It sure can. Take a look at the top 10 Christmas songs of all time (from Radio Ink - https://radioink.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/top-20.gif}
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That Sound is Jingle Bells
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
It sure can. Take a look at the top 10 Christmas songs of all time (from Radio Ink - https://radioink.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/top-20.gif}
KVGQ will likely not go all Christmas this year with their new format, which I'm really liking. For many years now, my favorite Christmas station has been WTRV in Grand Rapids, but I also like KODZ in Eugene, KPLZ in Seattle, and the iHeart playlist. I'd like that format better if it weren't so tight though, and it's what I have to put up with now.
What would they flip to? Seattle is fairly well-served with all four or five dominant formats. CHR, Rhythmic, AC, Rock, Country. What else is there?
I don't understand speculation and insistence about 94.1 changing formats. Do people really not like it? Personally, it's been a refreshing addition to the Seattle radio dial.
On the topic of Christmas playlists...give me the Drifters over Bing for White Christmas and there's never enough Carpenters being played.
Each format you mention has multiple subsets.
CHR and Rhythmic CHR.
Urban and Urban AC
CHUrban
Modern or Contemporary country and 80-90's country gold
Hot AC, Ac, Soft AC, and even rhythmic AC like KTWV in LA
Classic hits and even Oldies
Rock has many divisions, from Active Rock, Alternative, Album rock and derivatives like Jack, which is sort of an AC Rock.
News and talk have various variants
Sports is a major biller.
Spanish language formats including adult hits, Regional Mexican, Reggaetón (Spanish Churban), tropical, AC and several others are viable.
Christian music has several viable varieties, and teaching & Preaching have many variants.
In many communities, there are formats in Farsi, both major Chinese dialects, Hindi, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and others with profitable service groups.
There are mostly non-comm alternatives like jazz and classical.
And there are derivatives and mixes.
The Sound will stay The Sound because it has been proven to work. They may have fallen a bit in the ratings, but a lot of that is coronavirus-related. Relaxing favorites 'at work' yet a lot of Seattle is working from home now. At the office buildings in Bellevue, Bothell and Renton, 94.1 was likely on in quite a few of them. Delilah has helped.
Love the Drifters 'White Christmas' song BTW. Another favorite that never ever gets airplay is David Foster and Friends (Natalie Cole, BeBe Winans, Celine Dion, etc.) It was played for his 1993 NBC special and the guest stars add flavor to each line. I've heard it on QM/FM in Vancouver.
Love the Drifters 'White Christmas' song BTW. Another favorite that never ever gets airplay is David Foster and Friends (Natalie Cole, BeBe Winans, Celine Dion, etc.) It was played for his 1993 NBC special and the guest stars add flavor to each line. I've heard it on QM/FM in Vancouver.
I would be surprised to see any changes at 94.1. It is a solid format that is very much serving a purpose in Seattle. It would be foolish to allow 106.9 to take the entire AC pie in Seattle. I would be more curious about the future at KHTP or KUBE. These numbers don't tell us much, but these stations consistently sit toward the back of the pack. Is there enough room for only one to be successful? Between these two, KUBE is clearly the one that flounders.
I much prefer 94.1 as a preset over 106.9. A completely different playlist than Warm, leaning a little older. Has KRWM played 'On Broadway' by George Benson any time in the last two years or so? Let alone the last twenty? (It used to spin often on KWJZ.) How about 'Danny's Song' by Loggins & Messina? I've even heard '60s songs on The Sound. A wonder that they even spin on that station. Not to say they don't have newer hits, as they do (Pharrell, Kelly Clarkson, etc.)
KUBE on the other hand should be a goner. But to what format? KNDD has fallen in the past few books, and I doubt other than Woody Show clearance, iHeart would flip it to Alt. Already two Country stations, so no need for another one. I doubt iHeart would do another AAA station either (ala the old 103.7 the Mountain before it morphed into a classic rock mess). Then there's Rhythmic Oldies, which may or may not work. Too close to Hot 103.7, albeit a successful format would consist of '70s-'90s R&B, a little classic hip-hop and very few '00s. Hot is a mess on the other hand and their ratings show.
