The Ten Best Markets For Radio Listeners: # 6 - Los Angeles
Written Nov. 15, 2007 by Sean Ross in Content + Ten Best Markets with 7 Comments
Los Angeles is easily the market with the most national prestige. Big name personalities. Brand name stations. Monster revenue. And a lot of undeniable radio: KIIS (102.7 Kiss FM) one of the first Top 40 stations to rule a market in this recent wave of successes; Modern KROQ, Rhythmic KPWR (Power 106); Spanish AC KLVE; Smooth Jazz survivor KTWV, and KCRW, which has become new adult music headquarters not only for the city's music supervisors but on laptops around the world.
L.A. has the best Regional Mexican battle in the Country, anchored by KBUE (Que Buena)'s Don Cheto, KLAX (La Raza)'s Renan "El Cucuy," and KSCA's Piolin, who left a footprint not only on the immigration issue but also on Spanish-language radio nationally; It has a unique Jack-FM (KCBS-FM) that can go from Bonnie Raitt to the Violent Femmes in a way that makes sense in no other city. It has a resurgent Oldies powerhouse in KRTH (K-Earth 101)--the station that created the format's tight template in the early '90s and now seems to be showing that there's still some life in it.
It is certainly a prominent market for what is, in the aggregate, the nation's best-known air-talent: KPWR's newly syndicated Big Boy, KROQ's Kevin & Bean, KLOS's Mark & Brian, KMVN's Rick Dees, KHHT (Hot 92.3)'s Art Laboe, KDLD (Indie 103.1)'s Steve Jones, KTWV's Brian McKnight, and, of course, KIIS/American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, whose list of available on-demand interviews this week include Hugh Hefner, Bow Wow, and Jay Leno.
There's a lot available here: Country is back with the launch of KKGO; there's Air America, Radio Disney, and ESPN in English and Spanish. There are well respected Classical (KUSC) and Jazz (KKJZ) outlets here.There is Christian AC (KFSH), Clear Channel's version of "soft and contemporary" at KBIG (My 104.3) and its newest Alternative/AC hybrid in the relaunched KYSR (Star 98.7).
There are plenty of innovative efforts here: "Radio Iran" (KIRN), George Johns' answer to Jack, 92.7 Jill FM, KJLH--an Urban AC without Michael Baisden, Tom Joyner, or Steve Harvey, but with guest appearances from owner Stevie Wonder, who could be heard yesterday bursting into a song from "Guys & Dolls". There is a successful bilingual Rhythmic in KXOL (Latino 96.3) as well as KSSE (Super Estrella)'s efforts to make bilingual CHR work in the U.S. There is KRCD, the flagship for Univision's Mexican Oldies format, Recuerdos.
So what's missing? There's no denying the mass-appeal of KIIS-FM, but there's room as wellfor something more mainstream pop along the lines of WHTZ (Z100) New York or WHYI (Y100) Miami, and if you think L.A. isn't that kind of market, well, they said that about New York and Miami not so long ago. There's no Active Rock, and with the evolution of Modern Rock, it's a little tougher for KROQ to be both to the market. There's no older-leaning Triple-A, and while KCRW and KDLE have the cachet of Triple-A, a lot of the music L.A. made famous could use a home.
There's a lot of All-News and Talk radio, but there's only one (KFI) with big numbers, and while fragmentation and the signal challenges of a sprawling metropolis explain a lot, one can't help but think that there's still a way to do either Talk or All-News in a way that would galvanize a diverse market. Urban too has been challenged in recent years, but it's hard to accept that there's not room for a KMEL San Francisco or WPGC D.C. here.
And for all this radio, and all these heavyweights, it sometimes feels like there ought to be more depth within the categories. It wouldn't be hard to assign all 18 car radio buttons in L.A., but in the city of Nip/Tuck, there are surprisingly few format battles that are nip-and-tuck.
