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KBSG is now B 97.3

T

The Shadow

Guest
Just noticed this morning that KBSG is now The New B 97.3. Sounds like the same jock lineup, and pretty much the same late 60's, 70's and some 80's music.

There is new imaging and new jingles.

The calendar flips to August and a Seattle station has a new identity.
 
ok so what's different?
Music format has happened over the last few months. They've been playing this version for a few weeks.
Jocks are the same except Stitch Mitchell on 7p-12m starting tonight.
The jingles are weak.
What's with this B 97.3? Is it their attempt at change while claiming nothing's changed?
Sounds like more of the same to me...identity crisis version B
 
Maybe its one more step to distance themselves from the "oldies" moniker. KBSG is long-known for being an Oldies station. Kill that ID and you're one step further from the old identity. That's my theory. Yours?
 
So much for Oldies, eh?

Well, at least they're being honest about what they're playing now. It would've really turned my stomach to have heard, say, a Paula Abdul song on an "Oldies" station.

So enjoy your Toto and Bee Gees hits folks, but what a crime you can't even turn on the radio anymore and hear Elvis or any of the other greats from the 50's and 60's without having to sit through America and Bread cuts in between.
 
Remember when KVI did "Elvis at 8"?

Can't imagine any of these modern "classic hits" stations even considering such a feature.
 
Come August 16th, it will have been 30 years since the King made that last trip to the restroom at Graceland.

On radio dials around Seattle, I predict we'll hear nothing about it, except maybe the sound of crickets. Beyond belief an Oldies station would dump the Oldies handle on the eve of the anniversary of the death of arguably the greatest of the greats in the Oldies universe or otherwise.

Programmers: you're welcome for the reminder it's been 30 years since Elvis died. One would think that's classic/oldies enough for everyone, but no, how about some Toto from 1982? Stay tuned for Styx (lasers).

I'm not an Elvis fanatic, by the way, I just enjoy rock and roll. Perhaps that's the problem.
 
Not to worry...they are focus group testing this now.

"Using the dials at your seats, please rate your reaction to the following terms: ELVIS .... GRACELAND ....SUSPICIOUS MINDS (treat this as a PHRASE, please) .... BATHROOM .... QUALUDE ..... PEANUT BUTTER .... BARBITUATE ..... UPCHUCK .... "
 
I was glancing at yes.com and noticed a Beatles song played on the new b 97.3 at 2pm and again around 2:20pm, one at 4pm, another at 4:30, then one at 5, and another at 5:30pm. Mixed in are classics like Eye of the Tiger and Kokomo.

This station is right up my alley!
 
Seems like the standard adjustment for Oldies stations. Lean the station a bit younger and a bit more pop and change the slogan and imaging.

The big problem with stations like KBSG is that the call letters mean Oldies and no matter what they do people think of it as an Oldies station, which is why an image change was needed. My concern is that it is getting pretty crowded in that 70's/80's arena with KZOK, KJR-FM, KRWM, JACK and even stations like KPLZ and KQMV borrow from those eras.

60's based radio stations are disappearing because the audience is now pretty much over the age of 55, out of the sales demo. Yes the sales department just killed another format.
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
Not to worry...they are focus group testing this now.

"Using the dials at your seats, please rate your reaction to the following terms: ELVIS .... GRACELAND ....SUSPICIOUS MINDS (treat this as a PHRASE, please) .... BATHROOM .... QUALUDE ..... PEANUT BUTTER .... BARBITUATE ..... UPCHUCK .... "
Click to expand...

LBB, u just gave me my first laugh for today!
 
djdan said:
60's based radio stations are disappearing because the audience is now pretty much over the age of 55, out of the sales demo. Yes the sales department just killed another format.
Click to expand...

WRONG! It's not the "sales department"- it's the big-money advertisers who are not using radio to target 55+ consumers. It's just that simple. And, even fi they were, Oldies would be splitting revenues with competitors in country, AC, N/T, jazz, urban AC and a few other formats. Oldies NEVER, ever was the #1 choice among 55+ listeners, anyway. Go back and look at your Arbitrons and if you pull out 55+ adults, Oldies almost always trailed country stations, news/talk and others. I love Oldies but this myth is out there, propogated by radio geeks, that suggests most 55+ listeners would automatically listen to Oldies if it existed in it's past form (era spanning late 50s into the early 70s).

So, in short- your issue should be with advertisers using other media to target 55+ consumers, not GMs, PDs, GSMs and sellers.
 
dan_greenberg1500 said:
I was glancing at yes.com and noticed a Beatles song played on the new b 97.3 at 2pm and again around 2:20pm, one at 4pm, another at 4:30, then one at 5, and another at 5:30pm. Mixed in are classics like Eye of the Tiger and Kokomo.

This station is right up my alley!
Click to expand...

