KCSN/KSBR brand

[udfan07]

Via Radio Insight:

KCSN/KSBR TO BECOME THE SOCAL SOUND​

KCSN/KSBR To Become The SoCal Sound – RadioInsight

California State University, Northridge's KCSN Northridge/Los Angeles and Saddleback College's KSBR Mission Viejo CA will brand their AAA "88.5 FM" as "The SoCal Sound" on Friday, August 19. The rebrand resurrects the "Sound" branding previously used by AAA turned Classic Rock. 100.3 KSWD Los...

radioinsight.com

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I can spell LAME in just 4 letters.

Via Radio Insight:

KCSN/KSBR TO BECOME THE SOCAL SOUND​

KCSN/KSBR To Become The SoCal Sound – RadioInsight

California State University, Northridge's KCSN Northridge/Los Angeles and Saddleback College's KSBR Mission Viejo CA will brand their AAA "88.5 FM" as "The SoCal Sound" on Friday, August 19. The rebrand resurrects the "Sound" branding previously used by AAA turned Classic Rock. 100.3 KSWD Los...

radioinsight.com

 

[david]

@ChannelFlipper Wrong on multiple accounts. The new name reinvigorates the station's mindshare as well as leverages a brand that has some strong quite recent heritage in this radio market. Moreover, it displaces a generic frequency positioner identity, which is/was quite generic. The station attempted recently to append "The Independent" to their dial frequency identifier, but that name was pretty sterile.

The new name suggests the station is also durable, with plans to remain in market. There had been some recent concern as to the station's ownership, and what would happen if CSUN were to step away.

Lastly, the station's sharp look and feel / design of their collateral (especially the website) remains, with simply a logo change. This is a good thing as their online UI is very classy... and their orange color is a good identifier. (my own logo - you can see it on the left here - agrees with the choice of orange).

 

[ercjncpr]

I like it, they should have done it a long time ago

 

[sdwulfdawg]

Your post NAILS it.....

What a strong branding....great colors. Most important, their programming is GREAT! They made me a listener!

(And thanks for your GREAT post)

 

[DavidEduardo]

Your post NAILS it.....

What a strong branding....great colors. Most important, their programming is GREAT! They made me a listener!

(And thanks for your GREAT post)

Of course, many of their listeners will stream. But the two signals combined don't cover even 25% of the market population.

 

[TheBigA]

Perhaps it's a tip of the hat to the old 100.3 that flipped to religious five years ago.

The new name suggests the station is also durable, with plans to remain in market. There had been some recent concern as to the station's ownership, and what would happen if CSUN were to step away.

You bring up a good point, because Cal State was looking for outside management before covid a few years ago. I haven't seen any update on that situation.

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[ChannelFlipper]

@ChannelFlipper Wrong on multiple accounts. The new name reinvigorates the station's mindshare as well as leverages a brand that has some strong quite recent heritage in this radio market. Moreover, it displaces a generic frequency positioner identity, which is/was quite generic. The station attempted recently to append "The Independent" to their dial frequency identifier, but that name was pretty sterile.

The new name suggests the station is also durable, with plans to remain in market. There had been some recent concern as to the station's ownership, and what would happen if CSUN were to step away.

Lastly, the station's sharp look and feel / design of their collateral (especially the website) remains, with simply a logo change. This is a good thing as their online UI is very classy... and their orange color is a good identifier. (my own logo - you can see it on the left here - agrees with the choice of orange).

My criticism is not of the "update" in and of itself, the "New 88.5" was not terribly original anyway and perhaps needed to be upgraded, but at least it did away with the previous "Smart Rock" moniker (although I think they were still saying that on the air for some time even after 88.5 branding came in). I heavily criticized the insipid "Smart Rock" branding at the time as it comes off as radio "by the intelligentsia for the intelligentsia" which I don't believe was really Sky's intent, but that is what it conveys. Not only is it off-putting and condescending to those "not in the know", that type of radio is already well-covered by KCRW and public radio in general. It effectively and quite unnecessarily narrowed the population of possible users to the station.

