Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla are among the many producers who’ve spent years crafting a multi-part docuseries chronicling the historical past of influential Los Angeles different radio station KROQ — and 5 years in the past, they appeared to have a correct (albeit, miserable) ending to the story. As reported on the time by Selection, the once-“world well-known” KROQ had collapsed in each scores and status because the station misplaced its two-time Corridor of Fame morning present “Kevin & Bean,” whereas concurrently blowing up its acquainted playlist. “It’s the Finish of the World Well-known KROQ As We Know It,” the Selection headline learn.
And but, 5 years later, there seems to be a little bit of a restoration taking place on the legendary radio outlet. In October, KROQ posted a 5.8 share in its key adults 25-54 demo — making it No. 2 in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest marrket. That’s fairly a change from even only a yr in the past, when the station was nonetheless pulling a reasonably tepid 2.6 share (No. 16 out there).
KROQ can also be experiencing an amazing increase within the mornings, the place the “Klein.Ally.Present” hit its best-ever numbers final month — after having struggled to realize traction throughout its first 4 years on air.
“We have now an amazing frickin’ story right here,” says KROQ senior VP of programming Kevin Weatherly. “It was darkish occasions at this station. Many individuals thought would by no means come again. Lots of people thought KROQ was lifeless, and it was lifeless to a number of our listeners. However now right here we’re, 5 years later. Not solely have we come again from that, however we’re again greater by way of scores success, than we’ve been in 15-plus years.”
Per KROQ’s month-to-month scores tendencies, that rebirth actually took off this previous spring — and it’s most likely not a coincidence that the listenership skyrocketed after the return of ex-morning host Kevin Ryder. Along with his former “Kevin & Bean” accomplice Gene “Bean” Baxter, Ryder spent 30 years at KROQ till March 2020 — when he and co-hosts Allie Mac Kay and Jensen Karp (Baxter had departed in November 2019) have been fired over the telephone through the pandemic.
Ryder returned to the KROQ in afternoon drive this previous April 1, a bit over 5 years after being axed — and shortly after, one other KROQ vet, Doug “Sluggo” Roberts, additionally returned to the station for normal shifts after an extended absence. (Throughout that point away, Ryder and Roberts hosted a day present collectively on L.A. traditional rock outlet KLOS.)
“I feel Kevin Ryder coming again had the halo impact of actually benefiting the radio station from a scores standpoint,” Weatherly says. “As a result of it did give folks permission that have been pissed off, that didn’t need something to do with KROQ, to go, ‘OK, if he’s coming again, it’s cool for us too.’”
After a prolonged, dominant streak within the demo (most not too long ago hitting No. 1 in L.A. with a 4.8 share in March 2011), KROQ started to hit main turbulence within the mid-to-late 2010s. Not solely was radio going through new competitors from podcasts and different sources, however the different rock style was on the skids — main many legacy stations, together with San Francisco sibling KITS-FM (“Reside 105”), to get out of the format fully. In 2017, KROQ dad or mum CBS Radio was acquired by Entercom (now Audacy), inflicting extra uncertainty and alter. And on the identical time, as KROQ’s music rotation started to sound stale, crosstown rival KYSR (“Alt 98.7”) was proving to be a formidable competitor — significantly after KROQ assistant program director Lisa Worden jumped to that station.
By 2020, Weatherly (above, with Coldplay’s Chris Martin) — who had programmed KROQ since 1992 — was additionally prepared to go away. “Actually, I used to be burned out,” he says. “I used to be programming three radio stations, and we had a brand new firm.” As Entercom/Audacy began to tinker with KROQ, Weatherly was being recruited by Spotify — and he determined the time was ripe for a brand new problem.
That was March 2020, proper earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic took maintain. After he left, Weatherly’s substitute, Mike Kaplan (who had beforehand run Alt 98.7 — which began beating KROQ within the scores), initiated a wholesale revamp at KROQ. Not solely was Ryder tossed, however the station’s music combine was tweaked. Various pop (significantly songs hitting it massive on TikTok) was given heavy rotation, whereas Kaplan pulled again on earlier rock-intensive core artists.
KROQ listeners have been angered by Ryder’s firing, and in addition didn’t embrace the station’s new sound. “I used to be on the sidelines at Spotify, watching the fucking factor burn,” Weatherly says.
Audacy Southern California regional president Jeff Federman now admits that in hindsight, KROQ made some main tactical errors in 2020. “Throughout COVID, all people wished consolation meals,” he says. “Individuals have been coming to us for one thing they knew, they usually weren’t getting it. Not solely have been they not getting the music, however in addition they weren’t getting their morning present. So it was a double whammy. COVID was laborious sufficient, however we made it tougher on ourselves, definitely.”
