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KKOB-FM Rebrands As 93.3 The Q

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/181804/kkob-fm-rebrands-as-93-3-the-q/

As of this posting there will be no lineup changes for the air staff.

Cumulus Media has relaunched CHR 93.3 KKOB-FM Albuquerque as “93.3 The Q” KOBQ.

No lineup changes accompany the rebranding as the station retains Carlos & Kiki in mornings, Rachael in middays, Chico Suave in afternoons and the syndicated Tino Cochino Radio in evenings. The move away from the KOB-FM branding and KKOB-FM call letters helps differentiate the station from sister News/Talk 770 KKOB, which has been putting much more emphasis on its 94.5 translator frequency
Click to expand...
 
93.3 has been known as KOB for maybe as long as it has existed, so they just removed a decades old identity from the station. However as it has established itself as the market's mainstream CHR for the last 16 or so years it will not likely have any impact other than maybe some confusion for listeners for a while. Of course 770 has had the KOB id the longest, even longer than channel 4. So Cumulus wants to promote the 250 watt FM translator over the 50,000 watt AM "blowtorch"? That is how valuable FM is now! The FM so far has not shown any overall ratings improvement (whenever Cumulus stations are listed) but is it helping bring in the younger demos would be the bigger question.
 
I still think removing a heritage identity is just...wrong. Everyone knew it as KOB, they won't call it 'The Q'. Or whatever they also wanted to call it.
 
crainbebo said:
I still think removing a heritage identity is just...wrong. Everyone knew it as KOB, they won't call it 'The Q'. Or whatever they also wanted to call it.
Click to expand...

The issue was to better separate the (K)KOB brands on FM. Since the AM has a translator, and one that covers essentially all the rated metro population, it was not a good idea to split the brand when the majority of the news-talk station audience is also on FM.

The youth audience of the FM, mostly in 18-24 and 25-34, does not understand the heritage of the AM calls, and does not care about call letters at all. The name they picked seems a bit 70's, but it is still easy to assimilate. I don't know why they did not use B-93 instead of the Q, but that is a separate discussion.
 
This has happened in a couple of other places, too, as AM's start getting FM translators. WDAY-FM “Y-94” in Fargo, ND ditched the heritage calls a few years ago for KOYY due to WDAY (AM), no longer a sister station, getting an FM translator.

I’m always a little disappointed to see a heritage brand go away, too. Of course, we have to remember why there are so few heritage brands in the first place. Brands go stale all-the-time, and the station that doesn’t is the exception, not the rule.
 
It looks like the KKOB-FM call letters will be coming back soon. Cumulus recently put in a request for them but it is unknown where they will go. Could they be planning to give 770 a full FM companion channel? If so the most likely station would be 96.3 since it would not make much sense to flip any of the other 4 signals. But who knows! Just see what happens.
 
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