It looks like KVVF has shifted from Rhythmic to Mainstream. I have been listening for two hours and its more pop friendly than it has been in recent weeks. Guess the days of having a Rhythmic in the Bay Area are history right now.
Rhythmic CHR in the year 2017 is a largely fictitious format.
You are either CHR/Pop are Urban Contemporary, in my opinion.
Many stations that used to clearly stake themselves as Rhythmic CHR have transitioned to CHR/Pop. This includes Wild 94-9, B96 Chicago, Power 96 Miami, Z90.3 San Diego, WKQI Detroit and others. In some cases, Rhythmic CHR reporters never should've carried that status to begin with (e.g. WPGC Washington and WZMX Hartford). Some stations only used that label to avoid the stigma associated with calling oneself "Urban."
Hot 105.7 screwed up by going Latino-friendly Urban instead of classic hip-hop / rhythmic throwbacks. Their stunt ("Hot in Here" by Nelly in a loop) garnered national attention and made some people eager for an anticipated throwbacks format. Q102 - crappy signal and all - has been more successful than Hot 105.7 over the past few years and has often earned higher ratings than KVVF even in South Bay!
I give KVVF one year before they revert to a predominantly Spanish-language music format. Hot 105.7 has been destined for failure since day one. If you're gonna do CHR/Pop, do it right or don't do it at all. Mixing two Spanish-language songs hourly with the likes of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran strikes me as stupid. Almost every time Univision ventures outside of their narrow format box, they do not succeed.
Almost every time Univision ventures outside of their narrow format box, they do not succeed.
Those are two separate formats: Urban Contemporary is aimed at the African-American community. CHR/Rhythmic is not.
KBBT in San Antonio has been Top 5 for a decade or more. KMYO, which has the same format base as KVVF now has, was 9th in 18-49 and 8th in 18-34 in October, despite a slightly lesser signal. Recently sold KKSS in Albuquerqe was #1 in 18-34 and #2 in 18-49 before the sale.
8th place in 18-34 is hardly anything to brag about. KBBT has indeed been very successful over many years, but they're the exception to the rule.
Hot 105.7 has been a ratings disappointment in the South Bay. I am not sure how anyone can argue it's been anything other than an underachiever.
KVVF just had the wrong approach the entire time and KMEL is a defacto Urban only reporting as Rhythmic to be more appealing to sell so those two are in different lanes.
Now there are four CHR's (KYLD, KMVQ, KREV, KVVF), with three Adult CHR's (KIOI, KLLC, KEZR) all sharing very similar playlists.
The way to make Rhythmic work, or even for KVVF to make a dent with CHR is simple. You can't have most of your airstaff piped in from Texas, the Bay Area is a total different culture from anywhere else in the country, it needs to be real and chill (no yelling and puking jocks as it's had), local, and a diverse mass appeal airstaff.
If you can't afford to do that in this large a market then don't attempt it at all or you will end up with a station in 23rd place. You would need be welcoming to the growing Asian/South Asian Population not just Hispanics solely alienating everyone else.
Mark was right, no need to play two Spanish songs unless they are crossover hits like "Mi Gente" or "Despacito", if they are going to go deeper than that then just flip to Spanish CHR, that genre is hot right now and Univision has expertise in it
In ages 6+, they were in 23rd place (!!!) in South Bay in the most recent survey. Granted, they were two tenths of a share away from being in a 16th place tie - still mediocre. I doubt their A18-34 or A25-44 numbers are very good. Perhaps they are passable.
With their blowtorch signal, this station should be doing much better than it is in South Bay.
I'm not sure 50k watts at 1800 feet would be considered a limited signal as it blankets the entire Southbay target area perfectly and then some. I'd have to agree with that signal, and that format in San Jose you should be cracking if not #1 then top 3 18-34 consistently, maybe 18-49 as well.
You are missing the point that KVVF (and KSQL and KBRG) don't target the South Bay market. They target the South Bay Hispanic market. What is important is their ratings and rank with Hispanics.
Comparing San Jose Latinos to a recepie that works on Los Principales, or say an Exa FM are two total worlds of Latino listeners.
That is hardly a blowtorch signal, which is why it is targeted at South Bay Hispanics.
In reference to the South Bay region, if the signal is not a "blowtorch," then there are either equipment or engineering failures. Based on its licensed specs, TX site and terrain considerations, that signal should smother the entire San Jose region quite nicely.
(I agree that it isn't a "blowtorch" if we are talking about the fully consolidated San Francisco market.)
Didn't this frequency perform decently for many years as an English-language AC / Soft AC focused on Santa Clara County? There sure was a LOT of clutter in the AC / Hot AC space back in the day!
KVVF is targeted at 18-34 and 18-49 Hispanics in the San José area. It's not targeted at Oakland or San Francisco or Concord or whatever as it is strictly a San Jose station.