KLOS Sold - Now it's a Fact!

johndavis said:

Now, I should know from experience that whenever a new owner says there will be no changes that you should start packing your stuff.

But does this sound like the press release you would put out the day before taking over in a LMA if you were to immediately blow it up?*

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...ulus-media-to-purchase-klos-fm-300832261.html

*unless, of course, the plan is to swap formats between 93.5 and 95.5...

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Oh, man....I never even thought about the idea that they'd move KLOS.

Hip Hop oldies when done right in the right markets (Detroit, Chicago) seems to be a decent adult demo performer. No, it's not ever #1 but hangs around in the top 4 to 7 and you can certainly make money with it. It probably would have grown into a decent money maker in Philly, it was up nicely in its last book, but the Breeze was clearly a better option there. 94.7 here is almost like a defecto breeze station or I'd say that's the move to make, it has a, while customized for socal, similar feel and plays to the same mood as to the breeze stations. It's different but close enough to question doing a breeze in LA, KBLX is more urban in San Fran as with the market make up should be.

ChannelFlipper said:

And yes, it is a sad day when radio stations we loved go away. I am quite sure I, like many others, will not be a fan of whatever they put on the station afterwards. Radio is still better at alienating listeners than attracting them!

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It's not really a radio station problem. It's a music problem. The music stopped being relevant, the audience changed, and the radio station was stuck with the bill.

TheBigA said:

It's not really a radio station problem. It's a music problem. The music stopped being relevant, the audience changed, and the radio station was stuck with the bill.

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And as David has pointed out repeatedly, the demographics of the Los Angeles market have shifted. For whatever reason, the kind of rock KLOS and similar stations play has never resonated with most Latinos and African-Americans, who seem almost hard-wired for rhythmic. Meanwhile, native white listeners in rock's traditional demographic range have, in considerable numbers, abandoned rock for hip-hop. A virtuoso solo on the electric guitar leaves the Latino listener cold, while the raw street poetry and pounding synthesized beats of rap strike the white listener as different and exciting. All this portends a bleak future for rock in cities like LA.

CTListener said:

And as David has pointed out repeatedly, the demographics of the Los Angeles market have shifted. For whatever reason, the kind of rock KLOS and similar stations play has never resonated with most Latinos and African-Americans, who seem almost hard-wired for rhythmic. Meanwhile, native white listeners in rock's traditional demographic range have, in considerable numbers, abandoned rock for hip-hop. A virtuoso solo on the electric guitar leaves the Latino listener cold, while the raw street poetry and pounding synthesized beats of rap strike the white listener as different and exciting. All this portends a bleak future for rock in cities like LA.

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Carlos Santana might be the exception here...

"KLOS will be a crown piece in our strategically curated, L.A.-focused multimedia portfolio. As we've done with all our media properties, we will take full advantage of our deep local resources to grow the globally recognized KLOS heritage rock brand for generations to come."

This is like when there's a change in management or ownership at a company, and the new manager/owner says "your job is completely safe, we have no intention of eliminating it." That is corporate speak for "better polish your resume."

CTListener said:

All this portends a bleak future for rock in cities like LA.

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So when people bemoan the fact that the stations they love are going away, what they're really talking about is the city they once knew is going away.

Very similar thing going on in Houston, where a lot of long-time residents don't understand why radio doesn't play what they like any more.

pjc1961 said:

Taken from the "KXOS Financial" thread a few weeks ago:





As it turns out, Meruelo did purchase a big signal: substituting KLOS for KXOS.

Many possibilities abound for how Meruelo will handle their three frequencies 93.5, 95.5 + 105.9 (four stations with the combined KDAY/KDEY).
Side note (mentioned in its own thread): J Cruz Show is no longer in mornings at Power 106 -
replaced for the time being by "L.A.'s Hip Hop Morning Show".

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The writings on the wall with KLOS being the last classic rock station in LA. Maybe move KDAY to 95.5 and what would they do with 93.5 maybe a new format but I'll wait and see.

TheBigA said:

It's not really a radio station problem. It's a music problem. The music stopped being relevant, the audience changed, and the radio station was stuck with the bill.

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Boy has the audience ever changed. I just looked up the non-Hispanic white population of L.A. and was surprised it's reportedly 29.4%. I thought it lower than that. The Latino population is said to be 47.5%. KLOS had a good run as a rock station. Buh-bye.

Before this discussion wines up any more, I just want to say that I loved today's RAMP newsletter report that "Merlot Media" had purchased KLOS.

