KOAZ - Stream down for the past ten days

Sorry to let you know that it has been ten days since The Oasis has streamed online. The problem is music royalty and licensing fees, which are costing the station BIG. They will not be streaming until they get with a large carrier (iHeartRadio?) Sorry for the inconvenience.
WSBZ is still around, as KWDR Royal City (BA).
https://www.facebook.com/1037theoasis/posts/829737727109035

Unfortunately, as of June 10th the stream is still not back on another platform. Again, royalty fees are causing the ceasing of the stream. Wish I could get my Oasis back...someday! WSBZ streams, KWDR (BA) streams, KZIZ (BA) streams and KFEZ in CO has smooth jazz on nights/weekends.

-crainbebo

Received an email today from the station stating they will be back on line soon. Great News

Still no stream as of July 12th. This message was placed on the facebook page on 7/02: "Soon...very soon. Just changing servers and updating the stream. Very soon". How in the world does it take 2 1/2 months for a station to change a streaming server? I'm sure there's more than a few people who want the Oasis back online.
Remember, KFEZ still has smooth jazz on Sundays/weeknights, and WSBZ streams. However, KWDR Royal City has been down as well (a BA affiliate). Their FullViewPlayer will not work at all.

-crainbebo

I consult Vanguard's other station, KRKE (94-5 The Eighties Channel) and I can tell you this much.

Both stations' streams are down. There is a good reason but I am not authorized to elaborate.

Thanks! Didn't know KRKE was down as well. Do we have a tentative stream-return date yet? Or will it be several MORE months?
I'll tell you this - KOAZ went down sometime between 4/27 mid morning and early morning 4/28/2015. I taped about 40 min of KOAZ on 4/27/2015 (Jeff Young's morning show) and it was gone the next morning.

-crainbebo

crainbebo said:

Do we have a tentative stream-return date yet? Or will it be several MORE months?

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Sorry, not authorized to speak for Vanguard. (I'd rather repeat that than have you think I'm just blowin' ya off.)

DavidEduardo: "While it's a compliment to that locally programmed station that you enjoy the programming, you do need to ask yourself the question "how does my listening contribute to the station's success?"

I am surprised that stations like this one do not employ geofencing to restrict streams to their local market area."

Well, you gotta remember that I am NOT the only person who was listening to the Oasis outside of NM. There were several people on the Facebook page that were listening from other parts of the country - like San Francisco and one listener in Illinois, I'm sure there's people that listen in Europe. Smooth jazz is a genre that is all but dead in every part of the country except for ABQ, FWB and maybe one or two other small markets. 10-15 years ago, SJ was heard in every major market of the United States, and was enjoyed by loads of listeners. I grew up with KWJZ! And for those lucky people in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Fort Wayne etc. they enjoyed Jones SJ, which was ran by Steve Michaels (Hibbard) who does an air shift on KOAZ-K279BP-K240EC. There are still new smooth vocals and instrumentals released every month. Just look at how many people show up in Fort Walton Beach for the Seabreeze Festival. People come from all throughout the country, and it's always packed!
All I can say - I have enjoyed KOAZ's format, I'm glad I still have recordings from months/years past in case they don't come back to stream; and I'm hoping I get to hear Jeff Young, Katy Cole, Blake Williams etc. again soon.

-crainbebo

crainbebo said:

DavidEduardo: "While it's a compliment to that locally programmed station that you enjoy the programming, you do need to ask yourself the question "how does my listening contribute to the station's success?"

I am surprised that stations like this one do not employ geofencing to restrict streams to their local market area."

Well, you gotta remember that I am NOT the only person who was listening to the Oasis outside of NM. There were several people on the Facebook page that were listening from other parts of the country - like San Francisco and one listener in Illinois, I'm sure there's people that listen in Europe.

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I think, sir, you missed the point of David's rhetorical question and follow-up statement.

While it is all well and good that you enjoy the programming, radio exists as a medium to sell local listening to local advertisers. All of you outside of New Mexico are not benefiting their local clients, and with the costs of streaming increasing because of the royalty issues, taking on the added expenses to serve non-local listening stops becoming an option for small operations like Vanguard.

