Two weeks ago, on Friday, May 17, Univision relaunched 107.9 KESS Dallas as “Hot 107.9“. As we mentioned in the report when the change took place, the station’s Facebook banner included the URL HotInDallas.com. At the time of the flip, the domain name was still available for registration but was quickly scooped up by a reader of our site unaffiliated with the station.
Despite the fact that MyHot1079.com was registered by a Univision employee prior to the flip, and thirty additional domains were later registered by Univision corporate NOT a single one currently points to the website of the station which remains at RadioH2ODallas.Univision.com.
Nowhere on the Facebook page, which was properly renamed as opposed to having a new one created is there another link to the main website or even an explanation to the audience about the rebranding and what differences there are between the old “Radio H2O” and the new “Hot 107.9“. The only reference we could find was someone asking in the posting of the new cover image if there was a change in music with a response of “Listen Now”.
If I were a potential listener to the station who was told by a friend to check it out I have to go out of my way to dig up information regarding it. The station’s site and social media accounts need to be the first and only places potential listeners go to find out about a station they just discovered. If you don’t have a website ready at launch you’re doing a great disservice to any potential listeners you have. It doesn’t have to be full-featured right away, but having a page at launch that explains what the station is, how to contact, stream, and social media links is a vital part of any station startup in 2013.
It’s not just KESS at fault. The new “B99.3” WSNN Potsdam, NY has no internet presence whatsoever a week after launch. KGNM St. Joseph, MO has its Facebook page promoting a format that moved to a new station months ago and a website whose domain expired and was claimed by squatters. The internet makes market size irrelevant. It requires the same minimal work for a station in market #1 or market #282 to create a presence.
And we’re not even going to get into person who departed a major market cluster about a year ago and still has access to their social media accounts. Or at least not yet.
