Fort Smith changes

[bchristi]

Hey Rebel, you guys mean to tell me that you could not get advertisers because people are so conservative that they associated "The X" with "X-Rated!!!!!!"......

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Well it is Ft. Smith we are talking about....

 

[JimmyJames]

I don't see why you're propping up 104.9 in Fayetteville as some paragon of modern rock. They used to be. I grew up with the original X. Garbage, Beck, Wynn Patton, Chris Baker, those were the days. Now Chris Baker's selling cars (last I heard) and 104.9 is going for the young male crowd. Good for them but modern rock it isn't.

As for the X in Fort Smith, they played a great mix of music a lot of stations wouldn't take a chance on. And I believe people listened. But modern rock radio in general doesn't have the passion and support from the audience (or at least their willingness to show up in ratings) that would keep a station of its format in that sized market going forever. Look at 99 X Atlanta. Cornerstone of the format being killed off by a company that could very well afford to keep it around. But in an era of choices for alternative and rock that have nothing to do with FM radio, 95.3 had to do something.

And thank goodness if they went country, it's at least not KMAG/KTCS country pop. They're doing something different and I think real music fans can definitely appreciate some roots rock and blues. Give it a week or so and maybe it will grow on you.

A DJ with Wichita's former modern rock station Fly 92.7 said that in fact, listeners killed the station. Anytime you ate at McDs instead of that local pub or cafe, any time you bought at some major chain instead of the local boutique that could afford to advertise on an independent station, you in fact contributed to the death of your favorite independent/local/alternative FM. Too many ads suck. Having none of the music you could get surrounding those ads sucks more.

Let's hope Rebel fans are more enthusiastic.

 

[DIZ Guy]

Jimmy James, I grew up with the original X also. Matter of fact I remember the first day that they went on the air. I have heard alot of stations , and the X is pretty damn good. 95.3 in Fort Smith was pretty damn good too.

Didn't Jonesboro have a modern rocker that lasted about 5 minutes, and then went classic country????????

Don't even get me started on 921 The Zone......talk about a great idea that was never given a chance.....

 

[DIZ Guy]

Hey Jimmy James, what ever happenned to Wynn Patton???????

 

[dallasrockradio]

I don't know where these ratings come from, but if they are calling peoples houses to get them, that's half the problem. Most people that listen to Rock are of the younger generation and don't even have a house phone, just a cell phone. I can't believe fort smith is going to have that many country stations and not 1 rock station. Someone will see the opportunity and flip to Rock eventually. Maybe Big Dog will step up and play both.

A cool idea would be to for Cumulus to swap the 92.1 the Keg and Y 94.9's frequencies. I said cool idea, not a realistic idea. I understand that The Keg has been on that frequency forever and to switch it might do some damage. But it's not like they're doing that great anyway. If the Keg switched and played more new rock like KATT 100.5 in Oklahoma City or 97.1 The Eagle in Dallas then they could serve Fayetteville and Fort Smith with a kick ass format.

 

[DIZ Guy]

That would be a fantastic idea. The keg is now streaming online, and the only thing on that station that is interesting is the "4-o'clock shock". More new rock would be a great idea, however, I think that the X will probably eventually go straight ahead active rock in the near future, which will make the Keg go even more classic. I have not heard "Fall Out Boy", "Hey There Deliliah" , or "Panic At The Disco" on the X lately, which they used to play alot of......

 

[u-j]

With all dues respect, how would changing frequencies accomplish anything? Both 94.9 and the keg are in Fayetteville and, as far as I know, there's but one signal that's "city grade" in both markets. It's neither of those.

 

[dallasrockradio]

It's not perfect, but 94.9 could pull it off.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KYNF&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

 

[allbritton]

KTCS and KMAG have gone so "pop" they shouldn't even claim to be country any more. They both hang around at the top of the ratings because listeners really haven't had a viable option and both have been beaten by Big Country and KISR in the recent pass......

