Audacy Drops Hosts From Channel Q Network

[Kelly A]

Once those “format labs” for Clear Channel became the backbone for their “Premium Choice” internal network (shared music logs, streamlined voicetracking and dedicated channels on iHeartRadio) the original purpose of HD Radio for the company was entirely lost.

According to you, what was the purpose of HD Radio according to iHeart?

The potential upsides of having format channels on a mobile app clearly sounded a lot more appealing than hoping people would go to Best Buy and purchase a FM model (made with a proprietary standard that made those radios cost-prohibitive to the public) in the hopes of accessing them over there.

That's because more people have smartphones than portable radios.

Audacy’s attempt with Channel Q was also the same in aspects, they trotted it out as a channel on their streaming platform that just so happens to also be on HD subchannels.

My bet is Audacy rolled the dice on two fronts: 1) There is a growing open LGBTQ community which include prime demographics that advertisers want to reach. Very few radio stations were openly targeting that audience. As other's here have mentioned, most within that community are average folks not interested in a station flashing an aural neon sign that screams let's talk about GAY, GAY, GAY! Like anyone else, the LGBTQ community are just looking for quality content that resonates within their demographic, not necessarily only their identity.
2) Trying to do a format which is mostly talk to a mostly politically liberal audience hasn't played well in the past. Those who are left leaning, aren't into the radio political talk anyway. (Mostly because they aren't angry 60+ white males.) If they had done something like KGAY in Palm Springs, CA., they would have stood a better chance of success. But like anything, a format in one place, may not necessarily work somewhere else.

 

[Barry]

I think the previous post makes sense.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

Chicago had several brokered gay shows in the 80s and 90s. One ran afternoon drive on an AM signal. I think what was left of that show ended up on WCKG (Now WCFS) years later when they ran brokered shows on Sunday. Another was "AWARE Talk Radio" which I believe was public affairs. Ran on WKQX. Mostly discussion about HIV.

What they all had in common was they were not Dance music. They were mostly Talk. Sometimes the first two would play music by gay artists.

The programming iHeart and Audacy have been doing is more mass appeal. It's aimed at the LGBTQ communities but anybody (Like myself, a straight male who listens to a lot of different types of music) could listen to it.

In the Mid 2000s just before Pride Radio launched in the CC Format lab, there was a syndicated show on some CHR stations called Radio With A Twist. Was not on locally, but I believe that show was the first national show of it's type. There was nothing unique about the music.

 

[Gregg.]

I always thought it was interesting that WMGX Portland "Coast 93.1" has an openly gay morning host, Blake Hayes. He sounds like any other DJ on a Hot AC station, except he sometimes talks about being gay and dating guys, when chatting with his female co-host.

While iHeart has been shutting down some of its HD subchannels around the country, it seems to be keeping alive two networks on HD: Pride Radio and BIN (Black Information Network). Most large markets where iHeart operates have these two services.

 

[CentralFL]

I really couldn't listen to ChannelQ on WOMX-hd2. Too much talking and that talking was a real downer to listen to.

On the other hand, WXXL-hd2 is IHeartRadio's "Pride Radio Orlando". Unlike a lot of the other IHeart Pride Radio stations, they do run local ads and local traffic and local weather reports. At one time they even had local DJ's (prior to covid). Pretty much non stop EDM. They are a pretty good station to my mind. Fun to listen to, unfortunately their hd signal is one of Orlando's weakest. Though I suspect most listeners stream the station rather than listen to the hd2 signal.

 

[CentralFL]

I guess we now have two dance/EDM/classic disco digital subchannels in most large markets. As said above, iHeart's "Pride Radio" and Audacy's "Channel Q." Sometimes the hosts and guests on Channel Q were interesting. But often not. They did do a decent "Love Lines" show at night. At least it was an attempt to do something other than an automated format on an HD subchannel.

Channel Q does have a regular FM signal in Palm Springs, 103.1 KQPS. It hovers around a 1.0 rating in Market #133.

