Crain sells 106.3 in Little Rock, will become Spanish

[MichaelHibblen]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

 

[rockclassics]

I also remember when the KOLL call letters were Cool 95 at 94.9 on the dial. It was an oldies station then This was after KZLR bit the dust back in the late 80s.

 

[Kent]

KZ-95 went away in either late '89 or early '90. Oldies Cool 95 replaced it and lasted over a decade before it, and many other oldies stations, starting to struggle financially due to aging demographics.

As for the current KOLL, it's being purchased by the same person who owns KSEC 95.7 in Fayetteville. It goes by La Zeta. He's also in the process of buying KEOR outside of Tulsa, where he's expected to launch a Spanish-language format, probably regional Mexican.

 

[rgseark2009]

I remember somewhat the original incarnation of KWTD 106.3 (pre-"urban") about 1982-83 before it went full time. There was sort of a free-form format but I was able to catch it occasionally south of Pine Bluff on a Pioneer tuner and a "T" indoor dipole (too weak though to listen in stereo). I first heard among other things "Alice's Restaurant" one night on KWTD. Sometime in the Spring of 1983, it went 24/7 "urban" which was a big deal since the black-oriented stations (KCAT Pine Bluff, KOKY Little Rock) were on AM.

 

[interested bystander]

It is not surprising that this is happening. I seem to remember that Signal Media nearly bought 106.3 when it sold several years ago. It is sad that a station that once had John Lee as the morning DJ could barely register on the Arbitron ratings, despite the fact that it has a 50,000 watt signal. This makes you wonder if Mr. Crain is going to sell K-Hits and Fresh Talk? Can an FM Spanish language station survive or even flourish in Little Rock? I guess only time will tell. You also wonder if Crain Media is going to shed its Searcy stations?

 

[TVJunkie12]

It doesn't help that for at least the last year 106.3 has had headache inducing seriously over modulated, distorted audio. Listeners don't always realize that a station sounds bad but they do know when they don't like to listen to it for whatever reason and women have hearing that is more sensitive then men. There have been studies done by the companies that make audio processing equipment that prove this. Couple that with a product that gives no reason to listen to it since it's already being done on a somewhat better sounding station with a better signal (B98) and 106.3 The River holds no real appeal to the female demos they desire. It remains to be seen if there's enough market for Spanish on FM in Little Rock. It's almost too bad they didn't put the talk on the bigger signal and spin off the smaller one if quick, one time cash is the only desired result for Crain at this time.

 

[rgseark2009]

It doesn't help that for at least the last year 106.3 has had headache inducing seriously over modulated, distorted audio. Listeners don't always realize that a station sounds bad but they do know when they don't like to listen to it for whatever reason and women have hearing that is more sensitive then men. There have been studies done by the companies that make audio processing equipment that prove this. Couple that with a product that gives no reason to listen to it since it's already being done on a somewhat better sounding station with a better signal (B98) and 106.3 The River holds no real appeal to the female demos they desire. It remains to be seen if there's enough market for Spanish on FM in Little Rock. It's almost too bad they didn't put the talk on the bigger signal and spin off the smaller one if quick, one time cash is the only desired result for Crain at this time.

You definitely make some valid points. It seems that 106.3 has tried to use two old formats during the past decade (even down to the original format names: ie Cool, and Mix).

I've given The River a quick listen, and it seems a poor copy of B95 (which B95 isn't exactly the type of radio I personally prefer). The audio issues on The River and even more so on 96.5 are over-processed audio + the sources of modern radio music (highly compressed digital) make for extended listening difficult. I'm sure that the audio overprocessisng is a way to make the stations louder in cars and make up for the rimshot signals but still results in a inferior listening experience.

 

[TVJunkie12]

With current audio processing equipment you can get it louder in the car (or anywhere) without making it excessively nasty sounding. It's not even that ridiculously expensive to do. There's just no excuse to sound as bad as the Crain Little Rock music stations. Even their Searcy stations and Y107 sound better.

 

[spk1]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

Wow! I remember KWTD and yes it was a big deal for the urban market because the only source for urban was AM. It was owned by Dunn Broadcasting. I remember the DJ's..Brain the Kid Dynomite, ED Williams, Shelly Pope and even Broadway Joe. Lynn Henry worked there as well. When power 92 came along with the 100k watts, it was just a matter time for the 106.3 to go away. I miss those days of personality radio.

 

[radiosaur]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

Wow! I remember KWTD and yes it was a big deal for the urban market because the only source for urban was AM. It was owned by Dunn Broadcasting. I remember the DJ's..Brain the Kid Dynomite, ED Williams, Shelly Pope and even Broadway Joe. Lynn Henry worked there as well. When power 92 came along with the 100k watts, it was just a matter time for the 106.3 to go away. I miss those days of personality radio.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. KWTD never beat KOKY. KOKY stayed the top urban station until Power92 hit the air and destroyed them both.

 

[rgseark2009]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

Wow! I remember KWTD and yes it was a big deal for the urban market because the only source for urban was AM. It was owned by Dunn Broadcasting. I remember the DJ's..Brain the Kid Dynomite, ED Williams, Shelly Pope and even Broadway Joe. Lynn Henry worked there as well. When power 92 came along with the 100k watts, it was just a matter time for the 106.3 to go away. I miss those days of personality radio.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. KWTD never beat KOKY. KOKY stayed the top urban station until Power92 hit the air and destroyed them both.

