KFRO & KFRO-FM Adds TJ Show

[Deleted member 108832]

This morning, KFRO 1370, 99.7 and 94.1 was airing "The TJ Show" weekend recap, and promoting the show's upcoming Monday lineup. A couple of months ago, KFRO added Delilah in the evenings.

This is the first time I've heard a morning show on 99.7 since KVUT was still utilizing the signal. Also to note, that there has been a noticable change in music direction on the station. A lot less Disco/late 70's type fare, as of late, and a sizable dose of 80's with a whole lot more recent pop and alternate hits being played now.

The musical shift takes KFRO further away from KDOK and KZQX, and places it somewhere closer to Jack and Great FM in J'ville.

Personal opinion is that if Jack is to bid adieu to East Texas, then this could easily be seen as a worthy replacement to the lost format, but if Variety Hits stays on KOOI, and with Great FM using a near identical approach to the featured music KFRO is now playing, the field looks to be getting awfully crowded.

Here's the stream for KFRO-FM. Take a moment to have a listen and let's hear your thoughts. Country is king here. Can being the 3rd Adult Hits station in the area work out for Scottie Rice?

KFRO - Free Internet Radio - Live365

East Texas Greatest Hits. 94.1 Longview and 99.7 Tyler/Jacksonville

live365.com

 

[lanceventa]

Prefacing that I do some strategic consulting work for the station.

KFRO added TJ for mornings last Spring. The Saturday morning edition was added this week. The musical changes you note took place awhile ago as well with the more recent music currently isolated to during Delilah as it is part of the show itself. There are a few other things percolating.

Any perceived similarities to KDOK/KZQX and KKGT have come from them countering moves first made by KFRO as it evolved from Oldies to Classic Hits. They have their niches, KFRO is carving a larger one for itself.

We're don't look at any of the stations you mentioned as direct competition. There's a wide unfilled audience we've found not being served in the Tyler/Longview market in the 25-54 demographic.

 

[markdshark]

The TJ show has been on KFRO and KFRO-FM since June. KOOI is a Jack which is a modified Classic Hits. KZQX and KDOK are basically defacto oldies stations, targeting 60+, and Great FM is basically an ipod on random shuffle. Ive listened to The Spot in Dallas and Houston for years and KFRO appears to be a Spot for East Texas.

 

[Richard Sanders]

Is Country still "King" in this market? That would have been my assumption too, but then I looked at the ratings at Radio Online. Hip Hop, Christian and Urban pretty consistently occupy the top 3 slots over the last two years. Country is 4th, 10th and 11th. You get to about an 11 or 12 most books if you combine the three Country stations. But, you can make a similar argument by combining the Christian stations in the market. In fact, that gets you to an even larger number than combining the country stations. I'll defer since it sounds like you are in market and probably have access to better data. Just pointing out that 'this neck of the woods' doesn't seem as Country dominant as it once was.

 

[markdshark]

Is Country still "King" in this market? That would have been my assumption too, but then I looked at the ratings at Radio Online. Hip Hop, Christian and Urban pretty consistently occupy the top 3 slots over the last two years. Country is 4th, 10th and 11th. You get to about an 11 or 12 most books if you combine the three Country stations. But, you can make a similar argument by combining the Christian stations in the market. In fact, that gets you to an even larger number than combining the country stations. I'll defer since it sounds like you are in market and probably have access to better data. Just pointing out that 'this neck of the woods' doesn't seem as Country dominant as it once was.

Country music nationwide is down due to the music.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

Country music nationwide is down due to the music.

The sheer number of country-formatted stations in ETX is not, however. That was more my point, here, than the actual format.

 

[lanceventa]

The sheer number of country-formatted stations in ETX is not, however. That was more my point, here, than the actual format.

Two current based Country stations in a market especially in the south is pretty standard. As is usually one Classic Country one.

