NORTH COUNTY STATIONS PLAY RADIO ROULETTE

When North County radio stations asked the Arbitron Ratings Co. to start measuring their listeners separately from San Diego audiences, they were looking for credibility.

A year later, they have gotten something else: confusion.

The national ratings firm ranked North County 70th largest of the nation’s 260 radio markets subject to quarterly listener surveys (San Diego is ranked 20th). Since then, nearly every one of the eight radio stations serving the area has changed its format, its call letters, or both.

Oceanside’s KEZL-FM (102.1) became KGMG (Magic 102) and switched from adult contemporary to oldies. Its AM sister, KNNC (1320), dropped its news format and began simulcasting oldies as KGMG-AM.

KOWN-FM (92.1) in Escondido went from album-oriented rock to a mix of adult contemporary and jazz. KOWN-AM (1450) abandoned its beautiful music format and became North County’s only country station.

Carlsbad’s KKOS-FM (95.9) went from adult contemporary to Top 40. Vista’s KMLO-AM (1000) dropped both its nostalgia format and its call letters and started broadcasting oldies as KVSD.

Tiny KAVO-AM (106.7) in Fallbrook then picked up the discarded KMLO calls but made no changes in its beautiful music format.

“In the year that it’s been around, the North County radio market has easily become the most confusing radio market in the world,” said Tim Curtin, general manager of the KOWN stations. “We never had our own survey until just last year, and as the results of each ratings period came in, everyone started overreacting.”

As a result, Curtin said, he is not at all surprised that even in the most recent Arbitron survey, 9 of the 10 most popular stations among North County listeners are established winners from San Diego--and only one, Magic 102, is based in North County.

“Stations were quick to change their formats, even after just one bad book,” Curtin said. “And if you want to build an audience, you just can’t do that--you’ve got to continue doing what you’re doing for a while before you get crazy and change.

“Everyone’s complaining that North County listeners are tuning in to San Diego stations, but how can you expect that to change when you’re constantly switching formats? It’s gotten so that listeners tuning in to local stations never know what they’re going to hear.”

But if North County radio managers have learned, through the Arbitron school of hard knocks, that being based in North County doesn’t necessarily mean the audience there will tune you in, they have been given some insight into how to turn things around.

“Before Arbitron came in, there was no direction,” said Larry Shushan, general manager of the two KGMG stations. “Not only didn’t we know how many listeners we had, but we didn’t know who those listeners were.”

Arbitron’s entry into the North County market, Shushan added, “has helped each station identify its target audience, so we’re finally able to take aim and play the type of music that our particular audiences want to hear.”

That accounts for the rash of format changes, Shushan said. “It also means things are going to get better and better for everybody: the stations as well as the listeners.”

Tom Hubbard, promotions director with KKOS and KVSD, agrees.

“North County is growing a lot faster than the rest of San Diego,” Hubbard said. “As more and more people move into the area, you obviously have to hone your format and target yourself better toward one particular demographic.

“Arbitron gave us a lot more credibility than we’ve ever had before. And in our case, the changes that came about as a result may have created some confusion, but now that they’ve been made they’re working in our favor.

“They’re helping us build not just any audience, but the type of audience we want to reach.”

Hubbard added that Arbitron’s arrival has made North County stations more competitive, against each other as well the established ratings leaders farther south.

“We don’t have the history of a KGB-FM (101.5) or a KFMB-FM (B-100), nor do we have the money,” Hubbard said. “But now that we’ve identified our audiences and pretty much stabilized our formats accordingly, we’re able to do things that will further solidify us in the North County market, from advertising to promotions.”

“The whole thing takes time,” KGMG’s Shushan added. “You can’t just change formats and expect a big audience overnight. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been around; if you change your format, you lose the audience you have and basically need to start over again.

“But by stabilizing our formats and becoming more aggressive in our advertising, promotions and overall marketing, I think eventually we’ll be able to beat the San Diego stations.”