Dan, thanks for turning me on to yes.com. What a fun site. KBSG or, I should say B97.3 looks better on paper than it sounds on the radio. If you want to look at a really cool station log, check out KLTH. Great assortment of 60s and 70s including rarely played (especially in Seattle) hits like No Milk Today by Hermans Hermits, Journey To The Center Of My Mind by the Amboy Dukes and the ultra rarity, Hip Hug-Her by Booker T & The MG's.
Now THAT is how to program a station.
I hope KLTH's ratings are through the roof tomorrow.
 
The sales department has the task of selling the product. Sometimes the product is just not strong enough to garner results, and a change has to take place. Hey I'm the former (latest) imaging guy at KBSG, and even I understand change in this business. David Logan is a smart dude, and will steer the station to it's new level as best he can. It's not easy to do this, and some heads (including mine) roll. It's how change is accomplished. The truth is that the word "oldies" brings up images of The Shirelles, and Dion, and Chevy's, and malt shops..images that were popular in the late 50's and early 60's. A college graduate from that era now would be nearly 70. That's a demographic that is hard to sway as far as buying habits go, and harder still to satisfy with one radio station..and one poster earlier noted that these folks tend to listen to other formats..just like the people in thier 80's don't all just sit in thier chairs staring at the radio loning for the "good old days"

The challenge will be to take the various eras of hits, and make them compelling. Some Journey, Frampton, and Badfinger, and Billy Joel songs are from over 30 years ago. It will just have to be seen as to what happens..and new imaging is a key element in making it come together.

I'll miss working with KBSG.

Jeff Laurence
www.jefflaurence.com
 
What many of our fellow Oldies freaks don't get, however, is that you can't make an advertiser change their goals and philosophies. You don't think major corporations like McDonalds, Toyota, Dell, P&G, etc., spend millions and millions each year researching for potential consumers? Just like successful radio stations research their listeners for musical tastes, big bucks companies do, too- they want to know who they have the most potential to sell their product to AND who they can potentially keep over time.

Do we believe there's great potential revenue to be made from 50+? Sure we do. But that's not going to necessarily convince million dollar advertisers to suddenly stop concentrating on 18-49 and 25-54.

Frankly, had Oldies been smart about it 15 years ago, the slow and steady evolution would have begun then. Instead, the "ride the horse 'till it drops" mindset put Oldies in a jackpot a couple of years ago when it was obvious much of their audience was aging out of 25-54 AND that advertisers weren't going to move to 35-64. By the time they scrambled and started changing it was not only too late but it felt like a format change to the upper end of their core. Oops.
 
It's not exactly that the 55 year old demo "can't be sold."

It's more like radio does not have sales people that can SELL advertisers on that demo.

Generally most radio sales people are in their 20's or 30's, with a few exceptions. Most "marketing geniuses" at advertising agencies are in their 30's and 20's. They have nothing in common with or know nothing about a 55+ person and what their needs and desires might be. Their desire to be hip and connected naturally leads them toward clientelle and stations that match their own interests and needs demographically.

Rather than spend the money to hire and pay well seasoned veteran radio sales pros who can relate to the demo and sell it properly they choose to change the format to something they can sell easier, faster, and cheaper.
 
LBB, LOL!

The new handle for KBSG is probably a good move. The 55+ audience won't care, as long as the music still meets their expectations. The upside is it might bring in new cume.


LBB, check your mailbox for the dvd I promised. Please let me know what you think about it...
 
I think eventually, going off demos, they'll drop the 60s entirely and just become a 70s/80s pop/rock station, almost like the old short-lived KLTX 95.7 (as far as I can remember... I was a young teenager back then) right before they became the first incarnation of KJR-FM back in the mid 90's.
 
notalent said:
It's not exactly that the 55 year old demo "can't be sold."

It's more like radio does not have sales people that can SELL advertisers on that demo.

Generally most radio sales people are in their 20's or 30's, with a few exceptions. Most "marketing geniuses" at advertising agencies are in their 30's and 20's. They have nothing in common with or know nothing about a 55+ person and what their needs and desires might be. Their desire to be hip and connected naturally leads them toward clientelle and stations that match their own interests and needs demographically.

Rather than spend the money to hire and pay well seasoned veteran radio sales pros who can relate to the demo and sell it properly they choose to change the format to something they can sell easier, faster, and cheaper.
Click to expand...

You didn't read my post correctly. It's not radio sellers in their 20s or agency wonks in their 30s that's the challenge- it's the advertising geniuses who spend millions annually researching their consumers who've decided not to target 55+ consumers using radio.

And, as far as "it's not like 55+ can't be sold", this may come as a major shock but there are no 55+ spot buys coming down the pike today- NONE. In fact, almost no 35-64 buys, either. It's almost all 18-49 and 25-54 (or a subset cell within those broad demos). Could some small market station get a few hundred bucks a week here & there targeting 55+, sure. Can they flourish on buys like that- no way.
 
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