• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

BCS: KAGC 1510 / K247CS 97.3 to Debut New Format Today

R

Ryan Williams

Bryan Broadcasting's KAGC "Gospel 97.3" has had a Southern Gospel format for the past few years with a long period of Christmas music each holiday season when it transitions to "Christmas 97.3"

I heard yesterday a ticking clock loop on the station and noticed their Facebook page was missing. Checked in this morning and there is a periodic message with a women giving a message of "a new radio station debuts at noon on 97.3 fm" along with a legal id. I will update this post once the change occurs.
 
Listened to the launch live, and boy, am I impressed. The launch featured a sign-on from each director at Bryan Broadcasting at 11:50 AM, followed by Judy Collins' rendition of Amazing Grace, then the Aggie Fight Song. At 11:57, the clock ticking continued, with an increasingly intense countdown to the launch at Noon.

I could not believe what I was hearing. This station will absolutely be a regular for me. I do wonder if they will maintain the Christmas 97.3 flip later this year; perhaps it is too early to tell. This has definitely made my day!
 
Ryan Williams said:
radioinsight.com

Magic 97.3 Brings R&B To College Station

Bryan Broadcasting has flipped Southern Gospel "Gospel 97.3" 1510 KAGC/K247CS Bryan TX to Adult R&B "Magic 97.3". Positioning as "Aggieland's
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
Click to expand...
So, wow, first off. Didn't realize Urban AC was in the Ben Downs wheelhouse.

Secondly, I believe this is the first time that Aggieland has had this programming available since way back when 103.1 KVJM was still KHRN, actually broadcast live from Hearne, and still operating on 94.3.

A welcome addition to B/CS. Whether or not it can thrive on a pretty bad high-end AM and a so-so FM translator is another story altogether. Perhaps this is a soft launch of the format to see if it can stand in it's own in the market, where if it's gaining traction and generating significant ad dollars it can be relocated to one of Downs' more powerful facilities. I think he has a really good chance, because 94.3 was absolutely setting the Aggie world on fire, some 20 years ago, even though the Urban programming was initially limited to just evening and overnight hours.
 
It's worth noting that Houston's KMJQ ("Majic") has shown up in two of the last four B/CS surveys, despite the fact it doesn't put much of a signal north of Navasota.
 
I'm not surprised they are trying Urban AC, as that helps round out their demographic reach and it was currently underserved locally. I am a little surprised they chose "Magic" as the brand though. I know they have tried previously to pick district brand identities for their stations: Candy, Rock Candy, Maverick, Willy, Praise, La Jefa, etc. Names that are either unique or at least very rare.

"Magic" is probably the closest thing to a generic Urban AC brand that there is. Both with KMJQ in Houston and KMZJ in Dallas (Majic). Also KWBT in Waco is presently Magic as well. KKMJ in Austin is a non-urban-ac "Majic".
 
rosecitymedia said:
So, wow, first off. Didn't realize Urban AC was in the Ben Downs wheelhouse.

Secondly, I believe this is the first time that Aggieland has had this programming available since way back when 103.1 KVJM was still KHRN, actually broadcast live from Hearne, and still operating on 94.3.
Click to expand...

KHRN "K94" was a bit of an oddball with regional Mexican/Spanish-language programming in AM drive and then flipping over to R&B at 10AM. But, there were only 4 commercial FMs at the time --92.1 (now KNDE 95.1), KHRN, KORA 98.3, and KKYS 104.9 (now 104.7)...a different world then.
 
Randomly decided to see if we got any comments over here, and what a nice surprise. Thank you all for the kind words. I'm Rob Mack, the Programming Ops Manager for Bryan Broadcasting - aka the architect of Magic 97.3

Responding to some of the comments and questions.
Fun fact about the launch: I'm told we have launched every Bryan Broadcasting format/transmitter in very similar ways...the directors' names involved with the station, followed by a rendition of Amazing Grace, and the Aggie War Hymn. It's tradition at this point. This is my first new launch that I was a part of here.

As far as when this format was last done in the area, I believe KVJM briefly experimented (a year or two?) on 103.1 before coming under CC ownership. And yes, the aforementioned and very successful from KHRN.

Regarding the 97.3 translator, it's actually one of our best translator signals because it is less susceptible to interference. Anyone familiar with Aggieland radio knows how the 94.5 translator can struggle. 97.3 is one of the more "open" signals and has fewer tropo issues. Add in the fact that B/CS is fairly compact...

For the name "Magic"...fair point about our unique brand names, and a point that was considered. But with call letters of KAGC, how do you not call it "Magic"? It's already right there in the call letters. There are about 15 Magic stations west of the Mississippi that would probably love to have the KAGC calls.

One more note on KAGC: Gloria Cooks has been playing Gospel music on her "Paradise Gospel Express" program since 1989 for 2 hours each Sunday. She also worked at KHRN back in the day. Her program will be continuing...tying it all together.

Thank you all for the feedback. I've now launched 3 radio stations. I'm really proud of this one. Back to lurking.
 
They locked the wheelhouse door. I was left on the other side.

That said, we've put all our stations, including Nacogdoches, on the air the same way since April 2000. Maybe even before. We chose Amazing Grace and the Aggie War Hymn as a nod to the two dominant forces in BCS.

Re: Branding. I'm glad you noticed our tendency. My belief is we were branding our sports station "The Zone" before Austin did, but only Mr. Huff can confirm that. That was April 2000 as well.

Magic being nearly 450 feet HAAT and on a pretty clear frequency using real processing has helped the OTA signal. We were thinking we wanted a soft launch to work all the bugs out, but via our social accounts and that of some friends, it's been quite active. Had our first request for advertising rates today; I guess we need to make some.
 
MrDowns said:
They locked the wheelhouse door. I was left on the other side.

That said, we've put all our stations, including Nacogdoches, on the air the same way since April 2000. Maybe even before. We chose Amazing Grace and the Aggie War Hymn as a nod to the two dominant forces in BCS.

Re: Branding. I'm glad you noticed our tendency. My belief is we were branding our sports station "The Zone" before Austin did, but only Mr. Huff can confirm that. That was April 2000 as well.
Click to expand...

KVET flipped from news/talk to sports "Sports Radio 1300 the Zone" on October 2 1998.

The archives of the Austin American-Statesman had a story the next day on the flip, but didn't mention the new handle. The Austin Chronicle archives showed it was using "the Zone" brand with the flip: Naked City.
 
@robmackradio I was in College Station for a few days and had a chance to hear 102.7 ''LA JEFA'' just curious why you guys decided to carry univisions programming. I heard el freeway show (not a fan) but wondered why of all the better options or local talents for a market that size. Does this station have a local PD? signal was great but it just made my mind go to other options or better options that station could have on air and in programming.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom