Yes, they made those adjustments, but they could also skew more in one direction. It seems, with the small sample size of their first half hour, that it may lean more rock, similar to KYOT. Obviously, they need to differentiate more than that, so it will be interesting still.
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July '22 6+ and More
- Thread starter pjc1961
- Start date
The playlist looks pretty unchanged to me so far, at least from what I heard and looked over yesterday.
The imaging is drier, but it was already pretty dry as KOOL-FM so not as big of a change as it was at WOGL.
This will be a bit tougher ship to right than WOGL IMO, but I’ll be curious to see how it pans out.
Classic hits stations as a whole, especially Audacy’s sans CBS-FM lean rock, since 70s and 80s rock brings in lower demos than pop or rhythmic generally but it depends on the market. I doubt KOOL will lose much 55+ considering KOAI, so we may not see a big overall jump but could see a 25-54 increase.
The imaging is drier, but it was already pretty dry as KOOL-FM so not as big of a change as it was at WOGL.
This will be a bit tougher ship to right than WOGL IMO, but I’ll be curious to see how it pans out.
Classic hits stations as a whole, especially Audacy’s sans CBS-FM lean rock, since 70s and 80s rock brings in lower demos than pop or rhythmic generally but it depends on the market. I doubt KOOL will lose much 55+ considering KOAI, so we may not see a big overall jump but could see a 25-54 increase.
Lance also reported this but Charlie Huero and Dee Garcia are off the schedule. It appears Charlie is out altogether, The Niko Show is disbanded as Niko stays with the station in afternoons, Dee’s status is unknown.
Taking middays is Lara Scott of K-Earth, as Audacy continues to cross utilize talent. Notably, no morning show at all. They are stressing a music intensive morning show apparently.
Taking middays is Lara Scott of K-Earth, as Audacy continues to cross utilize talent. Notably, no morning show at all. They are stressing a music intensive morning show apparently.
Just yesterday I noted that KOOL at least still has...er...had local talent in most dayparts. Welp...I guess Audacy decided to not just kill off KOOL, but bury it in a shallow grave late at night with no ceremony.
Afternoons and nights are both local hosts. Only middays are from out of market.
I wonder what the plans are for morning drive. I doubt they'll continue it as all music, jock free.
Is it still Kaden at night? And is he still local, or is it just one of the markets he tracks?
Yes, and yes, he's local.
Those cool KOOL calls will now only be barely heard, buried somewhere once an hour. There was a time when the KOOL branding and calls were on AM, FM, and TV at the same time, and recognized the most by valley residents.
If it's possible to have the #2 station in Phoenix with no local talent, what is the upside? Why should anyone bother?
Maybe you could ask whoever is running 96.5 out of Globe to do something like that. Right now, I haven't heard a station as unfocused since the days of 104.3 being "Arizona Jamz." Who plays "Dancing on the Ceiling" or "We Are The World" (not to mention the forgettable Donnie Osmond '80s hit "Soldier of Love") with a straight face anymore?
Half the on-air talent on the #1 station in Phoenix is voice tracked/syndicated from out of state.
Why should anyone bother, indeed.
At this point we're not far off from arguing over who has the #2 phone book in the Phoenix market. Or the #2 DVD player, if you like.
The point is hiring more local talent won't cause anyone to throw away their phone.
The target is the average listener. With the ease of sounding local via voice tracking and being able to update and make it “live” it makes it next to impossible for most listeners to tell if they’re live or local or not. And I doubt they care. Even local jocks that are live, at least the ones I’ve heard for ages, don’t take calls or requests on air anymore and could essentially be voicetracked. The justification just isn’t there.
Everything that used to be done on the phone is now done on social media. I hardly use my phone for voice any more. It's all text or social media. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
But does anyone think John Sebastian is taking requests for The Wow Factor? How would we know?
Another KOOL observation about the imaging and presentation: as mentioned before, it’s identical to WOGL, which relies heavily on listeners shouting the station’s name and things like “70s, 80s, 90s.” Very short and minimalistic liners. This presentation originated from KRTH, and is definitely the opposite of CBS-FM.
It obviously worked for KRTH, maybe the stations think listeners find it more interactive hearing “random” people over a voiceover artist, or it’s cheaper. I’m leaning toward the initial.
I streamed KOOL for a while last night to sample it since it was on its deathbed, and have tonight during the same time period. They’re still doing the 90s at 9. I can tell there have been some music tweaks, but as mentioned earlier the majority of those like WOGL did had already been done at KOOL, so this is almost strictly a presentation change save for some minor musical adjustments.
It obviously worked for KRTH, maybe the stations think listeners find it more interactive hearing “random” people over a voiceover artist, or it’s cheaper. I’m leaning toward the initial.
I streamed KOOL for a while last night to sample it since it was on its deathbed, and have tonight during the same time period. They’re still doing the 90s at 9. I can tell there have been some music tweaks, but as mentioned earlier the majority of those like WOGL did had already been done at KOOL, so this is almost strictly a presentation change save for some minor musical adjustments.
Exactly, as we said to encourage people who stopped listening a while ago to sample the station and hear the changes.
The point is that radio is rapidly becoming about as relevant as the phone book or a DVD player. Throwing away 50 years of branding in favor of some generic bland name and adding more voice tracking isn't gonna bring in a new crop of people who "stopped listening awhile ago."
Because they didn't stop and switch to another station. They switched off radio entirely.
Tell someone under the age of 30 that there's an exciting new radio station on the dial and they're likely to say "who listens to radio?" They didn't tune into the stunting and anxiously await what new format or station was about to launch.
Will it work with the folks nearing the top of the 35-54 demo? I guess.
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