-
KKGO/Los Angeles: A Christmas Story
November 15, 2016
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
Mt. Wilson Broadcasters Country KKGO/Los Angeles flipped the holiday switch today (11/15), going all Christmas and going all in, with a wide, mass appeal playlist stretching far beyond its usual Country format. In doing so, KKGO is basically taking on the abominable snowman when it comes to holiday programming: iHeartMedia Crosstown AC KOST. One of the first stations to go all Christmas back in 2001, KOST always sees huge results – which carry into the new year – and seems to firmly own the position. So either KKGO has Christmas balls of steel, or is just plain nuts.
It’s always been unusual for Country outlets to make this move, which amounts to a full-blown format change, albeit for just four weeks or so. That means surrendering a music position in a marketplace and potentially alienating loyal, core Country fans, despite the warm and fuzzy, good tidings and cheer Christmas music does provide. And let’s be honest: for all intents and purposes, Country stations – and other formats – in PPM measured markets have basically thrown in the towel for the Holiday book, adopting the “you can’t stop it, you can only hope to contain it” programming strategy. When the juggernaut, ass-kicking, rating results come in for the holiday station, something else is thrown in too – the Holiday book – usually tossed into the bottom of a deep, seldom visited drawer.
KKGO Station Mgr./PD Michael Levine was kind enough to give me some phone time, just an hour or so into the station’s experiment. I wanted to share that conversation first, then hopefully add some perspective from a couple friends who have programmed Christmas music – inside and outside Country radio.
Michael thanks for the time. First, what’s the reaction so far? How are the listeners responding to this in the first hour or so?
ML: I think people are very understanding. The reason why we switched to Christmas music is because we’ve had so many requests for Christmas music over the years. If you look at the market in Los Angeles, stations that play Christmas music do so well. Obviously, change is always a little bit of an adjustment. I know one of the questions people have is playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but all in all, people are very happy with the change. Our audience is already pre-disposed to listening to Christmas music, because we do see that they switch to the stations that play the all-Christmas format over the years. So why not provide the music that our listeners are requesting?
You opted for a wide playlist – traditional classics, and then contemporary artists, too. How much Country will be in the mix?
ML: We took a step back to do research on this, because it’s our first time playing an all-Christmas music format. When we really looked at the numbers, people enjoy the classics. Ninety percent of what we’ll be playing is the core classics. Regardless of whatever type of music you enjoy on a personal level, people always come back to the classics, whether that’s newer classics such as Wham! or a Bing Crosby or a Gene Autry. That’s what our focus is – providing what the core Christmas classics over the years are. But, if there are newer Country singles that might be of interest for our listeners, then we’ll play them, and of course we do sprinkle in some of the Country Christmas songs, as well.
Is there any concern about giving up your exclusive, Country position in the market for five weeks?
ML: One of our goals is to provide the best music around. Country is the top format across America right now. We are at times, the largest, most-listened to Country station in the United States. But keeping with that theme, it wasn’t too much of a stretch for us to say hey, we’re providing the best Country music around, but we also see demand. So making that switch was not a huge leap of faith for us, because we already know that our audience base is music. People understand that Christmas music is just a seasonal format, and as soon as the season is done, I’m sure our listeners will fully expect Country music – which will fully come back to the station.
Is there any kind of promotions/programming tool inside the Christmas programming that will drive people back to you after the holidays pass?
ML: We have some large promotions planned once the Christmas music season is done, and we do always have promotions running through this period, as well. One of the things we’ve done over eight years now is a thing called “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Starting December 5th through December 16th, each day we’re giving away as qualifying prize Stagecoach tickets – which is almost a $600 value – and then each day we’ll have a grand prize around $1000. There are certain things we can do on the imaging, as well. One of focuses for us right now is to highlight that we are your Christmas destination. Our branding has switched a little bit to “105.1 Your Christmas Destination,” and then as the holiday season comes to a close, we’ll switch back to “You’re listening to Go Country 105.”
