Air-1

[bucwhyl]

It has been reported that 101.7 is now off the air in preparation for the Air-1 format.

 

[JaredC17]

They are indeed off the air at the moment.

 

[cspotrun]

excuse my ignorance, but WHAT is the Air-1 format and what station is this?

 

[davideduardo]

excuse my ignorance, but WHAT is the Air-1 format and what station is this?

Air-1 and K-love are the two Christian formats of EMF. Air-1 is CHR, K-love is AC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_Media_Foundation gives an overview.

This is Liberman's KTCY, recently sold to EMF who is changing it to a non-commercial station.

 

[xmusicmatt]

Sale has finally went thru with the FCC which means it's in EMF's hands now.. Once the MSW goes thru I am sure the station will sign on with Air1.. I am guessing that's the wait at this point.

 

[Huff]

Air-1 launched on KTCY at 4 this afternoon.

 

[EJ204]

EMF obviously knows that KLTY is one of the forerunners of the Christian AC format. It's been doing the format with high ratings for decades.

But KLTY has local DJs and runs like a real Dallas radio station. Air 1, along with K-Love, Way-FM, Smile-FM, etc. are all nationally syndicated formats with no local programming, except maybe for some local PSAs.

Also KTCY is not a full Dallas-Fort Worth signal. KLTY is.

But I guess they see Dallas, a city already receptive to Christian music programming, as another market to go into. I personally don't understand the Christian music format. I don't know why someone, even a Christian, would want to listen to a radio format where all the music deals witn only one subject all the time, and where secular hits are almost never heard.

 

[salemjedi54]

EMF obviously knows that KLTY is one of the forerunners of the Christian AC format. It's been doing the format with high ratings for decades.

But KLTY has local DJs and runs like a real Dallas radio station. Air 1, along with K-Love, Way-FM, Smile-FM, etc. are all nationally syndicated formats with no local programming, except maybe for some local PSAs.

Also KTCY is not a full Dallas-Fort Worth signal. KLTY is.

But I guess they see Dallas, a city already receptive to Christian music programming, as another market to go into. I personally don't understand the Christian music format. I don't know why someone, even a Christian, would want to listen to a radio format where all the music deals witn only one subject all the time, and where secular hits are almost never heard.

Because that is what they want to listen to. If you don't want to hear bumpty bump, who shot the funk on the other radio stations or you don't like talk/sports radio then there is something for you to listen to without having to pay for it by getting SiriusXM.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

EMF obviously knows that KLTY is one of the forerunners of the Christian AC format. It's been doing the format with high ratings for decades.

But KLTY has local DJs and runs like a real Dallas radio station. Air 1, along with K-Love, Way-FM, Smile-FM, etc. are all nationally syndicated formats with no local programming, except maybe for some local PSAs.

Also KTCY is not a full Dallas-Fort Worth signal. KLTY is.

But I guess they see Dallas, a city already receptive to Christian music programming, as another market to go into. I personally don't understand the Christian music format. I don't know why someone, even a Christian, would want to listen to a radio format where all the music deals witn only one subject all the time, and where secular hits are almost never heard.

One good thing about this is that it proves that a station, once moved to foreign language programming, is not forever trapped in that black hole. It can flip back to something English speaking audience can understand.

KLTY got trapped into the praise and worship CCM trap that 99% of the CCM stations in the country got caught in. It was a comfortable, safe, easy format that was supposed to be non-offensive to those fire and brimstone, anti-CCM, King James only idiot preachers. The stations didn't get calls from those radicals, non-profits had steady income from checks, ratings were high with soccer moms. The problem is - "safe for the family" had a hole in it, starting at about 12 years old. Those kids found the music boring. They grew up, and grew up not listening to Christian radio. Now, they are a coveted demographic because they are earning big bucks. And listening to secular radio instead of Christian radio. I have been saying this for almost 20 years - if you don't tell the church of tomorrow you care today, you won't have a church tomorrow. Now, the bland, boring praise and worship debacle is coming back to haunt Christian radio - big time. It may have been safe, but it was also - and is still - boring and uncreative.

I am speaking from Houston - where KSBJ also got caught up in the same trap. Houston was a market ready for better Christian format, more up tempo, more like secular top-40. EMF saw the format hole, and moved in to exploit it. I hear that they consider the move-in to be a success. Word of mouth is spreading like wildfire, I expect Air-1 may be showing up in the ratings soon. Dallas is a different market, you have KVRK which is doing a tremendous job of filling the need for a Christian rock station. But - that audience is small because it is hard core male 18-34 - the same ones who would like secular rock. Not the station for run of the mill teens and a lot of early 20's. So there is a format hole in the Christian audience in Dallas, one EMF is exploiting. I expect it will not draw that many listeners away from KLTY or KVRK, but will attract Christian listeners who are currently dissatisfied with both existing stations. Incidentally, Houston also has a Christian rock solution, but only on KSBJ HD-2 and a few translators. Much of the Houston area cannot receive it over the air, which leaves Houston's Christian rock audience underserved unless they stream or DX from translators on the other side of town.

