Radio: February 9, 2018
For
years we have been told that radio consolidation has been a good thing.
Allowing a few companies to own the majority of the stations would lead
to cost savings, more creativity, and more formats.
Those
not wearing tin foil hats knew the consolidation promises were lies,
intended only for early investors to build a portfolio and cash out,
leaving investors, employees and even listeners holding the bag as the
pyramid scheme could not sustain itself.
Prior
to consolidation, radio was worth a lot. Competing creative formats
brought in listeners, ad revenues were strong, and radio looked solid.
In the consolidation years, listeners got tired of bland repetitive
formats and found alternatives, ad revenue dropped, and radio is worth
so little that even CBS got out.
Recently
Cumulus Radio entered bankruptcy after failing to make an interest
payment on the $2 billion in debt it owes. It hopes to restructure into a
leaner company more able to compete. Hard to say it it will work, but
the odds are long with the news that came out this week.
iHeart
Radio, once known as Clear Channel and one of the largest radio company
in the world -- including ownership of KFI (640 AM), KEIB (1150 AM),
KLAC (570 AM), KBIG (104.3 FM), KOST (103.5 FM), KIIS-FM (102.7) KRRL
(92.3), and KYSR (98.7 FM) locally -- seems to be playing the same card
as Cumulus by withholding an interest payment of $106 million, a partial
amount of the interest owed on a debt that totals roughly $20 billion.
iHeart told industry website AllAccess.Com
that it actually has the money but is withholding the payment to
"proactively and comprehensively address iHEART's capital structure."
The
Wall Street Journal is unconvinced, reporting that they expect iHeart
to declare bankruptcy by the end of March. According to the Journal,
such a move follows “a decade of ballooning debt and faltering growth,
drawing the curtain on one of the biggest leveraged buyouts before the
2008 financial crisis.”
The
problem of course is that most restructuring in radio leaves the people
who created the problem in charge after all is said and done. What
really needs to happen is the return of local control so that radio
serves local communities better and returns listeners to the bands. If
it isn’t too late.
Changes
Mike
Kaplan, former programmer of Alt 98.7, did leave the station on his own
terms. He’s moved to New York to program a new alternative station
owned by Entercom.
Mike
Catherwood is gone from the Dr. Drew Midday Live show on KABC. No word
on the reason, but replacing him as co-host with Dr. Drew Pinsky is KTTV
Channel 11 news anchor Lauren Sivan, who also is a fill-in news anchor
at KABC itself. The show is heard in San Francisco on KGO as well as in
Los Angeles; that part is likely a cost-cutting move.
Seriously, Sirius
To
the management of SiriusXM Satellite Radio: Please drop the really bad
segments that either recreate old movies or songs (etc.) working “‘70s
on 7” into the script or lyrics. They are almost cringeworthy when they
come on; the DJ or a jingle would be a vastly superior alternative.
Speaking
of SiriusXM: The Billy Joel channel has returned and will be heard on
Channel 30 through March 3rd. Love Billy Joel? This is where you want to
be.
Radio: February 2, 2018
People love Christmas music. Even more this past season than last year.
As
expected, KOST (103.5 FM) clobbered everyone with its annual holiday
music format it runs for just over a month. For the “Holiday 2017”
ratings period that covered most of December, KOST earned an 11.7 share
in the Nielsen ratings, a point more than last year and more than double
second place KBIG’s (104.3 FM) 5.7.
In
case you’re wondering why the “Holiday” ratings period covers much of
December while the “December” ratings are mostly in November, blame it
on our calendar. Nielsen breaks ratings into 13 four-week periods, so
the “monthly” ratings don’t align with the months themselves, except for
the first of the year.
Christmas
competitor Go Country (105.1 FM) is a way behind KOST but still does
well with the holiday music -- almost a full point jump from December’s
2.1 to Holiday’s 2.9.
KROQ
(106.7 FM) beat Alt (98.7 FM), mostly by not dropping as much as Alt.
While the two were tied in December at 2.6, for the Holiday period KROQ
earned a 2.4 while Alt earned 2.2.
KFI
(640 AM) was solidly in the middle of the top-10, with a 3.9 share and
6th place. KNX was close behind in 9th place, but a full point behind at
1.9. The next AM station isn’t found until 29th place where KEIB (1150
AM) and KRLA (870 AM) tie at 1.0. Former talk leader KABC (790 AM) has
dropped so low (0.4 ... I believe the lowest rating in the history of
the station) that it is seriously time to consider alternative formats. I
personally favor full service music, news and sports such as heard on
the original KMPC (now KSPN 710 AM) years ago.
How
to kill a station in one fell swoop? start playing satellite-fed music
that is already done better by others. The Sound (100.3 FM) changed to
satellite-delivered (translation: cheap) contemporary Christian music in
mid November. Ratings have since plummeted, from 2.8 in November as The
Sound, 1.2 with just two weeks of the format in December, and a 0.5 in
the Holiday period. The number of listeners dropped as well, from about
1.5 million plus as The Sound to just 372,000 as KKLQ.
Yes,
it’s too early to truly judge, as the format is but two months old. But
satellite is satellite: no satellite-delivered format, no matter the
content, has ever succeeded on a station in Los Angeles. I see no reason
to think that K-Love will do any better. The sister format to KKLQ,
called Air 1, hasn’t made a showing in spite of being on KYLA (92.7 FM)
as well as at least two major Los Angeles HD streams the company leases.
Air 1 is satellite as well, with no connection to the local community.