Screenshot available upon request. (*hic*)

Here's one reality that we all have to accept: For radio as we know it to stay vital, to grow, and to succeed, it NEEDS TO ADAPT & CHANGE. It needs to adapt to changing musical tastes, it needs to adapt to changing demographics and changing populations. The one thing we can see with both KLOS and WPLJ is these stations didn't adapt. They were once rock stations that continued to play a lot of the same music from their heyday, rather than change and adapt to current music. In other words, these stations tried to become museums of their past legacy. Even their logo was unchanged from the ABC days. All of this was a mistake. But when you delay change too long, it becomes counterproductive.

The time to change these stations was ten or twelve years ago. Before they were sold to Citadel. But that would have required an investment in new programming, and ABC had already decided to sell. So it was a bad time to blow them up. So they hung on. Then Citadel bought them and immediately realized they bought a pig in a poke. They bought stations that were in decline. They could have blown them up, but they were dealing with a bad economy and their own debt issues. Then they went bankrupt and the banks sold them to Cumulus, and it was a repeat performance. But I remember hearing numerous rumors a few years ago about attempts to change formats at both WPLJ and KLOS. Format changes that would have made both stations more current, but would also be complete breaks from their heritage. They just couldn't get the commitment for the money it would cost to make those changes.

So now both stations are in new hands, and change will definitely come to WPLJ. We don't know if it will come to KLOS. But certainly at some point, something will have to change. Hopefully the new owner has the capital to make it happen.

DavidEduardo said:

You are looking at Los Angeles data, not the radio market data.

The LA MSA is 45.7% Hispanic, 6.8% Black and 16.9% Asian. Add in about a million first generation immigrants who are in none of those ethnic groups (Persians, Armenians, Russians, etc) and the available audience for a mostly non-Hispanic white format is limited.

But we also have to take into account that classic rock does have some listening among those ethnic groups. As an example, some of the biggest concerts of the major classic rock artists have been in Latin America. And from the 70's to the last decade, every major Latin American city had at least one rock station that played all or mostly English language music.

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I know. The point was so easily made using Los Angeles data I didn't even need to dig deeper than that. The point being that Los Angeles is so unfavorable for a rock station that it's a wonder it's lasted as long as it has.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/...waps-bridgeport-to-connoisseur-for-allentown/

Apparently the KLOS Trade was part of another series of deals Cumulus has been doing around the country though.

Cumulus also has announced it has swapped News/Talk 600 WICC Bridgeport and AC “WeBe 108” 107.9 WEBE Westport CT to Connoisseur Media for Connoisseur’s Classic Rock “99.9 The Hawk” WODE Easton, Alternative “107.1 Spin Radio” WWYY Belvedere NJ/94.7 W234AX Allentown PA, and Sports “Fox Sports LV” 1230 WEEX Easton/1320 WTKZ Allentown.

The swaps allow both companies to grow in their respective markets as Cumulus owns Country “Cat Country 96” WCTO Easton and AC 100.7 WLEV Allentown in the Allentown market and Connoisseur owns Classic Rock “95.9 The Fox” WFOX-FM Norwalk and AC “Star 99.9” WEZN Bridgeport in Fairfield County CT. Both companies will begin their respective LMAs on May 1.

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DavidEduardo said:

Meruelo is reported to be a billionaire, with considerable hotel and gaming interests in Nevada as well as food services and construction groups.

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This is the kind of owner radio needs at this point. Private owners, no stockholders, interest & passion for radio.

Because radio won't deliver the kind of profit & growth a traditional investor wants.

TheBigA said:

Then Citadel bought them and immediately realized they bought a pig in a poke. They bought stations that were in decline. They could have blown them up, but they were dealing with a bad economy and their own debt issues. Then they went bankrupt and the banks sold them to Cumulus, and it was a repeat performance.

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Slight correction; Citadel came out of their bankruptcy in pretty good shape. Cumulus got the stations via a hostile takeover, and as one of the worst operators around, swiftly ran the stations into the ground.

I agree with pretty much everything else you said.

TheBigA said:

This is the kind of owner radio needs at this point. Private owners, no stockholders, interest & passion for radio.

Because radio won't deliver the kind of profit & growth a traditional investor wants.

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Exactly - funny how FM radio, the expansive far-reaching business in the 70's and 80's is now so small on a local scale, with signal limitations and fewer choices compared to other online/in car options. Additionally, I find this refreshing in one way, but imagine that a company like this, who has plenty of resources, can and will invest in this station, it's quality and overall sound and yet, will it matter when so many other larger signals sound so tepid and their mundane delivery actually hurts other stations trying to sound good.