The Christian audience is a difficult one - far from accepting a "single message in every song", it is fragmented into doctrinal and denominational groups. If you program music on it, you have to walk a fine line on the lyrical content, and the audience will turn on an artist with a lifestyle inconsistent with Christianity much more severely than a secular audience turns against artists who mess up. It is really easy to extend that lyrical constraint into musical tempo, which was the praise and worship trap that devastated CCM radio for almost two decades. But it doesn't have to be that way - conventional Christian messages, or at least messages on secular subjects that still reflect Christian values are present in every musical style - and those artists are finally being heard. CCM formats long suppressed, like Christian rock, Christian rap, and Christian hip-hop are finally being heard via streaming, which breaks the monopoly Nashville's praise and worship music juggernaut had. Once Christian young people hear the formats geared to them, they seldom go back to praise and worship radio, and will vote with their pocketbooks when pledge drives and commercials air.

 

[chrocket87]

But I guess they see Dallas, a city already receptive to Christian music programming, as another market to go into. I personally don't understand the Christian music format. I don't know why someone, even a Christian, would want to listen to a radio format where all the music deals witn only one subject all the time, and where secular hits are almost never heard.

You'd be surprised with how loyal the CCM audience is. Most of the people (yes, it's a small sample) I know who listen to Christian music ONLY listen to Christian music. Granted, they may channel flip between K-Love, Air-1, and (in my market) a Christian CHR/Rock hybrid, they don't seem to listen to much, if any, secular music. While CCM is a niche format, it's listeners are fiercely loyal.

 

[salemjedi54]

I still don't get CCM. It all sounds the same to me. Now Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's or Sam Cooke or Johnnie Taylor and the Soul Stirrers....That's Gospel Music right there boy!!!!!!

 

[davideduardo]

EMF obviously knows that KLTY is one of the forerunners of the Christian AC format. It's been doing the format with high ratings for decades.

But KLTY has local DJs and runs like a real Dallas radio station. Air 1, along with K-Love, Way-FM, Smile-FM, etc. are all nationally syndicated formats with no local programming, except maybe for some local PSAs.

Also KTCY is not a full Dallas-Fort Worth signal. KLTY is.

But Air 1 is a CHR formt... different from KLTY. Just as Kiss is different KVIL.

 

[davideduardo]

Most of the people (yes, it's a small sample) I know who listen to Christian music ONLY listen to Christian music. Granted, they may channel flip between K-Love, Air-1, and (in my market) a Christian CHR/Rock hybrid, they don't seem to listen to much, if any, secular music. While CCM is a niche format, it's listeners are fiercely loyal.

Yet KLTY shares a third of its cume with KHKS, and 25% to 30% each with KDMX, KPLX, KSCS, KVIL and KLUV.

 

[bucwhyl]

I still don't get CCM. It all sounds the same to me. Now Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's or Sam Cooke or Johnnie Taylor and the Soul Stirrers....That's Gospel Music right there boy!!!!!!

AMEN!!! And on that note, will we EVER get a urban gospel FM here?...

 

[bucwhyl]

I listened to 101.7 and it did not sound anything like a christian version of Kiss FM...

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I listened to 101.7 and it did not sound anything like a christian version of Kiss FM...

CCM is still in transition from a long period of domination by praise and worship music. Air-1 does not go far enough into the new musical styles - 90% of their play list matches EMF's K-Love format. It is definitely a step in the right direction, though. They don't play a lot of the real clunkers, opting instead to play songs from Christian rock artists. Definitely more listenable than K-Love, but you are right. It is nowhere near Kiss-FM. To get that, you would need to stream KSBJ's NGEN format at http://ngenradio.com/. Give it a try - I'd be interested in your feedback as to how listenable the format is compared to Kiss-FM

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I still don't get CCM. It all sounds the same to me. Now Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's or Sam Cooke or Johnnie Taylor and the Soul Stirrers....That's Gospel Music right there boy!!!!!!

And you are right, I remember Dallas had half a dozen Christian stations besides KLTY and KVRK. All of them somewhere between inspirational and praise and worship music. Bland, lukewarm, and boring. All sounding the same. But KVRK definitely will sound different, one of the few bright spots in Dallas radio.

What you call gospel music is a different format than CCM. There are various sub-formats of gospel - black gospel, Southern gospel, country gospel for a few. They are really small niche formats, none of them would garner enough audience to warrant their own station. Probably the biggest would be black gospel, which was tried for a time in Houston and actually made it a few years, but went under and the station flipped to a news format. Gospel music will not attract CCM listeners, and vice versa. They are as different as country is from hip-hop. Just not a lot of potential for cross listenership. It is certainly not a "one size fits all" Christian format that would meet the needs of the entire Christian audience.

