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Free FM Officially Dead in Phoenix

azenergyfan said:
Just heard the TOH for 5pm "You are listening 1015 Jamz Free FM" and then they played the usual Free FM FM Talk station TOH

Guess its true but I am sad to see it go. It gave phoenix something different to listen to. Now we get another hip hop/hits station. Just what we need. Thank God I can still get AC and TL and O&D on podcasts.

I am listening online from Tucson - are they back to alternative?

Nevermind - must've been commercial time.
 
azenergyfan said:
Just heard the TOH for 5pm "You are listening 1015 Jamz Free FM" and then they played the usual Free FM FM Talk station TOH

Guess its true but I am sad to see it go. It gave phoenix something different to listen to. Now we get another hip hop/hits station. Just what we need. Thank God I can still get AC and TL and O&D on podcasts.
What is so different about a whole station predicated on imitating the Howard Stern brand of "hot" talk radio? What is different about EVERY show sounding exactly the same as the last... oh sure, one has 2 men and a woman talking about bathroom humor and what traffic on the 405 is like, while another has 2 men (one a washed up radio/TV guy) and a woman talking about bathroom humor and playing a prank call or some celebrity interview... while another just asks a question at the beginning of the hour and has callers regurgitate an answer to topics that we reeeeallly DON'T care about. There is... er was would be the correct term, NOTHING DIFFERENT about Free-FM. Hot talk has been done before in Phoenix, 100.3 KHOT a fine example... the worst 5 months of radio ever... thanks Carla Foxx.

As for the new format, I guess we'll have to see... but if I know CBS like I do, I know it will be mediocre at best. CBS is lucky to have KOOL-FM, it's hard to screw up oldies... although AM/FM did a nice job many years ago. I suspect this new format will be another bomb... Hip-hop/hits has been done and is being done in the market already. Ugh, our business is in some bad shape these days, I simply can't imagine why someone would want an iPod, satellite radio or listen to an internet broadcast with the forward thinking folks running terrestrial radio.
 
But terrestrial radio people will tell you they know the audience and business best. They say ipods, XM, Sirius and internet radio are irrelevant and dont offer real competition-- right and I have a bridge to sell you in New York!!
 
Yes, KMGX, we get it... you don't like Tom Leykis and you don't like those of us who live in LA. After all, FreeFM offer so much less variety than a typical news/talk station; it's so refreshing to hear Bruce Jacobs, Rush, Hannity, Hayworth, and Savage have the same take on the same topics.
 
KJCB said:
Yes, KMGX, we get it... you don't like Tom Leykis and you don't like those of us who live in LA. After all, FreeFM offer so much less variety than a typical news/talk station; it's so refreshing to hear Bruce Jacobs, Rush, Hannity, Hayworth, and Savage have the same take on the same topics.
Missing the point is what people do best on message boards. The person I responded to made the claim that "Free-FM was something different", my contention was that if anything it's the same old same old... a bad Howard Stern parody 24/7 with minor twists and turns here and there. Nowhere in my post did I mention KFYI, Bruce Jacobs, Sean, Rush, et al. We were discussing Free-FM and the "hot talk" ideology as well as the prospect of the new format.

As for your comments about me not liking LA, it's not so much about that issue--you have to understand that I live in PHOENIX, and that the stations here are supposedly server the PHOENIX market, so a show that centers around all the happenings in LA is hard to stomach... especially the three stooges they dragged out of the radio never-was bin to host. As for Tom Leykis... the host speaks for himself... a 4-time loser, wife-beater (allegedly), who, when challenged--gets his butt handed to him in a fight... big mouth on the radio, in person... not so much.
 
It's a hoax. They aren't going to flip to JAMZ FM. They wouldn't tease a format like that with a horrible logo, and make it easy to fund on a server.

New York teased a V105.1 but actually went Power 105.

Here in Salt Lake KISN 97 would drop an occasional "Wild 97.1" from time to time with a bunch of static to throw people off... but in the end, flipped to KISS FM.

