FCC Rules May Force Indie 103.1 FM to Change Its Tune

The future of Indie 103.1 FM, hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as “America’s coolest commercial station,” may be in jeopardy because a shift in federal regulations will force Clear Channel Communications Inc. to abandon its business partnership with the station’s owner.

Indie 103.1 is owned by Entravision Communications Corp., a Santa Monica-based Spanish-language media company. But it went on the air 14 months ago under a so-called joint sales agreement with Clear Channel, the largest radio station operator in the U.S. and the owner of eight stations in the L.A. market.

Revised Federal Communications Commission regulations redefine joint sales agreements in such a way that Indie 103.1 constitutes Clear Channel’s ninth station here, and federal media rules bar any company from owning more than eight.

Roy Laughlin, Clear Channel’s regional vice president in Los Angeles, said the company would walk away from the partnership April 1.

“Our lawyers have told us that we have to do this,” Laughlin said. “The audience and advertisers will see no disruption, that is my hope.”

He called Indie 103.1 “a great success story.” With rock star DJs such as Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols, the station’s unusual playlist finds room for the Clash, Franz Ferdinand and Frank Sinatra.

It’s unclear whether Entravision will continue the format without the business benefits of the arrangement with Clear Channel, which used its clout to line up advertisers for the station.

Entravision executives declined to comment.

Jeff Pollack, a radio consultant, said the industry chatter was that programming on Indie 103.1 would probably be rejiggered and geared toward one of the L.A. area’s myriad ethnic communities. But there has been speculation that the station’s bond with a valuable listener niche might make it a natural to move to satellite.

“No matter what, it’s going to be hard for the station to continue as it is,” Pollack said. “It certainly has its fans and an intriguing music mix, but the ratings have just not been there.”

Under the joint sales agreement, Clear Channel’s advertising staff sold time on Indie 103.1 at rates lower than those offered by the region’s dominant rock powerhouse, KROQ-FM (106.7), which is owned by Infinity Broadcasting Corp.

Clear Channel’s salespeople also pitched ad time in bundled deals with its other stations, such as KIIS-FM (102.7) and KBIG-FM (104.3).

Indie 103.1, which simulcasts from Newport Beach and Santa Monica under the tandem call letters KDLD and KDLE, has a relatively weak signal in the Los Angeles market. Still, the venture was seen as an attractive option that might steal some listeners from KROQ.

And although Indie’s overall market ranking is modest, in the key 25- to 34-year-old demographic group it outdid KCBS-FM (Arrow 93.1) and KLOS-FM (95.5) during the latest ratings period, fall 2004.

The station has been a hub for L.A. punk and alternative-rock mavens and has prided itself on a ragged and adventurous vibe that seems more like that of a college station than a major market endeavor. Luminaries including Courtney Love and Dave Navarro have been at the microphone.

“People fall in love with the concept of the station,” Pollack said, but he added that “in this era that kind of eclectic music mix is competing with offerings on the Internet and the music collections of people with their own iPods.”