KBAY changes from "The Bay's Greatest Hits" to "The Bay's Best Music"

[408listener]

94.5 KBAY has rebranded after Christmas music season ended. In fact, KBAY actually dropped the Christmas music during primetime hours on Christmas night, concluding with "Deck the Halls" by Mannheim Steamroller at 8:51PM and resuming the regular music with "Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart at 8:54.

Since 2016, KBAY used to be "94.5 Bay FM, The Bay's Greatest Hits", a 1980s-centric hits format with some 1970s (usually after 1975) sprinkled in. Now it's "94.5 KBAY, The Bay's Best Music". But a glance of its playlist today shows that KBAY is aiming younger, adding 1990s-present songs:

2:38pm	Oops!...i Did It Again	Britney Spears
2:34pm	Hungry Eyes	Eric Carmen
2:30pm	Human Nature	Michael Jackson
2:27pm	When Doves Cry	Prince
2:21pm	Lets Groove	Earth Wind & Fire
2:17pm	Iris	Goo Goo Dolls
2:07pm	Like A Virgin	Madonna
2:03pm	Drift Away	Uncle Kracker

If the '70s were already sparse on KBAY, they're even rarer now. The only 70s song I could find today was "Lady Marmalade" by LaBelle in the 1pm hour. Some 2000s-later songs even show up - namely "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce and "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele.

It looks like Alpha Media is trying to make KBAY a hybrid of iHeart's 80s Plus 103.7 and Star 101.3 (adult contemporary 90s-present) and to compete with Audacy's 105.3 Dave FM (the former alt-rock Live 105).

 

[TheBigA]

It looks like Alpha Media is trying to make KBAY a hybrid of iHeart's 80s Plus 103.7 and Star 101.3 (adult contemporary 90s-present) and to compete with Audacy's 105.3 Dave FM (the former alt-rock Live 105).

The change was obviously made because there are limited advertising options for the older audiences who tend to listen to older hit music. People who like the 80s are still within the 25 to 54 demo.

 

[victorres43]

The change was obviously made because there are limited advertising options for the older audiences who tend to listen to older hit music. People who like the 80s are still within the 25 to 54 demo.

But is 2010-present music truly necessary? You can capture the millennial demographic just by adding late 90s/early 00s hit music. The likes of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Eminem, and Destiny's Child should be sufficient to capture millennials.

By the way, many Classic Hits and Adult Hits stations succeeded without playing songs over the past 10-15 years.

 

[TheBigA]

But is 2010-present music truly necessary?

It looks like one an hour, and the songs are more AC than CHR.

 

[MarkW]

There arguably was nothing wrong with the station in its prior form. This is a somewhat risky move, which potentially, could harm sister station Mix 106.5.

I think KOSF might witness further ratings gains at KBAY's expense, too.

 

[TheBigA]

There arguably was nothing wrong with the station in its prior form.

Except that the audience had aged out of the demo and was hurting the station's bottom line.

This is a somewhat risky move, which potentially, could harm sister station Mix 106.5.

Alpha actually owns several Hot ACs in the market. They all play more currents than KBAY.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Except that the audience had aged out of the demo and was hurting the station's bottom line.



Alpha actually owns several Hot ACs in the market. They all play more currents than KBAY.

Yup, way up in the northern end of the mark.. KDDV and etc.

 

[MarkW]

Those stations all play more currents indeed, but from a tempo and texture standpoint, KBAY now sounds closer to those stations.

Were 94.5's money demo numbers as poor as BigA is suggesting?

The revamped sound of 94.5 reminds me a lot of the former Rewind 100.3 in Chicago.

I will give Alpha credit for having the good sense to not flip 94.5 to Alternative! 😎

 

[TheBigA]

Were 94.5's money demo numbers as poor as BigA is suggesting?

Why else are stations around the country dropping older songs from their playlists? This is not an uncommon thing.

 

[Negin]

The change reminds me of the old KBAY for the last formet change.

 

[MarkW]

KBAY with its latest change has gone farther than most in terms of playlist evolution. Most classic hits stations play more 80s than any other decade by a sizable margin.

Also, whereas other stations fine tune song age with time, the modifications KBAY just implemented may be jarring to some.

Personally, I prefer the new playlist to the prior one. However, the most successful classic hits stations tend to have a rock/pop core. KBAY now leans pop/rhythm. That formula might work in this instance. Time will tell.

 

[TheBigA]

KBAY with its latest change has gone farther than most in terms of playlist evolution. Most classic hits stations play more 80s than any other decade by a sizable margin.

RadioInsight describes the format as "Gold-based AC," not classic hits.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/217246/k-bay-returns-to-san-jose/

 

[semoochie]

Why else are stations around the country dropping older songs from their playlists? This is not an uncommon thing.

I'm surprised this hasn't happened before now. In 2004, Oldies stations dropped everything before 1964 and evolved to Classic Hits. It's nearly 18 years later and some of what was left is still here! You would think the cutoff date would now be around 1982!

 

[victorres43]

KBAY is shifting back to AC, but the playlist isn't too bad as far as radio is concerned. Only a few songs from the past 10 years make it AC, and the KBAY of now isn't as heavy-handed with the Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson type of music like other ACs.

 

[landtuna]

Since most people have different genres in mind when they say "greatest music" that slogan means squat, nada, nothing. The slogan "greatest hits" can be qualified by the charts.

 

[johndavis]

RadioInsight describes the format as "Gold-based AC," not classic hits.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/217246/k-bay-returns-to-san-jose/

Surprised they're not playing at least one current or recurrent per quarter hour, but overall I can't find any fault with what they're playing.

 

[e-dawg]

It seems the bay area is oversaturated with Adult Contemporary format.

KKDV 92.1 AC (Diablo Valley)
KBAY 94.5 Gold AC (South Bay)
KUIC 95.3 AC (North Bay)
KOIT 96.5 Mainstream AC
KLLC 97.3 Hot AC
KISQ 98.1 Soft AC
KZST 100.1 AC (Santa Rosa/North Bay)
KIOI 101.3 Hot AC (AC lean)
KKIQ 101.7 AC (Tri-Valley)
KBLX 102.9 Urban AC
KEZR 106.5 Hot AC (South Bay)

 

[408listener]

It seems the bay area is oversaturated with Adult Contemporary format.

KKDV 92.1 AC (Diablo Valley)
KBAY 94.5 Gold AC (South Bay)
KUIC 95.3 AC (North Bay)
KOIT 96.5 Mainstream AC
KLLC 97.3 Hot AC
KISQ 98.1 Soft AC
KZST 100.1 AC (Santa Rosa/North Bay)
KIOI 101.3 Hot AC (AC lean)
KKIQ 101.7 AC (Tri-Valley)
KBLX 102.9 Urban AC
KEZR 106.5 Hot AC (South Bay)

Some of these stations (KKDV, KUIC, KKIQ, KZST) are micro-targeted towards specific communities rather than the full SF-Oak-SJ market. In my experience I've been able to pick up a grade B signal of KBAY outdoors in the Oakland/Tri-Valley areas.

For AC formats, the combo of reachable 25-54 year old listeners and the music having more mass appeal than, say rap or punk rock makes an easy sell to advertisers.

 

[TheBigA]

It seems the bay area is oversaturated with Adult Contemporary format.

It might appear that way, but the format itself is very broadly defined. When you drill into the various demos, you'll see that those stations appeal to very different demographics, with some stronger in 18-34, while others are stronger in 25-54. What we have are programmers chipping away at narrow niches with musical combinations that allow them to reach their targets.