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Straight Radio Station Owner Energizes Gay Media Market

C

Cornflake the Destroyer

Press Release:

SAN FRANCISCO, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- When you meet Joe Bayliss, it's hard to believe that this blonde, married, relatively conservative guy owns Energy 92.7FM, the heart-pumping independent dance music radio station that has a huge gay following.

Since hitting the airwaves nearly three years ago, Bayliss has charted a course for San Francisco's only independently owned radio station that has enabled it to turn a profit and become the most listened to dance/electronic radio station on the West Coast.

"The gay community, which makes up 15% of the San Francisco market and represents $670 billion in consumer spending, has a passion for dance music, but no one was playing it. So we launched Energy 92.7FM Pure Dance," said Bayliss. "We took an old-fashioned approach to our business model: local, live personalities and grass roots community involvement and went to work."

Bayliss and his team put together a radio line up of the hippest dance club music available with dynamic on-air personalities that today includes America's first all-gay morning radio show. Additionally, the Energy team began supporting local non-profits and taking an active role within the community. "We wanted to be the kind of station that not only played great music, but was there for the community 365 days a year," added Bayliss.

Support of the station has grown exponentially, allowing Energy 92.7FM to expand onto the web with live streaming. "We hear from queer youth all over the country, thanking us for being on the air," he added. "They may not live in San Francisco, but these kids now have an outlet to tune in to for great music and positive gay role models."

So what's next for Bayliss and his station? Energy 92.7FM will host a major dance party on June 23rd, "Queen," during San Francisco's gay pride. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Equality California, the state's leading LGBT nonprofit advocacy organization. "You need a big party for Pride," said Bayliss, "and this will be the biggest the city has ever seen."

Broadcasting since 2004, Energy 92.7FM is the only independently owned radio station in San Francisco. For more information or to listen via live streaming, visit their website at http://www.energy927fm.com/. Energy 92.7FM
 
KristenNews@10 said:
Press Release:


"We took an old-fashioned approach to our business model: local, live personalities and grass roots community involvement and went to work."

"We wanted to be the kind of station that not only played great music, but was there for the community 365 days a year," added Bayliss.
Click to expand...

So why doesn't corporate owned radio understand this? An independent owner gets it. Maybe its time to rethink abandoning the 7-7-7 rule. I know we couldn't go that low again but some downscaling might be in order.
 
Look at Energy's ratings. Respectable, but not a 5 share.

Thats what the big guys see: BOTTOM LINE. Researched, time-tested formats. If you look around the country, dance is a time-FAILED format, despite its success in markets like New York, LA, Chicago, and Miami. The reason why: there isn't much known about the typical dance music listener. We know that a 34 year old woman will love John Mayer, and we know that the typical 25 year old woman will love Justin Timberlake.

But what about the dance music listener? Gay? Transplant from Europe? But experience tells us that a CHR-like station should be programmed toward women, and neither of those two listeners likely are. And in most markets, those two groups (at least vocally) make up a negligible part of the population. Then what?

Next logical step: Movin'. Program a rhythmic AC or CHR to 25-54 year old women. But then the dance music lovers are lost. In theory this station could rate well and make money for a couple years until the format burns on its audience.

See my point? That is why this format won't be touched by corporate radio, and why Movin is doomed to failure, just like Jack and Free FM. But the suits only see numbers (and they are DEFINITELY NOT good radio programmers), and so they research formats to death trying to include everybody, and they actually wind up targeting nobody.

Its the way of the business these days. And why independant radio stations are a blessing.
 
halloaaryn said:
Awesome! I wish he would start a dance station down here in LA...
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Hmm, gee, though not "pure" dance, what do you call KBIG and KMVN?
Just isn't working that well in LA. Get an HD radio and listen to KBIG 2.
It's called Pride radio and its "Dance and aimed at gays... Thatwould
seem to fill the bill if only HD was more common...
 
This is not to minimize what Bayliss has done in any way - I think it's terrific. But the idea of a gay oriented radio station in the Bay Area is an obvious one. Like many good ideas, it took a risk-taking independent entrepreneur to do it. It's also a great solution for the low-power 92.7 frequency out of Alameda that has good coverage in San Francisco, though I understand not so good in many other parts of the Bay Area. I live in SF, and was a big KJAZ fan, and never had a problem hearing it in the City - either at home or in my car.

