Which CC station is going to flip?

[jrplbg]

Heavy rumors wafting out of the Pinnacle. A CC station may be flipping. KBIG or Star?

 

[ercjncpr]

My money would be on Star to flip

 

[davideduardo]

My money would be on Star to flip

Rumor 1: KBIG, and to Modern / Alternative under Michael. Vastly better signal than KROQ, and KROQ is where the money is.
Rumor 2 (out of Mexico City): 104.3 flips to Spanish pop using mix like Mega in Houston and Omar Chaparro morning show out of Los Cuarenta Principales (XEX-FM) in Mexico City.

 

[alex4490]

don't they have enough spanish stations, even though they have a good spanish listener population in L.A??

 

[vonrollskyway1]

i hope its not kbig.

 

[davideduardo]

don't they have enough spanish stations, even though they have a good spanish listener population in L.A??

Hispanic radio is the only segment of radio that is growing, so it is very attractive in a year where general market radio is off several percent.

 

[ercjncpr]

My money would be on Star to flip

Rumor 1: KBIG, and to Modern / Alternative under Michael. Vastly better signal than KROQ, and KROQ is where the money is.
Rumor 2 (out of Mexico City): 104.3 flips to Spanish pop using mix like Mega in Houston and Omar Chaparro morning show out of Los Cuarenta Principales (XEX-FM) in Mexico City.

Excuse me for sounding so bigoted, but how many Spanish stations do you people need? :

 

[davideduardo]

Excuse me for sounding so bigoted, but how many Spanish stations do you people need? :

You are right, that sounds racist and bigoted, particularly the "you people" part.

And any listener group will get as many stations as advertiser interest will support. Since Hispanics are over 50% of the market, 18-34 and about 45% of 18-49, do the math.

 

[transent]

Can LA Support 2 Modern Rock Stations?

Could LA Support 2 Modern Rockers?

Personally my favorite music is modern/alternative rock, but putting my personal musical tastes aside, I would think that active rock might be the way to go for KBIG as the LA market lacks an active rocker IF they must blow up a heritage station with a recognized brand name.

Or perhaps, STAR 98.7 could evolve into a modern rock station similar to 94/9 in San Diego or basically a pop leaning Modern Rock station with a TOP 40 presentation (IF THAT MAKES ANY SENSE) playing similar music to KROQ but differentiating itself by avoiding the harder edged rock like Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, etc...and embracing the core artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Weezer, The Killers, Sublime, Pearl Jam,etc...

Then KBIG could retain it's current format but tweak it into more of a pure Hot AC playing most of the artists that STAR would drop like Pink, Nelly Furtado, and Bon Jovi. I believe this format does well with the younger second generation plus hispanic population (please correct me if I am wrong) and this way they avoid blowing up a heritage station they spent millions over the year to brand.

It's seems like KBIG & KYSR share a similar demographic with a large percentage of overlapping audiences - the two stations compete with each other too much. I think their should be more differentiation and this might be the way to do it and avoid blowing up a heritage station like KBIG and to avoid rebranding STAR 98.7

What do you guys think?

 

[davideduardo]

Re: Can LA Support 2 Modern Rock Stations?

Could LA Support 2 Modern Rockers?

Under PPM, the answer is likely "yes" based on the Philadelphia and Houston results. The modern / alternative share is likely to increase by 50% to 75%, even with the higher ethnic percentage in this market; having two better signal stations would likely doom Indie, though. Remember, KROQ has about the worst signal of any B in the market, with its antenna on Verdugo rather than up on Wilson. Star is also a limited B, being on Hulholland near Coldwater Canyon. Other B's not on Wilson are KLAX and KXOL.

Then KBIG could retain it's current format but tweak it into more of a pure Hot AC playing most of the artists that STAR would drop like Pink, Nelly Furtado, and Bon Jovi. I believe this format does well with the younger second generation plus hispanic population (please correct me if I am wrong) and this way they avoid blowing up a heritage station they spent millions over the year to brand.

Yeah, it has a huge Hispanic percentage, often as much as half of its AQH number. However, it is broad demographically having nearly equal 25-34 and 35-44 and 45-54, which is an oddity in this day and age. It means they are not near the top for any finely targeted female buy, so Star is probably the better performer.

It's seems like KBIG & KYSR share a similar demographic with a large percentage of overlapping audiences - the two stations compete with each other too much.

Only about 16% of Star listeners also cume KBIG, while 39% of them listen to KIIS... KBIG is of very limited interest to Star listeners, and comes in as an insignificant cross cumer.

 

[leethalweapon]

Can LA support 2 Modern rockers? History would say no. Y107 didn't exactly set the world on fire when it was around, and although it is a cool station, Indie isn't a real winner either. Maybe if CC were to buy the intellectual property for Indie and stick it on a bigger stick, it could work. Somehow I doubt it would happen.

