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Dance station in western NM

I don't know if this is some kind of stunt or what but right now KSFE 96.7 licensed to Grants, NM about 80 miles west of Albuquerque is doing a dance format as "Pirate Radio 96.7". Check it out here: KSFE
 
Well thanks for the link, yo.
The music sounds great. Surely beats the Mexican format they had before. I really wish it's not a stunt but something permanent(ish) but I doubt it.
 
I just heard this station today driving across New Mexico on the way from Las Vegas to Dallas. I was pleasantly surprised to hear dance music on the radio in the middle of nowhere. I feel like it’s a stunt until the station is sold or leased.
 
They just updated their website here: https://www.pirate967.com/

Unfortunately, their over-the-air signal has been down some since April, so it has been hard to get in much of Albuquerque. Usually, areas east of I-25 can pick up a signal off of Mt. Taylor the best since they are at higher elevations and all the ads are from Albuquerque businesses. It's quite impressive that they can sell this format!
 
Yeah it's a shame since we need more FMs playing EDM over the air but oh well as long as they're online... I've heard absolute bangers there I even left it tuned during the day so I can listen to it as soon as I enter my home after work. And it's rare for me to listen anything else than KIIS and Air1 for music.
 
They just updated their website here: https://www.pirate967.com/

Unfortunately, their over-the-air signal has been down some since April, so it has been hard to get in much of Albuquerque. Usually, areas east of I-25 can pick up a signal off of Mt. Taylor the best since they are at higher elevations and all the ads are from Albuquerque businesses. It's quite impressive that they can sell this format!
I went through New Mexico in late May and it wasn’t silent then
 
New Mexico...hmmm. Sort of reminds me when Blu 102.9 popped up in Santa Fe back in late 2002 playing Chill while throwing in some occasional dance. I think the first song I heard on that station was "Deepest Blue" by Deepest Blue.

 
New Mexico...hmmm. Sort of reminds me when Blu 102.9 popped up in Santa Fe back in late 2002 playing Chill while throwing in some occasional dance.
I still miss Blu 102.9 all these years later…did a lot of listening to them via their webstream in the 2003-07 timeframe. Ratings apparently were a dud and the radio pros on these boards hated it, but for some of us it was a very refreshing change from the usual same old, same old. After its demise I found the “Chillout Lounge” channel on the 1.fm streaming service which was very similar. There are still a number of Chill options on the internet if you do some digging.
 
I still miss Blu 102.9 all these years later…did a lot of listening to them via their webstream in the 2003-07 timeframe. Ratings apparently were a dud and the radio pros on these boards hated it, but for some of us it was a very refreshing change from the usual same old, same old. After its demise I found the “Chillout Lounge” channel on the 1.FM streaming service which was very similar. There are still a number of Chill options on the internet if you do some digging.
Those were some good years. EnergyAZ started just a few months earlier than Blu did and I used to stream both of them quite frequently. Good times!
 
Is the dance format also feeding to K240EC 95.9 in Santa Fe as they did with Spanish and Smooth Jazz before?
 
Hours of the great Blue vibe can be heard here:


Lots of good stuff from an incredibly unique time in radio. Sam Ferrara and the rest did a great job with it, and later Indie SF 101.5.
Thanks for posting that link! I also found some old recordings from EnergyAZ I had not heard before:

KNRJ "Energy 92.7 & 101.1The Beat of Arizona" April 2008 : Timothy Land : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

https://archive.org/search.php?query=knrj
 
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Is the dance format also feeding to K240EC 95.9 in Santa Fe as they did with Spanish and Smooth Jazz before?
I think they switched the feed to KDLW in January, so it still airs the Spanish format.

I did hear some of the format on 96.7 OTA this morning so it may be just about back to full operations. I never got this signal too well in my part of town. One mix played earlier kept mentioning "sub sequence". Sub Sequence is a weekend mix show aired on public station KUNM in the middle of the night at 1-3am Sundays, although KUNM also archives their programming for two weeks on the website. It's actually a really great show. I guess someone(s) from that show must also be working for KSFE.
 
Blu 102.9 was also a great station from 2003-2007 when Blu Ventures operated it. After Hutton took over, the format from late 2007-2010 is hard to describe and then the third phase of Fall 2010-2013 as "The Beat of Santa Fe" was also interesting as some kind of Rhythmic alternative. But Santa Fe has had an aging population that probably did not get the demos they thought they would get or that would support such an adventurous format with the supposed arts scene. Wouldn't "chill" now be called "lo-fi hip hop" today?
 
Blu 102.9 was also a great station from 2003-2007 when Blu Ventures operated it. After Hutton took over, the format from late 2007-2010 is hard to describe and then the third phase of Fall 2010-2013 as "The Beat of Santa Fe" was also interesting as some kind of Rhythmic alternative.
When Hutton took over the KLBU webstream was dropped, but changes started happening just prior to that. You are right about "hard to describe"; on a 2008 visit to Santa Fe I was able to listen to KLBU directly and found it playing sorta-kinda-but-not-really Dance, Rhythmic, and Jazz. Perhaps targeting the same demographic as the previous Chill format, but definitely changed (I guess you could say I couldn't warm up to the station once the Chill was gone.😄) On visits in 2010 and 2012 it was definitely a Rhythmic outlet, but not with music you would typically find elsewhere.

I do recall that Hutton did try to retain the previous Chill format as a online only format accessible on the KLBU website, but it was a half-baked effort. The stream frequently froze or crashed, and often would repeat the same song clip over and over...it was a mess.
 
Well, it just showed up in the Albuquerque ratings Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News (the format is inaccurately listed as jazz from when it simulcast KOAZ a few years back)
While a 0.1 tied with an AM Spanish sports station is usually nothing to brag about, in this case it's at least a sign that the format is drawing attention to the distant signal. I recall one of the iHeart stations had "Dance Nation" on an HD2 (with no translator) that made a brief appearance in local ratings a couple years back.
 
If they could keep a 0.1 avg for a full quarter, that would be really impressive. They're probably exceeding expectations in a few west-side metro zipcodes.
 
If they could keep a 0.1 avg for a full quarter, that would be really impressive. They're probably exceeding expectations in a few west-side metro zipcodes.
When it comes to 6+ ratings, a subscribing station is typically given a .1 to keep the lights on. Doesn't mean anything really.
 
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