StopWhining said:
<<First, a person who has been inthe business for nearly two decades is no longer referred to as an "intern." I started as an intern, and that is no longer my title, either.>>
This may come as a huge shock to you, David, but not everything is about you. I was talking about Stella Schwartz, and I will refer to Ms. Schwartz how I see fit, thank you very much. I never said there is anything wrong with interns in radio, in fact I think they are great. But in my opinion, Stella Schwartz is not qualified to be programming in Los Angeles. She has no other market experience, and there are plenty of people who have TRULY earned their stripes and could do a far better job than Intern Schwartz.
A. I was simply making a point that many in radio started at interns, and there is nothing derogatoory about having been one as your post clearly suggests.
B. I find it admirable that a person has been able to stay in one company and market for as long as Ms. Schwartz has. It indicates that radio is more stable for the employee, and that there are career paths to be had without having to rent a U-Haul every year or so.
<<Being #6 in LA is hardly a bad place to be.>>
You are correct. But considering they were #1 a few short weeks ago, that is quite a drop. In fact, programmers have been fired for smaller ratings decreases.
To be finicky, they were tied for #1. And every AC in the USA that does Christmas loses at least a point if not more when the Winter book comes out; WLTW in NY lost over a share, and in Chicago the loss was enough to move the AC there something like 10 positions in rank. This is something we have seen for as long as All-Christmas has been done. It is expected and not unusual and does not reflect on the PD.
In the case of KOST, the staiton is now, in Winter, above both spring and Summer 2006 levels... not bad in such a competitive market.
<<The week of 5/13/06 KRTH played 609 titles, while last week it played 543 titles. What is going on is that the songs are being rotated better and the presentation is better.>>
And they've added a lot of DIFFERENT songs in recent months, don't forget about that. It's not just the number of different songs they play, it is also a matter of playing the CORRECT songs for their core audience. You know that.
Most of the songs are the same, and some have changed. This is pretty normal at an oldies station, where we find that there are literally hundreds of songs that cycle in and out as they get a bit burnt and need rest while others recover and are playable... for a while.
<< A bigger list works if the songs are acceptable to the core.>>
Since you brought it up, David, you were one of the people on this board (along with KM Richards) who used to lay into people who (2+ years ago) used to make suggestions that L.A. needed a station that sounded like what it is now JACK FM. Both you and KM Richards used to dismiss those suggestions and say that a station like that would never work. As far as I'm concerned, JACK FM proved you and the late KM Richards wrong.
Sorry, not true. I disagreed that an English oldies station could increase its list because at any one time there are not that many more playable songs.
And you are picking on the person with the most extensive non-classical list in the market, so obviously I did not say what you think I did or you took a very specfic remark out of context.
The fact is, I followed Jack from its days in Calgary and such via BBM and was well aware that it could be developed for US audiences.
<<KBIG billed $33 million last year, and no Spanish langauge station billed that.>>
Doesn't mean it can't be done. It just means the right team hasn't been assembled to make it happen. You are funny, David. Whenever a discussion comes up about someone competing with Univision, you dismiss it as a bad idea, as if no one could or should try. Are you concerned someone might give you guys a run for your money?
The fact is that many have tried to compete in Spanish language radio without knowledge of the culture and the lifestyle. Clear Channel has actually had to turn some of the stations that it changed to Spanish back to English (Albuquerque, Denver, etc.) Their corporate culture is not particularly adaptable to what the Hispanic companies like SBS, Liberman, Entravision, BMP, Bustos and, of course, Univision, can do.
I have not seen Clear hiring recognized experts in programming, sales and management for their Hispanic initiative. It appears the main qualifications they have is the ability to speak English to the cluster managers.
And the fact that the experts have not been able to make any Spanish FM in LA outbill KBIG's current level also indicates that adding another player on top of the existing 16 would dilute, not expand, the revenue potential of any one station.
<<But it would bill much less... except for the top two stations, the other Spanish facilities bill in the mid-to low 20's, and you can hardly expect Clear, with basically no Hispanic experience, to knock off KSCA with Piolin or KLVE which has been top-2 25-54 for 13 years (SBS tried with KXOL, and could not do it...)>>
Again, you don't know that it would bill less. You make these generalizations that because just because something is not happening, that it can not be done. The right programmers and sales staff could make a Spanish station the #1 billing station in Los Angeles, it has just not been done yet. I believe it will happen in the next 5-7 years.
Sure I know it would bill less. First, further diluting shares would bring the potential for all stations down. Second, a novice organization with no relationships with the Hispanic shops and clients would talke a long time to reach the sales proficiency level of any of the Hispanic players now in the market.
<<Further, illegals do not accept and participate in diaries, and really don't help a station all that much.>>
This is not entirely true. If it were, Spanish radio would not have seen the growth it has here in the past decade.
Check the growth of legal residents and you will see the growth of the market. Illegals are vastly less likely to participate in a survey, as it requires giving data like address (to mail the diaries) and family size (to know how many) and qualitative data. Do you really see many illegal residents giving out a roadmap by which to find them to a stranger on the phone?
<<There is actually an outflow of Hispanics from LA, as the market is basically too expensive to live in and there are better jobs in Grand Island and Atlanta.>>
And when they leave, no one replaces them? O-kay. Now who's being unrealistic?
The growth of the Hispanic population in LA has slowed dramatically. In fact, it is declining as a percentage of the market. 2005: 41.2%. 2006: 40.7%. 2007: 40.7% while in that period, total market population increadedd by 100,000 persons.
It is more dramatic in San Francisco, where we see the total Hispanic population decreasing as a percentage and a total number over the last three years.
<<Star is improving in core demos quite nicely (25-44 women), and recovering in sales.>>
Again, their ratings were so bad, they couldn't go much lower, so it's no surprise they've inched up. As far as billing goes, if Star was individually owned and not benefitting (sales wise) from the other stations in the CC cluster, it would not be making nearly the amount of money it is. Regardless, the station sounds like crap. And that morning show is the worst thing to hit L.A. radio since Clear Channel teamed John Murphy and George Lopez.
Speculating about the station under a different owner is meaningless. The fact is, Star forms an important part of the company cluster strategy and they are investing in the format. The fact that you, who are likely a guy, don't like the talent, billboards or miusic is actually irrelevant.