 

[radio124]

I'm not clear as to why the modern rockers would benefit from PPM? I would think the AC's would since they are usually on in restaurants, stores, and offices. Than you in advance, David, for your answer.

 

[rwagoner]

Re: Can LA Support 2 Modern Rock Stations?

Only about 16% of Star listeners also cume KBIG, while 39% of them listen to KIIS... KBIG is of very limited interest to Star listeners, and comes in as an insignificant cross cumer.

Wow! I would have thought it was opposite. KIIS-FM seems to attract 5-7 year olds (I happen to have a five and seven-year old boys who both like KIIS-FM, while Star would play more toward the college aged and over, most of whom I would have figured would outgrow KIIS-FM by about 16. On the other hand, I know of no one who actually listens to KBIG outside of Charlie Tuna's show, so what do I know?

Richard Wagoner

 

[rwagoner]

I still think Craig Carpenter's Mix 95.9 format was far superior to both KBIG and Star. That being said, right now Star is the only rock station I can stand.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm not clear as to why the modern rockers would benefit from PPM? I would think the AC's would since they are usually on in restaurants, stores, and offices. Than you in advance, David, for your answer.

Whatever the reason, rock and especially alternative are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up in Houston.

Incidental listening increasses cume, not TSL (or AWTE in PPM). The Buzz is, every week, Top 3 in Houston now.

 

[davideduardo]

Re: Can LA Support 2 Modern Rock Stations?

Wow! I would have thought it was opposite. KIIS-FM seems to attract 5-7 year olds (I happen to have a five and seven-year old boys who both like KIIS-FM, while Star would play more toward the college aged and over, most of whom I would have figured would outgrow KIIS-FM by about 16. On the other hand, I know of no one who actually listens to KBIG outside of Charlie Tuna's show, so what do I know?

KIIS is very Hispanic, Star is very non-Hispanic. Kiss's target is 18-34 women. Star is suburban 25-39 women. They don't intersect.

 

[FightingIrish]

Can LA support 2 Modern rockers? History would say no. Y107 didn't exactly set the world on fire when it was around, and although it is a cool station, Indie isn't a real winner either. Maybe if CC were to buy the intellectual property for Indie and stick it on a bigger stick, it could work. Somehow I doubt it would happen.

Not to mention...

KNAC (the modern rock years)
The Edge
KQLZ
Mars (though they were more dance-oriented)
Y107
Indie (seems they're holding their own)

I'm sure I'm missing a few.

 

[ercjncpr]

I apologize to Sr Eduardo for the prejudiced tone of my remarks but as a member of the non-hispanic Engish speaking minority, you may perhaps understand my frustration over the diminshment of English language radio in Los Angeles. But of course, as DE would be the first to admit, it's all about the $$$

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Of course with the absolutely meteoric stunning success of XTRA-AM 600 and the absolutely meteroric stunning success of FM "La Pantera" 105.7 here in San Diego when they flipped to "en espagnol," proves just because you try to program to a dominant demographic does not mean an overnight success. There is a thing called "saturation" which the radio (and TV) broadcast industry just does not seem to "get."

 

[davideduardo]

Of course with the absolutely meteoric stunning success of XTRA-AM 600 and the absolutely meteroric stunning success of FM "La Pantera" 105.7 here in San Diego when they flipped to "en espagnol," proves just because you try to program to a dominant demographic does not mean an overnight success. There is a thing called "saturation" which the radio (and TV) broadcast industry just does not seem to "get."

XETRA 690 (I presume you did not mean they had taken over KOGO's channel!) is targeted at LA, not SD. The studio is in Burbank, and most of the talent has LA experience. However, the programming is wretched and unneeded as there are local stations with decent signals covering LA with news and talk in Spanish. In other words, it is failing because it is bad, not because of saturation.

Similarly, the FM offered nothing that established stations did not offer, and put on a morning talent on the US Mexican border who is Honduran; that same show was cancelled on 20 of his 24 affiliates in 2006 because it was not working. Again, a bad station.

The market has around 15 signals in Spanish; only 6 or 7 show in the ratings. The bad stations are "self-limiting" since they are not getting any listening in the US.

In this case, the situation has nothing to do with "saturation" but with good programming vs. bad. Saturation occurs when you have 6 country shares in a market and three staitons; three good stations will each get about 2, and none will get many buys as they are below the point of interest for ad agencies. There is one station, at least, too many. Saturation.

In the case of Spanish language programming, recognize that Spanish is a language, not a format. There are about 12 to 14 Spanish language shares in SD, divided among a variety of formats and sharing patterns. the good stations in each format will get good shares, the bad ones will not.