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Seattle country wars raging

"The "Jack/Hank" approach is over 25 years old. It has a proven track record. Lotus is using the exact same format in several other cities. So it's not a placeholder. It's there for a reason, which is to make money. And it does."

Nailed it. There's a phrase in life, keep it simple stupid. That's what these formats are. Simple and effective.
 
TheBigA said:
It's not a placeholder if it's making money. It will be there longer than a lot of other music formats.

The "Jack/Hank" approach is over 25 years old. It has a proven track record. Lotus is using the exact same format in several other cities.

So it's not a placeholder. It's there for a reason, which is to make money. And it does.
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That explanation makes sense. I was always under the impression that an automated jukebox format typically existed to round out a portfolio of other radio stations. For instance, iHeart programs Jack 96.5 to compliment/contrast both 95.7 and 102.5. It sounds like Lotus would rather focus more on KNWN. So in a sense, they are investing the heavy resources where it matters.
 
To be fair, KPLZ had been directionless since Kent Phillips stepped away. Kurt Cruise is a damn good broadcaster and I hope he lands somewhere , but it was way too big of shoes to fill after Kent and Alan retired.
 
semoochie said:
From what I understand, Hank is '90s based. Do its listeners even know who Hank was? I would go with "Garth".
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The name and heritage of "Hank" is a big part of country music. The name is brought up in songs by artists who get played in the format. Plus there is also the music of Hank's son, Hank Williams Jr. He had a string of hits in the 80s that get played in the format. In this case, Hank is a brand, not a person. So knowing who he was doesn't matter. It's what he represents.
 
Yup, I would compare it to how the canonical college music / KEXP listener doesn't listen to country artists except for Johnny Cash. Just as Cash symbolizes real country to that audience, "Hank" symbolizes real country to the 101.5 audience.

I mentioned when the new KPLZ started up that the music mix basically covers 1996-2020, minus the bro country hits of the 2010s. (Rarely does Hank Junior make the cut - that's a KXA thing.) Heard a 6-minute stop set during afternoon drivetime, so spots are being sold even without DJs and KPLZ do have an audience for this programming.
 
I would bet that Hank without any labor cost, has a much higher profit margin than KNWN. I don't know what the average age of a Hank listener is, but it certainly has to be lower than that of a KNWN all news listener, which is in Hank's favor.
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
From that Wikipedia article it looks like Seattle is the biggest market the format has.
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The competition is Westwood One's Nash Icon format. That one is used by a number of Cumulus stations.

www.westwoodone.com

NASH Icon | Westwood One

NASH Icon is the new mainstream country format that features a current-based music mix with a superstar library based in the late '80s, '90s and early 2000s.
www.westwoodone.com www.westwoodone.com

It's more of a traditionally hosted radio format than Hank, which is unhosted.
 


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