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Kix 102.9

C

carolinaradio

Looking at the latest ratings 6+, what on earth is happening to Kix 102.9? Down to almost a 1 share?

Is it time to surrender to 100.7 as the classic hits station? The only real musical difference is that 100.7 still shys away from some most disco/R&B tracks, but I bet they'd pick them up if 102.9 flipped. Last time I heard 102.9, they had greatly declined from the days when they were Y-102.9, IMO.

'QDR seems to be the only truly strong Curtis station anymore. I wonder if putting Pulse (who is doing quite well, given the signal challenges) on 102.9 would be a smart move?
 
Pulse would do great on 102.9. The two signals together are not really that good. I'm surprised at how well they're doing.
 
I'd put Pulse on 96.9 and simulcast La Ley on 102.3 and 102.9. You'd get Pulse coverage on 96.9 in the triangle and down east. You'd still get triangle coverage and some down east coverage on La Ley, just my 2 cents worth. As in my user name, I grew up on WEQR 96.9 in the 80's, which was a high energy hits station. I actually won several American Top 40 albums when Casey Kasem was the host. WEQR would run AT40 twice a weekend and after Sunday night's show would draw a winner at random for the albums. Good times indeed, miss them. ;D
 
The problem with Pulse is Raleigh does not get a city grade signal from either transmitter. Blasts into Durham, but Raleigh and Cary are where the population resides.
 
^ Exactly. I don't really see any major changes like that, but I think 102.3 and 96.9 would have to simulcast, since 96.9 doesn't seem to put a solid signal in to the Durham side.

Pulse does extremely well to not cover Raleigh and Cary well, IMO. Way better than Kix. Curtis is kinda having issues right now, aside from QDR....maybe Pulse on 102.9 or even 96.9/102.3? would give the cluster a nice boost. The 102.9 signal has issues on the very fringes of the market, but it DOES give city-grade coverage to Raleigh/Cary and most of Durham. It's just that it's not very powerful.

Either way, I don't see how the Triangle can support two classic hits stations forever, and it's starting to look like 100.7 is bagging that audience. If 102.9 were to change, look for 100.7 to, as I mentioned, pick up the disco/R&B that it is still resistant to and perhaps change names. CC is really in to the "Oldies" brand lately...
 
Actually by the end, Oldies 100.7 was so gutted that it sounded pretty pathetic. In the heyday it was one of the best Oldies stations there was.

Y102.9 was cool at sign-on. They lost their way though. Badly.
 
w00t said:
Actually by the end, Oldies 100.7 was so gutted that it sounded pretty pathetic. In the heyday it was one of the best Oldies stations there was.

Y102.9 was cool at sign-on. They lost their way though. Badly.
Click to expand...
I agree about Oldies 100.7. When I moved to Raleigh in 2000, they were fantastic. The year they flipped, though, they really sounded rough. The playlist seemed tighter than ever and they had that awful 'signing off' stunt. They finally got the sense to dump JB&B (another mistake) a few months before the flip, but it was too late.

I think 102.9 re-branding as "Kix" was a mistake. I know Curtis loves to use the 'Kix' brand, but that's better suited for a country station, IMO. I realize those are heritage calls/branding, but can't help but wonder if they are really relevant anymore, seeing how extremely transient the market is. I liked "Y" way more. A name change at 100.7 sometime this year wouldn't surprise me...would complete their transition to mainstream classic hits and give them a somewhat cleaner slate. Hearing The Turtles and Wild Cherry on a station calling itself "River" seems...odd. CC has re-branded a handful of their classic hits stations as 'Oldies' in the past year.
 
Is this the one that kids tested and mother approved??????? LOL JK ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D ;) ;) ;) ;) :) :) :) :) Just kiddink. Has anybody heard what Pat Patterson is doing now!?????????
 
carolinaradio said:
I think 102.9 re-branding as "Kix" was a mistake. I know Curtis loves to use the 'Kix' brand, but that's better suited for a country station, IMO. I realize those are heritage calls/branding, but can't help but wonder if they are really relevant anymore, seeing how extremely transient the market is. I liked "Y" way more.
Click to expand...
Here's an idea. Take the format that was on 570 AM and put it on 102.9 and call it Kix.