I'm old enough to remember walking through the Castro district in the 1970s, hearing KSFX (103.7) coming out of every bar, restaurant, and store in the neighborhood. KSFX had switched from a failed album rock format in the mid 70s (a twin of KLOS in LA), to dance oriented soul music, then it morphed into "Disco 104," [/i] riding the disco craze for a couple of years until it burned out. ABC owned the station, and though they didn't target gays specifically, I'm sure they knew that a substantial portion of their audience came from the gay community.

I don't know what percentage of the SF or Bay Area population is Gay, but it's got to be significant. They generally have good jobs, and have a lot of discretionary income to spend. Since advertisers are wising up, and increasingly targeting gays for big ticket items, I would think Energy would be an easy sell -even with less than a .1 share.

If HD Radio catches on, I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes common in all big markets, and even in medium sized markets.
 
CapeRadio said:
Look at Energy's ratings. Respectable, but not a 5 share.
Click to expand...

The San Francisco MSA is 5.9 million. Energy puts a 70 dbu over only 1.2 million persons 12+, and a 60 dbu over 2.2 million persons. Most listening takes place in the 64 dbu contour, so less than 30% of the market can use this station. A linear projection would give this station over a 2.4 share were it to cover the entire market and if its product is equally interesting in all areas. Such a share would put the station in the top 12 in the market.
 
Researched, time-tested formats.
Click to expand...

What's funny about your use of this term is that Energy has done A TON of research since even before they launched...far more than virtually all of their corporate competitors.
 
nodisclosureguy said:
Researched, time-tested formats.
Click to expand...

What's funny about your use of this term is that Energy has done A TON of research since even before they launched...far more than virtually all of their corporate competitors.
Click to expand...

What a load of baloney. Feel free to quote your source on this, please. KNGY is doing a good job of surviving. They're imaging around the so called, "Gay Media Market" and showing decent, hyper-targeted male demos in San Francisco County. You can extrapolate what they might have with a real market signal, but it really doesn't mean a thing. It's a very marginal signal and a minor radio station that doesn't prove anything about Movin', Jack, corporate "suits" or much else. My guess is that Joe Bayliss is totally committed to this format until the first guy comes along and offers him enough to sell the signal and he can make back his very large investment.
 
What a load of baloney.
Click to expand...

Uh...no, it's not. I know for a fact that since 2004, Energy has tested it's music library five times and has completed two strategic studies. Most of these have been completed with what is arguably considered the most prestigious research company in the business.

There is no source to quote on this. Radio stations don't publicly announce the studies they are fielding. You either know about this or you don't. If you're not in the know, don't presume that you know what's going on.
 
Big deal, plenty of music testing. Is that supposed to mean something to a listener? That's for the investors.

Bayliss didn't realize what he was tapping into with this format when he started until it was pointed out to him. His intent in the beginning was going after "the asian youth market." Those are his words. I usually abstain from discussions about this station, but that is just a load of crap, he only started marketing to the gay audience when he saw the dollar signs. That is a fact.
 
nodisclosureguy said:
What a load of baloney.
Click to expand...

Uh...no, it's not. I know for a fact that since 2004, Energy has tested it's music library five times and has completed two strategic studies. Most of these have been completed with what is arguably considered the most prestigious research company in the business.

There is no source to quote on this. Radio stations don't publicly announce the studies they are fielding. You either know about this or you don't. If you're not in the know, don't presume that you know what's going on.
Click to expand...

Relax, Francis. Two auditorium music tests a year and a perceptual/strategic test every couple of years is a very normal schedule for a real radio station. And, most contemporary stations will also have 25-50 callout reports a year, too. It's great that John Peake has the same tools as other stations in the market, but your statement was "far more than virtually all their corporate competitors." That's baloney. Who's presuming and who knows?
 
Two auditorium music tests a year and a perceptual/strategic test every couple of years is a very normal schedule for a real radio station.
Click to expand...