Speaking of them though... KYKX added Big D & Bubba for mornings today replacing Bobby Bones. Same show the former ownership cancelled from the Ranch last year. Move more about Connoisseur cutting Bones nationally than bringing back Big D & Bubba.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

Two current based Country stations in a market especially in the south is pretty standard. As is usually one Classic Country one.

Those, of course, are licensed directly to Tyler or Longview, and are ratings subscribers. That's not taking into account the little guys like K-Moo, The Depot, KYYK, KWRD, or KCKL, but I fully understand what you are saying. We aren't even a blip on the Connoisseur or Townsquare radar, but a blip it remains to someone out there who prefers the little town radio station approach to the format.

Speaking of them though... KYKX added Big D & Bubba for mornings today replacing Bobby Bones. Same show the former ownership cancelled from the Ranch last year. Move more about Connoisseur cutting Bones nationally than bringing back Big D & Bubba.

A tip of the hat Connoisseur's way for that, and one towards you for the heads-up. Big D & Bubba have always maintained a good following here in ETX, which seemed pretty obvious from the backlash Townsquare received from ditching them on KNUE after 21 years.

Glad to hear they have returned to the market once again. I imagine, once Tylerites and Longviewians realize that the show is, once again, available for our area, there will be much rejoicing on the streets.

 

[Chuxgarage]

Prefacing that I do some strategic consulting work for the station.

KFRO added TJ for mornings last Spring. The Saturday morning edition was added this week. The musical changes you note took place awhile ago as well with the more recent music currently isolated to during Delilah as it is part of the show itself. There are a few other things percolating.

Any perceived similarities to KDOK/KZQX and KKGT have come from them countering moves first made by KFRO as it evolved from Oldies to Classic Hits. They have their niches, KFRO is carving a larger one for itself.

We're don't look at any of the stations you mentioned as direct competition. There's a wide unfilled audience we've found not being served in the Tyler/Longview market in the 25-54 demographic.

Actually Lance, when KFRO went back to music, it was almost a clone of KZQX. I even had people call me asking "Aren't you pissed off that someone stole your format?" Really. All oldies/classic hits stations are a moving target. The playlist has to evolve. Overtime, KFRO has made much bigger changes in its format and presentation than KZQX or KDOK.

 

[Holstead]

I was 'in country' a few months back. They all sounded about the same to me. I'm pretty sure i heard the same Michael McDonald song on four signals in the same hour. What I did hear on KFRO was a bunch of local spots and community stuff (which is good.) They were <however> loose. *Long fades, spots of dead air, etc. Almost sounded like it was by design. Not saying it was bad, it was just different.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

Actually Lance, when KFRO went back to music, it was almost a clone of KZQX. I even had people call me asking "Aren't you pissed off that someone stole your format?" Really. All oldies/classic hits stations are a moving target. The playlist has to evolve. Overtime, KFRO has made much bigger changes in its format and presentation than KZQX or KDOK.

Speaking of evolving, I'm hearing things like Hootie and the Blowfish and Guns N' Roses on K-DOK, lately.

With that being the case, and I sure never expected to hear GNR on 95.7 (Hootie either, for that matter), can I request some Black Sabbath, Chuck? 96X only goes back to the later Ozzy solo years. No one plays the good Sabbath hits anymore, that I can find, on my Tyler-Longview radio dial.

 

[Chuxgarage]

Speaking of evolving, I'm hearing things like Hootie and the Blowfish and Guns N' Roses on K-DOK, lately.

With that being the case, and I sure never expected to hear GNR on 95.7 (Hootie either, for that matter), can I request some Black Sabbath, Chuck? 96X only goes back to the later Ozzy solo years. No one plays the good Sabbath hits anymore, that I can find, on my Tyler-Longview radio dial.

Why not Hootie? They were big at one time. The playlist is always a moving target. As long as it's a good song, I'm pretty good with it. I'm not sure we want to go very far into Heavy Metal, but I know it has its fans. I'm actually surprised that someone isn't doing a hard rock format. Maybe you should send me a list of suggested songs. You can send an email through the web site.