KLTO now playing top 40??

[willdav713]

What was Magic's previous "pre mid 90s" format? Was the previous format any better than the repetitive crud they played in the late 90s?

Magic's format prior to '95 was oldies. It switched from AC to oldies in '88. About two years after KONO got the FM simulcast, Magic started having trouble. So, it went from being a 60's based oldies format to a 70's based format in '93. It was more like the "Arrow" than a 70's pop outlet as it had a healthy dose of both 60's rock and 80's pop. The Arrow, however, was rock based, and Magic combined pop and rock quite well. It was a pretty cool and unique format that was probably a little ahead of its time and, for the most part, failed to catch on.

Magic's format used to be KWED Country until 1987 the same year KCYY signed on. Then it was Oldies of the 50s 60s and 70s until 1990 when KOOL 930 came on they (KOOL) played 50s and 60s oldies this was to battle KONO AM. The 60s and 70s oldies on Magic continued until 1994 the year they tweak their Oldies format to include the 80s. I remember the TV commercial Magic 105.3 the Best Variety of the 60s 70s and the 80s. Sonny Melendrez was pictured holding a compact disc in that commercial. That was the same year he moved from KTFM to KSMG and Dave E Rios moved to KONO. In 1996 they dropped the oldies and became Hot AC as The best variety of the 80s and today dropping the 70s.

 

[fredcantu]

Doing the math, Magic hasn't changed format. They're just sliding forward with the times.
In the 80's they played 50s, 60s and 70s.
In the 90s they played 60s, 70s and 80s.
In the 00s they played 70s, 80s and 90s.
Their branding has changed but they're music has always been gold-based AC.

 

[anthonydt06]

Finally got a chance to closely listen to this station. They seem to have the broadest playlist out of all the CHRs in the city. I'd love to see how the station evolves over the coming days and how Mix and KTFM respond. We're in store for a great CHR war.

 

[Anonymouse]

KLTO has the most veriety.

 

[oscarram1]

In any case, I bet 99.5 is breathing a sigh of relief. Now, I know nothing about radio other than I know what I like but I have to say that it appeared to me that KISS was getting thier butts handed to them until now. In fact, I was thinking that KISS (or Clear Channel) might have had something to do with the sudden format change. I only say that because I've heard that they're no stranger to using bully or buy-out tactics. From the looks of these posts, however, it appears that this might just be a normal thing that happens from time to time. All I know is that there were/are a lot of followers of 97.7 that are now lost. They'll most likely subject themselves again to 99.5's mindless morning chatter and small outdated repititive carousel of what they believe San Antonio wants to hear. Goodbye 97.7 Rock, you will be missed.

 

[Kent]

Magic's format used to be KWED Country until 1987 the same year KCYY signed on.

KWED-FM upgraded its signal to cover all of San Antonio in '84 or '85. It sold to American Media in January '85, and KSMG "Magic 105" launched as an AC in February '85 (source: Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 1986 and FCC call letter records). The AC format never did all that well, and it flipped from AC to oldies in '88.

Then it was Oldies of the 50s 60s and 70s until 1990 when KOOL 930 came on they (KOOL) played 50s and 60s oldies this was to battle KONO AM. The 60s and 70s oldies on Magic continued until 1994 the year they tweak their Oldies format to include the 80s.

KISS 930 flipped to KOOL Gold as part of a corporate directive from Adams Radio. Adams also owned KOOL 960/94.5 in Phoenix, and KOOL 960 was the source of the KOOL Gold satellite network. The company mandated KOOL Gold on all of its AM's with the possible exception of KZOK 1590 in Seattle. At the time, Adams owned AM's in San Diego (KCBQ 1170), Grand Rapids (WLAV 1340), and St. Louis (WRTH 590) in addition to San Antonio, Phoenix and Seattle. I generally remember Magic 105.3 as being a 60's and 70's oldies format, but it's likely it had 50's when it first switched to oldies.

