Learning to Tune In to Its Audience : Radio: Local stations are narrowing their musical approach to target specific listeners with a niche format.

Flip around the radio dial these days and pick a decade. Any decade.

You can choose “Superstars of the ‘80s and ‘90s” on KYSR-FM (98.7) for current hits and the hottest records of the last few years. Then there’s “all rock ‘n’ roll oldies of the ‘60s and ‘70s’ ” on KCBS-FM (93.1).

Whatever happened to straight-ahead rock stations?

“Being mainstream in a competitive musical market these days is very difficult,” said music consultant Jeff Pollack. “It’s going to get to the point where every station is a niche format.”

In other words, with 80 stations competing for the ears of Southern California listeners, the ones that are at the bottom of the ratings have to find a way to distinguish themselves--to carve out a unique niche.

No one here has yet gone so far as to have an all-Beatles station or an all-Elvis station, as has been tried elsewhere in the country, but local outlets increasingly are looking at narrowing their approach to target a more specific audience.

KYSR has had considerable success since switching from easy listening to its more up-tempo “Star 98.7” format in August, 1992. Its average share of the audience has climbed from 2.6% to 3.1%, 13th highest in the market in the most recent Arbitron ratings.

The mandate at KYSR is to “play highly identifiable songs from highly identifiable artists,” General Manager Bob Griffith said. The playlist runs the gamut from Sting to Janet Jackson to Soul Asylum, carving out the middle ground between Top 40 and a traditional, easygoing “adult contemporary” format.

“When you think about niche programming,” Griffith said, “you basically have to think about who you want to reach and how you want to serve them. Then you have to find out if there are substantial numbers of those people out there.”

KYSR conducted voluminous research before deciding on its approach. The station decided to go after an audience in the 23-45 age range, with an emphasis on the “thirtysomething” crowd.

“Every time the research would come back, we would find there was a tremendous opportunity for a radio station for people that had outgrown Top 40 (stations) and games, but really weren’t ready for Barry Manilow or Neil Diamond or Barbra Streisand,” Griffith said.

Research also played a key role in KCBS’ decision last month to go after much the same audience by restricting its oldies format to the ‘60s and ‘70s sounds that it now plays under the moniker “Arrow 93.” The station has changed formats and call letters half a dozen times in the past 10 years in search of a winning formula.

“We began to see things in research that were pointing to another opportunity,” General Manager Dave Van Dyke said. “It showed us that there was something else going on in the marketplace that related to people who grew up in the ‘70s, people who were in high school or college in that decade. We found there was truly an interest and a large audience available for a ‘70s-based radio station.”

“What they’re trying to do is position themselves somewhere between (long-time oldies station) KRTH and (classic rock station) KLSX. They’re building their own niche,” said Allen Klein, a media research analyst. “If you can’t win the battle today, you build your own mountain. They developed a format that doesn’t exist and then said, ‘We’re going to be No. 1 in that format.’ ”

It is too soon to tell if “Arrow 93” is striking a responsive chord with listeners; Arbitron’s next quarterly ratings report won’t be available until January. The big question in the radio industry is whether the new format is distinct enough from KLSX-FM (97.1), which plays rock ‘n’ roll “classics” from the same era.

“If you want to own a position, you’ve got to get there first,” said Andy Bloom, program director at KLSX. “When it comes to oldies, KRTH got there first. When it comes to music from the ‘60s and ‘70s, KLSX got there first. I’m not sure when KCBS is going to learn their lesson, but this is going to be a very expensive exercise in proving a three-wheel wagon won’t run the race.”

KCBS remains undeterred.

“The people in the industry are pigeonholing us, saying there’s already a station like us in Los Angeles,” Van Dyke said. “The audience doesn’t appear to believe that. KLSX appeals to people who listened to underground radio in the ‘70s. There’s a very important place for a station like KLSX in Los Angeles, but the audience felt there was a very wide opening for a station that provided just the best rock ‘n’ roll songs from that era, for a person who grew up on Top 40 music through the ‘70s.”

There is a big overlap in the music each station plays--from the Beatles to Bob Seger to Fleetwood Mac--but there are some differences. KCBS will play any rock hit from the period while KLSX plays more album cuts, but only by the artists whom it deems to be “classic.” KCBS will play Elton John’s “Daniel” and Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”; KLSX won’t.

To Van Dyke, it’s a question of more mass appeal within the niche. “We see this as an opportunity to redefine oldies for the generation that came after the Beatles,” the KCBS executive said.