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Moug & Angie Exit KPLZ

DavidEduardo said:
Huh? Spanish language stations have a hard time getting comparable rates for comparable audience size.
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Especially true in the Seattle-Tacoma market.
From what I can tell, Lotus wouldn't be so stupid as to change the format of a full-market Class C0 FM station without ample knowledge of their chances of success.
If the format were to change, I'd see it more likely that their all-news station or even KVI would move to 101.5. Then they could jettison that rimshot FM and have a great full market FM signal to go up against KIRO-FM. Then 1000kHz or even 570kHz could carry block programming. That said; this is all pure speculation that they're about to abandon music entirely.
 
speer360 said:
radioinsight.com

Curt Kruse & Jen Pirak Move To Mornings At KPLZ; Jeff Connell Adds Program Director Duties

Lotus Hot AC "Star 101.5" KPLZ Seattle has announced the return of Curt Kruse and Jen Pirak to mornings at
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
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All these newly announced positions are consolidated positions. Apd and mornings, the marketing director is mornings and middays? Talk about burnout. PD based in Boise.... Moug and Angie had decent numbers. Not many people remember but Curt actually did mornings in between Kent and Alan and Lotus's takeover of the cluster for a few years. Wasn't a ratings juggernaut but for this station as an ac, personality isn't that important. If I had to bet on it, this is the last effort to make this station profitable before they flip it. 2024 will be a big year for news and talk so I would not be surprised to see that or as we keep going back to, country is king right now even in Seattle.
 
I would definitely argue that personality is important, even in AC. The music has been tweaked and tweaked and tweaked at KPLZ, and it doesn’t seem to move the needle. At this point, they’ve got a good playlist, but listeners still choose 94.1 and 106.9. Listeners definitely need another reason to choose 101.5 over their competitors, and frankly, a big part of that is going to be tied to personalities. 106.9 is doing a great job with personality right now.
 
trevorparker588 said:
All these newly announced positions are consolidated positions. Apd and mornings, the marketing director is mornings and middays? Talk about burnout. PD based in Boise.... Moug and Angie had decent numbers. Not many people remember but Curt actually did mornings in between Kent and Alan and Lotus's takeover of the cluster for a few years. Wasn't a ratings juggernaut but for this station as an ac, personality isn't that important. If I had to bet on it, this is the last effort to make this station profitable before they flip it. 2024 will be a big year for news and talk so I would not be surprised to see that or as we keep going back to, country is king right now even in Seattle.
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Maybe they are trying to see if that works.
 
JackindaBox said:
I meant that they were going to a morning show boot camp over there.
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It's a yearly convention where morning shows trade ideas and network. BJ & Miggs went too. Hopefully they met some good programmers and made some good connections before Lotus showed them the door. Moug announced a baby not long ago on the show so hopefully they land something quick. Getting fired can be scary.
 
fordranger797 said:
There is no music tweak that will solve their problems. It’s been messed with, tweaked, widened, and contracted. The music isn’t making a difference.
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It doesn’t seem like they are tweaking it according to Online Radio Box just tweaking the personalities. Lotus probably figured it’s the personalities that are causing the station to have low ratings not the music rn.
 
fordranger797 said:
If not for 106.1, I could have potentially seen a shift toward CHR (along with a rebrand) to see if they could compete against 92.5. However, that would land them in the exact same situation they’re in: trying to compete against two incumbents with strong programming.

I think that Lotus would move news to 101.5 before flipping formats to anything that’s not an absolute slam dunk.
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If Star flips to hit music then I believe 106.1 would flip back to its previous branding as a Hot AC and “More Music More Variety” like it once was in 2016. Who knows if they would do the Christmas music thing since there would be no Santa FM if they do that but I don’t think they would considering that they never flipped it to all-Xmas during its Hot AC stint since KPLZ already did that. Plus IHeartMedia doesn’t usually flip Hot AC stations to all-Christmas music. I don’t think hit music would work if there are 3 CHR stations in the market.
 
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trevorparker588 said:
It's a yearly convention where morning shows trade ideas and network. BJ & Miggs went too. Hopefully they met some good programmers and made some good connections before Lotus showed them the door. Moug announced a baby not long ago on the show so hopefully they land something quick. Getting fired can be scary.
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He got lucky, I remember Clear Channel laying people off during their Christmas party, then CBS with their yearly shakedowns. Who would've thought radio can cause PTSD.
 
The new morning show should do well, I've always liked Jen as an air talent. It would be sad to see Star go away if this doesn't work, as it was my most listened to station for the 10 years prior to my move out of the market.
 
bobdavcav said:
The new morning show should do well, I've always liked Jen as an air talent. It would be sad to see Star go away if this doesn't work, as it was my most listened to station for the 10 years prior to my move out of the market.
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It would probably at least increase ratings just for the morning show. Julian I don’t think really helps the station improve at all. He seemed to work for KQMVs ratings but not KPLZs ratings.
 
JackindaBox said:
It would probably at least increase ratings just for the morning show. Julian I don’t think really helps the station improve at all. He seemed to work for KQMVs ratings but not KPLZs ratings.
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Some personalities tend to be suited for certain formats.With that being said, 101.5 is not far off from 92.5 in terms of the playlist, so I definitely don’t think he’s the problem. He’s also on the afternoon show, which is a difficult position if you didn’t already pick up listeners from earlier in the day. The AC format boasts about variety, yet is repetitive at the same time. Someone who is happy with Warm 106.9 isn’t likely to switch (especially if they will encounter the same music they just heard). There needs to be a reason why they pick 101.5 and stick with it.
 
on_air_dont_care said:
He got lucky, I remember Clear Channel laying people off during their Christmas party, then CBS with their yearly shakedowns. Who would've thought radio can cause PTSD.
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It can. I worked for a GM who treated me so bad she gave me nightmares, i quit on my own choosing on a Sunday morning, the company didn't contest my unemployment claim and multiple friends said i shouldve sued her (but didnt). I've had a few small lingering issues because of her even though that was 8 years ago
 
Star 101.5 never gave me the vibe of being a difficult station to work for. Actually, it has been one of the steadiest stations in the region with consistent programming and personalities. It’s hard to think of any other radio station that keeps the same personalities for such a long period of time. Of course, that was only applicable during the time it was co-owned with KOMO.
 
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fordranger797 said:
Star 101.5 never gave me the vibe of being a difficult station to work for. Actually, it has been one of the steadiest stations in the region with consistent programming and personalities. It’s hard to think of any other radio station that keeps the same personalities for such a long period of time. Of course, that was only applicable during the time it was co-owned with KOMO.
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Tbh they did it even longer than KQMV despite that station having some long-term personalities from 2007-2020 such as Mason. KRWM has had Shellie Hart since 2011 but it isn’t as long as Kent and Alan were on KPLZ.
 
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