As for the new name "reinvigorating the station's mindshare", I have absolutely no idea what that phrase means, but I am sure it wins plaudits in the faculty lounge. The new name quite intentionally appropriates the musical and radio heritage of another station that was on the air in LA long enough to have a history of its own.

But KCSN has enough of a (very good) history of its own that is only cheapened by the appropriation. It would be different if what KCSN was doing was mimicking the old Sound's (KSWD) format, which (even in its more AAA-oriented first year) was well over 50% classic rock of the typical AOR variety and some carefully chosen AAA tracks from the likes of Mumford and Sons thrown in. But KCSN is a true AAA with some well-chosen classic rock thrown in. Not the same at all. I realize they have two DJs that used to work at the Sound, but it is not the DJs that make the station,, they are only a part. In short, what the new name does is unnecessarily confuse the new audience the station is trying to reach.

Lastly, appropriating the name and positive good will of former commercial station not only does not inspire a lot of confidence in the ownership and continued viability of the station, it does the exact opposite. The station is about 12 years old and has plenty of great history of its own on which it could build. But there have been constant rumors over the last several years that public support is not meeting expectations and ownership is at least open to other alternatives for the station. Given that backdrop, sacrificing its own heritage and gloming onto that of the Sound's feels like the ultimate Hail Mary. As in, "If we can't get more listeners and support in with this gambit, then it really is time to move on".

It is really both a bad look and a bad move and shows a lack of originality and imagination from the station's management.

 

[radiojomo]

Yes, I believe the when the stations were merged, "The New 88.5 FM" was the branding used to show the signals were now united as one. They hung around with the generic "88.5/Independent 88.5" moniker, but kept the same logo. The station was due for an identify refresh at this point, imo. But this seems to be more of a new logo/new domain name sort of deal than a refresh or even rebrand.

From my listening observations over the past few days, I did notice a few VOs that tout "Public radio for a new generation," which ironically aired before Andy Chanley's '60s at 6. (I'm sure that music programming appeals to many young people.)

Not sure how the "SoCal Sound" brand resonates with a younger demo, if that's the goal. Maybe the old folks who listen to radio will remember The Sound and donate a few bucks?

That's really what matters at the end of the day. For public radio stations, it's not so much how many listeners you can get, but how compelling is the content that you can get people to take action and give support?

It's worked for KPCC, KCRW and K-Love. KCSN/KSBR needs to find what content mix will best activate new members, despite the signal deficiencies. It should use the terrestrial stick as an advertisement to try to get listeners to download the app/listen on Alexa/etc.

 

[TomásEstefan]

My criticism is not of the "update" in and of itself, the "New 88.5" was not terribly original anyway and perhaps needed to be upgraded, but at least it did away with the previous "Smart Rock" moniker (although I think they were still saying that on the air for some time even after 88.5 branding came in). I heavily criticized the insipid "Smart Rock" branding at the time as it comes off as radio "by the intelligentsia for the intelligentsia" which I don't believe was really Sky's intent, but that is what it conveys. Not only is it off-putting and condescending to those "not in the know", that type of radio is already well-covered by KCRW and public radio in general. It effectively and quite unnecessarily narrowed the population of possible users to the station.

As for the new name "reinvigorating the station's mindshare", I have absolutely no idea what that phrase means, but I am sure it wins plaudits in the faculty lounge. The new name quite intentionally appropriates the musical and radio heritage of another station that was on the air in LA long enough to have a history of its own.

But KCSN has enough of a (very good) history of its own that is only cheapened by the appropriation. It would be different if what KCSN was doing was mimicking the old Sound's (KSWD) format, which (even in its more AAA-oriented first year) was well over 50% classic rock of the typical AOR variety and some carefully chosen AAA tracks from the likes of Mumford and Sons thrown in. But KCSN is a true AAA with some well-chosen classic rock thrown in. Not the same at all. I realize they have two DJs that used to work at the Sound, but it is not the DJs that make the station,, they are only a part. In short, what the new name does is unnecessarily confuse the new audience the station is trying to reach.

