Shortest-lived formats

[vchimpanzee]

This doesn't count as a format change, since it was still in the general area of adult standards. But Mix 106 in Charlotte was playing a lot more AC and uptempo oldies as part of the format than the various satellite formats were for a month in 1997, except late at night when the station not only went back to the satellite format, but was playing real standards rather than a mix of standards, AC and oldies like the satellite format was doing during the day. Today, most of the same songs wouldn't sound so strange in an adult standards format, and the number of actual standards was more than what America's Best Music seems to currently be doing. But the listeners were not happy and let the station know. After I heard "FM" by Steely Dan and found out it wasn't 106.1 RDU, the rock station in Raleigh, causing interference, I went on the Internet not for the first time but one of the first times. Mix 106 had a web site and a way to send email. I didn't have an email address but somehow the email went through. I mistyped the word "chimpanzee" on the subject line and didn't know how to correct it. I used the name as my email address later and on imdb and, later, here. My email congratulated the talented music director and said he should go on the late night TV shows to show his abilities.

Some of the other songs that seemed out of place then and might still not work with standards now (though I've heard of standards stations playing songs like these) were "Just Like Jesse James" by Cher, "Missing You" by John Waite and "Hold Me Now" by Thompson Twins. I only heard the DJ say Thompson Twins but that seems the most likely candidate. "Nightshift" by The Commodores, maybe. "One More Try" by George Michael and "Time Love and Tenderness" by Michael Bolton might actually work. But when I heard the Michael Bolton song complete with really annoying sound effects around the time the format started, I knew something was seriously wrong. Still, actual standards were getting played more often than they do now on America's Best Music.

One Sunday I turned on the station and heard Mitch Miller. They were back!

 

[K.M. Richards]

Anyone remember The Sound in Cincinnati?

Journey 94.1 didn't last long either, but maybe I thought it lasted shorter than it did because nobody listened to it or cared about it.

So Journey and their audience went Separate Ways?

IIRC, that format was Hot AC. This is probably a case of the imaging not communicating well to potential listeners what to expect if they tuned in.

To me, "Journey 94.1" sounds like a Classic Rock station. In any event, I don't think it lasted even one year.

 

[Chad-Stevens]

The modern rock "Revolution" on 104.7 in Pittsburgh only lasted about 9 months - from August 29, 1995 to May 1, 1996 says Wikipedia - but that format was a Telecom '96 casualty in the feeding frenzy of deregulation as the new owners also had WXDX with a similar format.

 

[knapfordsouthern1]

That was standard operating procedure for Marathon Media and its affiliated companies. If bigger competition came about, they would flip right away or sign off (see my example of KZLB).

So basically their business model was "sign-on a rimshot and hope a bigger station doesn't re-launch with the same format".

 

[knapfordsouthern1]

Eons before launching a widespread format with its three-year classic hip-hop run, the current KROI in Houston launched as KZRQ, "Z-92", a Top 40 outfit, in 1984. It tried the "Power Pig" route by taking constant potshots at KKBQ-FM, and crowed about using CDs for playout and being the first all-digital station in the country. It lasted about a couple months. One poster on a Houston "short-lived formats" thread even recalled calling the Z-92 request line after it flipped to classical, and one of the Top 40 jocks was still broadcasting, even returning to their previous on-air voice for a brief moment when ending the call.

 

[Mediafrog+]

The modern rock "Revolution" on 104.7 in Pittsburgh only lasted about 9 months - from August 29, 1995 to May 1, 1996 says Wikipedia - but that format was a Telecom '96 casualty in the feeding frenzy of deregulation as the new owners also had WXDX with a similar format.

We had a similar situation in Houston with Modern Rock KKPN 102.9 “The Planet”. It had replaced a longtime Standards format, but only lasted a year due to the consolidation frenzy. It was sold and the Regional Mexican format of KLTN 93.3 was moved to the frequency.

Eons before launching a widespread format with its three-year classic hip-hop run, the current KROI in Houston launched as KZRQ, "Z-92", a Top 40 outfit, in 1984. It tried the "Power Pig" route by taking constant potshots at KKBQ-FM, and crowed about using CDs for playout and being the first all-digital station in the country. It lasted about a couple months. One poster on a Houston "short-lived formats" thread even recalled calling the Z-92 request line after it flipped to classical, and one of the Top 40 jocks was still broadcasting, even returning to their previous on-air voice for a brief moment when ending the call.

KZRQ lasted less than a year, but did not directly flip to Classical. They were Easy Listening KYND 1985-86, then becoming the reincarnated Classical KLEF 2.0 in April 1986 and 17 months later, KRTS.