Do you know how KGAY does in the ratings?

 

[Kelly A]

Do you know how KGAY does in the ratings?

Not sure about ratings, but my understanding is they do very well from a revenue standpoint in a very radio-saturated market.

 

[MVB13]

I always thought it was interesting that WMGX Portland "Coast 93.1" has an openly gay morning host, Blake Hayes. He sounds like any other DJ on a Hot AC station, except he sometimes talks about being gay and dating guys, when chatting with his female co-host.

While iHeart has been shutting down some of its HD subchannels around the country, it seems to be keeping alive two networks on HD: Pride Radio and BIN (Black Information Network). Most large markets where iHeart operates have these two services.

Elvis Duran is also gay and he hosts one of the largest syndicated morning shows in America. As a gay man I applaud that. I myself am not into EDM that much I prefer Alternative and Pop.

 

[Miss Tuned]

Not sure about ratings, but my understanding is they do very well from a revenue standpoint in a very radio-saturated market.

These stations do reasonably well with two big advertising sectors:
1. Specifically LGBT+ focused businesses - e.g. bars/clubs, and travel destinations that want to market themselves to LGBT+ travelers. One station I know even has ads for a firm of "friendly gay builders, not just gay-friendly builders"!
2. Corporations wanting to show their "LGBT+ friendly" credentials, similar to BIN's partnerships - there are a lot of ads that aren't really selling anything, but pushing CSR messages along the lines of "X bank supports Pride", or "X consulting firm supports our staff to be themselves, whoever they are" etc etc. This likely comes out of CSR rather than marketing budget at a lot of firms.

 

[Nathan Obral]

According to you, what was the purpose of HD Radio according to iHeart?

They did back the iBiquity standard and ran make-good promos on their stations c. 2005–07. Then-Clear Channel did have skin in the game as an investor, along with then-CBS and a few other chains (I have no idea if that’s the case in the present day).

That's because more people have smartphones than portable radios.

Exactly right. Once smartphones came into play, the playing field changed. I still listen to the radio—heck, my GE clock radio from 1992 still runs like a charm in the present day—but I’ll stream stations on my phone when I get the chance.

My bet is Audacy rolled the dice on two fronts: 1) There is a growing open LGBTQ community which include prime demographics that advertisers want to reach. Very few radio stations were openly targeting that audience. As other's here have mentioned, most within that community are average folks not interested in a station flashing an aural neon sign that screams let's talk about GAY, GAY, GAY! Like anyone else, the LGBTQ community are just looking for quality content that resonates within their demographic, not necessarily only their identity.

Bolded for emphasis. The thing that struck me about Channel Q from the trade papers when it launched was 1) how patronizing it felt and 2) it came off like Steve Buchemi’s “how do you do, fellow kids?” moment in 30 Rock. I’m not even in the community but the cringe even from my perspective was overwhelming. It looked like straight people merely guessing on how to reach an underserved audience by dated assumptions and blanket statements.

That audience is underserved, but this was hands-down not the way to reach them.

2) Trying to do a format which is mostly talk to a mostly politically liberal audience hasn't played well in the past. Those who are left leaning, aren't into the radio political talk anyway. (Mostly because they aren't angry 60+ white males.) If they had done something like KGAY in Palm Springs, CA., they would have stood a better chance of success. But like anything, a format in one place, may not necessarily work somewhere else.

In both a geographical perspective (what works in San Francisco may not work in Lakewood, Ohio, or Providencetown, Massachusetts) and an general community perspective, a national format of this nature really wasn’t going to work. Talk programming only made it worse.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

Once those “format labs” for Clear Channel became the backbone for their “Premium Choice” internal network (shared music logs, streamlined voicetracking and dedicated channels on iHeartRadio) the original purpose of HD Radio for the company was entirely lost.