Lastly, appropriating the name and positive good will of former commercial station not only does not inspire a lot of confidence in the ownership and continued viability of the station, it does the exact opposite. The station is about 12 years old and has plenty of great history of its own on which it could build. But there have been constant rumors over the last several years that public support is not meeting expectations and ownership is at least open to other alternatives for the station. Given that backdrop, sacrificing its own heritage and gloming onto that of the Sound's feels like the ultimate Hail Mary. As in, "If we can't get more listeners and support in with this gambit, then it really is time to move on".

It is really both a bad look and a bad move and shows a lack of originality and imagination from the station's management.

Well...let's be positive and hope this works as there are a lot of religious organizations that would love to get their hands on this facility just like they did with 100.3

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Well...let's be positive and hope this works as there are a lot of religious organizations that would love to get their hands on this facility just like they did with 100.3

Unfortunately, after spending some time on the new website, the new logo itself has to come in for some criticism too. Believe me, I take no joy in this as I love(d) the station and want nothing but continued success for it. I was one of the very first listeners, mainly because I occasionally listened to its predecessor Americana format and was well aware of the change when Sky brought the new format on in (I believe) 2011. I will be forever indebted to the station for sending me to a Tom Petty concert in a 500-seat auditorium on the CSUN campus and putting me third row center. Tom and I made multiple eye-to-eye connections as we rocked out during the show that autumn night. Once in a lifetime memories.

But on with the unfortunate task at hand. The logo indicates an absolute identity crisis with the station. I actually liked the old 88.5 FM logo. I thought it fit the station well - looked very Indie-ish with the circle logo and slightly in-your-face orange color, and, most importantly, easily identified for you what you need to know - station is at 88.5. For a station that prides itself on finding and breaking new talent, it clearly fit the part.

This new logo doesn't fit the station at all. It borrows "the Sound" moniker, which I have already commented on, but it looks like a logo that could have been made for the old KNX-FM - Orange setting sun, balmy palm trees, it looks totally laid back. I half expect to tune in and get me some good yacht rock. The problem is, I don't think the station is spinning too many Ambrosia records. That, and while the all-important dial position of 88.5 is noted there at the top, it comes off as being an afterthought to the Sound and palm trees imagery. The point of a logo is to get new people directed to your station, and this logo doesn't do it. (BTW, it would also help if they just settled on one website address, the shorter the better. They are now trying, and apparently failing, to move the site to www.thesocalsound.org to match the new name. The old website does not direct to the new one, and the new one is not up and running. This is not being professionally done at all. How many web users are you losing because of this? Who is in charge here?)

So the question is, what is the station really about? What I liked about the station before is that it was sort of a collage of other stations: a lot of KROQ, The old Indie, the old KSCA, and KCRW (its obvious main competition), but also dash of KRTH, KSWD and KMET too. I am pretty sure they want to still cultivate that AAA image of breaking new and upcoming artists as a primary function, while still honoring the rock of the past that got us to where we are. But one gets the idea that a decision was made to quit trying to get money out of too-hip 24 year olds that simply cannot or will not contribute and go for their high-income earning parents, and evoking the old KSWD and KNX-FM imagery as the way to do it. And if it takes spinning some more CSN records, then they will do it - with logo to match.

I mentioned on this site before that I knew KMET was going to be a goner in 1986 when they started to get all confused with the format and started playing Cyndi Lauper records between Aerosmith and .38 Special. I sincerely hope we are not at a similar junction for KCSN/KSBR, because the whole rebranding and logo fiasco is starting to feel like it.

BTW, I think one or more posters here are directly involved with the station and/or this re-branding. These are just my observations and opinions, nothing said here is directed to any person(s) directly. I actually hope you will prove me wrong and this whole thing turns out to be a great success. If it turns out to be, then I will be most happy about it and will gladly post as much when the time comes.

 

[adradio]

Good move. 88.5 was meh. Also, in this age of streaming, radio station frequency identification is becoming more and more meaningless.

