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Seattle goes Format Flip Crazy

R

radioguy123

After a couple of years of silence it seems Seattle has gone format flip crazy. KVI goes Oldies, KFNK goes Genx, KJR launches Christmas music, and Freedom 1590 hits the air with conservative talk. So armchair PD's which one of these works. My bets for success in order:

1. KJR gets a nice ratings bump with Christmas Music and then goes back to Classic Hits. Lots of Classic hits stations do Christmas music so it was just a matter of time. I can't imagine KJR is stunting to change format because the station is top three in cume in PPM week after week. KZOK and KVI must be smiling with this move, KRWM may get hurt a bit, but not much. Great move for KJR!
2. KVI has a shot of doing better than it did as a conservative talk station. Good move KVI.
3. KFNK had a nice niche audience, I don't know if a 90's oldies station is a format. Gen-x listeners will still be listening to current based stations, which limits the audience. The end, star, jack and others all play some of the genx playlist. Why give up the heritage as Funky Monkey. 50-50 move at best. plus signal is not great
4. Freedom 1590. Salem has these in other markets and lucked out that KVI left as they entered the talk fray. Will people listen? Since they had no ratings before it is a 50-50 bet they will get more.

Key to any of these working is marketing and promotion. "If you build it, they will come," doesn't really work in a crowded radio landscape. Any more flips coming? Shall we go for a fifth christmas music station: kcsm, warm, kjr, kixi and ??? Seattle radio is crazy but something really to talk about after a dull couple of years. Nice to see broadcasters taking some risks.
 
Every year this board seems to find someone new who can take a molehill and turn it into a mountain. Looks like we've found this year's winner. ::)
 
I don't consider what KJR is doing as a format flip.

I guess KVI is a format flip, but I tend to think more of it as throwing in the towel. It's a step short of going dark.

Salem couldn't make KOL work as a conservative station. Now a worse signal on extended band with the same lineup? When Rush/Hannity/Beck are on the competition?
 
Didn't mean to make a mountain out of a molehill. Maybe the changes mean nothing on the ratings front since none of these stations did well anyway. Just commenting that broadcasters are trying to shake it up a bit which is refreshing. Posters here clamor for change, and when low rated stations make a change to try and better themselves, cynical posts emerge. Always can count on that for entertainment. I think all the changes will show some modest improvement for each station when compared to their current numbers. Okay "format flip crazy" as the headline was a bit of hyperbole!
 
when KIRO switches to classic country, KZOK switches to all news, KVI switches to all mexican, and KOMO switches to 24 hour nascar talk, all in one week, then you can use the term "seattle goes format flip crazy".

otherwise, the radio-info board police will admonish, ridicule, and issue you a severe beating!
 
scott salvatori said:
otherwise, the radio-info board police will admonish, ridicule, and issue you a severe beating!
Click to expand...

Just a quick question: what do you classify yourself when you do those satiric misspellings of KMPS, for example, or other names in Seattle radio?
 
Something tells me if we all pooled our resources and bought Scott an old Pickup Truck, hound dog, and a Johnny Cash Box Set he would probably not be heard from again for months... ;D
 
Last time I checked, 1590 was not in the "extended band". Close, but no cigar.
 
scott, is already the proud owner of a fine collection of a half dozen too many old chev, dodge pickups, and a couple dogs. but, he would make good use of the johnny cash box set, just fine. but, actually he is really looking to aquire the new vern gosdin box set, which features some prev unreleased tracks.

hey, a bottle of ezra brooks 90 proof kentucky bourbon and that hard core country vern music, go together well, and might just keep scotts snide satiric KPMS misspellings and comments off the board for a few days though....
 
Actually - 1590 isn't a bad signal considering dial location. Salem is well known to drop, launch and roll formats opportunistically and this will be another example. They get better clearance for their network shows which may be the prime motivation. I wouldn't count on seeing billboards, tv spots or bumper stickers anytime soon. Four radio stations in a major market with zero ratings. Clearly they are playing a different game.

kVI is Deja vu all over again. They did this same flip back in the 80s before going talk when the "right hand of God" came out of the primordial stew.

They do have an opportunity to make it an engaging, fun and infromative station by repurposing all that KOMO content. Give them 3 months to get it going and then let's discuss.

Let's hope there are enough AM listeners for it to matter..
 
Jackson Dell Weaver said:
Let's hope there are enough AM listeners for it to matter..
Click to expand...

And therein lies the true matter at hand. It brings up the old saying: If a tree falls in the woods but.. If an AM station does a great job but...
 
Must have been a long time. Before my lifetime.
 
You beat me to it! Having just come back from studying the situation, I didn't realize it was part of the National Frequency Realignment of 1941. 1934 was an approximation based on the founding of the FCC. I had contemplated 1927 for the beginning of the FRC and indeed, the band was expanded at that time to 1500, as it was in 1923 to 1350.
 
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