Should KWID Las Vegas Change Back To CHR-Pop?

[EvanJ]

It went up 1.9 when it changed to CHR-Rhythmic, but it's down 1.6 in seven months and 1.5 in four months to be only 0.3 ahead of its last book as CHR-Pop and 0.4 behind its second-to-last book as CHR-Pop. KWID is doing the worst out of the three CHR-Rhythmic stations, including one owned by the small company Kemp Broadcasting. Clear Channel owns four stations in the market and the average rating of the top three as more than double KWID. There are also five stations with above a 4.0 rating with no competitor. The formats are Country, Hot Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Active Rock, and Oldies. The Country and Oldies stations are owned by Clear Channel but the others aren't. KWID is fourteenth out of twenty FMs in the market. KWID has the biggest drop in the market over the last four months and is faced with maybe losing 0.9 or more in consecutive books and going down 50 percent in less than a year. KLUC, the top CHR-Rhythmic, is also way down but has still been the top CHR-Rhythmic four of the last five books and is in the Top 10.
For that matter, the San Francisco station went down when it changed from CHR-Pop. It changed formats with a rating in the 2s, fell down to as low as 1.0, changed to Country, and is now up to 1.6, but has less than half of the market's Country rating because of three out of market stations. Maybe changing from CHR-Pop isn't a good thing.

[reception]

KWID has flipped to Mexican Oldies.

[EvanJ]

EvanJ said:

Maybe changing from CHR-Pop isn't a good thing.

I have to admit the stations that changed from CHR-Pop in Omaha and Jackson went up when they changed formats.
KWID will be at least the third (the first two being in Phoenix and Austin) Top 50 market station in a few months to leave the CHR-Rhythmic panel.

[Marv]

It's impossible to find a CHR/Pop station which has been doing VERY well that is less than a decade old.

The last CHR/Pop station that I know of which is less than a decade old is Z100 (KKRZ) in Portland, Oregon. It was launched in 1994 by ex-WPLJ PD Gary Bryan and GM Kent Benson, who left shortly afterwards to become President of VH-1.

Gary Bryan had been doing mornings at oldies KRTH- L A for almost three years.

CHR/Pop is a mess right now; the format's no longer a mass-appeal format; it's conceded that title in many markets to the local AC or Hot AC station.

Until CHR/Pop stations quit trying to imitate their local CHR/Rhythmic competitors, the format is bound to remain in the dreary state it's been in the past few years.

[tico]

Marv said:

It's impossible to find a CHR/Pop station which has been doing VERY well that is less than a decade old.

The last CHR/Pop station that I know of which is less than a decade old is Z100 (KKRZ) in Portland, Oregon. It was launched in 1994 by ex-WPLJ PD Gary Bryan and GM Kent Benson, who left shortly afterwards to become President of VH-1.

I thought Z100 in Portland has been around much longer.

KHTS San Diego (Channel 933) has been on the air since 1996 and is doing very well. In fact, it was the #1 station in the summer '04 Arbitrons.

[Marv]

I din't realize that that CHR/Pop station In San Diego is only eight years old, but the format is still a mess due to blowing off millions of adult listeners by overdosing on rap and lots of mediocre rhythmic product.