101.5 JAMZ is a ruse.
 
KMGX said:
KJCB said:
Yes, KMGX, we get it... you don't like Tom Leykis and you don't like those of us who live in LA. After all, FreeFM offer so much less variety than a typical news/talk station; it's so refreshing to hear Bruce Jacobs, Rush, Hannity, Hayworth, and Savage have the same take on the same topics.
Missing the point is what people do best on message boards. The person I responded to made the claim that "Free-FM was something different", my contention was that if anything it's the same old same old... a bad Howard Stern parody 24/7 with minor twists and turns here and there. Nowhere in my post did I mention KFYI, Bruce Jacobs, Sean, Rush, et al. We were discussing Free-FM and the "hot talk" ideology as well as the prospect of the new format.

As for your comments about me not liking LA, it's not so much about that issue--you have to understand that I live in PHOENIX, and that the stations here are supposedly server the PHOENIX market, so a show that centers around all the happenings in LA is hard to stomach... especially the three stooges they dragged out of the radio never-was bin to host. As for Tom Leykis... the host speaks for himself... a 4-time loser, wife-beater (allegedly), who, when challenged--gets his butt handed to him in a fight... big mouth on the radio, in person... not so much.

Yes, I understand your point on Phoenix stations, I lived there for 4 years and saw the beginning of KFYI's descension into a completely cookie cutter station among other bad programming options. But the point is while FreeFM may be the same thing over and over again (people always say "Tom Leykis does the same show everyday") so is every station. That's the point. Play the hits and hit the target demos. Just like KFYI is wall-to-wall conservative mouthpieces spouting off about the war or Harry Reid or whatever, FreeFM is the same, except with banging chics. Also, seeing the FH&F nor Leykis rarely if ever have guests and take calls rather than bumbling back and forth with their 9-person crew, I wouldn't see how they are "Howard Stern rip-offs"; that is a typical assertion that anyone who hosts a radio show not dealing with the war in Iraq is a "Howard Stern rip-off". Further, why people have to bring up Leykis' personal record is beyond me; not only is it likely overexaggerated, but who cares? Rush is a doctor shopper and Rx addict, Dr. Laura has her photographs, Savage is from all accounts an absolute self-aggrandizing, psycho freak, and so on... the hosts job isn't to be a shining example of great moral character, great health, or anything else... Leykis and everyone else's "big mouths" are why they're on the air, and if they get numbers (which he does, albeit it the station as a whole doesn't) and make money, who cares? Did Fred Weber care that Leykis was a fat degenerate when he did a local show there? Not really. Did KFI or WRKO care if he was an atheist when many of their listeners were conservative Christians? Not if he brought money. You already know this, but for the benefit of the class, there is no high and mightiness in this business. If pandering to the lowest common denominator makes the most money on a finite frequency, that is what will be on.

Unformatted paragraph: over.
 
henry said:
It's a hoax. They aren't going to flip to JAMZ FM. They wouldn't tease a format like that with a horrible logo, and make it easy to fund on a server.

Bottom line is they're definitely flipping so the question becomes when. And regardless of several posts in this thread, Big O and Dukes are moving to middays. That's what they told their listeners at their party. I don't care what other people have posted they've heard. one visit to the show's MySpace and all of the comments congratulating them on the move to middays soon. So the countdown on their site should be the flip but we'll see.
 
phreakin said:
Bottom line is they're definitely flipping so the question becomes when. And regardless of several posts in this thread, Big O and Dukes are moving to middays.

Yes, they're gonna flip. But the question isn't really "when" but "what." And regardless of what you might think, the only way that Big O and Dukes are moving to middays is if the flip doesn't happen.

They're a talk show, folks, and the only way a talk show can move from nights to middays and remain on the same station is if the station in question remains a talk station.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that the new format for 101.5 is going to be a music format, and regardless of whether it is hip-hop or alternative or AC, there is no way that a music station is going to have a talk show in middays.
 
I agree, it's going to flip.

But I don't see it going hip-hop. Rarely does a station tease a format in that manner and actually do it. Plus calling it "101.5 JAMZ FREE FM" implies (as a sort of joke) that it's going to be jamz-free....

So, I could see a flip to rock or hot AC, or some format that would be proud to be "jamz-free."
 