 

[K.M. Richards]

KZRQ lasted less than a year, but did not directly flip to Classical. They were Easy Listening KYND 1985-86, then becoming the reincarnated Classical KLEF 2.0 in April 1986 and 17 months later, KRTS.

Members of the "format of the month club", were they?

 

[KilowattKat]

You could say the Disco format of the late 70's was a short lived format for many radio stations that tried it, until the fad died out by 1980.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Took me a few minutes to find this, but I think this may top all the stories posted up to now. We have an AM station at 1260 which, in its heyday, focused on the San Fernando Valley (where its transmitter site still is) as KGIL. It was one of the last stations owned by Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting, and its last format under them was Talk, although it was best known for its years as a full-service MOR. It was originally named for Gil Paltridge, who was president and general manager of the company that put it on the air in 1947. Longtime L.A. broadcaster Saul Levine bought the station at the end of 1992, and ended the 45-year run of the call letters and Valley-centric programming. Here is the timeline of all the format and call letter changes since Saul purchased it: 1993: Standards (as KJQI) 1995: News (as KNNS) 1997: All-Beatles (Jan-Aug) then Broadway Showtunes (both as KGIL) 1998: Music Of Your Life 2000: Jazz (as KJAZ) 2002: Standards (as KSUR) 2004: Oldies (as KKGO) 2006: Country 2007: Classical (Feb-Oct, as KMZT), then Talk (as KGIL) 2009: Oldies/Standards hybrid 2011: Classical (as KMZT) 2016: Standards (as KBOQ) 2017: Oldies (as KSUR) 2020: Classical (as KMZT) 2024: Classic Country (as KKGO) 2025: Classical (as KMZT) with occasional Smooth Jazz weekends Saul has often been chastised by the armchair quarterbacks on the Los Angeles board over the station's frequent change in direction, but the underlying fact is that he has owned KKGO/105.1 from the day it began operation in 1959 and therefore has zero debt service. He paid cash for 1260 and it runs whatever he feels like hearing at any given point in time. It's pretty much his own personal radio station. And he is still active in the operation of the stations, although his adult son and daughter handle most of the day-to-day routine stuff. I've met him and we also occasionally correspond via e-mail; when I met his son Michael at a local broadcasters' luncheon, Saul introduced me as "the person who writes such nice things about us" ... which is easy because I find him extremely likeable. He turns 100 this year.

 

[Huff]

Here are nearly 20 other free-standing formats/stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area alone that lasted a year or less. This includes short-lived AMs and FMs that weren't able to make a go of it. It does not includes stunting, or stations whose formats were simply simulcasts of another station.

990 KCAF Female Talk - 3 days (Oct 21-24, 2002)
1330 KFFZ Variety - 1 month (May 1923) "Portable station" owned by the Al G. Barnes Circus Co. to broadcast circus performances during its run in Dallas, a classic example of the novelty of the earliest days of radio. It only operated for one month.
104.9 KZMP Spanish Christian AC "La Luz" - 1 month (Nov-Dec 2006)
1360 KMNY Variety "Retro Radio" - 1.5 months (May 24-July 1, 2008)
98.3 KBOC Spanish Adult Hits "Jose" - 3 months (Aug-Nov 2006)
1160 KBIS Business News - 5 months (Mar-Aug 2001)
93.3 KDBN Adult Alternative - 5 months (Apr-Sep 2009)
1540 KPAD Motivational Talk - 6 months (Jun-Dec 1997)
94.9 KHYI CHR/Dance "Power 95" - 6 months (Apr-Oct 1991)
107.9 KDFW Classical - 8 months (Jun 1957-Feb 1958) License and allocation deleted
94.9 KEWS All-News - 8 months (Feb 1996-Oct 1996) Format replaced with simulcast of sister KYNG after that station's tower collapsed.
1540 KMZK Easy Listening - 10 months (Nov 1978-Sep 1979)
92.5 KAFM Top 40 "92K" - 10 months (Mar 1974-Jan 1975)
94.1 KCPA Classical/Jazz - ~10 months (late 1960-Aug 1961) (KCPA's license was deleted, and the facility is no relation to the current 94.1, which signed on as 93.9 in Fort Worth three years later.) Fellow radio historian Mike Shannon has more about KCPA here.
106.1 KDNT-FM Disco - 11 months (Jan-Dec 1979)
107.9 KESS-FM CHR "Radio H2O" - 11 months (Jun 2012-May 2013)
94.9 KODZ Oldies - 12 months (Oct 1991-Oct 1992)
105.3 KSFM Classical - 12 months (Jan 1958-Jan 1959)

 

[knapfordsouthern1]