 

[salemjedi54]

I still don't get CCM. It all sounds the same to me. Now Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's or Sam Cooke or Johnnie Taylor and the Soul Stirrers....That's Gospel Music right there boy!!!!!!

And you are right, I remember Dallas had half a dozen Christian stations besides KLTY and KVRK. All of them somewhere between inspirational and praise and worship music. Bland, lukewarm, and boring. All sounding the same. But KVRK definitely will sound different, one of the few bright spots in Dallas radio.

What you call gospel music is a different format than CCM. There are various sub-formats of gospel - black gospel, Southern gospel, country gospel for a few. They are really small niche formats, none of them would garner enough audience to warrant their own station. Probably the biggest would be black gospel, which was tried for a time in Houston and actually made it a few years, but went under and the station flipped to a news format. Gospel music will not attract CCM listeners, and vice versa. They are as different as country is from hip-hop. Just not a lot of potential for cross listenership. It is certainly not a "one size fits all" Christian format that would meet the needs of the entire Christian audience.

Then why has KHVN and KGGR been here in the DFW for over 30 years. When you say praise and worship is boring...what is Praise and Worship for a CCM listener. Because on KHVN and KGGR all of it is played. You have the old 100's, the upbeat todays artists, the quartets, its a mixture....something that is sorely needed on a full signal FM stick. The songs that I hear at my church on sundays after Devotion are Praise and Worship and I do hear them on the radio.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Then why has KHVN and KGGR been here in the DFW for over 30 years. When you say praise and worship is boring...what is Praise and Worship for a CCM listener. Because on KHVN and KGGR all of it is played. You have the old 100's, the upbeat todays artists, the quartets, its a mixture....something that is sorely needed on a full signal FM stick. The songs that I hear at my church on sundays after Devotion are Praise and Worship and I do hear them on the radio.

I had forgotten completely about those stations - they are both AM, though, which is the graveyard for niche formats. Evidently, there is more of an audience for gospel in Dallas than there is in Houston. But KROI is a rather valuable FM stick, tall tower and 21 kW. The only problem is they are a bit South of Houston and miss affluent Northern suburbs like the Woodlands and Conroe. I would expect some sort of secular music format on there if the news format fails.

As a radio person yourself, you know the difference between radio cuts and album filler. There is also a huge difference between church music played in churches and radio worthy songs. What I will listen to during a church service - hymns, praise and worship, or Southern gospel does not make the same songs fit for radio airplay. I think that is the mistake a lot of stations play. There are crossover songs, but surprisingly few. Songs I would enjoy in church fall completely flat as entertainment on the radio.

To answer your question - most CCM listeners now think praise and worship IS CCM. Sad, really, because there was some really creative stuff being done prior to the mid 90's. The audience really missed out on a lot of great Christian music being done by artists other than praise and worship artists.

 

[salemjedi54]

Then why has KHVN and KGGR been here in the DFW for over 30 years. When you say praise and worship is boring...what is Praise and Worship for a CCM listener. Because on KHVN and KGGR all of it is played. You have the old 100's, the upbeat todays artists, the quartets, its a mixture....something that is sorely needed on a full signal FM stick. The songs that I hear at my church on sundays after Devotion are Praise and Worship and I do hear them on the radio.

I had forgotten completely about those stations - they are both AM, though, which is the graveyard for niche formats. Evidently, there is more of an audience for gospel in Dallas than there is in Houston. But KROI is a rather valuable FM stick, tall tower and 21 kW. The only problem is they are a bit South of Houston and miss affluent Northern suburbs like the Woodlands and Conroe. I would expect some sort of secular music format on there if the news format fails.

As a radio person yourself, you know the difference between radio cuts and album filler. There is also a huge difference between church music played in churches and radio worthy songs. What I will listen to during a church service - hymns, praise and worship, or Southern gospel does not make the same songs fit for radio airplay. I think that is the mistake a lot of stations play. There are crossover songs, but surprisingly few. Songs I would enjoy in church fall completely flat as entertainment on the radio.

To answer your question - most CCM listeners now think praise and worship IS CCM. Sad, really, because there was some really creative stuff being done prior to the mid 90's. The audience really missed out on a lot of great Christian music being done by artists other than praise and worship artists.

To you Gospel may be a niche format, but now since the demise of KKDA, they are the voice of the black community in this area. Having worked at KHVN some 17 years ago, I can tell you the same songs they play on the radio is the same song I hear at Community Missionary Baptist Church of Desoto every Sunday Morning. For my personal tastes, the music on KLTY or this new Air-1 station is not apealing to me, but to say there is not any crossover audience is not true. There are plenty of black folk who listen to CCM music and there are plenty of white folk who listen to Gospel music.