Yeah. It's a bold statement. That's called attitude, something that has been missing from the Fort Smith market for a long time. Folks can either get on the train now or get left in the depot. Their choice.

We know what we have, and we're already getting so much positive feedback that it's amazing.

Plus, we have a kick ass remore vehicle..and everyone knows that's all that matters.


KTCS & KMAG will remain the market leaders. But, with that said, as long as you've got a good
sales team that can sell local direct, your paycheck won't bounce. Good luck.

 

[fortsmithrock]

For those in support of getting rock back in Fort Smith, please take a look at my brand new myspace page, made in homage to the late X 95.3.

http://www.myspace.com/therebel953

 

[foreverchanges1975]

Hey Jimmy James, what ever happenned to Wynn Patton???????

I've been wondering that too. I remember the first day the X came on in Fayetteville and it was amazing. Before that the only station we had in the state playing that kind of music was KDRE in Little Rock. The only way to keep up with modern rock in NW Arkansas then was to watch 120 Minutes on MTV or travel out of town!

I remember meeting Wynn Patton a few times out and about in Fayetteville at the time and he was a nice guy. I've got one aircheck of the X from early 1997, with a half hour of Wynn and 15 minutes of Chris Patton. Those were the days.

 

[DIZ Guy]

Good sight man. You mean to tell me that they have shows in Harrison now?????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

I thought that the only shows that were played in Harrison were "Mississippi's Burning", or "A Time To Kill"......

Anyways, what you need to do is just leave Ft. Smith and go elsewhere. I used to live in Fayetteville, and everytime I went to Ft. Smith I never thought much of it. I have heard that it was actually cool about thirty years ago...

As a guy that is in radio, and who has been around radio for much of my life, I do not understand this classic country/rock format...

I am sorry guys, but back in the day, groups like Skynrd and Molly Hatchet were 100% rock and roll...I do not get this idea that people have nowwadays that those bands were with the country crowd in the seventies...That is ridiculous...


Did you ever see those guys on "Hee Haw"?????

Hell no!!!!!! The late Ronnie Van Zant was a total rocker......he was a huge fan of The Who. Nowwadays people want you to think that he was hangin out with waylon Jennings....I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!!

 

[audio radience]

And Elvis was a rocker in the day too(as in Rock N Roll)...But you don't hear him on ROCK stations...You do hear him on Country, Classic Country, and Oldies...HMMM.....Go figure...The Rebel is not implying Skynyrd is or was Country...But a lot of Country artists today sound JUST like Southern Rock...Montgomery Gentry...Gretchen Wilson...Travis Tritt...Kentucky Headhunters...etc...So they naturally go together....

Blame Robert Johnson....He started all this mess anyway...(That's a joke... for those under 25 who don't get it)

 

[DIZ Guy]

Now that is something that I have never really thought of...

No Elvis on classic rock...

One tune that could possibly fit might be the awesome "Way Down"....

That song was out when the King died, and it was a pretty good one....

Let's also not forget the awesome Buddy Holly....I always loved "Cryin, Waiting, & Hoping"...

BTW, modern rock WAS on in Northwest Arkansas before the X....however, it was only on from 7-midnight on the Keg in the form of a show called "The Fry Zone".....remember that?????

 

[TheRebel 95.3]

Hey Rebel, you guys mean to tell me that you could not get advertisers because people are so conservative that they associated "The X" with "X-Rated!!!!!!"......

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

That is ridiculous, and I major BOO to you guys for falling down and not keeping your station true to its form!!!!!!!

May be a ridiculous, but it's a fact. Obviusly you don't know this market. We had advertisters. Bail bonds people, tatoo parlors and porn shops. Folks didn't want to associate their businesses with that type of clientle. That was their choice.

We have a right to make money. Wal-Mart won't take "we've been true to our form" when you try to buy groceries.....

 

[TheRebel 95.3]

For those in support of getting rock back in Fort Smith, please take a look at my brand new myspace page, made in homage to the late X 95.3.

http://www.myspace.com/therebel953

blah, blah, blah.......