The
interesting question is where former Sound listeners went. Looking at
the ratings, it appears they left local radio completely, as I
predicted. KRTH (101.1 FM) was flat at 4.8, KLOS (95.5 FM) was flat at
2.4, and KCBS-FM (Jack FM, 93.1) dropped a half point to 2.7 from
December’s 3.2. That’s lower than The Sound’s last book, in case
(former) owner Entercom CEO David Field is paying attention. Remember my
column on station growth potential? Field apparently didn’t read it,
seeing that he sold the wrong station.
The
station of the month? Stevie Wonder’s KJLH (102.3 FM), which earned a
solid 2.0 share, 0.5 higher than it has been in at least six months, and
the highest share the station has seen in years, if memory serves
right. Congratulations on a great job!
The
full story: Each rating is an estimate of the percentage of listeners
aged 6 and over tuned to a station between 6 a.m. and 12 midnight.
1.
KOST 11.9 2. KBIG (5.7) 3. KRTH (4.8) 4. KIIS-FM (4.3) 5. KTWV (4.1) 6.
KFI (3.9) 7. KLVE (3.1) 8. KKGO, KNX (2.9) 10. KAMP (2.8)
11.
KCBS-FM Jack-FM (2.7) 12. KPWR Power 106 (2.6) 13. KLOS, KPCC, KROQ
(2.4) 16. KRCD, KRRL Real 92.3, KSCA (2.3) 19. KXOL, KYSR Alt 98.7 (2.2)
21.
KJLH (2.0) 22. KLAX (1.9) 23. KBUE (1.8) 24. KLYY, KUSC (1.7) 26. KXOS
(1.4) 27. KCRW (1.3) 28. KDAY (1.1) 29. KEIB, KRLA, KSSE (1.0)
32.
KSPN (0.9) 33. KWIZ (0.8) 34. KKJZ (0.7) 35. KSUR K-Surf (0.6) 36. KFSH
The Fish, KFWB, KKLQ, KLAC (0.5) 40. KABC (0.4) 41. KTNQ, KWKW, KYLA
(0.3) 44. KKLA, KLAA (0.1)
© 2018 Nielsen. May not be quoted or reproduced without prior written permission from Nielsen.
Radio: January 26, 2018
Another alumnus of The Sound (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) is joining The New 88.5 FM, at least temporarily.
From
January 22nd through February 9th, Andy Chanley fills in for the
vacationing Sky Daniels weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. as a Special
Guest Host.
Chanley
was the first and last voice heard on The Sound. Daniels did weekends
on The Sound in the early days, which at the time was an adult album
alternative (AAA) station as is 88.5 ...so there is something cosmic
here. Former host of the Sound’s Peace, Love and Sunday Mornings, Mimi
Chen, was permanently added to 88.5’s staff two weeks ago.
“I’ve
been a fan of 88.5 FM for years,” Chanley wrote on the 88.5
website. “It reminds me so much of the great rock stations I’ve been
fortunate to be a part of in Southern California. In fact, 88.5 FM
sounds a lot like The Sound first set out to be.”
New Alternative PD
Mike
Kaplan, who has been an instrumental part of making Alt 98.7 FM the
success it is today, has left the alternative rock station as of last
week. Replacing him is Lisa Worden, who joined Alt just last November to
work with Kaplan as VP of programming for Alt as well as serving as
owner iHeart Radio’s alternative format brand manager, a position in
which she will continue.
It
is unknown if Kaplan left of his own accord; my hunch is yes. No word
on where he is going; no major changes are planned for Alt.
Shutdown
As
this is being written the Federal Government is undergoing a shutdown.
If it continues, the shutdown may affect the Federal Communications
Commission, the governing body of radio and television stations, though
the agency claims it will be open at least a week regardless of the
general shutdown.
Of
course, being that the FCC hasn’t actually done anything meaningful or
positive in the past three decades, a total shutdown of the Commission
would have no effect on the basic operations of broadcast stations ...
or even the Do Not Call list that everyone ignores.
I’d put the FCC, its commissioners and staff in the “non-essential” category. Time to gut it, as it serves no purpose.
Real Radio
WKRP
in Cincinnati may have been a fictional radio station, but as
personalities, programmers, sales staff or anyone else connected with
radio will tell you, it was the most realistic radio station ever to
appear on television.
It
is said that every character on WKRP came, in some way, from a real
person known by show creator Hugh Wilson. And that the show, some
characters, and many of the antics came from WQXI/Atlanta -- Quixie in
Dixie. Wilson was close to WQXI through his work writing ad copy for an
advertising agency that provided WQXI with material.
Wilson
passed away on January 14th at the age of 74. But like so many in radio
who believed he was showcasing their own colleagues in radio, his
influence will live on.
Chicago Fun
If
you haven’t had a chance to listen to Ken Levine’s “Hollywood and
Levine” -- available as an iTunes podcast -- you are missing out.
Levine’s experience in radio, television, movies and more -- he wrote
for M*A*S*H and was a DJ on Ten-Q as but two examples -- gives him an
interesting perspective on all things entertainment.
One
of the funnier segments is a story told of when he was given a chance
to do a show on WLS/Chicago, a one-time powerful top-40 AM station. I’ll
keep it brief, but the story is that, while he had many years of
experience on radio, he convinced the DJ on duty just prior to his shift
that he had no clue what to do, and that his only connection to radio
was that his father (really) happened to be the WLS general manager. The
DJ was sweating bullets before he revealed his experience by “hitting
the post” of the song played at the top of the hour ... check it out in
episode five. And then listen weekly; it is definitely well worth your
time.