Again, I speak from a position of knowledge on this since I consult their other station in ABQ, so please take this as truth and not opinion. I'm sorry you've lost KOAZ as a listening option but I do not believe they had any other rational choice.

DavidEduardo said:

As KM Richards says, you are missing the point.

Every person listening outside the market area for The Oasis costs the station money, while not increasing the revenue potential in the slightest.

SoundExchange DCMA-mandated royalties increase with each user of a stream. Streamers in the market represent additional value for advertisers. Streamers outside the market are of no interest to a local station's advertisers, but can cost that station considerable money with expenses that increases with each additional user.

The issue of the disappearance of the Smooth Jazz format has been amply discussed. The cause is very simple: the audience aged outside the demographics that transactional advertisers desire and revenue declined significantly in every market to the point that the format was not viable except to a very few low-cost operators with good local sales abilities. Whether there is new SJ music or not is irrelevant; stations don't exist to promote new recordings... they are there to sell ads. And the ad money dried up nearly everywhere.

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I am not doubting you for a second, David, your reasoning is valid here. However, the question then becomes this: Why should ANYONE beyond the advertisers' target demos even bother with terrestrial radio, since it has little to do with the listeners and everything to do with the advertisers?

Is the streaming cost-per-listener situation confined to small markets, or is it a problem for medium and large markets as well? If so, why do they stream? As the saying goes, I will hang up and listen.

I'll let David answer your first paragraph as he explains that better than I, but I will give you a simple partial answer to your second one:

sjs1959 said:

Is the streaming cost-per-listener situation confined to small markets, or is it a problem for medium and large markets as well? If so, why do they stream?)

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It is much less of a problem for larger markets where stations are for the most part owned by nationwide media companies. Those companies are in a position to negotiate better streaming costs ... and do. Think of it as being inversely proportional and you'll have some idea of how much more a problem it is for, say, a two-station owner in Albuquerque vs. a seven-station owner in Los Angeles.

KM and David, thank you. The answer for those of us who like this particular format is internet radio streams, and I appreciate your patience and explanations, that just makes sense on small vs. larger owners on streaming costs.

Lately in the demise of KOAZ, I have been listening to a station about 175 miles up I-25 - KFEZ "Easy 101.3" Walsenburg, CO. They air smooth jazz from 6-Midnight MT (5PM-11PM here), and all day Sunday. Interesting mix - they have mostly newer smooth jazz cuts, a bunch of smooth vocals, some rare (heard "Biggest Part of Me" by Take 6 last week, and "Real Thing" Bobby Caldwell just a couple nights ago) and they even mix that with some traditional jazz cuts, like you would hear on a public radio station. Interesting mix of jazz programming.
Obviously, this is mostly just a placeholder for me in the SJ format until Vanguard turns back on KOAZ.

-crainbebo

DavidEduardo said:

Why would KOAZ want to turn the streaming back on?

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I'm afraid the OP is now in denial, as evidenced by his apparent refusal to accept (or simply ignoring) those answers which explain why he can't get what he wants.

Were I the manager or owner, I'd only stream via a provider who can geofence the station to the 3 county metro or the metro plus Santa Fe County. There is no gain reaching streaming listeners anywhere else.

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Adding Santa Fe County would make sense since KOAZ operates two translators, one for the ABQ metro and one for Santa Fe.

I will say that discussions of geofencing as part of stream restoration have been discussed, but if they've decided anything they haven't told me.

If you want to geoblock KOAZ, why aren't other small owner stations doing the same thing? I'm not completely sure, but I suppose royalty rates are still the SAME, geoblocked to a local area or free-to-air throughout the world.
KOAZ's facebook said in early July..."We'll back up and streaming very soon! Working with a new provider!" Hmm. Wonder if there's more to this secret story than we know. Obviously the "new provider" story is off-limits per Vanguard rules, but this could be interesting. And I wonder if the new provider will geoblock.

-crainbebo