KTWV/L.A. PROVING THAT AN EVOLVED SMOOTH JAZZ/AC WORKS!

[airpab]

KTWV has jumped significantly in the last 2 books!!

And all Kaye did was to loosen it up a bit with the Jocks, add more vocals and take it a bit more mainstream?? He saw boring stations like KOST cleaning up and he came at them with a fresher sounding, hipper, R & B leaning A/C, if you will....Not rocket science.

I think stations like KSSJ/Sacramento, KKSF and others, pre-maturely flipped. They had a significant and loyal listener base, with huge potential to add a ton of new listeners with a few simple, above-mentioned tweaks! In S.F., KOIT (a total yawner) is at the top. Sac, same thing with their A/C. NY, same thing with their A/C. How do all these supposed smart radio-people in these big markets not see this??

Kaye in L.A. will be recognized again as a radio genius, and he is....but the adjustments he made weren't that hard to see and do?

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of the former SJ outlets, come back...As everyone in the industry watches KTWV's continued ascent in L.A.

 

[davideduardo]

KTWV has jumped significantly in the last 2 books!!

Before getting carried away, keep in mind that the sales demos (25-54, etc.) are still below the levels of the smooth jazz format as recently as 9 months or so ago.

And all Kaye did was to loosen it up a bit with the Jocks, add more vocals and take it a bit more mainstream??

In truth, he quietly changed the format to soft (or "smooth") AC, took all references to "jazz" off the air, and transformed the station. That in itself is a bright move, but this is not a variant of smooth jazz any more than KIIS's play of a Shakira tune means they are going "Spanish."

He saw boring stations like KOST cleaning up and he came at them with a fresher sounding, hipper, R & B leaning A/C, if you will....Not rocket science.

The "boring" station is still way ahead of KTWV, particularly in 18-49 (which is increasingly the sales demo) and KOST is in fact at or above last year's performance.

I think stations like KSSJ/Sacramento, KKSF and others, pre-maturely flipped. They had a significant and loyal listener base, with huge potential to add a ton of new listeners with a few simple, above-mentioned tweaks! In S.F., KOIT (a total yawner) is at the top. Sac, same thing with their A/C. NY, same thing with their A/C.

All this is based on just a few months of observation and measurement, and the changes are still ongoing at KTWV, making it more KOST-like every day. Those stations that changed did so because they did not have a viable 25-54 or were declining so much in the demo that they were losing revenue; preserving a loyal 55+ listener base is not particularly valuable.

How do all these supposed smart radio-people in these big markets not see this??

They see sales as the ultimate objective, and picked options that were potentially more 25-54 friendly.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of the former SJ outlets, come back...As everyone in the industry watches KTWV's continued ascent in L.A.

Give this a little more time before calling it a victory. In fact, in sales demos KTWV was lower in March than in February. Once the transition away from smooth jazz is complete and allowed to establish, then we can evaluate the station's success and have some interesting dialogue.

And, of course, if anyone can make this happen, it is Mr. Kaye.

 

[Bryan Simmons]

KTWV has jumped significantly in the last 2 books!!

And all Kaye did was to loosen it up a bit with the Jocks, add more vocals and take it a bit more mainstream?? He saw boring stations like KOST cleaning up and he came at them with a fresher sounding, hipper, R & B leaning A/C, if you will....Not rocket science.

I think stations like KSSJ/Sacramento, KKSF and others, pre-maturely flipped. They had a significant and loyal listener base, with huge potential to add a ton of new listeners with a few simple, above-mentioned tweaks! In S.F., KOIT (a total yawner) is at the top. Sac, same thing with their A/C. NY, same thing with their A/C. How do all these supposed smart radio-people in these big markets not see this??

Kaye in L.A. will be recognized again as a radio genius, and he is....but the adjustments he made weren't that hard to see and do?

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of the former SJ outlets, come back...As everyone in the industry watches KTWV's continued ascent in L.A.

That "boring station" as you put it was Kaye's home for 2 decades and the content level hasn't changed much, except that we actually have less restrictions on what we could say than in the 80's & 90's. We still run with about the same number of songs in our library and the staff, while smaller was all hired by Jhani Kaye with the exception of our newest morning co-host. I shouldn't be so thin skinned, but really, if KOST is so boring then almost every AC in the nation is too. Listen to WLTW, KOIT, WNIC, any of the major market AC's that lead their markets and you'll see what I mean.

 

[davideduardo]

... if KOST is so boring then almost every AC in the nation is too.

And KOST is a legendary station in its own right. It sailed through several decades of extreme demographic and lifestyle changes in LA and continues to serve listeners with a relaxing and enjoyable listening experience.

