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Alt 105.3 Flips to Adult Hits "105.3 Dave FM"

gamefreak said:
Look at KWOD 106.5 in Sacremento. That brand was damaged beyond repair by 2009, so Audacy flipped the format. By early next year, Audacy launched another Alternative station in Sacramento.
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I was happy when they picked up the format in 1991, but they never did a really great job with it. Unfortunately that was right before grunge took over the format and pushed out all the other types of music being played on most stations. By the time they flipped I had already given up on it. When they brought it back on what was KSSJ, I was hopeful but it was basically a KWOD soundalike minus any live DJs, it's been automated since the beginning and quite repetitive. It actually seems to be doing better in the ratings than KITS was lately however.

CTListener said:
Why would they play up a concept like "audacity," which is as much a negative to some folks as it is a positive to others? Oh, and "interesting and different" radio doesn't top the billing standings in any market I know of.
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Live 105's slogan, seen on billboards, was once "The station that dares to be different!" Intelligent listeners saw that as a GOOD thing- but nowadays nobody dares to do anything different.
 
Alan Smithee said:
I was happy when they picked up the format in 1991, but they never did a really great job with it. Unfortunately that was right before grunge took over the format and pushed out all the other types of music being played on most stations. By the time they flipped I had already given up on it. When they brought it back on what was KSSJ, I was hopeful but it was basically a KWOD soundalike minus any live DJs, it's been automated since the beginning and quite repetitive. It actually seems to be doing better in the ratings than KITS was lately however.
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I've actually read about the history of KWOD's format on Alex Cosper's web page, who was the PD at the station between 91 and 96. The station, by reading the playlist's and Alex's commentary, really was solid on both the playlist and ratings front between 1993 and 1995. The station squandered that, however, by the back half of the 90's when they started leaning harder with tighter song rotations to compete with 93 Rock. In other words, Grunge, Grunge and eventually Nu Metal.

Personally as far as Alt Rock stations from that era go, I still preferred Live 105 and WDRE Long Island. Both stations tended to hold on to the 80's variant of Modern Rock much longer than its rivals. Only by 1995, during the height of Alt Nation, did both stations become less European focused, and more on Grunge bands. Even by as late as 1998, when Infinity took over Live 105 and brought in the staff from KOME, the station was more eclectic than many other stations doing Alternative at that time.

However once the staff some KOME moved over, and Live 105 added Howard Stern, that was when the wheels started coming apart. The station, for a brief period of time in the mid-2000's, did well under Sean Demery, who was from the legendary 99x in Atlanta. That was when the station started backing off the harder Nu-Metal, and focusing on the format more broadly. Unfortunately, since about 2006, Live 105 and stations of its ilk started oversaturating the airwaves with burnt 90's grunge gold, and new uninspiring pop bands.
 
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Meanwhile, Audacy revives Live 105 on KITS HD-2:

https://news.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=n41749

So alternative returns to the bay area, albeit on an HD.
 
105.3's playlist looks more like rock-leaning Classic Hits to me than it does Variety Hits. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the music log came from 104.3 WOMC in Detroit.

I see a ton of 80's titles, 2 or 3 songs from the 90's each hour, and maybe 1 or 2 70's titles an hour. Very few ethnic artists; a ton of classic rock artists with also a decently sized cohort of 90's Modern AC artists. The station appears to be covering a lot of the same musical ground already covered by 103.7, and frankly, I think 103.7's on-air product is simply better.

Dave FM is not as appealing of a station for me personally as 93.1 Jack FM in Los Angeles. The chosen direction for 105.3 is a bit of a letdown. It's not bad per se, it just isn't as appealing as I had envisioned.

I'd love to know what occurred first - (a) 105.3 Dave FM's current sound or (b) 94.5's decision to go more 90's & 00's centric + more pop/rhythmic ?

If Dave FM's musical tendencies have been this way since sign on, then 94.5's decision to retool its playlist at the start of 2022 is now making more sense to me.
 
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MarkW said:
105.3's playlist looks more like rock-leaning Classic Hits to me than it does Variety Hits.
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Other posters have often talked about the need for a classic hits in the market, something like KBAY but on a better signal.

But the hostless presentation is Adult Hits. So sure, they're KOSF without hosts. That may be the needle they're threading.
 
KITS has had a rock lean from day one of the flip, much like most Adult Hits stations. Just checked the recently played on the website and there were indeed no songs from the 2000s. This has to be a recent change, as they were definitely playing 2000s and even 2010s music even as recently as a month ago.
 
jt99 said:
KITS has had a rock lean from day one of the flip, much like most Adult Hits stations. Just checked the recently played on the website and there were indeed no songs from the 2000s. This has to be a recent change, as they were definitely playing 2000s and even 2010s music even as recently as a month ago.
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OTOH, I've heard songs in the last week or 2 that I would not have expected: "U Got the Look" (Prince & Sheena), and "U Can't Touch This".
 
I thank jt99 for the info.

BigA - I *was* one of those posters! 🙂

I thought 103.7 did a decent job filling the Classic Hits void when it expanded its playlist. Their signal isn't the best in the South Bay, though, which is why KBAY's shift toward less rock / less 80s / more Rhythmic Pop caught me off guard.

I am very interested in seeing how the first few sets of post- Christmas results shake out.
 
This reminds me a bit of what’s going on in Philadelphia with the 80s heavy adult hits 95.7 BEN FM neck and neck with Audacy’s classic hits 98.1 WOGL which claims “nobody plays more 80s.”
 
My apologies for reigniting an old thread. I’ve been on the site for years, just was too afraid to post lol. is 105.3 doing any better now that it’s gone? I was surprised Audacy didn’t hold out and change 95.7 instead after the warriors season ends. I’ve long heard the ratings and revenue for 95.7 aren’t that great (and my source for that could be wrong)
 
KITS is #21 in April's 6+, behind even KEZR, a marginal signal coming up from the South Bay.
KGMZ is #24 in 6+. It's last four books show small wobbles, but all within a small standard deviation, so no good story to tell.
Both of these Audacy stations are disappointments.
Audacy has other disappointments in SFO too: KLLC is down significantly compared to how Alice started 2022; and the just reformulated KRBQ, which debuted with April numbers that are nearly 50% less than where 102.1 was in January.
 
david said:
KITS is #21 in April's 6+, behind even KEZR, a marginal signal coming up from the South Bay.
KGMZ is #24 in 6+. It's last four books show small wobbles, but all within a small standard deviation, so no good story to tell.
Both of these Audacy stations are disappointments.
Audacy has other disappointments in SFO too: KLLC is down significantly compared to how Alice started 2022; and the just reformulated KRBQ, which debuted with April numbers that are nearly 50% less than where 102.1 was in January.
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Looks like blowin up Alt 105.3 wasn't such a good idea
 
Blowing up Alt 105.3 was 100 percent the correct decision. It does appear the rollout of 105.3 Dave FM was botched, though.

If we want to talk ratings slides, then 107.7 The Bone belongs on the discussion. A couple years ago, this station was earning terrific numbers. Now, it is trailing (at least in beauty pageant 6+ numbers) 98.5 K-Fox in the SAN FRANCISCO book! That is rather stunning to me.

True, in the South Bay, K-Fox is the only FM station hyper targeting male listeners with a city grade signal. Still, I don't know if they've ever defeated The Bone in the San Francisco book.

Of course, years ago, 98.5 KOME used to pull 2.5 or even 3 shares in the San Francisco book on a fairly routine basis.
 
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