Federman instantly got down to recruit Weatherly again to the station and carry out some triage. “I’m glad I did Spotify. I realized loads,” Weatherly says. “However there was that craving to return again to what I’ve performed my whole grownup life, which is programming KROQ. KROQ means one thing to me. I care about its legacy.”
Weatherly returned in 2022 and instantly restored the station’s reliance on its largely gold-based rotation — requirements from the likes of Foo Fighters and Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers. That’s not essentially an thrilling or forward-thinking playlist, and even inside KROQ, music followers bristle on the station’s reliance on burnt-to-a-crisp songs which have been in fixed rotation for many years. However administration says analysis exhibits that these artists are what KROQ’s core 25-54 viewers needs.
“Whether or not it’s your favourite restaurant, or tennis footwear or no matter, folks have an expectation of a model,” Weatherly says. “And the expectation of the KROQ model is Foo Fighters, Chili Peppers, Linkin Park and Inexperienced Day. [Kaplan] kicked all these bands to the curb in favor of those new TikTok-flavor-of-the-moment bands. That’s not what folks anticipate or need from KROQ. It’s simply getting again to what folks anticipate. Everybody goes, ‘the station used to play much more new music,’ or ‘the station was about discovery.’ All these issues are nonetheless true. It’s simply that, our viewers just isn’t 12 to 24. Our viewers is 25 to 54. These are the those who grew up with KROQ. We’re not chasing one thing that we’re not going to most likely get any longer. We’re going to fulfill the folks which can be nonetheless right here.”
Nonetheless, Weatherly admits that it’s tougher to program radio than it was. For one factor, company dad or mum Audacy filed for chapter final yr and has carried out a number of rounds of layoffs — thinning his workers.
And in recent times there’s been fewer breakthroughs in rock music due to fragmentation. “It’s simply tougher and tougher for songs to get consensus on newer music,” he says. “Which is why at festivals, there’s a lot performed round nostalgia. Youthful individuals are discovering these older songs, and so I feel we profit from that.”
However this yr, KROQ’s playlist has discovered some pockets of refreshening from a latest uptick in new and resurgent bands. Weatherly factors to more energizing artists like Unhealthy Omens, Turnstile, Pierce the Veil and Moist Leg, in addition to new hits from veterans like Deftones and Elegant. “I feel that we’re benefiting from the truth that there’s a brand new crop of rock bands that individuals are passionate and care about,” Weatherly says.
KROQ isn’t the one station seeing an uptick from alt rock’s mini revival. Audacy relaunched Reside 105 in San Francisco in 2023, across the identical time that Cumulus Media introduced again heritage Atlanta alt rocker WNNX (“99X”). In August, Windsor, Canada, station CIMX (“89X”), which was fashionable rock pioneer within the Detroit market, returned after a 5 yr absence. Again in LA, in October’s Nielsen Audio individuals 6+ scores, Alt 98.7 posted a 3.6 share — its finest since July 2010 — whereas KROQ was shut behind with a 3.3.
“I’ve felt good about different product for six months now,” says radio analysis analyst and columnist Sean Ross. “The chart lastly appears to be the combo of pop, guitar rock and ‘not one of the above’ that we’d like. I additionally assume it’s nice to see heritage stations like Reside 105, 99X Atlanta, and 89X Detroit being relaunched. That’s a vote of confidence for the format, too, significantly when there’s an immediate response like there was for Reside 105.
“That mentioned, the chart continues to be very reliant on heritage artists… additionally, that is nonetheless a closely library-based format. Most stations are at 1-2 currents an hour. It’s all the time a turning level in any format when programmers really feel assured swapping a gold for a latest music. We have to get to the purpose the place ‘Imagine’ by the Bravery isn’t higher than an thrilling new music. However as stations develop, it should give them extra skill to interrupt new music.”
For now, Weatherly says KROQ’s combine might be about 70% gold and 30% present music. And the station might be much more gold-based now than it was when Weatherly was beforehand programming KROQ — however he argues that’s true of all radio codecs.
“Overlook different, however any up to date station, whether or not it’s the hip hop station or the highest 40 station, they’re all enjoying much more gold,” he says. “And if you happen to go and take a look at DSPs (digital service suppliers, like Spotify or Apple Music), a number of the most-consumed music on these platforms is gold-based.”
But it surely’s finally not simply in regards to the music, because the station’s personalities have additionally assist revive KROQ’s profile. After Ryder was canned, afternoon hosts Kevin Klein and Ted Stryker have been moved to mornings, the place they confronted a backlash over the sudden change. Stryker hopped to Alt 98.7 in 2021, and Klein was paired with Ally Johnson on the renamed “Klein.Ally.Present.” It was an extended slog to recruit listeners from there.
“It was laborious sufficient to launch a morning present 20 years in the past, again when there have been solely radio stations that folks have been getting their music and their content material from,” Federman says. “However now you could have all these different platforms to compete towards.” Provides Weatherly: “It took a very long time for folks to seek out it, as a result of all the things’s so fragmented.”
