Bye Bye Indie
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:54 pm
Hi Gang,
In case you don't know, Indie went off the air last week & became an internet only station. Here is an article that was posted at www.allaccess.com today -
'El Gato' Purrs In L.A., Indie 103 Web-Only With Rollins
As tipped by ALL ACCESS, ENTRAVISION Alternative KDLD (INDIE 103.1)/LOS ANGELES stopped its "end of format" loop and launched the Regional Mexican "EL GATO" over the weekend. The eclectic Alternative format will still be heard online, but without the regular jocks, although some of the specialty shows will remain.
The parting statement LOOP seemed to blame the PPM for INDIE's demise. "I've seen the ratings and I know we didn't do very well on PPM, but the kind of people who listen to our station are not the kind of people who want to carry around a device to measure what they're doing," Former INDIE MD MARK SOVELL told the DAILY SWARM. "But they are the kind of people who show up to our events in droves. Our signal didn't cover the entire city. We have transmitters in two places -- SANTA MONICA and NEWPORT -- and our signal didn't reach the Valley where the proportion of PPM is very high.
"Take, for instance, the entire area from ECHO PARK to BEVERLY HILLS to WILSHIRE, yet they said we had no listeners there. We know we have core listeners in LOS FELIZ and SILVER LAKE, but we supposedly had zero listeners there ... it is just ridiculous. All stations with eclectic programming don't register well with PPM. PPM is not even certified in Los Angeles. but ARBITRON pushed it through early because they make more money from it.
While it's still unclear as to which of the specilaty show hosts will follow the station to the Web, "None of the primary DJs or music programmers at the station are involved in the website," SOVELL said. "it’s like playing an iPod of the music we left on their computers. [Popular midday show and ex-SEX PISTOL STEVE JONES] "was disappointed, but I don't want to speak for him. I helped him clean out his desk. He said, 'It’s weird, I've never done anything for five years.' His wit is unique. I'm really gonna miss JONESY. KROQ had tried to hire him away in the past, but they would never let him on the air and do what he did at INDIE."
One specialty show host who will be staying on is HENRY ROLLINS. On his blog, ROLLINS asserted that "No one told me a thing" about the station's demise. "Apparently it all came down very quickly, desks were cleared out and people moved on. The station will be online only and my show will still be included. It’s too bad that the station couldn't keep it going. I wrote Engineer X and asked if he could still do the show and he said that he could. He said that there’s no commercials so I can put a lot more music into the show. Since we're no longer on terrestrial radio, I don't have to worry about language in the songs so now I can just pick out music to play and not have to worry about getting the station in trouble.
"So far, I have put three shows together in this new format and I am really liking what I am getting out of it. As much as I will miss being on the radio, there’s something really cool and actually, much closer to what I think is the real idea of the show by doing it online. It’s more of an underground thing that excites me very much. Maybe the show should have always been like this."
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In case you don't know, Indie went off the air last week & became an internet only station. Here is an article that was posted at www.allaccess.com today -
'El Gato' Purrs In L.A., Indie 103 Web-Only With Rollins
As tipped by ALL ACCESS, ENTRAVISION Alternative KDLD (INDIE 103.1)/LOS ANGELES stopped its "end of format" loop and launched the Regional Mexican "EL GATO" over the weekend. The eclectic Alternative format will still be heard online, but without the regular jocks, although some of the specialty shows will remain.
The parting statement LOOP seemed to blame the PPM for INDIE's demise. "I've seen the ratings and I know we didn't do very well on PPM, but the kind of people who listen to our station are not the kind of people who want to carry around a device to measure what they're doing," Former INDIE MD MARK SOVELL told the DAILY SWARM. "But they are the kind of people who show up to our events in droves. Our signal didn't cover the entire city. We have transmitters in two places -- SANTA MONICA and NEWPORT -- and our signal didn't reach the Valley where the proportion of PPM is very high.
"Take, for instance, the entire area from ECHO PARK to BEVERLY HILLS to WILSHIRE, yet they said we had no listeners there. We know we have core listeners in LOS FELIZ and SILVER LAKE, but we supposedly had zero listeners there ... it is just ridiculous. All stations with eclectic programming don't register well with PPM. PPM is not even certified in Los Angeles. but ARBITRON pushed it through early because they make more money from it.
While it's still unclear as to which of the specilaty show hosts will follow the station to the Web, "None of the primary DJs or music programmers at the station are involved in the website," SOVELL said. "it’s like playing an iPod of the music we left on their computers. [Popular midday show and ex-SEX PISTOL STEVE JONES] "was disappointed, but I don't want to speak for him. I helped him clean out his desk. He said, 'It’s weird, I've never done anything for five years.' His wit is unique. I'm really gonna miss JONESY. KROQ had tried to hire him away in the past, but they would never let him on the air and do what he did at INDIE."
One specialty show host who will be staying on is HENRY ROLLINS. On his blog, ROLLINS asserted that "No one told me a thing" about the station's demise. "Apparently it all came down very quickly, desks were cleared out and people moved on. The station will be online only and my show will still be included. It’s too bad that the station couldn't keep it going. I wrote Engineer X and asked if he could still do the show and he said that he could. He said that there’s no commercials so I can put a lot more music into the show. Since we're no longer on terrestrial radio, I don't have to worry about language in the songs so now I can just pick out music to play and not have to worry about getting the station in trouble.
"So far, I have put three shows together in this new format and I am really liking what I am getting out of it. As much as I will miss being on the radio, there’s something really cool and actually, much closer to what I think is the real idea of the show by doing it online. It’s more of an underground thing that excites me very much. Maybe the show should have always been like this."
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