Yes, that was true...in 1997. Bonneville is perhaps the only Bay Area operator that continues to follow such an approach. CBS does that for only a handful of their stations, the same is true for Entercom and it is certainly not the case with Clear Channel or with the Susquehanna stations that Cumulus bought (even though Clear Channel and Cumulus do almost all of of their research in-house). Univision may follow the "traditional" model, but I don't know enough about them to be sure. Even Inner City does more research each year on KBLX than most of the "big guys" do for any of their individual stations.
 
nodisclosureguy said:
Two auditorium music tests a year and a perceptual/strategic test every couple of years is a very normal schedule for a real radio station.
Click to expand...

Yes, that was true...in 1997. Bonneville is perhaps the only Bay Area operator that continues to follow such an approach. CBS does that for only a handful of their stations, the same is true for Entercom and it is certainly not the case with Clear Channel or with the Susquehanna stations that Cumulus bought (even though Clear Channel and Cumulus do almost all of of their research in-house). Univision may follow the "traditional" model, but I don't know enough about them to be sure. Even Inner City does more research each year on KBLX than most of the "big guys" do for any of their individual stations.
Click to expand...

This has been widely discussed in the trades and elsewhere. Many groups have cut way back on AMTs, reduced the intervals of callout, and only use perceptuals for format searches, not "state of the station." On the other hand, the growth sector, Hispanic, is very active. SBS does at least two AMTs a yeasr, and Univision exceeds that.
 
Harp said:
Big deal, plenty of music testing. Is that supposed to mean something to a listener? That's for the investors.
Click to expand...

That is NOT for the investors. A music test is to determine how to best please the listener, and nothing else. The investors don't give a darn aboiut an AMT.
 
Talking Furniture said:
nodisclosureguy said:
What a load of baloney.
Click to expand...

Uh...no, it's not. I know for a fact that since 2004, Energy has tested it's music library five times and has completed two strategic studies. Most of these have been completed with what is arguably considered the most prestigious research company in the business.

There is no source to quote on this. Radio stations don't publicly announce the studies they are fielding. You either know about this or you don't. If you're not in the know, don't presume that you know what's going on.
Click to expand...



What a laugh...you must work there to get so worked up about their research. Who Cares? David is wrong as always btw, the rest of the market is straighter and more conservative. The station is a joke.
Click to expand...
 
doublecashkgb said:
What a laugh...you must work there to get so worked up about their research. Who Cares? David is wrong as always btw, the rest of the market is straighter and more conservative. The station is a joke.
Click to expand...

Please re-read my post. Based on coverage, I said that if the rest of the market behaves like the coverage area, they project to about a 2.4. Without research, we don't know that, so that is why I included the caveat and clearly identified it as a straight-line projection.

Based on ZIP Code analysis of Party in Miami when it was dance, the listening was not confined to SoBe; the station had a pretty decent audience distribution throughout the metro, although the total numbers were not sufficient to sustain the format.

One factor to consider is that dance stations tend to overindex among Hispanics, and the coverage area does not include many HDHAs, so it could be possible that the station would even do better in the highly Hispanic areas if it had a signal.
 
nodisclosureguy said:
Two auditorium music tests a year and a perceptual/strategic test every couple of years is a very normal schedule for a real radio station.
Click to expand...

Yes, that was true...in 1997. Bonneville is perhaps the only Bay Area operator that continues to follow such an approach. CBS does that for only a handful of their stations, the same is true for Entercom and it is certainly not the case with Clear Channel or with the Susquehanna stations that Cumulus bought (even though Clear Channel and Cumulus do almost all of of their research in-house). Univision may follow the "traditional" model, but I don't know enough about them to be sure. Even Inner City does more research each year on KBLX than most of the "big guys" do for any of their individual stations.
Click to expand...

I'll stand by my statement. Research budgets are down across the board but Energy is not out-researching the majority of the radio stations in San Francisco.
 
Talking Furniture said:
I'll stand by my statement. Research budgets are down across the board but Energy is not out-researching the majority of the radio stations in San Francisco.
Click to expand...

Any evidence to back that up?

I didn't think so.

All I have to say is this guy is a really smart business man, especially knowing that San Francisco has the largest gay population in the country.

And BTW, I thought this area was more liberal. Unless I am mistaken.
 
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