When Ryder returned to KROQ, his first cease was on the Klein/Ally present, and Federman credit the go to as a “stamp of approval that, ‘hey, all you different KROQ listeners that used to hear, you possibly can come again.’” Now, “Klein.Ally.Present” has risen to a 7.0 share, No. 2 within the demo — an amazing leap from No. 14 in March. Ryder’s approval helped, as did an enormous consciousness marketing campaign for the morning present this summer time, which included placing repeats into different dayparts, and briefly extending the present to 11 a.m.
“Even with the totally different modifications that the corporate’s gone by way of, the one factor that’s been constant since I’ve come again is their help of our perception that we’re heading in the right direction (with ‘Klein.Ally.Present’),” Weatherly says. “These days, that’s remarkable. To offer a present 4 years to develop earlier than you begin to see the payoff, most individuals don’t have the endurance anymore.”
(Not each latest experiment has labored: KROQ swiftly shelved an try and revive the station’s “Loveline” intercourse and relationships discuss present. “I feel we realized fairly rapidly that it’s 2025, not 1995 and that folks can get these items in all places,” Weatherly says.)
Ryder didn’t go away KROQ quietly in 2020, cracking the mic one final time after being dismissed to share how he was “really baffled by KROQ’s chilly, heartless angle towards the individuals who constructed this station.” However with Weatherly again and new administration at Audacy, he was keen to present it one other attempt.
Nonetheless, he admits he was a bit hesitant to return at first, given how a lot he had heard in regards to the darkish occasions at KROQ within the years after he left. “It was an odd factor to be doing,” he says of his return. “However now it does really feel like I’m absolutely again, and I’m getting a ‘that is enjoyable once more’ vibe at KROQ — which is opposite to the way in which it has been. I talked to lots of people who have been there for the 5 years that I wasn’t, they usually have been like, ‘it’s been so troublesome, the administration didn’t know what they have been doing,’ and all people was upset. They didn’t deal with folks nicely. I feel Kevin Weatherly coming again, and the modifications on the high of Audacy, have modified the corporate dynamic. The individuals who used to run Audacy didn’t perceive what KROQ is, and extra importantly, they didn’t care to grasp what KROQ is.”
For her half, new Audacy CEO Kelli Turner lauds KROQ for persevering with to be one of the crucial acknowledged station manufacturers in radio. “I wasn’t round for it, however I do know when Kevin Weatherly left, when Kevin Ryder left, it positively went by way of a little bit of a low level. So it’s tremendous thrilling to see the power and momentum behind it now… I feel simply letting them do what they do, and taking obstacles out of the way in which to allow them to do it nicely, is a giant a part of my position.”
Weatherly is cautious to not characterize this as an try and re-create KROQ circa 2005 — even when a number of the music and the on-air expertise is identical. “We would like there to be a thread of continuity to the previous, however we’re not residing previously, which is why we have now a model new morning present that we predict is the current and the long run,” he says. “We’re not a traditional different station. We’re not simply saying that we need to be a ’90s alt station. We nonetheless look ahead however we’re not, and this one of many variations from what the station went by way of 5 years in the past, making an attempt to distance ourselves from something that occurred earlier than.”
Up subsequent for KROQ is its annual “Virtually Acoustic Christmas” live performance occasion on Dec. 13, and sure, it leans heavy on older acts like Evanescence, Social Distortion, Third Eye Blind, Rise Towards, Papa Roach, Yellowcard and the All-American Rejects, however it does have a couple of newer faces: Moist Leg and the Paradox.
Weatherly admits that it’s loads tougher to guide these one-off occasions nowadays. “The most important labels, they’re not as invested in rock bands as they was,” he says. “They’re a bit extra occupied with chasing regardless of the present viral second is. So a number of the bands that we play are independents. There’s fewer A-level acts which you could guide. And one other factor that had made it tougher is the proliferation of festivals and the sum of money that they pay these bands. We’re not competing with Coachella.”
However on the identical time, he says it’s essential to notice that bands nonetheless “admire and perceive what radio airplay means. There’s nonetheless one thing about listening to your music on the radio that each band needs to expertise.”
And that’s very true when a neighborhood radio legend like Ryder is the one introducing these songs. KROQ’s scores surge after his return ought to show that on-air expertise nonetheless makes a distinction.
“That makes me extraordinarily glad, as a result of, KROQ is and has been one of many high 5 most essential radio stations on the earth,” he says. “To see them screw it up as badly as they did, if I may help I get again a number of the magic it used to have, I’m in. I spent my entire life on this radio station.” Possibly Kimmel and Carolla do have a brand new, extra redemptive ending for his or her KROQ docuseries.
