Market profile: Portland, Ore.

Leave it to Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen to find new ways to broaden the media profile of his home base of Portland, Ore. Allen, who has earned headlines this year for his aggressive buying up of Internet assets and cable TV systems around the country, is also responsbile for bringing hip-hop music to Portland's radio dial for the first time. In the same market where one Hot Adult Contemporary station proudly promotes its "We Won't Rap" handle, Allen's KXJM-FM is winning over a surprising number of listeners with its recently introduced Urban-themed hip-hop format.

"Everything everybody's avoided doing in Portland, they came on and did," buyer Diane Barasch of Media Services says of KXJM's move into hip-hop. Buyers note that the lack of an urban outlet in such a large city (Portland, population 509,000, is the country's 24th-largest radio market) was unusual.

Allen's Rose City Radio last January bought KXJM (formerly KXL-FM) and its sister talk station, KXL-AM, from Seattlebased radio operator Les Smith. Tim McNamara, KXJM general manager, notes that the station's decision to introduce hip-hop and rap music to the market was based in part on focus-group interviews that showed strong demand among young listeners for an Urban format. KXJM has supported its new musical signature with a group of high-energy DJs and a roving fleet of Hummers that make promotional tours of the market.

Portland's radio landscape has changed dramatically from the switch. KXJM has taken the market by storm since introducing hip-hop last March, shooting up to the No. 1 position among all listeners 12-plus, as well as in the teen and 18-34 demo groups, according to Arbitron.

"There was a thirst for this music beyond our wildest dreams," McNamara says. Several competitors are feeling a pinch from KXJM's success. Arbitrends data shows that the market's former No. 1 among listeners 12-plus, Top Hits station KKRZFM, is in decline. The Jacor/Clear Channel-owned outlet plunged from a 12 average quarter-hour share in March to a 6 in May, Arbitron reported.

Other stations that could be affected by the hip-hopping of KXJM include two Entercom Broadcasting outlets, buyers say. Alternative Rocker KNRK-FM may lose some male listeners, and Hot Adult Contemporary KRSK-FM-the station that "won't rap"could see some female listeners depart.

"The young...