Here is the timeline of all the format and call letter changes since Saul purchased it: 1993: Standards (as KJQI) 1995: News (as KNNS) 1997: All-Beatles (Jan-Aug) then Broadway Showtunes (both as KGIL) 1998: Music Of Your Life 2000: Jazz (as KJAZ) 2002: Standards (as KSUR) 2004: Oldies (as KKGO) 2006: Country 2007: Classical (Feb-Oct, as KMZT), then Talk (as KGIL) 2009: Oldies/Standards hybrid 2011: Classical (as KMZT) 2016: Standards (as KBOQ) 2017: Oldies (as KSUR) 2020: Classical (as KMZT) 2024: Classic Country (as KKGO) 2025: Classical (as KMZT) with occasional Smooth Jazz weekends

Jeez, given how many formats it's had, I'm just surprised it didn't try Jammin' Oldies at any point!

 

[KilowattKat]

Took me a few minutes to find this, but I think this may top all the stories posted up to now. We have an AM station at 1260 which, in its heyday, focused on the San Fernando Valley (where its transmitter site still is) as KGIL. It was one of the last stations owned by Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting, and its last format under them was Talk, although it was best known for its years as a full-service MOR. It was originally named for Gil Paltridge, who was president and general manager of the company that put it on the air in 1947. Longtime L.A. broadcaster Saul Levine bought the station at the end of 1992, and ended the 45-year run of the call letters and Valley-centric programming. Here is the timeline of all the format and call letter changes since Saul purchased it: 1993: Standards (as KJQI) 1995: News (as KNNS) 1997: All-Beatles (Jan-Aug) then Broadway Showtunes (both as KGIL) 1998: Music Of Your Life 2000: Jazz (as KJAZ) 2002: Standards (as KSUR) 2004: Oldies (as KKGO) 2006: Country 2007: Classical (Feb-Oct, as KMZT), then Talk (as KGIL) 2009: Oldies/Standards hybrid 2011: Classical (as KMZT) 2016: Standards (as KBOQ) 2017: Oldies (as KSUR) 2020: Classical (as KMZT) 2024: Classic Country (as KKGO) 2025: Classical (as KMZT) with occasional Smooth Jazz weekends Saul has often been chastised by the armchair quarterbacks on the Los Angeles board over the station's frequent change in direction, but the underlying fact is that he has owned KKGO/105.1 from the day it began operation in 1959 and therefore has zero debt service. He paid cash for 1260 and it runs whatever he feels like hearing at any given point in time. It's pretty much his own personal radio station. And he is still active in the operation of the stations, although his adult son and daughter handle most of the day-to-day routine stuff. I've met him and we also occasionally correspond via e-mail; when I met his son Michael at a local broadcasters' luncheon, Saul introduced me as "the person who writes such nice things about us" ... which is easy because I find him extremely likeable. He turns 100 this year.

Now if we also include the format flips of the KKGO 105.1 HD channels...

That would be a VERY long list!

 

[salemjedi54]

There was an AM station that spent a good deal of money to move stations around so that 990 would move to Farmersville, Texas to target Dallas/Fort Worth. The format was to be Women's Talk. Lots of talent was brought in. Then the financing fell apart one day into the format and the station went dark. The format never resurfaced in DFW. There had been a good deal of hype about the format.

I remember that. Then it was reborn at Main Street Radio with Kevin McCarthy, Mike Fisher and some others from 570 KLIF.

 

[b-turner]

What was KRLD's FM, KAFM 92.5 was frequently changing formats. I remember the "Nine-Two-Kay" CHR format and thinking it just needed somehing more than that I heard. I guess I was looking for some uniqueness but it didn't seem to stand out, as it was.

I recall Jon Dillon's tapes playing as an AOR at one point. I recall a CHR format automated except for an evening jock. Hit Parade lasted longer than most.
KAFM was Progressive Country a bit over a year. KAFM had a rather unique album track rock station but without the metal.

It seemed KAFM switched format about every 12 to 18 months. It was as if nothing 'stuck'. Over in Austin, Texas 93.3 seems to change very quickly too...always has.

 

[TexasTom]

Here are nearly 20 other free-standing formats/stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area alone that lasted a year or less. This includes short-lived AMs and FMs that weren't able to make a go of it. It does not includes stunting, or stations whose formats were simply simulcasts of another station.

94.9 KHYI CHR/Dance "Power 95" - 6 months (Apr-Oct 1991)
94.9 KEWS All-News - 8 months (Feb 1996-Oct 1996) Format replaced with simulcast of sister KYNG after that station's tower collapsed.
94.9 KODZ Oldies - 12 months (Oct 1991-Oct 1992)

Note that all three of these are on the same frequency -- this station didn't enjoy a lot of stability for a while.

