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Does san diego really need 2 alternative stations?
- Thread starter 30james
- Start date
Radio stations don't base programming decisions on "need." In Audacy's case, they're searching for a format they can use to reach 18-34s. So far they haven't found one. They failed in CHR. The alternative format has been at a low point creatively for a couple of years. The other question would be what to flip to?
Maybe a country format?
SD can sustain only one country station. The existing one has decent heritage and is not badly done. Even if a better implementation is done, assuming that is possible, fragmenting KSON would result in two bottom tier FMs.
Except that Audacy already owns the country station in the market. LMSD seems to have some personal attachment to the alternative format. So they might not flip.
I don't see any viable options in the English language realm. San Diego is a very heavily radioed market. Hip-hop throwbacks is the only option that possibly comes to mind, and it ain't a very good one.
Let's not forget, either, that Rock 105.3 plays a LOT of alternative recurrent and gold product these days, too. Substantially more than the usual Active Rock station. I think they've taken some wind out of 94.9's and 91X's sails.
Let's not forget, either, that Rock 105.3 plays a LOT of alternative recurrent and gold product these days, too. Substantially more than the usual Active Rock station. I think they've taken some wind out of 94.9's and 91X's sails.
For the two or so people like me that have HD Radios, Rock 105.3 also programs an Alt format on the HD2. That makes three mainstream Alternative stations in San Diego, plus a couple of "alt-heavy" stations, 100.7 Big FM and the Willy experiment at 105.7, not including the Classic Alt station on 96.5 HD2. I too have been wondering why two Alt stations here and in LA, both not doing anything impressive numbers-wise. What else is there that's not being covered anywhere else? Standards? Soft AC (94.1 HD3 kind of fills that hole)? Traditional oldies? Everything else seems to be well covered.
There's a reason why those formats aren't being done: All aim at audiences older than 25-54.
Well, nothing else left....so there we stand. The only thing I see left to do is to put another Spanish station on one of the alternatives (we're over-saturated by those with TJ) or move one of the more mainstream HD formats over - that would likely be either the Smooth Jazz format, the Soft AC format or the Alt format. The other HD stations are too niche-based or already represented to survive as replacement formats.
Well my vote would obviously be for an oldies station, a serious format hole in both LA and San Diego, but, unfortunately, it is an aging demographic. Something like the WOW! Factor in Phoenix would be nice to hear in San Diego, but the two big radio conglomerates, IHeart and Audacy, don’t really do oldies anymore. I would say all-news on FM like KNX up in LA or talk radio like KFI, but that short-lived experiment failed in San Diego when KOGO moved to 95.7 FM in 2011. Since we are talking about Audacy and not IHeart, I would think any sort of talk format is out of the question on FM in San Diego. Classical music is another format hole too, but that is usually reserved for public radio stations.
All in all, I think Audacy is probably best keeping the alternative music on 94.9 FM for the time being without any decent alternatives (pardon the pun) and maybe adding an oldies format to their HD-2 stream since no other station is doing that format right now in San Diego?
All in all, I think Audacy is probably best keeping the alternative music on 94.9 FM for the time being without any decent alternatives (pardon the pun) and maybe adding an oldies format to their HD-2 stream since no other station is doing that format right now in San Diego?
I would agree with the WOW! Factor being a good choice here, but it would have to be on a more independently owned station, like one of the four owned by Local Media of San Diego - none of them run anything in HD. 100.7 used to have HD but it was turned off. I can't see Audacy or iHeartMedia using that format here as it's not one of theirs anyway.
Classical is handled by KPBS/HD2 on 89.5 and 94.9 is already using two extra HD stations - the HD2 is reggae-formatted Bob Radio (for Marley) and the HD3, which was the dance-formatted GLOW format, is now Comedy Now, which came over from 97.3 HD3 when that one became BetQL.
A 94.9 flip to Soft AC would make sense. It's success was proven in the past with Easy 98.1 KIFM, of course now Sunny. There were always near the top of the ratings The move to Classic Hits was only done to increase billing even more by attracting a younger demo, an already successful station made to be slightly more successful.
One concern would be the effect it would have on AC KYXY in their cluster. But then they could build a "wall of women 25-54" for advertisers.
One concern would be the effect it would have on AC KYXY in their cluster. But then they could build a "wall of women 25-54" for advertisers.
San Diego as a market is the entire county, and it’s median age is barely different from that of LA, SF or other big metros in CA. In fact, San Diego is about 35 and LA is 36.
Not when KSON’s in the building. (And 91X wouldn’t dare flipping.)
I never thought about flipping to Soft AC but that might work. KBAY in San Jose flipped in 2016 from essentially a KyXy type AC to Classic Hits, like Sunny here...just after Christmas they flipped back to a Gold-based AC....softer overall, but with a focus on 80s and 90s and a few newer titles. I guess the softer AC point is questionable. I just looked at their playlist today and they played "just A Friend" by Biz Markie, Livin' On A Prayer, and Montell Jordan...so think about this... KyXy could take an AC or a Hotter AC approach to go against Star, but focus on 2000s to today. The Softer AC would appeal to a more mellow or slightly older approach...focusing on 70s/80s/90s with maybe two or three newer songs an hour that would work for the format...and maybe a couple of late 60s/early 70s "memories" that would evoke the traditional soft ACs of the past. Maybe? No?
The older the music = the older the audience, which means harder to sell. The reason why soft AC hasn't grown is because the format is hard to sell. Audacy may get a smaller audience with alternative, but it's younger than it would get with soft AC.
Exactly, the goal would be to not step on each other's playlist. The AC format on KyXy is already close to Hot AC with mostly after 2000 music and the occasional 80's or 90's. The new Soft AC would focus on 80's 90's, and occasional post 2000, similar to the new gold based K-Bay with occasional 70's thrown in. Unless playing The Beatles, the 60's would too old.
Audacy does Soft AC. I just looked at the playlist of The Sound KSWD, their Soft AC up in Seattle, they just played Eddie Rabbit's "I Love A Rainy Night". Now that's about as Soft AC as you wanna get. But they are obviously open to the format. It would do better than the current Alternative format Although it did have a slight uptick in the latest ratings. But it seems to always languish around a 2.0.
That is their only station in the format. They flipped it four years ago after they bought CBS radio. If the format was such a hit, they would have added it in other markets. So far, they haven't. In fact they've turned up the tempo at most of their ACs.
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