Jay Michaels Returns To Austin To Program Star 93.3

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/197387/jay-michaels-returns-to-austin-to-program-star-93-3/

Waterloo Media Hot AC “Star 93.3” KGSR Cedar Park/Austin TX has appointed Jay Michaels as Program Director.

The move marks a return to Austin as Michaels previously programmed the same station in the early 2000s when it flipped from Dance CHR “Mega 93.3” KXMG to Hip Hop “Hot 93.3” KDHT.

Congrats and its a second stint at 93.3 FM.

 

[MRD]

I never understood the shift from Soft A/C to Hot A/C. Between Mix and Majic, Hot A/C is covered in Austin, while Soft A/C is not. Makes me wonder if Star is going to shift to CHR and rebrand. Jay Michaels is a CHR programmer, not so much an A/C programmer. Would be interesting to see 93.3 once again go Mainstream CHR, which would rekindle the long-ago rivalry with KHFI. Could they even go so far as to resurrect the B93 branding?

 

[Kent]

Would be interesting to see 93.3 once again go Mainstream CHR, which would rekindle the long-ago rivalry with KHFI. Could they even go so far as to resurrect the B93 branding?

While that would be neat to see from my standpoint, B93 has long since lost its brand equity for an Austin CHR. Lisa Tonacci and company caught lightning in a bottle with an amazing flame-throwing CHR that held its own despite being somewhat signally challenged (though KHFI was pretty signally challenged most of that run, too), but it really didn't last long. The AAA format of KGSR lasted longer at 93.3 than B93 did. Its last day before becoming Mix 93 is closer to Neil Armstrong's moon landing than it is to today. Unless they take it classic hits (which I can't see Waterloo doing with Bob also in the cluster), they'd be re-building that brand from scratch.

 

[Ryan Williams]

Waterloo refreshed 93.3 this afternoon to 93.3 Austin "New Music Now". The branding is clearly inspired by Tiktok and in fact the station is playing music popular on the social app at the :10 spot every hour. I've been listen the past hour and a half and I like it. It feels like a fresh, modern take on a CHR that is willing to pull from outside genres. It feels at home in the market and Austin-y.

Not totally sold on the syndicated morning show sticking around and I am personally not a fan of the artist and title announcements at the end of each song, but this is a really exciting start.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/197978/93-3-austin-flips-to-chr-new-music-now/

For the second time this year Waterloo Media has flipped its 93.3 KGSR Cedar Park/Austin.

After shifting from Soft AC to Hot AC in February, new Program Director Jay Michaels has relaunched the station as “93.3 New Music Now“. The brand will be aggressive on currents from Pop, Rhythm, and Alternative and is promising to feature new music every hour on the :10s including lots of music breaking on TikTok.

Here is change at 93.3 FM.

 

[AnyHuman]

I like stations which add the artist/title at the end of songs. RDS doesn't always work on all radios does it?

 

[Ryan Williams]

I like stations which add the artist/title at the end of songs. RDS doesn't always work on all radios does it?

Agreed about RDS, but do you have a smartphone? Because Android and iOS both have song discovery built in to the Google Assistant and Siri. There are also separate apps like Shazam. The Pixel phones actually have a feature where you don't even do anything and it shows the song on the lock screen.

I've heard the announcements on a number of stations including this one and 95.9 The Fish in Orange County and it just adds so much automated-sounding clutter. It also sounds old, like it is from a pre-smartphone era, which is the opposite of what the new 93.3 is going for.

 

[AnyHuman]

I do have a smart phone. Just figured it was a nice feature of the station. I remember the tagging on a station with no website back in 2011, then I didn't know about Shazam but I'm glad I do now.

 

[BamaTX]

Agreed about RDS, but do you have a smartphone? Because Android and iOS both have song discovery built in to the Google Assistant and Siri.

If I have to use a smartphone to get song information, then why the hell am I listening to terrestrial radio to begin with? Terrestrial radio has very little room for mistakes now that OTT content is eating away their market share. Give your listener less reasons to use their iphone and make sure RDS works.

 

[jras20]

I never was big on streaming. I always used terrestrial radio for the most part.