By DOUGLAS DER
With such a large base of LDS people living in Utah County, this would seem to be the ideal home for a radio station specializing in LDS music. But Orem's K-STAR radio, one of the few stations left along the Wasatch Front devoting substantial air time to LDS music, is finding that a high concentration of LDS people doesn't necessarily translate into high ratings.
Although it has had several owners over the years, K-STAR radio (KSRR-AM 1400) has broadcast along the Wasatch Front since 1947. It was the first station ever to play all-LDS music and the first to broadcast the word-for-word reading of all four standard works. These days the station's playlist includes show tunes, Hollywood themes and adult-contemporary music. K-STAR also airs BYU baseball games and men's and women's volleyball matches.
Bob Morey, Station Manager for K-STAR, has seen the station's format change over the years, and more format adjustments may be necessary to keep K-STAR on the air. Ratings mean advertising money, and K-STAR's ratings haven't been exceptionally high.
'We wouldn't stay on the air one day without ads, so why continue with the old (all-LDS) format? Money isn't the main focus, but we need to pay the bills,' Morey said.
'We have cut operating expenses by 60 percent from 10 years ago, and we still struggle to make ends meet. We just want the proverbial crumbs from the advertising pie,' he added.
Morey said the station uses about 70 percent of its broadcast time for LDS music, but that time only earns 10 percent of the station's revenue. K-STAR still follows an all-LDS format on Sundays -- the day that revenue is lowest.
Deseret Book, one of the largest producers and retailers of LDS music, stopped advertising on K-STAR last year. This indicated to Morey a lack of belief in the store's own products, Morey said. In response, K-STAR stopped playing Deseret Book's music in January.
Keith Hunter, Vice-president of marketing for Deseret Book, said Deseret Book spends 30-100% more money advertising its music than it does on its other products. However, with only so much to spend on advertising, they have to focus on reaching the most people possible.
'We appreciate K-STAR and what they're trying to do, but their listenership hasn't been as high as we would like. Within our budget, if we can buy two days on KSL or two weeks on K-STAR, the choice has to be based on what's best for our company,' he said.
Any notion that the LDS music industry as a whole is struggling is false, according to Hunter and Scott Simpson, Director of Advertising and Promotion for The Excel Entertainment Group. Simpson, who works with Excel's (formerly Lex de Azevedo's) Embryo music label, said that Excel's music sales have not gone down. Although there is no official industry monitor, his impression is that the LDS music industry is 'alive, but not as well as it should be.'
Simpson said that Embryo did not release as much new material in 1995 as it had in past years, but that sales were still strong. He pointed out that one of Embryo's new releases, a collection of children's songs sung by children and titled 'As I Have Loved You,' received the largest initial order in the company's history.
Concerning K-STAR's situation, Simpson said 'People usually don't go looking for music on the AM band. The Saints in this area can get the message through more traditional advertising means, reducing the need for specialized LDS advertising.'
Morey, Hunter and Simpson all agree that production quality, songwriting, and vocal talent in the LDS music community have improved tremendously over the past ten years. But regardless of this improvement or the industry leaders' sales figures, Morey believes companies that produce LDS music haven't used radio to the extent they should.
'LDS music had a chance to reach an all-new audience and didn't take advantage,' he said.
Morey indicated there is almost no chance that K-STAR will go off the air after five decades of operation.
'Radio stations don't die, they just chance formats,' he said.