Radio stations change from sports/talk to rock.

Switch seen as latest failure of sports/talk genre

PASADENA - A change in format in late March by three low-rated Southern California radio stations marks not only the latest failure of the sports/talk genre in Los Angeles, but may be an attempt by the stations' owners to ride the coattails of a more successful station that is very close by on the radio dial.

Pasadena-based KMAX-FM broadcasts simultaneous signals at 107.1 on the dial with two other Southern California stations, Ventura-based KAXX-FM and Fallbrook-based KBAX-FM, in a strategy known in the industry as a "trimulcast." Together, they reach most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The stations changed format March 26 from sports/talk to modern rock. Perhaps not coincidentally, the new playlist is similar to one used by Burbank-based KROQ-FM, which broadcasts at 106.7 on the dial.

KMAX has so few listeners in Los Angeles that it does not appear on the fall 1995 ratings list compiled by the Arbitron Co. KROQ, meanwhile, captured a 3.6 percent share of the Los Angeles market in the fall Arbitron survey, making it the top modern rock station in the region.

According to radio industry analysts, it is a relatively common strategy for weak stations located near strong stations on the radio dial to adopt variations of the stronger entity's format. Listeners with old-fashioned knob-controlled radios find it nearly impossible to tell the difference between stations located only a few tenths of a megahertz away on the dial, thus the weaker station can often pick up listeners who think they have tuned in to the more well-known station.

Good competition

"It's never the sole consideration, but it's always a nice plus to people considering a format change if there's a successful competitor nearby on the dial," said George Nadel Riven, partner in charge of broadcast services at North Hollywood-based accounting/consulting firm Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. "It works both ways, because there is the possibility that the stronger station will pick up some listeners from the weaker one. But obviously, the more established station is going to have more to lose."

KMAX and its trimulcast partners, along with Santa Ana-based KWIZ-FM which broadcasts independently, were acquired for $38 million last November by Hawthorne. N.Y.-based Odyssey Communications Inc., which owns two other radio stations in New York state. Soon after the purchase was announced. Odyssey began conducting research on format changes to boost listenership at the flagging Southern California trimulcast stations, according to Odyssey President and CEO Michael Kakoyiannis.

"We didn't change formats because KROQ is at 106.7," Kakoyiannis said. "They're a very formidable station, and their success just proved to us that there are lots of opportunities with that format using the trimulcast in the L.A. market."

Officials with KROQ did not return calls from the Business Journal.

The Odyssey stations are no longer using their old call letters. They are now known collectively as Y-107 and use the slogan "Southern California's Modern Rock."

The format change marks only the latest failure of sports/talk in Los Angeles. Traditionally, the talk formal has been more successful in the AM than the FM band, although recently stations like L.A.-based KLSX-FM have found a niche by switching to talk. Sports, though, has been an unsuccessful genre both in AM and FM, with the abandonment of the format in 1994 by L.A.based KMPC-AM and the cancellation of L.A.-based KABC-AM's "Sportstalk" show in 1992. "Sportstalk" was revived in 1994, cancelled again last summer, and returned to the airwaves in January.