I remember the TV commercial Magic 105.3 the Best Variety of the 60s 70s and the 80s. Sonny Melendrez was pictured holding a compact disc in that commercial. That was the same year he moved from KTFM to KSMG and Dave E Rios moved to KONO. In 1996 they dropped the oldies and became Hot AC as The best variety of the 80s and today dropping the 70s.

I'm thinking Rio & Reyes were fired at the end of '92, and Sonny Melendrez replaced them signing a 3 year/$1.5 million contract, which was the highest contract for a market that size at the time. It was still 60's/70's oldies when he got there. The change to the Best Mix of the 60's, 70's and 80's happened in August '93. Like I said, it was a pretty interesting format. It had some 60's Motown and 60's rock as well as some 80's pop, but the format was 60% to 2/3 70's music. One of the ironies was that Magic 105.3 dismantled KISS when Adams Radio went belly up and Rusk bought it from them while a former Adams station, KCBQ-FM 105.3, switched to 70's centric oldies at the same time as Magic's flip.

 

[Radio3787]

Party 97-7 Sounds really good! Fresh sound that SA hasn't had in a long time.

Same logo as the Party 93-3 (originally Party 104.9 before downgraded, and 100.7 House Party even before that) in Houston/Beaumont area.

Hopefully the Party in San Antonio will have better success than the one in Houston.

 

[saradio1]

Finally got a chance to closely listen to this station. They seem to have the broadest playlist out of all the CHRs in the city. I'd love to see how the station evolves over the coming days and how Mix and KTFM respond. We're in store for a great CHR war.

Mix and KTFM wont respond until their numbers decrease. Give it a month or two before any real tweaking takes place at either station.

This is highly unlikely but I would like to see Univision spend some cash on advertisement(billboards) from downtown on south and east.

Anyhow, back to the PARTY!!!! ;D

 

[nojustice]

KLTO...

Well...I like the format, and the music sounds on target.

However...they need to get the calls and imaging in every two songs at least not 3 or 4. Since most people lock down the stations they like with presets the chances of any ktfm or mix folks hearing them is kind of slim.

They have got to advertise to be of any threat.

Even as a Flanker...word of mouth was not enough for the rock format to make a difference and the same can be said of
this one.

No one can listen if they do not know you are there. Simple as that.

They should at least put on a solid morning jock and afternoon jock also. the rest can VT.

 

[fredcantu]

The "seek" function may get them some listeners for those using it to to go up and down the dial between Mix and Beat. And of course they're using social media to get the word out.

 

[saradio1]

According to Allaccess:

PD HOMIE MARCO is handling PD duties at PARTY 97-7, but he will be overseeing a jockless, music-driven outlet.

Having a jockless station isn't a big deal but atleast get a generic website like X106.7 and start streaming. Unfortunately, 97.7 signal isn't strong enough to penetrate office buildings in the NW side.

 

[prodigy3]

This is pretty exciting something new to SA, I'm tuning in now, idk maybe it'll transform to an actual station with personalities soon. I would love to see The Beat go to a more Urban sound like KMEL and Party sounding like Wild 94.9 with music intros exciting fast pace programming.

Idk San Antonio sounding like a market size like The Bay is probably unrealistic but not impossible.

 

[wild949austin]

This is pretty exciting something new to SA, I'm tuning in now, idk maybe it'll transform to an actual station with personalities soon. I would love to see The Beat go to a more Urban sound like KMEL and Party sounding like Wild 94.9 with music intros exciting fast pace programming.

Idk San Antonio sounding like a market size like The Bay is probably unrealistic but not impossible.

I agree. Just like San Francisco, San Antonio is a rhythmic-leaning CHR market. Wild 94.9 is so successful in SF, because it doesn't take the hardcore Hip Hop songs like The Beat does, and also it doesn't take the softer Pop songs like Mix (or KTFM) does. Wild plays everything in between.

