There’s been a lot of conjecture regarding the financial problems with Audacy recently, due to George Soros buying up roughly $400 million worth of debt and possibly becoming, once the company emerges from bankruptcy, the company’s largest shareholder.
Audacy is the second-largest radio group behind iHeart and owns 235 stations across the United States in roughly 48 markets. In Los Angeles, it owns KNX (1070 AM, 97.1 FM) KRTH (101.1 FM), KTWV (94.7 FM), KCBS-FM (93.1) and KROQ (106.7 FM).
It brings up an interesting question: Why would Soros be interested in Audacy? Does he believe the slump in radio advertising revenue is almost over, and that buying the debt will lead to huge payoffs? Or will he, as some fear, use the company’s stations to further his social agenda?
The answer is probably neither. Or both. Or something else. Inside Music Media’s Jerry Del Colliano writes that the Soros Group is “looking to influence politics, policy and society in general.” But he also says that for now and the immediate future, it will actually be “business as usual” for Audacy, as Soros would be unlikely to influence programming content unless he expands his position even further.
Even then, I’d say it’s a wash. I would not be surprised if Soros does indeed have aspirations of influence in radio, but it’s been tried before and failed. In the case of Audacy, they just don’t have that many political talk stations to start with — none in Los Angeles — and future talk stations will have a tough time attracting an audience. Remember, outside of a few hosts, political talk has never been the ratings winner everyone thought it would be.
My hunch? If the reason is for investment or influence, it will fail. If it is for a tax write-off, it will be a huge success.
Who New?
When does a slogan become dated?
Alt 98.7 launched in September of 2007. Their top-rated morning Woody Show has been on the air for over ten years. The afternoon Booker and Stryker show just celebrated its second anniversary. Overall, the station has been beating KROQ (106.7 FM) in the ratings for years. How much longer can the station rightfully call itself “LA’s New Alternative?”
Keeping in mind that Alt is among my favorite stations, I think that in addition to buying an AM station to play top-40 (is KHJ available yet?), I’ll buy a second station and call it “LA’s newer alternative.” Just because.
Moving Time
After many years entertaining us on The Sound KSWD (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) and for the past six years on The SoCal Sound (KCSN, 88.5 FM), Andy Chanley is moving east to Chicago and the airwaves of WXRT. Billed as “Chicago’s Finest Rock” and “Chicago’s home for music lovers,” WXRT plays a format similar to, though distinct from the SoCal Sound.
Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Men at Work, The Black Keys, Pete Yorn, Queen, and Depeche Mode were played while I wrote this segment; the station lists Green Day, Tom Petty, Pearl Jam and U2 among “your favorite artists.” In other words, oldies with a few new songs thrown in to pretend they play new music.
I did note that during another hour they at least played a few newer artists, including Tame Impala and Cage the Elephant, and Cracker.
If you want to try it for yourself, you can stream WXRT on the Audacy app and online at audacy.com/wxrt, which directs you to … the Audacy app, unfortunately. The terribleness of the iHeart app is beaten only by the Audacy app — perhaps the most annoying app I have ever used.
Mighty Thoughts
Last week’s discussion on The Mighty 690 brought out some interesting emails including one that had an aircheck attached. It made me realize a couple things:
Related Articles
How a real-life radio contest inspired a novel about Mighty Six-Ninety
Why readers praise The SoCal Sound KCSN 88.5: The radio station plays new music
For 44 years, KXLU radio host DJ Stella has been playing punk rock on ‘Stray Pop’
The ups and downs of this round of Southern California radio ratings
Why the Audacy bankruptcy might be good for Southern California radio
• The station was very simple. Music, personalities, jingles, contests. not even big-budget. And yet it was fun and sounded — like so many popular top-40 stations of the past — bigger than life. It proves that a good station can be done on a budget, as long as you have the right personalities.
• AM did, and can still, compete successfully playing music. If you play what others do not, present it in an exciting way, and make sure people want to hear it, they will tune in. In fact, ratings held for the Mighty 690 until they dropped top-40 and went to oldies … similar to so many other stations that lost ratings in an attempt to find something better. In almost every case, ratings dropped.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com