But I want to note that there actually was a short break between "Power 95" and that oldies format when KHYI was just calling itself "FM 95" and running a very low-key Top 40 format. It didn't last long...maybe just a few weeks, but I can't remember for sure. I do remember that "Power 95" launched when the station was able to finally upgrade from a C1 signal to a full Class C. At that point, they dumped the "Y 95" identity that they'd be using since late in 1986 and shifted from CHR/mainstream to CHR/rhythmic. As I recall, it bombed badly, resulting in a brief shift back to CHR/mainstream as "FM 95" before they switched to oldies.

 

[radiocph]

There was that "Hell Radio" stunt on 94.7 in Chicago, back in March 1991. It lasted a couple of weeks tops, IIRC.

"Despite Z-95 morning jocks Welch & Woody's daily updates that "...a big announcement was coming," none really did. That is until "Hell." For about a week, the station referred to itself as "Hell 94.7." This caused quite a stir in the media and outrage from listeners who were upset with the new satanic slogan. The plan failed (maybe it was supposed to) and for a short time in 1991, WYTZ reverted back to Top 40 as "Hot 94.7""

The History of Chicago's 94.7 FM

Angry calls and letters about “Hell Radio” flooded Captial Cities/ABC, which quickly realized what a colossal mistake it had made. After about a week or two, the company pulled the plug on the stunt and aborted the rest of Michaels’ plan. A short time later, the station dropped its format and changed call letters.

ETA: Music on this format was mostly rap/urban. When I first heard about this long ago, I assumed it would be heavy metal...Live and learn.

Randy Michaels' first disaster in Chicago? It was 'hell'

www.wbez.org

 

[knapfordsouthern1]

In 2004, KEGL-FM in Dallas dropped its longtime "Eagle" rock format for AC as "Sunny". It lasted about half a year before flipping to Spanish oldies as "La Preciosa" in August 2005, which lasted for about two-and-a-half years before the Eagle format was brought back.

In other words, all attempts to kill off the Eagle format have failed in the long run. It's more recent stint as sports/talk "The Freak" was probably the most successful try, but even then it registered shares in the 1s and was met with market disinterest before the Eagle format came back again in April 2024.

 

[CCBInMI]

Detroit had 99.5 WOWF "Wow FM" as Talk from roughly January to May 1993 (after CHR WDFX, before Country WYCD) and 102.7 WDMK "Kiss FM" as mainstream AC during the summer of '99 (after Classic Rock WWBR "The Bear" and before Radio One flipped Kiss to Urban AC; they even had Delilah). Both so short-lived I'm virtually 99% sure they were just smokescreens meant to catch the competition off guard. Going farther back, there was also 93.1 WDRQ's time as a Talk station from roughly June 1971 to March of '72 before going Top 40.
To the west, there was 105.3 WCXT Hart's (now WHTS) very short time as Dance "105-3 The Whip" also during the summer of 1999. IIRC Nancy Waters (then-owner and one of the first Black female station owners in the business) leased the frequency to a Muskegon nightclub, then took it back and reinstated the former automated "Lite Mix" Soft AC format once the nightclub failed to keep up the payments. If I'm not mistaken, the format flipped in May or June (after I'd already gotten out of college for the summer) and reverted to AC by Thanksgiving. As it was, it was a 100,000-watt signal with half its coverage area serving the fish in Lake Michigan, and the other half serving mostly deer and grizzly bears in the central western Lower Peninsula with Whitney/Britney/Mariah/Madonna dance mixes and stuff like Mousse T's "So Horny." How could it not work? (heavy sarcasm)

 

[TexasTom]

In 2004, KEGL-FM in Dallas dropped its longtime "Eagle" rock format for AC as "Sunny". It lasted about half a year before flipping to Spanish oldies as "La Preciosa" in August 2005, which lasted for about two-and-a-half years before the Eagle format was brought back.

In other words, all attempts to kill off the Eagle format have failed in the long run. It's more recent stint as sports/talk "The Freak" was probably the most successful try, but even then it registered shares in the 1s and was met with market disinterest before the Eagle format came back again in April 2024.

The Freak was nowhere close to a success -- and since it was a relatively costly format to produce, I'd argue it was perhaps the biggest failure of the attempts to take 97.1 away from a rock format. (As an aside, the Eagle did have a run as a Top 40 station from 1984 to approximately 1991 and did quite well for the first five years or so of that run.)

 

[LamptimerFan]

In recent memory, KXEG 1280/96.1 in Phoenix, AZ had an oldies format that lasted just under a year. Their website called themselves "The Time Machine" but they couldn't be bothered to change the generic "KXEG" bumpers to reflect this change lol.

They now have a Spanish AC format similar to their sister station KNNR 1400/103.3 in Sparks, NV.