KKGO: Navigating The First Noel

I remember it like it was 10 years ago, probably because it was. During CRS week 2007, Mt. Wilson Broadcasters Classical KMZT/Los Angeles flipped to Country, with new calls KKGO; branding as Go Country 105. I was working for Radio & Records magazine at the time, and my headline that day read: “Roll Over Beethoven!” The move restored the Country format to the FM dial in Los Angeles after a seven-month absence, following Emmis KZLA’s August 2006 flip to Rhythmic AC.

Mt. Wilson had first put Country music on its XSUR 540-A stick in late 2006. Mt. Wilson owner Saul Levine soon fell in love with Country music and decided to move it to his monster FM signal at 105.1. Then Station Manager, and now KKGO PD, Michael Levine remembers the first few years feeling like more than a few years. “We were just trying to find our feet to know what worked and what didn’t work, and just understand the format,” Levine told me this week. “When we switched in 2007, there were still a lot of changes in Country music, transitioning from the older, more traditional sound to the newer, more AC sound, so we were in the midst of it trying to figure out what was going on.” But now in 2017, he says, “We understand everything really well.”

The station, its staff, clients, and special guests will officially celebrate 10 years of Country bliss on Tuesday, January 24th in Los Angeles. For any of you planning to send a gift marking this decade-long milestone, here’s a friendly tip: the traditional 10-year anniversary symbol is tin or aluminum, although diamond jewelry would be the modern choice.

You’re welcome.

But Levine and his staff will likely have something else to celebrate next week, too: a strong Holiday PPM monthly, thanks to an unconventional and daring programming move to play all Christmas music starting on Tuesday, November 15th. A Country station getting its all-holiday on is rare; taking the music wide, playing only Christmas classics and little, if any, Country holiday tunes is seen as risky, if not fraught with peril. On top of that, KKGO was jumping into a position dominated for years by iHeartMedia crosstown AC KOST, which made its annual Christmas flip on November 9th, 24 hours after election day – perhaps sensing all of Los Angeles desperately needed to go from “no-effing-way” to simply, Noel.

KKGO taking on KOST. Think David and Goliath here. That’s like me challenging Usain Bolt in the 100-meter dash; like jumping in the pool and saying to Michael Phelps, “Catch me if you can, sucka!” And, from the outside looking in, it’s about as rational as playing flag football on one of LA’s famous freeways.

I spoke to Michael Levine the day of its Christmas flip, and shared his comment in this space. I thought it might be fun to circle back to him, after the fact, to see results and get his feedback on the experience.

While the officially official Holiday results will arrive the same day as KKGO celebrates 10 years in the format (1/24), Levine shared week-by-week results with me, which have the station pacing toward what he believes will be somewhere between a 2.8-3.0 among person 6+ when it’s all said and done. For the first four weeks of the Holiday survey, says Levine, “We have a 2.7, a 2.9, a 3.0 and a 3.1, Traditionally we’ve always averaged between a 1.5 and a 2.0 share this [Holiday] period.”

I asked Levine how KKGO looked in specific dayparts during its Christmas run. “It changed as the weeks went on,” he said. “Weekends do phenomenally well with both the Christmas and Country programming. But I would say afternoons and evenings were the strongest in the beginning, and then that switched more towards middays and weekends.”

And Levine adds that cume for KKGO – which usually ranges between 1.2-1.3 million among persons 6+, has dropped to at or below one million in past Holiday periods. This time, says Levine, “All of a sudden [cume] jumped to the 1.7 million range. Week #2 and #4 of the Holiday book we had 1,771,000, so to be almost close to 1.8 is a phenomenal story to tell.” But Levine is realistic, too. “We expect the cume will go back down. The goal is to open the station up to new listeners that are not familiar with it to say, ‘Hey, this is a great product that you should keep listening to.’ Our goal is to at least open the station up to new people, and then it’s our job with the music and the programming to have them stay.”

During its Christmas programming, KKGO first positioned as “105.1, Your Christmas Destination,” eventually shifting back to “Go Country 105,” as Christmas day approached, to plant the seed for its return to regularly scheduled programming on Christmas night. And, Levine hopes to benefit from a halo effect extending into January, something usually enjoyed by Christmas stations.

Once back to Country music, Levine said KKGO social media activity picked up. Additionally, he told me, “There was anecdotal evidence from listeners who said, ‘I discovered you through Christmas music, and I’m enjoying the station as I’m listening to it further.’ Or, during that time they had won a promotional giveaway that we had, and they were excited both to discover the station, and to stay with us as the weeks go on.”

KKGO provided both a Country stream and a stream of its Christmas programming during the Holiday period. “We did see some migration over to our Country stream,” says Levine. “And then we saw the addition of new listeners to our Christmas stream, so the sum total between those streams was a little bit higher than where we normally are with our Country stream. Once we consolidated back to Country, we saw growth from where we were before.”

Another interesting take from Levine following the return to Country music: “Everything we’re playing sounds really fresh. It’s almost like the station has a brand-new feel to it with all the Country music. So it’s a great opportunity to hear great songs again.” There’s always a slight turnover in music from before the holiday break, with some songs going away. What was the turnover for KKGO? “There was quite a bit of change,” Levine told me. “I would say probably around 20% or 25%.”

I had three last Holiday post-mortem questions for Levine: First, what did he learn that he would possibly do differently? “There was a lot of feedback about starting after Thanksgiving.” (KKGO launched Christmas on November 15th.) Second, did he make any adjustments on the fly? “One of the requests from listeners was a little bit more Country artists playing Christmas music, so we did incorporate that a little bit more.” Finally, the $64,000 question: Will you do it again next year? Says Levine, “That’s something we’ll have to review; all of the data, and the listener comments, and spend more time reviewing everything before we settle on the approach for this year.”