Clear Channel Goes Indie?

When you hear the words “Clear Channel,” you probably don’t think “Indie.” But on Christmas night, Clear Channel’s Los Angeles affiliate KDL switched from a failing dance format to Indie 103-1: “Your Independent Radio Station.”

Take a look at these two hourly playlists, to get a grasp of the new format. It’s not college radio by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a more eclectic mix of music (e.g. Postal Service, Polyphonic Spree, Jeff Buckley, X) than any other commercial radio station in Southern California. And, even more shocking, the station will be running without on-air “personalities” or commercial interruptions for the next few weeks.

The switch seems distinctly out-of-character for “radio’s big bully”, known for its secretive payola schemes. Why the sudden interest in providing an outlet for new music?

In Los Angeles, the “alternative” market has long been dominated by Infinity Broadcasting’s KROQ. In the last few years, it’s evolved into a corporate rock nightmare without any competition. Without an adequate alternative to the non-stop stream of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park clones, many listeners simply turned off their radios.

One of the new taglines for Indie 103-1 is “bringing the alternative back to Los Angeles,” a direct jab at the new KROQ. By providing a more diverse station, Clear Channel will likely be able to profit off new bands that aren’t getting exposure from KROQ, while attracting KROQ’s alienated audience.

If you’re interested, I highly recommend reading Los Angeles Radio-Info, a message board for local radio insiders. They’re following the story closely, with tons of great commentary and speculation. It’s an interesting glimpse into the feud between radio’s two biggest conglomerates. If successful, Clear Channel’s “Indie” experiment may have surprising consequences across the nation’s radio landscape.

December 31, 2003: The Entercom-owned Seattle station “The End” switched to a similar format this week. It’ll be interesting to see how the ratings for both stations develop in the next few months.

An anonymous reader wrote in with some excellent insight into the situation, mentioning that Clear Channel is leasing the frequency from Spanish-radio giant Entravision in order to work around the FCC’s current regulations. I’ve posted the entire e-mail below.

January 1, 2004: You can view KDLD’s real-time playlists on Yes.net

January 4, 2004: Someone on the radio-info list found this mockup homepage of the Indie 103.1 website, which indicates they’re planning to stream the station. (Thanks, Boogah.)

January 7, 2004: Their site is live. A streaming radio feed was supposed to be added yesterday, but never went live.

March 30, 2004: I’m not affiliated with Indie 103.1, and I don’t know anyone that is! You can stop e-mailing me with song requests now, thanks.

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