Radio: There’s even more Taylor Swift on the radio this week

Hearing Taylor Swift 24/7 wasn’t enough for you? You needed more?

On the heels of Taylor 105.1 HD3, in which one of the HD radio streams tied to Go Country 105 plays nothing but Taylor Swift (you need a special HD radio to hear it; new cars often have them), came word that KIIS-FM joined the trend – though not quite as all-in.

Scheduled for August 3-9 — so depending on when you read this it may already be over — KIIS-FM became “SWFT-FM,” playing at least four Swift songs an hour. Last weekend included classic Taylor hits, Monday was Merch-Monday in which listeners could win official Swift memorabilia, Tuesday was Taylor TWOsday — back-to-back Swift songs — and much more.

Even morning man Ryan Seacrest got into the act giving way a pair of tickets for the final show on August 9th.

Not to be outdone, Alt 98.7 was doing an “anything but Swift” promotion. Different strokes.

Stunt work

While 105.1 HD3 continues to play all Swift through the end of the month, rumors are circulating about what will happen when the stunt is done. I originally assumed that the format would revert to the Adult Standards format that focused on Frank Sinatra and friends, but there is word on the street that something new might be coming. And you know what happens when one assumes.

HD radio signals are a tough sell, as the reach is limited compared with regular FM signals, due to a far lower number of HD radios in the hands of consumers as well as reception problems  — dropouts — when the signal isn’t pristine. That can often be made up by the use of smartphone apps and smart speakers … unfortunately adding more costs, such as music streaming license fees and costs associated with computers. As most HD signals have few to no commercials or sponsorships, it is most definitely a labor of love for owners who truly try to make a go of it.

Could the right format combined with the right promotion make an HD stream at least break even, if not profitable? That’s your question of the week: If you could program an HD stream, such as 105.1 HD3, what would you put on it and why? For extra credit, how might you promote the station to not only attract listeners but advertisers?

In the meantime, I’ll keep an ear to the ground to see if a new format will indeed be replacing All-Taylor.

Not Quite

“In a significant change for Los Angeles radio listeners, KNX has stopped simulcasting its broadcasts on 1070 AM, a frequency it had occupied for over a century,” read the story posted at newsbreak.com. “The shift comes about a year and a half after KNX moved its main broadcast to 97.1 FM.” The story — no longer available online — went on to state that listeners were shocked when they tuned in to 1070 AM and didn’t hear the normal news format.

First, don’t panic.

A reader of this very column sent me the posting; at first, I just assumed that management made a decision that was, um, questionable. Most people I know still tune to KNX on the AM band due to its significantly stronger signal, even if the fidelity on most radios is not quite as good. “Stupid,” I responded.

But then I tuned in to hear it for myself. Same news as always, an exact simulcast as has been happening for the past year. That’s odd…

Soon KNX management responded directly to the story: “Hi there, Alex Silverman here, Director of News & Programming at KNX News,” said the social media post. “Just want to clarify: we have not ended the simulcast. KNX News is still on both 97.1 FM and 1070 AM in all hours except weekend mornings (Sat 6-11a and Sun 6-8a), when 1070 AM airs some paid and specialty programming.

“This has been the case for more than a year, and there has been no change recently. During those hours the news is available on 97.1 FM as well as the Audacy app and by asking your smart speaker to ‘play KNX News.’”

So what happened? AI, or artificial intelligence, that’s what I’m hearing. According to sources close to the subject, it was a story written primarily by artificial intelligence, and I will go out on a limb and state that the AI system involved probably just picked up a discussion by people related to the weekend morning paid programming. In the beginning of the simulcast, I am sure there were listeners surprised/shocked/etc. to hear something other than news in those time blocks. But weekend mornings do not translate to all the time.

Luckily for you, we don’t use AI here. In fact, I try to avoid all intelligence, not just artificial. Just ask my editor; he’ll agree completely.

Future Series

I am planning to start a feature on stations that don’t exist anymore. And not just the big ones. Stations like the original KDAY when it played top-40 and rock. Magic Oldies Radio K-WOW. KBLA. Stations you loved, but were not necessarily the stations that made it big.

I can use your help on this … if you have ideas for stations — and the personalities involved — to cover, send them my way.

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com.