94.7 Dropping KREF Programming - Format Flip?

[bchris02]

I kinda feel like radio did that to itself. Consolidation of stations into one owner/group, removal of local talent, tighter and tighter playlist based upon "research." There are still a handful of radio stations in the state doing solid local radio. I think once automakers remove the FM radio from the dash, terrestrial radio will be in a world of hurt. As you mentioned, tabletop and nightstand radios in our houses and offices have been replaced with smart speakers and computer streams that offer a lot more.

I think consolidation was the biggest factor. Most stations are owned by one of just a few companies. You no longer have local radio with the personality of that community. Do you think there's any saving it at this point? I wonder if maybe radio should have more talk content that isn't conservative politics or sports, but then again, people get that from podcasts. If radio stations went back to how they were in say, 2000, do you think listeners would go back to radio or has the ship sailed?

[scottk]

I think consolidation was the biggest factor. Most stations are owned by one of just a few companies. You no longer have local radio with the personality of that community. Do you think there's any saving it at this point? I wonder if maybe radio should have more talk content that isn't conservative politics or sports, but then again, people get that from podcasts. If radio stations went back to how they were in say, 2000, do you think listeners would go back to radio or has the ship sailed?

I think the ship has sailed, unless something drastically changes in the streaming market, such as pricing it too high or too exclusive which is starting to happen with video streaming.

Do you know anyone under the age of 35 that listens to terrestrial radio as their number one option for music or information? Even the argument that radio is needed during severe weather is a stretch, when the local stations just flip the audio feed from a TV broadcast that for the most part focuses on visuals from a helicopter. How many people still have a battery operated radio in their house? We have ONE in the garage, by the storm shelter, the rest of our house is smart speakers.

Consolidation absolutely killed the uniqueness and fun of radio. Just because one guy can be on six stations at once, he isn't really saying anything of substance, other than reading a generic liner sheet in front of him...if that.

[PhiAlpha]

I think the ship has sailed, unless something drastically changes in the streaming market, such as pricing it too high or too exclusive which is starting to happen with video streaming.

Do you know anyone under the age of 35 that listens to terrestrial radio as their number one option for music or information? Even the argument that radio is needed during severe weather is a stretch, when the local stations just flip the audio feed from a TV broadcast that for the most part focuses on visuals from a helicopter. How many people still have a battery operated radio in their house? We have ONE in the garage, by the storm shelter, the rest of our house is smart speakers.

Consolidation absolutely killed the uniqueness and fun of radio. Just because one guy can be on six stations at once, he isn't really saying anything of substance, other than reading a generic liner sheet in front of him...if that.

I mean it’s pretty nice to have severe weather coverage on the radio when you’re driving. No matter what I’m listening to in the car, I flip to FM for severe weather coverage if necessary. Tough to watch TV while you’re driving.

[baralheia]

This is true. I remember the era of KJ-103 when they used to speed up the songs. You would get used to hearing the sped up versions and then you'd listen to the CD and it would sound different. The stations were still better back then than they are today. They were also more locally programmed. For example, Top 40 stations across markets would have 90% the same music, but when you went to another city, you would always hear a few songs not on the radio in your market and vice versa. Today, most of them are national syndicate feeds. The fact is terrestrial radio just don't know how to compete in the streaming era. 20 years ago it was common to listen to FM radio indoors everywhere, but today you are more likely to listen to a stream of some sort. Most people don't even have FM stereo systems anymore so listening to a terrestrial station indoors would require going to the website or using the app, and that defeates the purpose. Ultimately it's probably going come down to changing the model entirely. Radio will never be what it was in the '80s just like it won't be what it was in the '40s before TV.

It'll probably never happen... but FM radio could be competitive again if they actually gave programming control back to their local markets instead of forcing a blanket one-size-fits-all playlist. I imagine iHeartMedia (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) and other massive media conglomerates would need to be broken up for this to even be possible though.

[scottk]

It'll probably never happen... but FM radio could be competitive again if they actually gave programming control back to their local markets instead of forcing a blanket one-size-fits-all playlist. I imagine iHeartMedia (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) and other massive media conglomerates would need to be broken up for this to even be possible though.

I don't understand how a station (radio or TV) that is owned by a large conglomerate is "serving the public interest" in broadcasting when very little content is being locally generated. Using OKC iHeart as the example, outside of the morning show on KJ103 and news updates on KTOK, I don't think there is any local talent left? KXY, Twister, and 94.7 I think are all recorded tracks or syndicated programs from out of market?

[bchris02]

It'll probably never happen... but FM radio could be competitive again if they actually gave programming control back to their local markets instead of forcing a blanket one-size-fits-all playlist. I imagine iHeartMedia (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) and other massive media conglomerates would need to be broken up for this to even be possible though.

I agree. Cumulus gave local control back in the late 2010s and their stations were a lot better for a while. I no longer live in an area with Cumulus stations so I can't comment on how they are today. Most stations however are owned by iHeartMedia, the company most responsible for the decline in radio. I think at this point, the only way this happens is if iHeartMedia goes bankrupt, which I don't think is out of the realm of possibility. I'd listen to FM again if they went back to the kind of programming they had back as recently as the 2000s. Today though, there's no reason to listen to it. It's like streaming but with less variety and more commercials. And I swear that radio didn't used to be as commercial-heavy as it is now.

[Bowser214]

So KJ103 is no more? It’s B103? Is that correct?

[Snowman]

I agree. Cumulus gave local control back in the late 2010s and their stations were a lot better for a while. I no longer live in an area with Cumulus stations so I can't comment on how they are today. Most stations however are owned by iHeartMedia, the company most responsible for the decline in radio. I think at this point, the only way this happens is if iHeartMedia goes bankrupt, which I don't think is out of the realm of possibility. I'd listen to FM again if they went back to the kind of programming they had back as recently as the 2000s. Today though, there's no reason to listen to it. It's like streaming but with less variety and more commercials. And I swear that radio didn't used to be as commercial-heavy as it is now.

While iHeartMedia may not be helping things on decline of local radio, local radio stations got hit in multiple ways. MP3 devices becoming first affordable then basically included with your cell phone probably did the most in decline of radio potential ad revenue, paired with tech that allowed downloading songs or recording them them digitally from various sources, since it is pretty hard to compete with an individuals entire music library ad free. Made worse by the target age demo for advertisers were the ones most likely to have used that tech as it became more popular, and the growth from older CD based era CD/MP3 players over time resolved the issues of getting a 3rd party audio device to connect to car system, so by the time iPods and phones improving the control made use in vehicles almost seamless. Where it never was that hard to do a home stereo system, from the time that media file sizes were shrinking and hard drives increased enough to store hundreds to thousands of songs around 2000.
In parallel with this satellite radio became an option that could offer more targeted channel options, to a larger potential listening base, again without advertisements since was a service model.

[scottk]

So KJ103 is no more? It’s B103? Is that correct?

I don't think so?

https://kj103fm.iheart.com/

[TheTravellers]

So KJ103 is no more? It’s B103? Is that correct?

There's a V103 at 103.1, KJ103 is actually at 102.7.