I see your point, but this doesn't mean that there will not be legendary radio personalities in the future.
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New ratings are in for November 2014
- Thread starter fordranger797
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I see your point, but this doesn't mean that there will not be legendary radio personalities in the future.
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Nothing wrong with reminiscing about the old days, being the regular "go to" answer as the solution to today's radio challenges is dumb.
I will jump out on a limb and predict an up year for radio in 2015 revenue wise in the seattle market. One could expect this to translate into good news for some part of the business.
Actually, the Z-Twins qualify. We also had KZAM in the early '60s and KYAC in the '70s. So was the old KKFX 1250 (but K-Fox was more poppier than the others)
But do you think the Seattle market has become saturated?
I think there are more media choices than ever before vying for the advertising dollar especially when you look at Pandora/streaming etc. But I think the state of the economy for 2015 will be good (better) for radio. As the economy gets healthier, advertising budgets increase and radio stands in line and gets their share. The top stations in their respective demos will see the bulk of that money- as they always have.
Speaking of Smooth Jazz. Why is it that no company has put Smooth Jazz on one of their HD2 or HD3 stations in the Seattle metro? Every other major city has one or even two with Smooth Jazz.
HD Radio overall hasn't taken off. There's nothing really exciting to lure the masses in. And even if Smooth Jazz were offered, SJ fans would be very wary, especially of commercial radio. They've been screwed around once before by the commercial radio industry and while we can go into that whole bit with PPM, the bottom line is in Seattle they had no warning and no chance to prepare. KWJZ just flipped to KLCK-FM. You just don't jerk people around like that and expect them to come rushing back to you.
So I really think Smooth Jazz is a lost cause for commercial terrestrial radio in Seattle. While KZIZ's switch to SJ was a thoughtful gesture, it has a pretty big problem, signal and theside of the dial it's on.
So I really think Smooth Jazz is a lost cause for commercial terrestrial radio in Seattle. While KZIZ's switch to SJ was a thoughtful gesture, it has a pretty big problem, signal and theside of the dial it's on.
I really do not blame Sandusky (the owners at the time of the switch?) for making that switch. Realistically, KLCK is much more viable than KWJZ was. 98.9 is a full market signal that SHOULD be used to its greatest potential. Smooth jazz would probably be fine on a signal that doesn't have the same value as 98.9 does.
The first tower (after the original move from The Dalles) was located just east of Enumclaw At that time they were a class C3 (328' @25kw) and the transmitter
ran off a propane powered generator.
ran off a propane powered generator.
Interesting! I know their financial situation is probably not the greatest right now thanks to the Cougar move, but I doubt they could have used their old site long term (especially if you are running it off of a generator). Plus, they seem to sound great around the area at only 7,100 watts (just goes to prove that its the height that counts).
KZIZ is hardly "Smooth Jazz" at all. It's a mix of Kenny G, that "Haute Sauce" cut by Mindi Abair, and a bunch of burnt-to-a-crisp Smooth R&B (Sade, Anita Baker, Des'ree) cuts, as well as a few songs that are nowhere near smooth jazz (is "Treasure" Bruno Mars smooth jazz? I don't think so.)
I enjoy that Oasis station down in Albuquerque. That's what SJ should be. Leave the Kenny G to the "on-hold music", and place some groovy smooth jazz in the list. PD is Steve Hibbard who also owned the Jones Smooth Jazz network years ago (heard on 101.9 in Tri-Cities for a couple of years, 2006-08 before they put in Allen Kepler's network). Just the last 45 minutes they spun Paul Brown, Chris Standring, a Donald Fagen cut from the 80s, an early Luther Vandross cut ("Never Too Much"), Everette Harp and Down to the Bone. No Kenny G, no Bruno Mars, no Sam Smith.
Back to KHTP, I heard some really blowing statistics about the "Pop FM" in Reno. It was getting less than a 1 share! It seems no one cared about throwback Rhythmic AC. Wonder what it would be like if they went south on US-95 instead and ended up in Las Vegas. That might have gotten better ratings with all the generation-X folks working in the casinos and resorts. I wonder how a throwback Rhythmic AC would do here - ala the old Movin 92.5 years ago. I know they tweaked to CHR and is now #1. But I wonder what the ratings would be like if KHTP got rid of the rap and replaced it with Destiny's Child and Janet Jackson. There are way too many 2010s songs on the list.
-crainbebo
I enjoy that Oasis station down in Albuquerque. That's what SJ should be. Leave the Kenny G to the "on-hold music", and place some groovy smooth jazz in the list. PD is Steve Hibbard who also owned the Jones Smooth Jazz network years ago (heard on 101.9 in Tri-Cities for a couple of years, 2006-08 before they put in Allen Kepler's network). Just the last 45 minutes they spun Paul Brown, Chris Standring, a Donald Fagen cut from the 80s, an early Luther Vandross cut ("Never Too Much"), Everette Harp and Down to the Bone. No Kenny G, no Bruno Mars, no Sam Smith.
Back to KHTP, I heard some really blowing statistics about the "Pop FM" in Reno. It was getting less than a 1 share! It seems no one cared about throwback Rhythmic AC. Wonder what it would be like if they went south on US-95 instead and ended up in Las Vegas. That might have gotten better ratings with all the generation-X folks working in the casinos and resorts. I wonder how a throwback Rhythmic AC would do here - ala the old Movin 92.5 years ago. I know they tweaked to CHR and is now #1. But I wonder what the ratings would be like if KHTP got rid of the rap and replaced it with Destiny's Child and Janet Jackson. There are way too many 2010s songs on the list.
-crainbebo
The "Smooth Jazz" format that KZIZ is currently playing is the same syndication that KWJZ used to have. You're right... not much has changed since it was in Seattle.
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I thought KWJZ was local completely. I still remember hearing Carol Handley in the late morning, Jay Phillips (now KOMO traffic weekends) PMs and Dianna Rose late at night (now at KRWM).
And some "where are they now" folks: Cedric James (overnight and Saturday night "Citylights" host), Nick Morrison (Mornings circa 2006), Paul Carlson (weekends), and Steve Mills (overnight 12-6am Sunday mornings). There WERE overnight folks on KWJZ, may have been voicetracked however. Another unknown guy, Matt Riedy used to do mornings before Morrison, around 2002-03.
-crainbebo
And some "where are they now" folks: Cedric James (overnight and Saturday night "Citylights" host), Nick Morrison (Mornings circa 2006), Paul Carlson (weekends), and Steve Mills (overnight 12-6am Sunday mornings). There WERE overnight folks on KWJZ, may have been voicetracked however. Another unknown guy, Matt Riedy used to do mornings before Morrison, around 2002-03.
-crainbebo
Does anyone remember what their ratings used to look like for morning and afternoon drive?
You watch these things a lot more closely than I do, so I'll see what I can find to back up my understanding. I got this from the Z-Twins staff, when the format was installed. My memory is that some of the few voices on the syndication were also on KWJZ, but at this point, I don't recall when or how often. It's possible that the format is so homogenized, my brain is telling me it's all from the same source. I had the same feeling, back when 106.9 was KNUA (yeesh).
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