KUBE on the other hand should be a goner. But to what format? KNDD has fallen in the past few books, and I doubt other than Woody Show clearance, iHeart would flip it to Alt. Already two Country stations, so no need for another one. I doubt iHeart would do another AAA station either (ala the old 103.7 the Mountain before it morphed into a classic rock mess). Then there's Rhythmic Oldies, which may or may not work. Too close to Hot 103.7, albeit a successful format would consist of '70s-'90s R&B, a little classic hip-hop and very few '00s. Hot is a mess on the other hand and their ratings show.
I'm with you when it comes to AC formats in Seattle. Hot on the other hand serves a purpose. That being said, would they take it in a more current-based direction similar to KXJM down here if KUBE flipped? I'd say bring back Power 93.3, 106.1 goes Hot AC again. That seemed to have worked for them, Power just terribly underperformed.
Realistically though, how many of those formats does Seattle need right now? If there are several you can think of, how many of them is Entercom likely to do? Classic Country or something targeting Hispanics are about the only formats I could see Entercom doing on 94.1. Christian anything isn't in Entercom's portfolio, and even if it was, the only operator that seems to be able to make it work while still doing secular formats is Stevens. The ethnic formats you mention are on either AM stations that would probably be dark otherwise, or translators fed by HD subchannels. Most, if not all, are leased to or owned by companies specializing in those formats.
I think at this point, iHeart would be extremely wise to leave everything at 106.1 alone. More format jostling will probably only confuse listeners, and there really is no point in shifting their CHR programming to 93.3 when 106.1 has already reinvented itself pretty well over the past few months. Is there room for improvement? Probably, but listeners associate 106.1 with CHR programming and Jubal, so the last thing they want to do is send everyone back over to 93.3 again. The switch to Power 93.3 really only made more sense when they planned to keep Bender on 106.1 with new hosts coming to fill the CHR role. With all of that being said, I do think they will eventually need to look at another option for KUBE. What would that format be? That is a good question, especially when you consider that pretty much everything is covered in Seattle. It would probably be another format that is slightly different than something we already have in Seattle in an attempt to win more listeners.
Very true. I wonder if they'd try Hot AC on 93.3? I just can't see why they gave up on that format when it seemed to hold its own against Star.
While what you say is true, Seattle's FM band is still well served with stations filling most of those subsets -- at least the ones that apparently make money, and that leaves the question: what would 94.1 flip to that would gain them more audience than they have now?
Everyone was calling for iHeart to blow up Kiss a year or two ago, and somehow they managed to revive it. Same with KNUC, and somehow Hubbard found a way to revive it. Usually it's not just the format or the music, but rather the presentation that makes the difference.
I agree, the overall presentation of any radio station can make a significant difference. CHR programming on 106.1 makes complete sense from a business perspective. If they weren't doing it, somebody else would be. KQMV has enjoyed massive success over the past few years, and it made sense for iHeart to invest in 106.1 to make it a real competitor. The same is true for Hubbard with KNUC. They invested in it, and made it into a contender. With that being said, I have to question the profitability of urban contemporary radio in Seattle. The format worked on KUBE for quite some time, but it didn't seem to be performing any better in 2016 when they first decided to flip to "Power." If Hot 103.7 didn't exist over at Entercom, I would say that iHeart could easily make KUBE into one of their stronger assets, but as of right now, KUBE smells of abject mediocrity. It seems like iHeart would be wise to either invest a bit more in KUBE and see what happens, or consider what other options they may have. They can also do nothing at all and accept that all of their other stations in Seattle are performing well and accept lackluster results on KUBE. If they're somehow meeting their quarterly revenue goals with KUBE, then they may just leave it be until further notice.
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