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KQRS-HD2 and KXXR-HD2

RomanPort

RomanPort

Hi!

This is more of an observation than anything, but recently I got an HD Radio and was able to (finally) listen to the subchannels carried by my two favorite stations, KQRS and KXXR. KQRS-HD2 carries a classic country station branded "The Bear", while KXXR-HD2 carries some kind of CHR station branded "The Machine". I can't help but wonder why they even bother putting the resources into these stations however.

Neither of these subchannels have any kind of presence online or any way to stream them or even be aware of their existence without scanning HD channels. I listened to KQRS' "The Bear" for about an hour and didn't hear any kind of imaging, IDs, or even advertisements. They just sound like jukeboxes, and not even jukeboxes with ads.

Why do they even bother running these subchannels if they (presumably) aren't even making any money? I figure there must be a reason since KQRS has been running "The Bear" on their HD2 intermittently since 2007. Thanks!
 
I think if I remember correctly, Chris Nelson of KQRS was programming The Machine (KXXR-HD2). I forgot who was programming The Bear but it was also someone working at KQRS if I recall correctly. The Machine is really well-programmed, and it's kind of a shame they don't stream. If it was advertised better, listeners with HD might actually go to The Machine from KDWB/KSTP as there aren't any jarring 15 minute stopsets on KXXR-HD2 compared to KDWB/KSTP. The Bear on the other hand, is interesting... I've heard them go like 5 songs without imaging, and the imaging I have heard is kind of...weird. The Bear plays music that even Bob FM wouldn't touch though, and I'm sure if they were promoted better, they could get some listeners as well, knowing Bob FM's success being a 9kW rimshot. IMO, Cumulus' first step should be creating some kind of social media and web presence for the two stations, like maybe just a Facebook page and a section on the 93X and KQRS websites for both The Machine and The Bear respectively and then maybe go from there.
 
RomanPort said:
I can't help but wonder why they even bother putting the resources into these stations however.
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No idea. But you could ask the same question about 104.1-HD2 and 101.3-HD3 as well. And hey, I like them and it's basically a bit of creativity on a mostly boring FM dial. In my opinion, aside from 92.5, 105.7, and 97.1, the TC FM stations are mostly boring, so it's nice to have a few extra choices to pick from.
 
NBRadioMN said:
No idea. But you could ask the same question about 104.1-HD2 and 101.3-HD3 as well. And hey, I like them and it's basically a bit of creativity on a mostly boring FM dial. In my opinion, aside from 92.5, 105.7, and 97.1, the TC FM stations are mostly boring, so it's nice to have a few extra choices to pick from.
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Agreed. The Twin Cities radio dial is exceptionally dull nowadays. I mostly stream other stations on my phone, or listen to sat radio. There's a bit of creativity in the public radio arena in the market. Otherwise, it's a dud.

The HD2 stations are peculiar. The ones mentioned in this thread exist in what seems like a third dimension. I wonder what listenership is like. It seems like KTLK HD2 (WDGY) and KDWB HD2 (Pride Radio) are the only two that report on the ratings chart.
 
The KQ stations never thought much of HD-2, "Why pull ratings from the main stations?"

This market has always not been the best example of radio, especially now with 5 corporations (including MPR), no competition.

KQ -HD-2 was at one time programmed by a friend of Ray's, who DJ'd for weddings etc., not sure if that is still the case.
 
Lester_the_NightFly said:
The KQ stations never thought much of HD-2, "Why pull ratings from the main stations?"

This market has always not been the best example of radio, especially now with 5 corporations (including MPR), no competition.

KQ -HD-2 was at one time programmed by a friend of Ray's, who DJ'd for weddings etc., not sure if that is still the case.
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I think the point of HD is to be an alternative to regular radio, so you see stations that run deep tracks on their subchannels, or whatnot. In the case of KQRS, how about "Why not pull ratings from the main stations"? The HD2 still should act like somewhat of an alternative to KQ's main feed, but it should run a format underneath that can pull from the competition.
But just because it is alternative doesn't mean you should drop down the quality. In the Fort Collins market, KSME-HD2, KXBG-HD2, and KOLT-HD2 all run fairly niche formats (for example, KXBG-2 is Everything 1990's, incredibly narrow format), but they program in a way that complements the main stations. Basically, make sure your HD2 format is so good that you would want to put it on a translator, as these three stations have, (96.1 HD2 is 94.9, 97.9 HD2 is 107.3, and 100.7 HD2 is 97.1) but prioritize the programming of your main signal. So KOLT has a very popular main signal (country) in the Nielsen ratings, but their HD2 provides a format people actually listen to, and so there's nothing wasted here.
Todd Mitchell said:
KTCZ-HD3 (Hot 102.5) does even better
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Just wanted to say, you're doing a great job with KFYR, and hopefully they will continue running oldies/classic hits on the weekends. I was able to hear KFYR nicely in the Rapid City area.
 
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