-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Z105.3 now simulcasting on 105.7, where Alt 105.7 is now on HD2
- Thread starter rohocop2121
- Start date
What's the point?
This seems more akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic than anything else. I know that the 105.7 signal better covers the target audience of the format, but why bother with it now after all of these years? Why replace one 0.9 6+ with another 0.9 (significantly lower cume) 6+.
I understand that La Z gets all of the Spanish agency dollars by default, but does it really bill that much better than Alt did? My guess is that billing for both stations is in the same ballpark. From a business perspective, why does La Z deserve to live and Alt doesn't?
With that said, Alt 105.7 was a horrible excuse for an Alt station. No originality. So safe and boring. Same 20+ year old songs burnt to a crisp with just a few new songs/artists sprinkled in. Lame morning show - I don't think that Woody does well outside of LA.
Perhaps I am delusional, but hopefully Alt 105.7's demise will open the door for someone better suited than iHeart to take a chance on modern rock.
This seems more akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic than anything else. I know that the 105.7 signal better covers the target audience of the format, but why bother with it now after all of these years? Why replace one 0.9 6+ with another 0.9 (significantly lower cume) 6+.
I understand that La Z gets all of the Spanish agency dollars by default, but does it really bill that much better than Alt did? My guess is that billing for both stations is in the same ballpark. From a business perspective, why does La Z deserve to live and Alt doesn't?
With that said, Alt 105.7 was a horrible excuse for an Alt station. No originality. So safe and boring. Same 20+ year old songs burnt to a crisp with just a few new songs/artists sprinkled in. Lame morning show - I don't think that Woody does well outside of LA.
Perhaps I am delusional, but hopefully Alt 105.7's demise will open the door for someone better suited than iHeart to take a chance on modern rock.
Such as?
Lol, Fault 105.7 was interesting!?! It had an incredibly boring and repetitive playlist and an out of market morning show that hasn’t been successful anywhere outside of LA.
There’s a simple reason Fault got the boot instead of Z. Alternative seems to be on a downswing throughout most of the nation. Ratings for the format have been eroding for several years and, given decreased interest in Modern Rock in favor of Rhythmic formats, iHeart probably didn’t see much of a chance for this to regain listeners. That’s also the reason why no other company is likely to consider putting Alt on a market-wide signal.
Exactly. We are hearing the death rattle of a terminally ill musical genre. Rhythmic genres dominate popular music on all the inhabited continents right now. Rock, especially rock with heavy melodic content, having exhausted most of its creativity over its nearly 70-year lifespan, is largely the music of older listeners in North America, Europe and Australia, and even among them the preference is for music of the '60s through '90s.
The battle is between the older fans who like the classic alt, and the younger ones who want more new stuff. Not really enough of either to warrant an entire station.
Entercom could do Alt. They have a lot of Alternative stations.
Except they're not doing well.
Even their heritage "world class rock" KROQ in LA has hit new lows. An iHeart station, in the format iHeart certainly has no great dedication to, is actually beating them for the last year. They have pretty much cleaned house of the heritage talents KROQ was known for, and they eliminated the subchannel with the heritage KROQ sound.
"Not doing well" is an understatement.
Bingo. Look at satellite and the number of alt stations they have. You have 80s and earlier alt, 90s alt, and newer stuff. And they don't play well together.
If you want alt, and can pick it up, there's always TOSOTR. But you still have to deal with the mix.
I know there are a couple of alternative music fans on here. Asking you all only - Do you actually tune into the FM dial for your Alt fix? With the exception of WEQX out of Vermont, all I listen to is XMU and Alt nation on Sirius. Several indie stations on tune in. Alternative is just too safe on regular FM. To be fair though, iheart puts out the worst alternative product. Denver and Philadelphia are exceptions. One other thing - Go over to Alt 1057’s Facebook page (if it still exists). For starters, hardly ever anything local and plus, nothing alternative about it. It was like reading weird news or tabloid crap. It had nothing to do with music - Especially alternative.
I don’t think soft AC will work. Too boring. I don’t think classic hits would work either. Best bet would be Variety Hits. That’s the biggest hole and I argue would be the most lucrative and popular format to launch. Why? Nothing comes close as competition.
I don’t think soft AC will work. Too boring. I don’t think classic hits would work either. Best bet would be Variety Hits. That’s the biggest hole and I argue would be the most lucrative and popular format to launch. Why? Nothing comes close as competition.
If the audience for the genre is satisfied somewhere else, they're not going to start listening to FM because Entercom or someone starts a new station. They're happy where they are right now. So I agree there's no reason for a station to go through the expense of flipping to alt. BTW that pretty much applies to any other format you can name. If the fans of a format are happy where they are, they will stay there. A body at rest tends to stay at rest.
KROQ's recent challenges are completely unrelated to Entercom's ability to program the Alternative format. KROQ is in rebuild mode after losing Bean from the Kevin and Bean show, which ultimately led to them ditching the show entirely. With a new morning show, KROQ can reposition the music as needed while the new morning show finds their footing. (KROQ's new Program Director was the PD of the iHeart ALT station when they began making impact against KROQ, so he knows the drill).
The Alternative format as a whole is facing some challenges as the music cycle has been a bit soft (IMO). Also, Alternative is not a plug and play format; it is a very nuanced format which requires a special set of Programming skills and product/lifestyle understanding. The format tends to fail when it becomes the 2nd job for another programmer in the cluster. With that, I do believe the format can be viable and attractive to advertisers if executed properly and given proper attention.
The question is... "are they satisfied"? Listeners may be settling for other formats or platforms, but that does not mean they are satisfied. This goes for any format. When a radio company has an underperforming brand, they need to look at their options; can they fix the underperforming brand or should they launch a format not currently represented in the market such as Alternative or Soft AC or Classical or whatever. Often, it makes more sense to offer a format not currently available on FM in their respective market and put their best foot forward.
As pointed out earlier, Sirius offers several alternative stations. You're not going to get that on FM. Take a look at the music being played by the Entercom stations in NY and LA. Its a mix of mainly 90s alt, the classic hits of alt, with maybe ten new songs played once or twice a day. Is that good enough to pull an alt fan away from Sirius? You tell me.
My best guess for iHeart is they're going to keep this simulcast for a while. My best guess for Entercom is they're going to adjust the music mix at Star.
Getting the music right, is definitely important and differs from market to market. Also, there are a lot of other variables which can also impact the success of a station regardless of format. Sirius channels offer a solution for some, but they have their own strengths and liabilities. Personally, I enjoy the Alternative format as a concept, but hear too many crappy (IMO) songs on ALT Nation and XMU and don't feel a connection with their DJs.
The goal of "getting the music right" is to achieve the desired sales demographic. That doesn't necessarily mean playing the songs a genre's fan base wants to hear. If people want a certain group of songs, they're better off going to a platform that isn't ad-supported.
Not seeing the logic in that statement. Commercial radio succeeds by creating brands which attract a lot of listeners which they can leverage to advertisers. Commercial supported media tends to appeal to a more mainstream version of a genre's fans, while ad-supported (i.e. Sirius) appeals to a more niche version. Two different models, while both are viable options.
- Status