Austin radio stations get people meters

AUSTIN (KXAN) - KLBJ Radio is a pretty standard setting. Every afternoon, you'll hear Kirsten Winquist shell out classic rock across the Austin airwaves.

"We also play about one new song an hour just to keep it sounding a little bit fresh," said Winquist.

KLBJ's parent company, Emmis Austin , is showing more of a change with its other stations, like KGSR , which has a lot heavier local focus. In the last six months, listeners started to notice that sound shifted to other items, and now Emmis will have the chance to make sure that was the right move with a Personal People Meter or PPM.

"If you change the radio station and listen to five different radio stations,” explained Scott Gillmore, Emmis Austin Vice President, “it measures each one. And it gets an accurate reading of how long you listen to each one."

But you might be able to gauge that before the PPMs even hit Austin by logging onto the few anti-KGSR Facebook pages out there. While the official radio station profile is full of friends (there is also a new official KGSR Fan Page ), pages like " Say Goodbye to KGSR " and " I Want the Old KGSR Back " are creeping up in number.

One person commented, "Seriously Emmis Communication, KGSR is beyond vanilla now. It's absolutely atrocious."

Another said, "To be clear, the question is not whether they're good songs. The question is whether they belong on KGSR when they can be heard elsewhere ad nauseum."

"I know there are a handful of people upset with us,” said Gillmore. “To them, we basically say, we're still playing the artists you're looking for. We've added other artists, some you may like, some of you may not like. For the station to survive and do the great local things we do, change is inevitable."

On the week of one of the nation's biggest music festivals, SXSW, held right here in Austin, people standing in line for one of the many shows told Austin News they look to KGSR and Emmis for that local flair.

"(They) really play a lot more local stuff,” said Lisa Polito, “a lot more cutting-edge stuff, so it's a good variety."

But some worry this could be the start of losing something they love.

"Kinda dance with the one that brung you though,” said Lance Lemanski. “Don't lose your heart and soul to try to mix in and make everybody the same."

Winquist said the PPMs should help protect the content people appreciate.

"I'm not worried about any big, scary changes as far as what we do goes,” she added. “I think we put a solid product out there, and the PPM will reflect that."

The Personal People Meter is actually a little device users will carry with them for eight hours a day to measure every time they turn the radio station. Emmis Austin said the PPMs will come into this market this summer, but the first real reports of their use will not be available until October.