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KMPS is now 94.1 The Sound

I

iamarussianpirate

KMPS flipped at 9:12 this morning to a very soft AC - 94.1 The Sound. First song was Lionel Richie - Hello.

Sad day for radio in Seattle. A heritage station that will be missed.
 
Raise of hands to show:
A.) Who didn't exactly see this coming?
B.) Who thinks one of iHeart's or Hubbard's stations will pick up where they left off?
 
Last edited:
They obviously were reading the genius programming tips from this board...they played Kokomo one hour in.

Robin and Maynard in mornings coming next? XD
 
98.9 or 96.5 might flip to country. would be nice, but not likely, if Entercom will let go of the KMPS calls.
 
Nice little shoutout:

"Thank you KMPS for the great years. We'll work hard to be your #1 source for new country in Seattle."

Oh, and 989 in a row.
 
ksradiogeek said:
Raise of hands to show:
A.) Who didn't exactly see this coming?
B.) Who thinks one of iHeart's or Hubbard's stations will pick up where they left off?
Click to expand...

Anyone who had their eyes (and ears) open saw this coming. All of the 'so called' experts on this board were saying that KMPS would be back after the 25th. (Simply because some on air personality said so on their Twitter feed...when are on air personalities in the know? All they know is that they live by their ratings...and if they are down for an extended period, they are kicked out of the door.) Either they were wrong, or it was just wishful thinking. The new call letters for 94.1 MHz will be KSWD, that used to be in Los Angeles @ 100.3. This is the end of an area...43 years in total if one counts that KMPS started out on 1300 kHz in 1975.

Hubbard jumped on the opportunity and flipped 98.9 to country. Calling the station 'Country 98-9' seem so generic, but maybe that is what Marc Kaye likes...gotta keep the emperor happy over there in the fiefdom of Factoria. If Hubbard keeps 98.9 in a sterile presentation form, they will do no better than classic rock did on that frequency. Maybe they'll pick up the 'fired' personalities from KMPS, which would be good.
 
Jonathan7157 said:
I agree. In fact, it was a suicide move, as KMPS was ranked higher than 100.7.
Click to expand...

KKWF is Entercom's country station. They kept KMPS after the merger to get it out of the way of KKWF.

This happened before in the spring of 1996, when KMPS (owned by EZ communications) acquired then country KRPM (owned by Heritage) and flipped it to classic R&B (as Kiss 106), before flipping it to CHR in '97 and branded as KISS 106.1 (KBKS).
 
KXA said:
What does KISS gotta do with country?
Click to expand...

I believe it has to do with KBKS not doing as well in the ratings, and the fact that they are lagging behind competitor KPLZ (Star 101.5).

However, KVRQ (Rock 98.9) has seldom, at most, had decent ratings, let alone the fact that they haven't beaten KISW, KZOK, or KNDD.
 
ksradiogeek said:
Raise of hands to show:
A.) Who didn't exactly see this coming?
B.) Who thinks one of iHeart's or Hubbard's stations will pick up where they left off?
Click to expand...

C.) Who actually gives a s---
Anyone. ANYONE???

This would be a STORY if we lost a signal and replaced it with something compelling and interesting. But we know both of these "new" stations represent very little more than moving a SiriusXM channel from one allocation to another.
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
C.) Who actually gives a s---
Anyone. ANYONE???
Click to expand...

Well, ya got your diehard KMPS fans who wanna know what happened to their station. And, ya know, people who actively work in this business (i.e. this guy right here). At least I'm not someone like we all know who on this board who simply talks for the sake of demanding being heard...
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
C.) Who actually gives a s---
Anyone. ANYONE???

This would be a STORY if we lost a signal and replaced it with something compelling and interesting. But we know both of these "new" stations represent very little more than moving a SiriusXM channel from one allocation to another.
Click to expand...

It is a story...a 43 year heritage station blown up, for Michael Bolton and friends. You must work for Entercom, and you don't want to lose your job, which makes sense.

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?706157-KMPS-is-now-full-on-Christmas
 
I don't mean it as a rant on you .... it's a rant on "the big picture". We are at the point where we pull up chairs to the campfire and eagerly see who is going to make their station just like a bazillion OTHER stations around the country. Namely...a music base...some recorded imaging....a catchy nickname, and "talent" that is instructed to promote the key contest, remind people of a couple of sales-infused promotions, and hit that positioning liner about a billion times.

So when a "format" shifts from one place to another ... I shrug. I also am a little upset as I was part of the country KAYO (Seattle AM not South Sound) legacy and watched that station get kicked by KMPS-AM and later the FM. Good people have gone through that FM, including buddy Phil Harper who was an amazing talent who had some freedom to BE Phil. Now a new owner comes in and says "our new property represents a threat to OUR Country signal so let's let someone else do this other one". The suggestions posted here about two differentiating country formats were FAR more compelling than the actual result.

As for the soft AC thing ... probably fills a minor hole; though one has to wonder HOW MANY pop-based signals does a large/major market need? But we can hear dentists all over Puget Sound semi-enthusiastically clapping (assuming they haven't already shifted to Pandora or Soft AC on Sirius).

It will be interesting to see how the PEOPLE who were part of these entities make out in the end.
 
After listening to 94.1 for a little while, it sounds a lot like what KXXO was back in the nineties, with Phil Collins, Peter Cetera, and even (gasp) Celine Dion.
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
I don't mean it as a rant on you .... it's a rant on "the big picture". We are at the point where we pull up chairs to the campfire and eagerly see who is going to make their station just like a bazillion OTHER stations around the country. Namely...a music base...some recorded imaging....a catchy nickname, and "talent" that is instructed to promote the key contest, remind people of a couple of sales-infused promotions, and hit that positioning liner about a billion times.

So when a "format" shifts from one place to another ... I shrug. I also am a little upset as I was part of the country KAYO (Seattle AM not South Sound) legacy and watched that station get kicked by KMPS-AM and later the FM. Good people have gone through that FM, including buddy Phil Harper who was an amazing talent who had some freedom to BE Phil. Now a new owner comes in and says "our new property represents a threat to OUR Country signal so let's let someone else do this other one". The suggestions posted here about two differentiating country formats were FAR more compelling than the actual result.

As for the soft AC thing ... probably fills a minor hole; though one has to wonder HOW MANY pop-based signals does a large/major market need? But we can hear dentists all over Puget Sound semi-enthusiastically clapping (assuming they haven't already shifted to Pandora or Soft AC on Sirius).

It will be interesting to see how the PEOPLE who were part of these entities make out in the end.
Click to expand...

I remember Buffalo Phil...great talent...made listening fun.

As to there being a format hole for soft pop, the hole has existed for at leased a decade and I'm sure the audience went to listening on line a long time ago. Will they come back? Only time will tell.

(At least there's an alternative to the 'NEW' (how can it still be new after 25 years?) Warm Cr@p on 106.9 MHz.)
 
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