Don't close your eyes to my idea.
 
I think 102.9 has tripped up a little bit along the way...at one time embracing too many 80s titles (especially "Baby, What A Big Surprise" by Chicago) that MIX would/could play.

It would have been nice if they had just embraced the call letters "W-K-I-X" and branded themselves that way...MIX 101.5 understands the value of keeping the legendary call letters as part of their brand. Maybe paying too much attention to MIX and not enough time developing their own image/brand.

Feels like 102.9 branding as "KIX one-oh-two-nine" is too close to "MIX one-oh-one-point-five" Be a little different!

As far as The River goes, once again Clear Channel sits on top of a lower powered FM at CMG (i.e. KISS vs. Pulse) - had 102.9 kept their music focused and MARKETED it - things could be a little different in the ratings. But that 100.7 signal is pretty strong...
 
I just heard the Commodores on The River

now the same format on the strongest FM east of the mountains vs a pea shooter
...Kix is toast
 
100.7 is the 12th strongest FM signal in the U.S. covering over 10,000 sq miles and can be heard in three states; NC, SC and VA.

The thing about oldies/classic hits is it's not a 25-54 format. You shoot for 25-54 to own 35-64 (target of 45-54) but it'll never be a 25-54 format. It can only evolve so far. Presentation, talent and content will win as the music can be had anywhere. With that said it has to be the RIGHT music mix. Specialty programming goes a long way, especially on weekends, to keep the playlist from burning. Very important.

The WKIX calls are legendary in the Raleigh metro to those over 50. I have copies of the original jingle package and we used to air them at WTRG/100.7. Station was a great sounding one... save for JB&B and the death grip playlist that was instituted in '04 along with jettisoning theme weekends and putting on a 70s Sunday show that featured more classic rock than pop. Bowie and Clapton? Told them it wouldn't work. And it didn't. Despite the tight playlist and buffoon management the station did well in the ratings. Better than it should have. Was #1 M25-54 AM drive at the flip beating sister WRDU. But doing so well with JB&B fans is what killed the rest of the station. JB&B were parked on WTRG summer 2001 after being removed from WRDU (in favor of Bob and Tom). Was a Corporate decision. And a bad one. The live morning show of "Tuna & Co" was doing well and gaining. JB&B weren't supposed to be on the station long. Three years later we finally got them off and numbers started to rise across the board with a VT'k AM show via Charleston. But it was too late. Then CC SVPP Marc Chase wasn't a fan of the format. He would flip eight oldies stations in the SE between 2003-2005.

Now oldies/pop classic hits is back, and strong, with PPM. As "carolinaradio" mentioned even CC, who "banned the term oldies at one point from imaging, has re-branded a few stations using Oldies, in major markets like St. Louis and Seattle.

The PD's who came through there; Dave Solomon and Steve Cannon (and myself) knew what they were doing. It was upper mgmt that had no clue.
 
100.7 is the absolute dullest station I have ever heard, from any format.

What happened to Kix? That station was decent at least.
 
100.7 needs new imaging to accomodate their new musical approach. It sounds too much like a...I don't know...album rock station? Clear Channel's other classic hits/oldies stations do have some personality and energy. That is why I predict a name change/re-imaging of the station sometime this year. 100.7 is full on pop classic hits now, IMO...all of the classic rock tracks are pretty much gone. Agree that the imaging is dull, but the music's not bad.

I don't really know what happened to 102.9, but I don't know how they're going to compete with 100.7, who is sounding more and more like them. If 100.7 re-images to sound more like a regular classic hits station (like CC has in St. Louis, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Seattle, etc), then they're definitely toast. I say put Pulse on 102.9.

VODood: agree on all points about 100.7. I moved to the area before it started to decline (~2000, before the addition of JB&B) and moved shortly after the flip. The horrendously tight playlist, coupled with JB&B and that awful "signing off" stunt really ruined them in the last year, IMO. I remember that they blew the once-powerhouse oldies station in Charlotte, Magic 96.1, up just a couple of months before Oldies 100.7. I always liked Magic just a bit more, musically, but personal preference. Not to mention they blew up the ones in D.C., Orlando, Charleston, Memphis, etc.
Who would've ever thought that oldies, albeit updated, would return to 100.7...
 
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