As a several-time interim PD of another relatively famous LA AC station, I'd be mentally blind if I did not recognize the longevity, consistency and success of KOST. And those are hardly "boring" qualities for a station to have.

That the concept continues to work is a compliment to Jhani Kaye's creation of true stationality for KOST.

 

[recto101]

KTWV has jumped significantly in the last 2 books!!

And all Kaye did was to loosen it up a bit with the Jocks, add more vocals and take it a bit more mainstream?? He saw boring stations like KOST cleaning up and he came at them with a fresher sounding, hipper, R & B leaning A/C, if you will....Not rocket science.

I think stations like KSSJ/Sacramento, KKSF and others, pre-maturely flipped. They had a significant and loyal listener base, with huge potential to add a ton of new listeners with a few simple, above-mentioned tweaks! In S.F., KOIT (a total yawner) is at the top. Sac, same thing with their A/C. NY, same thing with their A/C. How do all these supposed smart radio-people in these big markets not see this??

Kaye in L.A. will be recognized again as a radio genius, and he is....but the adjustments he made weren't that hard to see and do?

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of the former SJ outlets, come back...As everyone in the industry watches KTWV's continued ascent in L.A.

KSBR has a better smooth jazz operation than KTWV

 

[LKellerIII]

KTWV has jumped significantly in the last 2 books!!

And all Kaye did was to loosen it up a bit with the Jocks, add more vocals and take it a bit more mainstream?? He saw boring stations like KOST cleaning up and he came at them with a fresher sounding, hipper, R & B leaning A/C, if you will....Not rocket science.

I think stations like KSSJ/Sacramento, KKSF and others, pre-maturely flipped. They had a significant and loyal listener base, with huge potential to add a ton of new listeners with a few simple, above-mentioned tweaks! In S.F., KOIT (a total yawner) is at the top. Sac, same thing with their A/C. NY, same thing with their A/C. How do all these supposed smart radio-people in these big markets not see this??

Kaye in L.A. will be recognized again as a radio genius, and he is....but the adjustments he made weren't that hard to see and do?

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of the former SJ outlets, come back...As everyone in the industry watches KTWV's continued ascent in L.A.

KSBR has a better smooth jazz operation than KTWV

Except that (according to their website), KSBR is a mainstream jazz station at Saddleback College (Radio) in OC. So it would be more comparable to KCSM "Jazz 91" in the Bay Area, from the College of San Mateo.

For the last 15 years at least, Smooth "Jazz" has really been a misnomer for Lite AC instrumentals with a lot of "old skool" soul music mixed in. As in, the same old 70s hits you hear on the Old Skool and Classic Soul stations from Marvin Gaye, Al Green, etc.

I haven't heard KTWV recently, but from what I gather, it's even less "jazz" than previously, and isn't even using that label anymore.
http://www.ksbr.net/

 

[recto101]

KTWV has jumped significantly in the last 2 books!!

And all Kaye did was to loosen it up a bit with the Jocks, add more vocals and take it a bit more mainstream?? He saw boring stations like KOST cleaning up and he came at them with a fresher sounding, hipper, R & B leaning A/C, if you will....Not rocket science.

I think stations like KSSJ/Sacramento, KKSF and others, pre-maturely flipped. They had a significant and loyal listener base, with huge potential to add a ton of new listeners with a few simple, above-mentioned tweaks! In S.F., KOIT (a total yawner) is at the top. Sac, same thing with their A/C. NY, same thing with their A/C. How do all these supposed smart radio-people in these big markets not see this??

Kaye in L.A. will be recognized again as a radio genius, and he is....but the adjustments he made weren't that hard to see and do?

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some of the former SJ outlets, come back...As everyone in the industry watches KTWV's continued ascent in L.A.

KSBR has a better smooth jazz operation than KTWV

Except that (according to their website), KSBR is a mainstream jazz station at Saddleback College (Radio) in OC. So it would be more comparable to KCSM "Jazz 91" in the Bay Area, from the College of San Mateo.

For the last 15 years at least, Smooth "Jazz" has really been a misnomer for Lite AC instrumentals with a lot of "old skool" soul music mixed in. As in, the same old 70s hits you hear on the Old Skool and Classic Soul stations from Marvin Gaye, Al Green, etc.

I haven't heard KTWV recently, but from what I gather, it's even less "jazz" than previously, and isn't even using that label anymore.
http://www.ksbr.net/

Look at KKJZ in Long Beach they run a Classic Jazz operation and KKJZ is more like KCSM than KSBR is. KSBR is more on Contemporary jazz like http://www.wavjazz.net.

 

[recto101]

Also 94.7 The wave could evolve into KOIT or KBLX like station