KOOLed Off

[David]

The link to the Radio Insight story about KOOL 105.5 has been posted on the "Ratings 2/3 to 3/2" thread. According to Mark Waldi, they're hoping to eventually move KOOL 105.5 to a different frequency with a wider coverage area. That makes sense to me, since KOOL 105.5 is currently doing better in the ratings than KUUU "U92".

[henry]

This is how radio finally dies.

Totally indulging the old, and totally ignoring the young.

[David]

Mar 29, 2022 2:18:04 GMT -6 henry said:

This is how radio finally dies.

Totally indulging the old, and totally ignoring the young.

Why should radio embrace Generation Z when less than 25% of them listen to radio on a daily basis? This isn't a situation where "if you build it, they will come". Most studies show that Generation Z overwhelmingly prefers to stream or download music instead of listening to music on the radio on a daily basis.

Radio "indulges the old" because they overwhelmingly listen to the radio more than those 25 and under do, so it's only natural that broadcasters are going to cater to those who listen to radio for the longest period of time. But once you're over 50, forget about advertisers seeing you as a desirable demographic. As a dying Boomer that will be 60 in another year, I've been ignored by mass media for nearly a decade now. IMO, your assessment of radio indulging the old isn't 100% accurate. Once you're outside of the desirable 25-50 demographic, you're basically invisible to advertisers because you're perceived as being set in your ways & not wanting to try new products.

[CAwasinNJ]

Can you point me to where you're seeing those numbers please?

[David]

Mar 29, 2022 4:56:48 GMT -6 CAwasinNJ said:

Can you point me to where you're seeing those numbers please?

Here's a few links to recent (2019-2021) articles explaining the generational differences between streaming and downloading music vs. daily radio listening.

www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/09/20/gen-z-radio-streaming-listening-habits-2021/#:~:text=Around%2022%25%20of%20Gen%20Z,they%20listen%20to%20radio%20daily.

www.wordplaytjay.com/blog/from-z-to-boom-how-to-reach-every-generation

www.ypulse.com/article/2019/01/28/how-gen-z-millennials-have-drastically-changed-music-listening-in-4-charts/

radioinsight.com/headlines/193861/edison-research-55-of-gen-z-listen-to-am-fm-radio-every-day-but/

[henry]

If radio is dead, why not just have an FCC spectrum auction now and get it over with, David?

The **public** airwaves are to create local services which serve the community. Funny how in the UK, where OffCom actually demand owners do some actual public service with the local licenses, those stations continue to have a pretty vibrant youth audience. In fact, they are using their sideband signals with live staffing (e.g., Capital Dance, Capital XTRA)

We have to GIVE something to draw in a young audience. Think outside the box. Try something new.

Heard of Twitch? Zoomers tune in just to watch other interesting people play video games. But music isn't allowed on Twitch. So a PD should copy what makes a Twitch stream work, but make it a showcase of cool songs, rather than a video game. ZERO Twitch streams are voicetracked. They are live. They are real. And Zoomers want that. They are a "living room" where you can go hang out and hear somebody live talking so you don't have to feel alone. You feel connected to the world *right now*. Zoomers who want company while they are doing homework, playing a game, or whatever. Twitch demonstrates that there IS an audience for live content. And it's huge.

And radio has this FREAKING HUGE megaphone in every car and they are using it to play a crappy WinAmp playlist with 20 spots per hour. Yay. ("How come nobody wants to listen to us? Oh well, let's flip to ESPN.") Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Small players like Broadway are the people in this country who can try, because you can bet iHM and Cumulus won't. And it's so annoying to see every grey-haired suit in this business embrace the "can't do" attitude that radio has drooped itself into. Entitled executives who printed money for decades— play the hits, add a few jingles, and sell the spots. Now we have to work! Let's work! If we have nothing to lose, then we should TRY SOMETHING for cryin' out loud! Go out punching; not with some lame ESPN feed simulcast or sale to EMF.

If we're waving the white flag, then fine— spectrum auction the damn FM band and be done with it.

---

For 20 years, since I was 17 years old— I've warned older radio employees (the late Bob Morey, the former GM at Cherry Creek St. George, some PDs at Citadel SLC) that we needed to embrace localism and the "megaphone" potential of radio. Or one day the audience would stop caring. And I was always told how "radio reaches 90% of listeners... radio gets results... we survived TV and XM" blah, blah blah.

Well, are we finally here? And if so, where is the optimism from these executives who dismissed countless "younger" people like me? And why is everyone suddenly a disbeliever in the product? Why am I the only one now defending this medium's ability to attract young audiences?

This business must STOP REACTING and start proactively winning an audience. Let's go DO IT. smh

[amanuensis]

I am so puzzled by what Broadway is doing with Kool. I have been listening to the KUDD-H2 stream this morning and other than the redone bumpers, there is no difference from how it was. This includes having all the same live DJs.