 

[KilowattKat]

Good move. 88.5 was meh. Also, in this age of streaming, radio station frequency identification is becoming more and more meaningless.

I agree, for a station whose 2 signals cover less than half of the LA metro, naming yourself after your frequency is not a good idea. It wouldn't surprise me if half or more of their listeners listen on other platforms. The "type" of listener they attract is ahead of the curve when it comes to streaming, Alexa, etc.

It was time for a new name.

 

[radiojomo]

This is an ad they are running on the digital version of the LA Times

 

[ChannelFlipper]

It is way too early to decide if the new logo and branding is hurting the station (I have already predicted above that it will), but all early evidence shows that it is definitely not helping at all.

I am on the email list and received one last week that they are having a new "pop-up" fundraising drive. I think they have about three regularly scheduled fundraising drives a year, and that doesn't seem to be covering the bills, thus the need for this (let's now call it what it is) additional emergency fundraising effort. But even this emergency effort doesn't seem to be doing the trick. A new email showed up today from Laura Kelly, their membership director, and here is the relevant part:

Today is the last day of our 4-Day September Pop-Up Drive, and I don't mind telling you we are somewhat behind on our goal of 4,000 Subscribers.

Less than 4,000 subscribers is not a lot given their (even limited) coverage areas. Some of your larger metro Boys and Girls clubs have similar membership levels.

When you have to have an emergency fund raising drive and on the last day admit that you are not making your relatively modest goals, you have a serious problem on your hands. KCSN/KSBR is currently in that situation.

 

[TheBigA]

Less than 4,000 subscribers is not a lot given their (even limited) coverage areas.

Generally accepted statistics in the non-commercial world is that about 7% of the people who listen (not those in the coverage area) will subscribe. Those numbers have been dropping as people have become less given to supporting charities. But the 4000 figure is their goal for NEW subscribers, who would be added to their existing subscriber base, whatever that is.

 

[goriajk]

Via Radio Insight:

KCSN/KSBR TO BECOME THE SOCAL SOUND​

KCSN/KSBR To Become The SoCal Sound – RadioInsight

California State University, Northridge's KCSN Northridge/Los Angeles and Saddleback College's KSBR Mission Viejo CA will brand their AAA "88.5 FM" as "The SoCal Sound" on Friday, August 19. The rebrand resurrects the "Sound" branding previously used by AAA turned Classic Rock. 100.3 KSWD Los...

radioinsight.com

My two cents worth. As a member of 88.5fm for a decade, I actually like the refresh. The music is the same that I know and love, but a refresh that honors 100.3 The Sound while charting its own course. I remember SuperRadioGuy and yours truly peppering Dave Beasing back when KSWD was only a few months old “When can you play Little Feat”… hehe. Fast forward to 2022, at least my favorite station is playing Little Feat while spotlighting new music. 88.5 The SoCal Sound and KNX/FM 93 stream I listen to often in my car, besides KNX (AM) 10.70 and NOT 97.1!! Joe Bear

 

[TomásEstefan]

As I've said on a previous post, let's hope they're successful: after all, their music format is completely unique in the Los Angeles market. It's really too bad that they don't have a full market signal.

 

[DavidEduardo]

As I've said on a previous post, let's hope they're successful: after all, their music format is completely unique in the Los Angeles market. It's really too bad that they don't have a full market signal.

My question is whether the changing ethnic compostion of LA even leaves an opening for that format.

 

[TomásEstefan]

My question is whether the changing ethnic compostion of LA even leaves an opening for that format.

Maybe, maybe not, but It's interesting to note that KCSN 88.5's primary (direct signal) target is the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita, and through an on-channel booster, the West Side or simply the western environs of LA, Santa Monica, etc. They have a translator covering Ventura, and another one covering Ojai. What's puzzling is there is no such facility covering greater Thousand Oaks as KCSN's direct signal is blocked by TO's KCLU 88.3. Why there's no translator in that area is a mystery, they probably could be shoe horned in somewhere. (Like buying out the religious LP FM on 107.9 that nobody listens to other than the individual who put it on the air.)