The potential upsides of having format channels on a mobile app clearly sounded a lot more appealing than hoping people would go to Best Buy and purchase a FM model (made with a proprietary standard that made those radios cost-prohibitive to the public) in the hopes of accessing them over there. Audacy’s attempt with Channel Q was also the same in aspects, they trotted it out as a channel on their streaming platform that just so happens to also be on HD subchannels.

When HD Radio launched, the direct competition was satellite radio. They worked really hard to try to add more unique formats with HD Radio and market it as a free version of satellite. Better sound, more programming.

Then after a few years they realized it wasn't satellite that was the problem. So they kind of let them go for awhile. Then when stations started using them to feed translators, they became useful for that purpose. They started leasing them.

From about 2015-2022 they were being used mostly to give the national streams a station to be attached to for music licensing purposes. They just plugged in a Barix and put the stream on. Now they no longer need to do this I'm guessing. So they turned most of them off aside from the ones that feed translators, ones that simulcast sister AMs and BIN, Pride radio. Most BIN is on analog or feeds a translator.

 

[boombox4]

I think at least some of the push behind HD Radio, at least when it first was publicized in the radio press, was that it would allow more stations in a metro at FM or better quality. Remember, this was when AM started down the slope and LPFM seemed to be a big new deal and some in the radio biz were thinking that the FM band would be 'full'.

The extra channels thing.... It got mentioned a lot. That, and a station could double serve their audience.... the main format would have the shorter playlist, the HD2 would have deeper cuts, and money would be made.

Of course, with the rise of internet streaming, most of that didn't happen. The FM band isn't really full, AM is still slipping down the cliff, and HD Radio is something a lot of radio listeners still -- nearly 20 years on -- aren't aware of.

And, yeah, when Sirius and XM started up people in the radio business were wary. The ones I worked with didn't seem scared of its potential. They probably viewed it as a challenge. But the radio press seemed wary about satellite somehow taking over. Which it didn't. But it helped present HD Radio as a terrestrial alternative.

 

[Kelly A]

I think at least some of the push behind HD Radio, at least when it first was publicized in the radio press, was that it would allow more stations in a metro at FM or better quality.

This, plus satellite radio was marketing aggressively at the time. Besides what you mentioned, broadcasters didn't want to be passed-up in the 'digital world'. HD/IBOC in theory, gave them the opportunity to have something digital without interrupting existing services.

The extra channels thing.... It got mentioned a lot. That, and a station could double serve their audience.... the main format would have the shorter playlist, the HD2 would have deeper cuts, and money would be made.

The whole 'channels within the channels' promotion amounted to a cryptic dumpster fire tied to the roof of a wrecked car going over a cliff. For one thing, they didn't bother promoting HD radio (poorly) anywhere else but, you guessed it, on their own radio stations. About the same time portable devices like iPods and the ability to download music to one's phone was starting to catch on. Consumer purchases of radios were rapidly slowing down. There was no coordination with consumer electronic stores to promote HD radio, so it wasn't uncommon to walk into a Best Buy, ask about HD Radio, and be sold a Sirius or XM adapter for your vehicle.

Of course, with the rise of internet streaming, most of that didn't happen. The FM band isn't really full, AM is still slipping down the cliff, and HD Radio is something a lot of radio listeners still -- nearly 20 years on -- aren't aware of.

All true, other than your comment about the FM band not being full. In most major markets; the band is chock full. In your neighborhood of the Seattle/Tacoma market alone, the area is saturated with radio signals all battling it out for a shrinking ad dollar.

And, yeah, when Sirius and XM started up people in the radio business were wary. The ones I worked with didn't seem scared of its potential. They probably viewed it as a challenge. But the radio press seemed wary about satellite somehow taking over. Which it didn't.

Subscription services like satellite weren't as common then as it is now. But, smartphones have replaced radio as consumer driven devices. That's why SXM got heavy into streaming and purchased Pandora.

But it helped present HD Radio as a terrestrial alternative.

To your average consumer; what does that mean?