to all over the place. At least three businesses I frequented had it on. The signal down in Dallas was awful. But Plano, Allen, McKinney, etc - it was almost like a local. And there was a serious effort to protest the translator.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
bturner said:
As I recall, it was starting to make serious inroads on the ratings.
rbrucecarter5 said:
It actually debuted strong, and then declined progressively in the roughly 2-year run it had. The problem was that the listening was almost all 55+ and could not be monetized. A new format right at the start of the recession had major challenges anywhere... but a new format under such conditions that did not deliver an audience advertisers wanted was a disaster.
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