The news of KZLA’s defection from Country in order to sensibly serve a large ethnic audience is being met increduality by the Country music establishment. Imagine – no Country radio in L.A. – or New York, for the matter. C’mon, these bizarre major market format holes have been happening for years.
Is the KZLA situation any different than there just being a Classic Rock station in New York City, and no Alternative or Mainstream Rock outlets? What? New York doesn’t have a history for Alternative with CBGB’s or Rock with WNEW-FM? Does that make any more sense?
The truth is that the largest markets provide the least terrestrial radio variety in the country. If you want to listen to lots of Rock, take a visit to good old St. Louis or Kansas City, right in the heart of the U.S. In these towns – and scores of others around the country – you’ve got Alternative, Active/Mainstream, Variety, Classic Rock, and other variations. But in New York and L.A., broadcasters have to play it very conservative if they wish to take advantage of who’s listening.
As Emmis’ Rick Cummings commented, "I’m concerned that the homogenization across the L.A. dial is going to make it harder to attract young listeners. But if I just put on highly specialized channels, this company would die. There isn’t much room for experimentation in modern radio." As always, Cummings speaks the hard, no-one-wants-to-hear, truth.
And in the same L.A. Times article that covered the KZLA story, Bill Bennett, head of Warner Bros. Records Nashville pointed out. "If I were Sirius or XM Satellite Radio, I would see this as a major opportunity."
Perhaps, but isn’t this the perfect moment for the HD Radio white horse to ride into Los Angeles with "the answer?" Sure, consumers can go out and buy the necessary hardware, and then subscribe to Sirius or XM where they will pay $12-13 a month (and more over time) ad infinitum – OR the terrestrial radio industry could seize the opportunity, put on a good Country channel on an HD2 signal, and promote the hell out of it. After all, a one-time $300 expense for free radio makes more sense than the lifetime satellite radio payment plan.
And back to the Cummings quote, isn’t HD Radio a sort of solution for many of these problems? A great Country HD2 station in L.A., or an Alternative or Oldies station in New York City is a start.
And to finally get around the Rubik’s Cube that terrestrial radio faces with young listeners, why not use HD as the way out? If we cannot take the risks on our FM signals – especially at this financially challenging time – to go the youth radio route, isn’t HD the answer?
And wouldn’t filling these obvious holes sell some HD Radios if the programming on these HD2 channels was any good? If terrestrial radio CEOs and the HD Alliance can connect a few of these dots, maybe there is indeed a "there there."
Otherwise, L.A.’s Country fans may as well subscribe to XM or figure out how to program an iPod.
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Oh great…this article says, “And to finally get around the Rubik’s Cube that terrestrial radio faces with young listeners, why not use HD as the way out?”
Just what we need. Some new fangled thang that a lot of people won’t buy because they don’t know what it is or don’t see the value in replacing all their radios with it. And we’re supposed to expect something coming to radio’s rescue, as Fred says, “…on a white horse?”
There’s a radio station in this neck of the woods that ran a promo last week saying it is now an “HD radio station” broadcasting in “high definition” and it is in “crystal clear clarity.” Wow – the station told me that and turning my dial I could hear it and every other station sound that way and I didn’t even need to invest in some kind of new radio.
Oh yeah, pretty soon, they will have a unique “side channel” where we’ll be able to hear something completely different. Funny, I turned my dial to 100.2 and 100.4 but it was only static – I guess those side channels aren’t working yet.
If HD2 is really going to work, stations need to spend a shit-load more than they are in traditional marketing vehicles just to get the engine started. A bunch of “high definition” on-air promos don’t even get the key in the ignition!
There’s not too many times I disagree with your posts, but I just gotta ask: when you suggest “the terrestrial radio industry could seize the opportunity, put on a good Country channel on an HD2 signal, and promote the hell out of it.” I can only agree to a point.
In the ideal world, a country HD2 channel in Los Angeles would have a full airstaff…a large promotion budget and the like. But aside from a noble effort by Dave Robbins in Chicago that was short-lived – there’s very little effort to make HD additional channels work beyond whirling hard drives pumping out tunes (ala Ipod).
I want to think that any format that can drive listeners to spend $300 on a receiver would be viable as a regular analog FM format in a market the size of LA. Wouldn’t you want to be the ONLY country format rather than compete in the market KZLA is now a part of?
I believe HD is a great opportunity to broadcasters if they don’t screw it up with ipod-like formatics and instead load it up with star power – which has been the only thing to put Sirius and XM on the map…
XM Attempts to Fill LAs Country Void
A recent story in the LA Times (which can be readhere, at MilesofMusic.com, since the LA Times requires registration), explains that a demographic shift is the reason why KZLA, LAs last country music station (and one of the most p…
Los Angeles has been without an FM country music radio station since KZLA changed formats on August 17th after more than 25 years.
But that changed Monday February 26th. That’s when 105.1 F-M in Los Angeles and Orange counties will become KKGO “Go Country 105.1
Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters President Saul Levine picked up the country format on his 540 and 1260AM station in LA after KZLA changed.
But overwhelming listener demand prompted him to move it to his company’s flagship station.
The previous classical format of the station will continue as a high-definition F-M channel and will be simulcast on an 540AM.
We Asked for it, We Fought for it, We got Country Music Back on FM!!! 105.1FM