That said, we're expecting to hear from a lot of people who are surprised that this market isn't No. 1 or 2 in our estimations. Frequent Infinite DIal contributor Adam Jacobson wrote that it took leaving L.A. to really appreciate the radio. After praising four other markets, we're not suddenly going to turn our efforts to diminishing one. Instead we'll say only that not all the great radio comes from nationally prominent media markets and turn to making our case for the top five.
So far our list is:
10 - Louisville
9 - Salt Lake City
8 - Austin
7 - Washington, D.C.
6 - Los Angeles
Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
Well after having lived and programmed two stations in LA in the past 8 years (KIIS & Indie 103) I have to disagree. I don't hear anyone doing anything exciting on the air right now in L.A. Across the dial music has never sounded more stale and overresearched. I agree JACK-FM sounds better than any other in the country. And some of the air talent are hitting hard: Kevin & Bean sound great, Seacrest is very good, and Corolla is really becoming a great show.
One of the biggest weak points on EVERY station is imaging. It should be one of the most important things to define stationality and not one station stands out or is doing anything fresh and exciting between the records.
Jhani Kaye has put his brilliance on K-Earth. Sounds better than ever. But overall it's been a long, long time since I've had one of those moments where I sat in my car in a parking lot listening and being excited by what was coming out of the speakers.
I would have to agree with Michael Steele
Relocating to Big D after 16 years managing and listening to L.A. radio, it may sound strange to say I miss L.A. AM radio.
After two months in Dallas, I can't think of another radio market that forces so much FM listening. I may be spoiled by KFI -- a station many think is arguably the best news/talk station in the country -- but there is a vacuum of compelling local talk talent in DFW. Listening to AM talk on weekends in Dallas is nearly as painful as a root canal.
Thank goodness for streaming L.A. radio in general; there's a spark there that is missing in many majors.
"Imaging" as we know it doesn't matter in a PPM world. To those of us who grew up with radio, it matters deeply. To our ears, it's 90% of the total package. But to a generation who is accustomed to hearing their music without hype in-between (iPod, etc.), it matters little. Now if Michael is saying that the message between the songs needs to change to suit this new environment (both in quality and quantity) then I wholeheartedly agree.
I have a small factual correction for you:
You used the term "Air America" as the name of the "Progressive Talk" format as heard in Los Angeles on KTLK AM 1150. Almost everyone nationwide makes this mistake. "Progressive Talk" is the format, "Air America Radio" is the name of only one company that supplies syndicated progressive programming content to this and other stations. For example, Air America Radio used to syndicate Al Franken's show until he retired from radio to run for Senate in Minnesota. They still have Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann, Rachel Maddow and others. See www.airamerica.com.
But two of the biggest "Progressive Talkers" are NOT syndicated by Air America Radio, they are Stephanie Miller (www.stephaniemiller.com) and Ed Schultz (www.wegoted.com) who are syndicated by Jones Radio Networks. They also syndicate Bill Press, but they do not handle only Progressive content, for example they also have Neal Boortz who is anything but progressive.
So, KTLK AM 1150 in L.A. is playing a format called "Progressive Talk." Some of those shows come from a company called "Air America Radio" but some of it comes from "Jones Radio Networks" or is locally produced.
LA radio makes the top ten list only for those of us fortunate enough to be able to afford satellite radio.
The lack of AAA radio in this market alone should catapault it out of your list. KCRW has compelling music for scattered dayparts but nothing one can rely on.
Ethnic and other narrowcast formats rule the airwaves here. The AM band is full of rimshots and weak signals, the FM band sounds almost as bad.
LA radio stopped being exciting here a decade ago.
Thank God for iPods, XM and Sirius.
I hope Randi Rhodes' suspension holds. Her bias makes her judgement suspect. Her frothing-at- the mouth diatribe against superdelegates was divisive and not informative. She called all superdelegates "party hacks." Her hatred of Hillary Clinton (so obvious) does no good for the Democratic party--Fox 11 couldn't be more vitrolic. I have dropped my listening of the station to Tom Hartman only.