Will there be any other external marketing to go along with the Christmas programming?
ML: Oh, 100%. We have 120 bus backs that started two weeks ago that was already highlighting us playing Christmas music. That’s running in L.A. and Orange County with the focus on our hot zip codes. And we do partner with the Citadel Outlets, which has a giant LED billboard on it by the 5 freeway – that’s been branded over. We feel we’ll be able to get coverage throughout the Southland.
A lot of times when a station goes all Christmas, it starts the conversation about a format change, and I ask this only because historically, that’s happened a lot. But you guys have been really adamant for years that you’re staying with Country. Are you still adamant?
ML: We’ve been very happy with the Country format, and we’ve been very fortunate that listeners have responded to the format as well, and we have no desire to ever change from that format. We love it, and we’re here to stay with it.
So you’re going up against KOST – which has been doing all Christmas since 2001 – and they have strongly branded this position for years. Do you have any specific goals for KKGO in terms of what you want your cume and share to look like at the end of the holiday book?
ML: We’re very happy, honestly, just focusing on the music right now and providing the best music that we can, and whatever ratings we get and whatever listener response will hopefully be reflective of the quality of the programming we put into it. KOST has done a great job spreading awareness that Christmas music can be successful whenever you decide to play it, whether it’s November or December. They’ve done a great job spreading that brand awareness, and that has made our job much easier, because this has already been an established brand. There is certainly room for another strong Christmas station in the market. We have a format second to none that reaches from Northern San Diego to Santa Barbara and Ventura to Riverside, LA and Orange County. We certainly have the frequency and the strength to reach as many people as possible who enjoy this format.
And we’re also hopeful, too, that this is a great way to not only introduce new listeners to the station who enjoy Christmas music, but perhaps they will stay and enjoy the wonderful Country music that we play, so hopefully this will help increase Country music in Los Angeles as well.
I would say, too – just on a tangent – I think Christmas music is more important than ever, just with the recent elections that we’ve had. I know it’s been draining on people for the last year and a half, two years, so why not provide an escape for everyone? So, I think of all times, this is an especially important year for people to find an escape in Christmas music. And spread a wonderful message of spending time with your family and being nice to your friends, your neighbors, your loved ones. Why not spread this message of joy during such a contentious year that we’ve had?
Some perspective: “Don’t They Know It’s Christmas?”
As I said earlier, it’s unusual for Country stations to make an all-Christmas flip, but certainly not unprecedented. Steel City Country KFKF/Kansas City was the market’s lone holiday station from 2011-2013, after both KUDL and KCKC – which had battled for Christmas superiority during most of the early 2000s – both underwent format changes and gave up the holiday position. Like KKGO, KFKF opted to go wide – essentially becoming an AC station playing Christmas favorites during the four-week holiday book. There were some major Country artists mixed in, too, as PD /morning personality Dale Carter felt the need to sustain some Country connection – after all, KFKF is a heritage outlet, with a successful lineage dating back more than 50 years.
KFKF immediately enjoyed a cume and ratings surge in 2011, plus the positive halo effect that often comes with Christmas success, and which lasts into the first quarter of the new year. In KFKF’s case that halo often extended through May – they were the #1 radio station in Kansas City for much of 2012.
But KFKF was challenged in 2014 by Cumulus Adult Hits KCMO, which flipped the holiday switch early, pre-empting KFKF’s usual Thanksgiving day launch by two days. After enjoying great success during its time as the market’s exclusive Christmas outlet, KFKF PD/morning personality Dale Carter told me KCMO cut ‘KF’s shares in half, convincing Carter and his brain trust to give up the position.
There were advantages to KFKF as an all-Christmas station. Its Country sister, KBEQ, was available to cross-promote to core Country fans who missed their music. And with all that fresh, new cume pouring in, KFKF set up promotions and major giveaways that triggered once Christmas was over. George Strait concert tickets were the carrot one year; Kenny Chesney the next. And there was another alternative in the market, too – Entercom’s WDAF (The Wolf), so the market was not at a loss for Country music.
