KZXK Doney Park/Flagstaff

[David Owens]

The same generous, commercial free, variety driven, classic rock type station that our bud the Arizona radio outlaw has given the Phoenix market for about a decade now on KCDX on 103.1 in Florence.

Looks like the transmitter is on Mt. Elden, with a whopping 140 watts, and reaches almost to Sedona, and actually comes in well when you get up in Jerome, and other parts of the verde valley. I've gotten a fairly decent signal even in Prescott.

I've noticed that many Flagstaff residents are paying attention and tuning in. Crystal Creek Sandwich shop in Flagstaff ALWAYS has it on, and loves it. What's not to love about it, other than the fact that they will play a lot of songs you don't know.

After years of song burn out on the typical classic rock stations, this is a real treat.

For those who haven't heard the owner's name is Ted Tucker, who is fairly well known in the Tucson area.

A former chief engineer at Tucson's KWFM, a progressive rock station in that market back "in the day"

"We had a wall of 5,000 albums, and up until they started doing formatting in the late '70s, you could literally play whatever you wanted whenever you wanted, and that's what Ted's doing."

Ted's first station was KTTZ, an Oracle station, similar in format, and it reached into the Tucson market well, and Ted sold it off, most likely for a profit. He's owned many stations over the years, and his typical way of doing business is to get one that's a deal, apply for a power increase, a tower location change, etc. It's sort of like buying a fixer upper.

Back in 2005, he sold KFMR on 95.1, a good signal, which was used to simulcast KCDX for some time, and could even be heard well into the Verde Valley, where I live. I would assume that KFMR brought in a good amount of money from the sale.

Based on past experience, one has to think that KZXK is going to be a fixture on the airwaves in northern Arizona for some time to come. It's going to be a serious thorn in the side of KMGN (The mountain) and KWMX (The wolf).

Thanks Ted.

 

[EDwalker]

"We had a wall of 5,000 albums, and up until they started doing formatting in the late '70s, you could literally play whatever you wanted whenever you wanted, and that's what Ted's doing."

Thanks Ted.

I listen to both KCDX and his KYEN online; both wonderful. And yes, thanks Ted.

 

[kwthom]

<...>Based on past experience, one has to think that KZXK is going to be a fixture on the airwaves in northern Arizona for some time to come.

True, but no ratings to speak of after a couple of months; the novelty will wear off.

The station here in Tucson (KRDX) rarely shows in the ratings, and I believe KCDX has the same issues in the Phoenix metro.

Enjoy it while you have it, though.

 

[KeithE4]

<...>Based on past experience, one has to think that KZXK is going to be a fixture on the airwaves in northern Arizona for some time to come.

True, but no ratings to speak of after a couple of months; the novelty will wear off.

The station here in Tucson (KRDX) rarely shows in the ratings, and I believe KCDX has the same issues in the Phoenix metro.

Why does that matter? The station is non-commercial by choice, so they don't need numbers.

Enjoy it while you have it, though.

We've had it for 10 years or so. The only way it goes away is if Ted Tucker says so. He hasn't said so yet.

 

[David Owens]

KRDX in Tucson and KCDX in Florence/Phoenix both suffer from bad signals, zero promotions, and the lack of the human element. Those are tough obstacles to overcome.

In Flagstaff, word of mouth spreads fast, and they have a perfect signal which is even better than the other two rock stations. KMGN owned the rock market in Flagstaff for some time until The Wolf came on board, and then KMGN shrunk it's playlist in response, which is fairly typical.

Flagstaff is rarely ever rated by Arbitron, and it is lumped in with Prescott and the Verde Valley, so we'll never know how many listeners Ted will ever get in Flagstaff. Sure, many businesses will continue to listen to KMGN or The Wolf, but I spoke to the owner at Crystal Creek Sandwich Co. in Flagstaff about the station, and they were very impressed by the amazing variety, the great signal and the total lack of commercials.

Granted, the majority of radio listeners probably want to hear all the "safe songs" over and over again, so Ted will never get huge numbers anywhere, but I have to think that Ted is totally fine with that.

Most everything Ted does flies in the face of corporate radio, and it's a real breath of fresh air.

 

[fusejockey]

Granted, the majority of radio listeners probably want to hear all the "safe songs" over and over again, so Ted will never get huge numbers anywhere, but I have to think that Ted is totally fine with that.

Most everything Ted does flies in the face of corporate radio, and it's a real breath of fresh air.

The "safe songs" is what I DO NOT want to hear. KMGN & KWMX should take note: there are lots of listeners that enjoy Alice Cooper's closet cuts. You'd think the PD's would be thinking more "outside the box..."
In the Chino Valley area, KZXK is a fringe signal but certainly listenable. It would be fantastic to boost 98.9 MHz to Five KiloWatts. They could "steal" even more listeners.. Breath of fresh air, indeed!!
Again, let me also say: Thanks, Ted. You rock; literally. :

 

[PDickerson]

I love this radio station - no commercials - I hear songs I would never hear on the other stations - Best station in Flagstaff

 

[Winterwest]

Sure, it's fun to listen for awhile, but I played all this music on the air before when on AM drive at one of the most progressive radio stations ever. KZYR-FM in Vail Colorado. Since then it's become a rather white-bread, poorly programmed version of itself.

As one poster noted, the music is great but with no promotion or presence, I can just hit "shuffle" at home and hear the same thing. Of course, neither The Wolf or KMGN can compete without either the programming talent or the will to stretch. I live here in Flag and never see either of them on the street or working in the community. I produce a Northern Arizona travel/entertainment/culinary show that airs in another market and spent 30 years in this business. If you can't bring both the product and the presence, you're only bringing half your game to the air.

 

[David Owens]

Such great comments. I remember how much of a local presence in a smaller market I once worked at. The big problem is that neither The Wolf or KMGN have any air staff. Who are they going to send out? Do they really have any promotional staff? They want to function with a skeleton staff and just collect money for ads.

Sure, KZXK lacks all that as well, but they will take a huge chunk out of the other stations audience because they seem to think they own the market, and all they have to do is churn out Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin forever without much interaction with the audience. KMGN has live mornings and afternoons. I don't think the Wolf has anything live, and I have heard so many voice tracking mistakes that I can't bear to listen. Half the time, you hear a dead spot right before the voice track starts. The song blips out for a second, and again when the announcer stops talking.

KMGN played "new classic rock" today at noon from Ringo Starr, and then 15 minutes later was busy playing Photograph by Ringo Starr. Brilliant! That's computer programming at it's best.

It's still funny that KZXK has a better signal in Flagstaff with 140 watts, then KWMX and KMGN. Ted must be laughing his little heart out.

 

[David Owens]

I noticed recently, that although KZXK is only using 140 watts, it does have a permit to upgrade to 540 watts, which would certainly make a difference in it's range and strength of signal in the areas it already reaches.

Ted continues to do his thing.