97.1 Flipping To Country

[EJ204]

I forgot about 660 KTNN (The Navajo Nation), Window Rock Arizona, 50 kw day and night.  But they only went on the air in the 90s.

[Northwest Bobby]

Actually back around 1984 or so KTNN fired up.....

[ShowLow]

I think Arizona stations get short changed because they can't interfere with stations in Mexico

[Marv-L.A.]

The only two Phoenix stations which routinely reach the outskirts of Los Angeles, specifically Riverside, Corona & Lake Elsinore, are KFYI and KTAR, only on car radios.

Columbus OH is in the same boat as Phoenix & Tucson, it's exploded population-wise in the past 25+ years, and has been the largest city in the state for upwards of three decades, yet yet most of the stations which show up in the ratings are rimshots.

Apparently the signal for KNST covers Tucson and little else, but as was previously stated ratings for talk stations plunge at night, so if that 500 watts covers the city sufficiently, then so be it.

[caveman-97]

Wild Country doesn't seem to play any down tempo songs.

KNST-790 transmits from the west side of Tucson and they beam their signal east.   On the east side of Tucson they have the strongest AM signal of any local AM station.    Poor coverage is not an issue though there are reports that some people won't listen to AM under any circumstances.

If you are one of the few people who have an HD Radio,  there's an interesting oldies jukebox on the side channel of 97.1.    The only announcement is the top of the hour ID.

[Smiths and Smittys]

Just heard the KNST-AM I.D. that included KRQQ HD2 Tucson.
 

[soazdude2]

Was in range of KAVV, aka The Cave, for a brief while today.  Always nice to be able to tune in.  When you run a station because it's your vision and passion as opposed to trying to split the market and bust the big guy down a couple points to help your other stations, people might notice the difference. 

 

[bobjlv]

EJ204. Appreciate the input, but Tucson is not spelled Tuscon.

Anything on 97.1 will not succeed. Very few Class A FMs have been successful in the Tucson market. I agree with others too that as long as KIIM remains the same, it will maintain the #1 spot. Cumulus as you've heard has already made it known that it plans to re-brand all of their country outlets to "Nash" FM. I do wonder how much that will hurt KIIM-FM when it happens...not "if" it happens. After Cumulus took over the Citadel stations, they became micro-managers, handling just about everything out of Atlanta. If country stations already failed on 100kw sticks, I can't imagine this Green Valley Class A FM succeeding at all.
Wild Country says they are bringing in the morning guy via satellite from Nashville. I wonder if they will hire any local talent at all. Clear Channel has managed to break about everything they touch. KRQ and KNST are the exception. They should have never touched Cool 92.9. I was living in Las Vegas at the time, but I know they had moved it to this 97.1 frequency, also dooming it to AM. Odd that KOOL 94.5 is usually one of the top 5 stations in Phoenix, you'd think they would have left what was Cool 92.9 (KWFM) alone. Since Cumulus doesn't subscribe to the ratings anymore, I do wonder how KHYT is doing. They sound basically like an oldies station, though they ruin it popping in the sportscast.
Format changes at most Tucson stations are just a fact of life and always will be. Times change, audiences change. Whoever dreamed KTKT would end up as some Spanish station? Whoever dreamed K-CUB would switch to talk? Voice-tracking and the bottom line are all the big companies care about...period. When "Wild Country" fails, I'm sure they'll find something else. Usually the dollars don't matter because most radio sales are now done for the clusters.

[radiowizard101]

Unless something has changed, 92.9 is owned by Clear Channel. I think 97.1 is also CC and has had way too many format changes to be relevant in the Tucson market. This Country thing is just a preventative move to annoy Cumulost. If Cumulost re-brands KIIM to NASH, they may see an erosion of numbers But, they have been known to gut ratings winners. Look at what they did to KGO.

This is another reason why consolidation has been bad for the radio business.

[Old Yeller]

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