I think if Wild 94.9 was in San Antonio, it would be number 1 or 2 in the ratings. For sure, the number one CHR station.

 

[saradio1]

Cool Videomix created by Party 97-7
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1821795710484&oid=137257566336668&comments&ref=mf

 

[prodigy3]

I agree. Just like San Francisco, San Antonio is a rhythmic-leaning CHR market. Wild 94.9 is so successful in SF, because it doesn't take the hardcore Hip Hop songs like The Beat does, and also it doesn't take the softer Pop songs like Mix (or KTFM) does. Wild plays everything in between.

I think if Wild 94.9 was in San Antonio, it would be number 1 or 2 in the ratings. For sure, the number one CHR station.

Exactly, I went to California for the first time in January and the radio scene there is great! I love The Bay and LA radio they both have a completely different feel.

I could see Austin being more like The Bay because the stations there seem to be a little more risky than SA and the opportunity for creativity is more likely there than in SA.

I cant wait to see what's to come from this though maybe the Beat will be making some drastic changes into a more Urban sound because the Party name was used as a RHY formatted station and the name reminds me of Wild so much.. Only time will tell.

 

[fredcantu]

Tell me again how San Francisco and San Antonio are similar except for both being named after saints. The ethnic and cultural makeup is different. The housing and job markets are totally different. The radio scene is totally different-- Three of the top five stations in San Francisco are news or talk, for goodness sakes. So what makes you think what works in SF radio wouuld work here?

 

[prodigy3]

Tell me again how San Francisco and San Antonio are similar except for both being named after saints. The ethnic and cultural makeup is different. The housing and job markets are totally different. The radio scene is totally different-- Three of the top five stations in San Francisco are news or talk, for goodness sakes. So what makes you think what works in SF radio wouuld work here?

I think you misunderstood because I would once compare a place as mediocre as San Antonio to San Fran or Los Angeles. What I was stating was that I could see Austin providing more of a variety on the dial like The Bay area does because Austin has a quirky and pretty unusual depth to music, with SXSW it is only evident that there is a desire for music there and with so many different genres of music appreciated in that city it would only be acceptable.

I will agree the radio scene is extremely different, but why does San Antonio and Austin radio have to be the way it is? When I go to parties they are streaming radio stations from other cities and not listening to the ones here.

If you listen to KMEL and Wild 94.9 you would understand that that unique sound and energy in their programming could easily work here in San Antonio. That goes to having a better and more unique imaging package, a website that actually has somebody that knows photoshop and is artistically creative doing images, and a playlist thats a little more dynamic.

 

[Anonymouse]

I think The Beat should go Urban. I was in Houston the other day and KBXX / 97.9 The Box sounded a lot better than KBBT. It had a lot more REAL hip-hop and more R&B and less pop.

 

[saradio1]

I think The Beat should go Urban. I was in Houston the other day and KBXX / 97.9 The Box sounded a lot better than KBBT. It had a lot more REAL hip-hop and more R&B and less pop.

It would be foolish for The Beat to go 100% Hip Hop right now. KTFM and Mix have both been pulling numbers from The Beat. The best senario for The Beat is wait for Party to take off and then go back to Hip Hop/R&B format. But even then that could be a risky move as more and more stations are pulling away from that format, especially in markets that do not have a large African American community.

Back to Party 97-7. This station has descent chance (and I say decent because of the signal otherwise I would have used the word "strong") the potential of really pulling listeners from both KTFM and Mix. The station sound fresh and exciting. And the current music trend support the upbeat tempo the station currently has. Props for Univision for thinking outside the box and doing something a bit more creative. Imaging sux but ehhh who cares....it's about the music.

PARTY ON!!!! ;D

 

[fredcantu]

When I go to parties they are streaming radio stations from other cities and not listening to the ones here.

Travelling Broadway shows will fill the UT PAC, but that doesn't mean there's enough audience to support a local 24/7 showtunes radio station.