Tell you what...Take that extra three or four million you have lying around, buy you a 50,000 watter and just jump right on that baby....play Alvin and the friggn' Chipmunks if you want to. But don't give me this sanctimonious "you sold out" bullshit. We kept that puppy going for five years with very few verified listeners and even fewer paying sponsors. When you have two stations, and one is a sport talker, and it's accounting for 75-80 percent of your revenue, you have a problem that needs to be addressed.

Of course someone in management "told" you the station was turning a profit. Wjat were they going to say? "WE suck and we're losing our ass and everyone knows it!"

[EDIT-inflammatory]

Listen or don't listen. Your choice and your loss.

Grow the hell up. Better yet, buy some CD's or something.

 

[foreverchanges1975]

BTW, modern rock WAS on in Northwest Arkansas before the X....however, it was only on from 7-midnight on the Keg in the form of a show called "The Fry Zone".....remember that?????
[/quote]

Sure do! I listened to The Frye Guy nearly every night before the X came on. I'd forgotten that for a while it was on KKEG; I remember it being on Q-102. Now I remember he switched stations at some point. (I've got a short aircheck of The Frye Zone on Q-102.) When the X first signed on The Frye Zone was on opposite satellite fed programming on the X. Later Chris Baker filled the evening slot. It was nice to suddenly have two choices for Modern Rock! The Frye Zone introduced me to quite a few songs I'd never heard before, such as "I'm An Adult Now" by The Pursuit of Happiness.

But even before that, there was KRFA, which if you lived in Fayetteville, and hooked your cable into your radio came in on 90.5. I've got a brief aircheck of that, which contains a LOT of FCC violations for language. When I was in high school in the early 90's I listened often. By the time I started going to the U of A in 1993 though, the station was no longer on.

 

[DIZ Guy]

Hey Rebel....I hate to upset you, but I am familiar with the Fort Smith market. I just think that it was a bad move to kill what was a good station.....

However, I still find it funny as hell that people would think "X-rated" when they thought of the X.....


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

 

[kjl]

I was one of those verified X listeners. I am disappointed with the change I would have been for a change back to the old X 95.3 "live from LA" those cats were cool back in the day. Tell Josh and Tommy "Hi" and go Hogs go! I like them because they weren't "Nutt huggers" like the other sports talkers.

 

[fortsmithrock]

For those in support of getting rock back in Fort Smith, please take a look at my brand new myspace page, made in homage to the late X 95.3.

http://www.myspace.com/therebel953

blah, blah, blah.......

Tell you what...Take that extra three or four million you have lying around, buy you a 50,000 watter and just jump right on that baby....play Alvin and the friggn' Chipmunks if you want to. But don't give me this sanctimonious "you sold out" bullshit. We kept that puppy going for five years with very few verified listeners and even fewer paying sponsors. When you have two stations, and one is a sport talker, and it's accounting for 75-80 percent of your revenue, you have a problem that needs to be addressed.

Of course someone in management "told" you the station was turning a profit. Wjat were they going to say? "WE suck and we're losing our ass and everyone knows it!"

[EDIT-inflammatory]

Listen or don't listen. Your choice and your loss.

Grow the hell up. Better yet, buy some CD's or something.

Ok, I'm finding it harder and harder to take this person seriously. It's obvious he is hiding behind an internet screenname, and will not reveal his real name and position in the company. He's probably low on the food chain and makes little decisions, nothing more than a glorified fanboy.

First of all, there was someone who told me the company was doing well, and he had no reason to lie to me. It is someone who is likely much higher up on the chain than you are.

Second, where on my page did I say anything about you selling out? I just said it was a horrible move.

Get your facts straight, Mr. Internet toughguy. Considering how nothing you say really means anything, and that you're not really a man of power at 95.3, I am highly considering taking your comments off of the page. I have no desire to post the rantings of a fanboy.