As I can recall KWTD in the 1980's had a weak rimshot signal. KOXY even on AM1250 had a better signal in Central Little Rock and KWTD was not really audible much in the car in Pine Bluff, dominated pre-Power 92 by KCAT 1340 for the urban audience. Power 92, love or hate was a gamechanger, much the same way KAAY was a generation earlier.

 

[spk1]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

it was a big deal due to the fact it was on FM. It was a weak signal but it was the start of urban radio on the FM side in that part of the world. I hated AM radio and was disgusted at the fact I to flip to AM to hear R&B. That is why it was a big deal to me and others I know. We cared nothing about ratings and in our opinion, AM sound was just as bad as weak FM signals.

Wow! I remember KWTD and yes it was a big deal for the urban market because the only source for urban was AM. It was owned by Dunn Broadcasting. I remember the DJ's..Brain the Kid Dynomite, ED Williams, Shelly Pope and even Broadway Joe. Lynn Henry worked there as well. When power 92 came along with the 100k watts, it was just a matter time for the 106.3 to go away. I miss those days of personality radio.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. KWTD never beat KOKY. KOKY stayed the top urban station until Power92 hit the air and destroyed them both.

As I can recall KWTD in the 1980's had a weak rimshot signal. KOXY even on AM1250 had a better signal in Central Little Rock and KWTD was not really audible much in the car in Pine Bluff, dominated pre-Power 92 by KCAT 1340 for the urban audience. Power 92, love or hate was a gamechanger, much the same way KAAY was a generation earlier.

 

[radiosaur]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

Wow! I remember KWTD and yes it was a big deal for the urban market because the only source for urban was AM. It was owned by Dunn Broadcasting. I remember the DJ's..Brain the Kid Dynomite, ED Williams, Shelly Pope and even Broadway Joe. Lynn Henry worked there as well. When power 92 came along with the 100k watts, it was just a matter time for the 106.3 to go away. I miss those days of personality radio.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. KWTD never beat KOKY. KOKY stayed the top urban station until Power92 hit the air and destroyed them both.

As I can recall KWTD in the 1980's had a weak rimshot signal. KOXY even on AM1250 had a better signal in Central Little Rock and KWTD was not really audible much in the car in Pine Bluff, dominated pre-Power 92 by KCAT 1340 for the urban audience. Power 92, love or hate was a gamechanger, much the same way KAAY was a generation earlier.

If I recall correctly, KOKY had a 5-something share 12+, unheard of for most music AMs in 1987. The first post-Power92 book, I think it went to an 0.8, and probably half of that was listener confusion or force of habit. Boom. Things were not happy in the building that day. The company didn't even think of competing. They came to me and told me to start discreetly installing the soon to arrive Unistar gear for the Oldies format. It was a bit difficult to put a satellite dish on the roof without anyone asking questions. Word of the impending change got out. Unhappy folks.

 

[rockclassics]

I think I may still have 2 or 3 old cassette tapes of unscoped airchecks from KWTD. Might be interesting to pull those out.

 

[rgseark2009]

Not a lot of details, but Arkansas Business reports Crain Media is selling the 50,000 watt KOLL-FM 106.3 in Little Rock, which currently goes by the name The River. It's reported it will become a Spanish-language station, believed to be the first commercial Spanish language FM in the market. Non-commercial KABF has been airing Spanish programs for quite a while and there are a few AMs.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132633.54928.144778

I remember when this was KWTD, a low power R&B station out of Lonoke. I know it went through a lot of other identities in the years I was away from Arkansas.

Wow! I remember KWTD and yes it was a big deal for the urban market because the only source for urban was AM. It was owned by Dunn Broadcasting. I remember the DJ's..Brain the Kid Dynomite, ED Williams, Shelly Pope and even Broadway Joe. Lynn Henry worked there as well. When power 92 came along with the 100k watts, it was just a matter time for the 106.3 to go away. I miss those days of personality radio.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. KWTD never beat KOKY. KOKY stayed the top urban station until Power92 hit the air and destroyed them both.

As I can recall KWTD in the 1980's had a weak rimshot signal. KOXY even on AM1250 had a better signal in Central Little Rock and KWTD was not really audible much in the car in Pine Bluff, dominated pre-Power 92 by KCAT 1340 for the urban audience. Power 92, love or hate was a gamechanger, much the same way KAAY was a generation earlier.

If I recall correctly, KOKY had a 5-something share 12+, unheard of for most music AMs in 1987. The first post-Power92 book, I think it went to an 0.8, and probably half of that was listener confusion or force of habit. Boom. Things were not happy in the building that day. The company didn't even think of competing. They came to me and told me to start discreetly installing the soon to arrive Unistar gear for the Oldies format. It was a bit difficult to put a satellite dish on the roof without anyone asking questions. Word of the impending change got out. Unhappy folks.

I hate to threadjack, but didn't KLAZ simulcast on 1250 for a time around 1984-85 before the change to "Zoo 98". I can recall the former KLAZ give ID for AM 1250 on the 98.5 FM. Don't have recordings though.