So there must be another shoe ready to drop. I can't imagine that Broadway would keep all the DJs on the payroll for just an HD2 station. There must be another OTA signal coming. But, as others have said, why change Bob to 105.5 until they were ready to move Kool to its new frequency? Is it some kind of test to see how many listeners they can get primarily as a streaming station?

BTW, where I live in West Jordan, Bob sounds better on 105.5 than on 100.7.

[David]

I love how good KOOL FM sounds in HD, but then again I have about a half dozen HD radios at my house. 🙂 Moreover, I can always take one of my Sangean portables with me if I'm going to be driving and I want to listen to KOOL FM on the road. However, I sense from reading the barrage of negative comments on the KOOL FM Facebook page that I'm in the minority. Most of the station's listeners are 50+ like me, and they're resistant to change or spending the money to have HD radio reception in their homes or their vehicles. The majority of listeners really liked the fact that KOOL FM was on conventional FM, and available to just about everyone within the range of the 105.5 signal. The fact that HD radio has been around for at least 10 years and only has about 10% penetration with the general public isn't a good sign for the future of the medium. I still don't understand why Broadway Media's program director would choose to move Bob FM to 105.5 without having another frequency to move KOOL FM to. That's the equivalent of cutting off 90% of your listeners, which IMO seems like a really dumb move when the ratings for 105.5 had more than doubled since the Holiday 2021 ratings period. They're going to lose a lot of listeners who will switch to other radio stations and not return, even if Broadway eventually moves the KOOL FM format to another conventional FM frequency.

[oldiesfunhouse]

I have to admit that all the OTA listening I do is when I'm riding in the car with my wife. ALL the listening I do at home is over the internet--either on my iPhone or my Alexa. I tuned into KOOL this morning and honestly thought they were back on 105.5. They had a singing jingle and the voice guy within a song or two of each other mention 105.5. They had a lady from ABC 4 doing news and she called it 1055 KOOL FM as well. But the TOH message was 105.1 HD2 and later it had gone back to the HD2 announcements. When we got in the car I tuned to 105.5. It was Bob of course but, ironically, seconds after I tuned in they played a cross promo that said if you're looking for KOOL, reset your preset to 105.1 HD2 or stream at koolslc.com. Somebody really needs to go through and get rid of all the 105.5 stuff out of the rotation and inform the folks at ABC 4 that they're not 1055 anymore.

[David]

The station just made the switch to 105.1 HD2 a little over a week ago, and I'm sure it's going to take at least another week or two for all the liners and other material to be updated. IMO, the most important thing to get updated is the KOOL FM website, which was one of the first things that changed after the move to 105.1 HD2.

[Terry]

I’m thinking that Bob FM was pulling in ad dollars more easily than Kool FM. Even with equal ratings Bob’s younger audience might generate more income for Broadway.

Maybe Kool FM has advertising contracts that need to be completed and maybe they thought continuing to use the HD channel would allow them to complete the contracts without losing a bundle.

I’m guessing that Kool FM is just going to suddenly disappear one day. I hope I’m wrong.

[CAwasinNJ]

From what oldiesfunhouse said it sounds like at one point there were the old jingles/IDs and then later the correct ones aired. Right? That seems like an automation scheduler foul up to me. Human errors happen, which seems likely the case with the news too. The old stuff shouldn't be airing even if there aren't any replacements available (though weeks to get a new set done seems a little excessive.)

The whole switch has the feel of something that was done very quickly and a few things fell through the cracks. This is just more evidence.

[David]

I just heard Tom Robin say that KOOL FM was going to have a "special announcement" on Monday 5/9. It could be nothing but an announcement about a new contest or a concert coming to Salt Lake City, but it's got me curious about whether or not Broadway Media is planning to move KOOL FM to another frequency and flip either U92 or KEGA. That was supposedly the end goal when 105.5 flipped to simulcasting Bob FM: To move KOOL FM to a different frequency with better signal coverage.

[henry]

I'm going to be pissed if they flip U92.

But I've already articulated (rant) my feeling on the matter.

[David]

I don't think you've got anything to worry about, henry. Both U92 and KEGA are the same today as they were yesterday; and as near as I can tell from the KOOL FM Facebook page, the "special announcement" is a daily ticket giveaway this week for the upcoming Stevie Nicks concert.

Personally, I don't know why Broadway doesn't stick a fork in KEGA and move KOOL FM to 101.5. The Eagle has always been a distant third in the ratings after KSOP-FM and K-BULL 93, and I don't think that's ever going to change. IMO, Broadway Media dismissing the station's air staff in 2019 was an admission of The Eagle's crappy ratings. I guess the KOOL FM format doesn't qualify to be on a full power FM frequency because of the station's demographics, but I've covered THAT rant several times over the years and won't waste my time repeating it. 🙂