I asked Carter if he missed transforming KFKF into a winter wonderland. “I enjoy being a Country station,” he replied with a laugh rivaling Kris Kringle. “Things are going well right now.” He’s right. In the most recent, October PPM monthly, KFKF is the market’s # 1 Country station, posting a 4.7 among persons 6-plus, leading sister KBEQ and crosstown WDAF, which each showed a 3.6.
Asked for his reaction to KKGO’s flip, Carter told me, “I don’t see the logic. Why give up an exclusive position in the market? I wouldn’t do it.” Carter also mentioned the common assumption when a station goes all Christmas: “Are they going to flip it? That would be my suspicion.” As Levine said earlier, “We’re here to stay with it.”
“The World Needed It”
I looked up someone with perhaps the most unique perspective on KKGO’s holiday flip: BMLG Records Dir./West Coast Promotion Stella Prado, who spent 21 years with iHeartMedia AC KOST/Los Angeles, 10 of them as PD. She left the station in 2012. Prado was, in fact, the architect of KOST Christmas programming in the first place, dreaming up the idea in 2001. “It was post 9/11, and I felt like the world needed it,” she told me. Ironically, Prado now calls on KKGO as a record rep – so you can only imagine the slippery slope of a minefield I dragged her into when cold calling her about this topic. Luckily, she’s a totally great sport.
Additionally, she obviously has valuable insight into what I shall hereunto refer to as The Los Angeles Christmas Situation. With a 15-year running head start and juggernaut ratings history with holiday programming behind it, Prado says, “KOST is well-branded as the Christmas station in LA; it’s famous for the position.” A large part of that indelible branding has been a strong marketing component to the seasonal flip. As a result, the station’s listeners, competitors, staff – heck, everybody – know it’s coming and look forward to it. Well, maybe not competitors. But that yearly anticipation avoids any potential confusion for its fans.
Historically, KOST has pretty much had this position to itself, except for a few, one-off challenges over the years. Urban AC KTWV tried it, as did Classic Hits KRTH and Christian Contemporary KFSH. And – full disclosure – in 2005, as PD of then-Country KZLA, I took the station all-Christmas, though we played only Country artists and songs – of which there is an ample supply of in this format – when it comes to Christmas tunes. That year, the internal debate started raging during summer, and it was not a decision any of us took lightly. Like Dale Carter of KFKF, my chief concern was giving up an exclusive position. Yes, we remained a Country station, but we shifted from a current based music product to older, more familiar songs. This was also when Los Angeles was a dairy market. I remember December being off, however not catastrophically so, but naturally, it affected our Fall book. See those gray hairs on my head? Thanks, Santa.
“I’m sure they’ll execute it the right way,” believes Prado. “I wish them all the best; of course I want KKGO to be successful.” As history has shown, adds Prado, “Any station that flips and challenges KOST will have its work cut out for them.”
There’s no direct format competitor for KKGO – in Los Angeles. But it’s helpful to remember that in the six-month period between KZLA’s flip away from Country in August of 2006, to KKGO’s launch in March of 2007, CBS Radio Country KFRG/Riverside-San Bernardino made modest strides in gaining Los Angeles Country fans. KFRG PD Lee Douglas told me, “We went from a .02 to a high one something – close to a 2.0 – and it happened almost immediately.” KFRG has an excellent signal in some of the right places for Southern California Country fans, with an obvious strength in the Inland Empire, but also reaching well into Orange County, too – traditionally a hotbed for Country diehards. There is the possibility that core Country fans who like Christmas music in doses, but not as a steady diet, could potentially find KFRG.
I guess we’ll see, right? The Holiday book results for KKGO will be anticipated as highly as our annual visit from the jolly old fat guy in a red suit. Like Prado, I’m rooting for KKGO. There, I said it. Who among us doesn’t want a successful Country station in L.A.? Well, I suppose maybe if your name is Scrooge.
-
-