KJCB said:
Also, seeing the FH&F nor Leykis rarely if ever have guests and take calls rather than bumbling back and forth with their 9-person crew, I wouldn't see how they are "Howard Stern rip-offs"; that is a typical assertion that anyone who hosts a radio show not dealing with the war in Iraq is a "Howard Stern rip-off".
You generalize quite a bit, I never said that "anyone/everyone" not discussing the "war in Iraq" is a Stern rip-off, please do not paint me into some semantical corner. I don't believe Phil Hendrie is a Stern clone, in fact, he's a brilliant talent--one of only a few pioneers in the industry.

I don't assert that everyone not doing political talk is a Stern spin/rip-off, but let's be real about this shall we, FREE-FM is filled with mostly that 'style' of talker. Here's a very simple question, how many Howard Sternesque shows (FM talk/syndicated hot talk programs) were there in 1980-1990, versus how many there were from 1990-present day. Interesting how one person (Stern) gets a 10 share in New York and suddenly others are talking about sex, their body functions, doing dial-a-date with lesbians, asking homeless people questions and gambling on their answers (there was even a TV show that ripped off that concept!) and so on. Tom Leykis was talking politics in 1985, 1987, 1989... I have numerous tapes where he's not discussing how to get "laid", rather he's talking about George H. W. Bush and the cold war, etc. Hmmm.... interesting indeed.
 
I was not generalizing, but the fact is that I haven't heard much on Leykis' show or the balance of FreeFM doing interviews with lesbians or talking to homeless people. As to Leykis, he's a complete whore, yes... his political show got cancelled out of syndication, so he did what he could to keep the biggest markets (read: the ones that bring the most money).
 
KJCB said:
I was not generalizing, but the fact is that I haven't heard much on Leykis' show or the balance of FreeFM doing interviews with lesbians or talking to homeless people. As to Leykis, he's a complete whore, yes... his political show got cancelled out of syndication, so he did what he could to keep the biggest markets (read: the ones that bring the most money).
It's theft of a concept, not a specific... although Tom has certainly done those kind of shows before... as have others. Why settle for cheap copies when one can have the original... but the entire mold of Free-FM was to put out a product in the MOLD of a Stern like program 24/7--see, Dopie and Agony, JV & Elvis, Tom Leykis, et al. Argue all you want, but Hot Talk isn't working.. never has, never will--there were a couple of people that could keep an audience and they are either off of terrestrial radio or making a return soon, Only two of the Hot-Talk stations in the FREE-FM chain make any money, L.A. and Dallas.

Yes yes, I know it's all about the money, I never disputed that, of course terrestrial radio always thinks in the short-term and not the long-term. Continue to put out crappy products that don't reinvent themselves and milk the advertisers for what you can get today and not think about the fact that your losing audience and chasing people away. CBS is especially good at this business model, changing WCBS from oldies to "Jack" and dropping the ratings by 60% while seeing revenues take a massive tumble, the FREE-FM concept which failed almost everywhere (and if you look at ratings DID FAIL everywhere)... and so on and so forth.
 
Just talked to The Tom Leykis show and they pretty much said get used to streaming the show. They did say this does suck since they do have the highest ratings on the station. I can't wait for the new format to fail and for everyone on this board to call for a format change.
 
azenergyfan said:
Just talked to The Tom Leykis show and they pretty much said get used to streaming the show. They did say this does suck since they do have the highest ratings on the station. I can't wait for the new format to fail and for everyone on this board to call for a format change.

How do those sour grapes taste?

The new format--if it is hip-hop/urban (which I doubt)--will fail. If it returns to the Zone it will perform mediocre... certainly better than FREE-FM... ANYTHING performs better than Free-FM... well almost anything.
 
Is it the HotTalk format that was wrong? I tend to believe that it was that the station was hosted by show after show of LA snobs. With the exception of Leykis. In the past 18 months, how many appearances did Carolla make? How many references to Phoenix? It is tough to create a local buzz when all of your chit chat is centered around LA.

Good luck 101 five. My thoughts is they missed the boat back when 92 three jumped to a substandard stick. They could have kept the heritage urban hip hop on a full power stick and kicked a$$. Oh well, ya snooze ya looze.
 
azenergyfan said:
Just talked to The Tom Leykis show and they pretty much said get used to streaming the show. They did say this does suck since they do have the highest ratings on the station. I can't wait for the new format to fail and for everyone on this board to call for a format change.

Nothing is more sweet than seeing Leykis lose PHX for the 4th or 5th time.

Goodbye Combover Boy!
 
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