SLEIGH BELLS ON 106.1

[GeneSavage]

stacker, I think G Thompson agrees with you:

Of course, Machiavellian broadcasting always ends up burning you in the long-term. Because people aren't stupid. Eventually the public wakes up to your games and you have to find a new game to play.

We're all on the same page, here. You become the station people turn TO for a week or two before Christmas, but they've all turned AWAY up to that time, and will turn AWAY after Christmas is over.

It looks good close-up because you can't see the whole picture.

Those two weeks of "owning" Christmas are not worth it for the crickets for the month before or the eleven months AFTER.

Yet corporate continues to think it is.

The policy seems to be, quoting Mythbusters, "If it's worth doing, it's worth OVERdoing."

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

It's good for stations that are flipping formats or Ac stations if they time it right. I agree going too early isn't a good idea. One thing to consider about corporate radio is that they always take a successful thought and overdo it, replicating it over and over again without regard to market differences. Is it any wonder these are the same fine folks going broke about now?

 

[phantom444]

Re: SLEIGH BELLS ON 106.1 and 92.9

I find it funny that KQLL-HD2 is off, but 93.5 is still on. Is that legal? I thought a translator was just that, a translator. Not a radio station with originating programming.

Listen to 93.5 lately? Same imaging saying it's 50s and 60s, but the music is definitely 60s and 70s...mostly 70s.

 

[GeneSavage]

I noticed the same thing... & satellite jocks now, too. Don't know what they're planning.

 

[stacker]

I broke down and played the first and probably only November Christmas song on KRVT this morning. "Walking Around In Woman's Underwear." Why that song? Well, I couldn't find Da Yoopers "Rusty Chevrolet."

 

[Watercooler]

I saw someone else talking about this in another board and then it hit me www.genxtulsa.com/main.html

 

[GeneSavage]

I THINK YOU FOUND IT!!!

http://www.genxlouisville.com/main.html

(Below taken from: http://idolator.com/5270712/well-slap-me-silly-and-call-me-a-lamestain-gen-x-radio-debuts)

Yes, the generation that inspired so much Boomer disdain is finally getting a format to call all its own, although the music associated with it may not be what you necessarily think of when you think of slackers and Singles. Quoth CC market president Bill Gentry: “It’s focused on a musical experience… [that] crosses cultures from grunge, hip-hop, hair bands, boy bands and more.” And another CC higher-up has this to say: “[Louie will] capture how 30-somethings listen to music, and it ignores genres and categories.” Sounds sorta Jack-y to me, but then again, perhaps that ill-conceived marketing will inspire further nostalgia for those 30somethings who remember all too well being ineptly pandered to back in the day. The playlist of Louie’s inaugural hour:

2 Unlimited, “Get Ready For This”
Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Montell Jordan, “This is How We Do it”
No Doubt, “Just A Girl”
Coolio, “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)”
EMF, “Unbelievable”
OMC, “How Bizarre”
blink-182, “All The Small Things”
D-Mob, “C’mon and Get My Love”
Sublime, “Santeria”
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch, “Good Vibrations”
Dave Matthews Band, “Ants Marching”
Culturebeat, “Mr. Vain”
Spin Doctors, “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”
Jennifer Lopez, ”If You Had My Love”

(Below taken from: http://www.varietyhits.com/variety/)

September 4, 2009
100.5 Louie FM (WLUE) is gone in Louisville, as the Clear Channel-owned station has flipped from Variety Hits to '90s pop/rock as 100.5 Gen-X Radio (with new call letters WLGX) effective 9/3/2009. The move is a major one by Clear Channel, which doesn't have a large volume of Variety Hits stations in its arsenal.

 

[Watercooler]

Yep and now when you go to that link it goes to a google search page insted of going to kooltulsa.com ;D talk about cookie cutter radio. I listened to the GenX louisville and it seems pretty much 90's based version of Jack FM really I think they should have blown up 101.5 and tired it on that stick. but Live 101.5 was on that stick and it failed :-(

 

[GeneSavage]

...Do they think they're being clever with the re-direct?

Can't put Pandora back in the box now, you know.

I think 101.5 is actually drawing advertisers. From what I could make out, Victory Christian Center. TCC & a few other local businesses are advertising on 101.5. The ads are in Spanish, so I assume these aren't just bonus spots rolled over from other CC-Tulsa stations.

I'm very curious to see if this will work here. I'm most curious to see how the dance tracks I saw listed in Louisville will play here, if they are added!

Seems this manages to attack Mix 96 & The Edge at the same time, with a little threat left over for maybe KBEZ.

Kool 106's 50s - 60s audience was moving out of the profitable 10-49 yr old demo. They tried pushing to the 60s, but that demo aged as well. The "Classic Top 40" format bombed, for reasons I'm sure will continue to be debated. (I've heard some say, "their signal is bad." I listened to them in Muskogee last weekend!)

Between the 80s audience being 34 - 49 yr olds as of 2011, & the 80s format having bombed in other markets... I guess they figure the logical thing to do is leapfrog that decade and go straight for the 90s.

More power to 'em... I bet they'll go back in my presets, even if I don't listen all the time.

 

[Kent]

Kool 106's 50s - 60s audience was moving out of the profitable 10-49 yr old demo. They tried pushing to the 60s, but that demo aged as well. The "Classic Top 40" format bombed, for reasons I'm sure will continue to be debated. (I've heard some say, "their signal is bad." I listened to them in Muskogee last weekend!)

Kool 106.1 has always had a flaky signal in parts of Midtown Tulsa, hence the 93.5 translator that used to be at the Fairgrounds. At the house we lived in when I grew up (about a mile from the Fairgrounds), you had to listen to Kool on 93.5 on your walkman or clock radio because 106.1's signal was choppy. Go a couple of blocks in any direction, and it was back. It would also have issues around the 5300 Club swimming pool at or about 27th and Hudson. However, I don't think you could blame the signal for Classic Top-40's failure. After all, oldies did fine on that signal for almost 20 years. I would say the problem was probably more that the 70's gold format is covered extremely well in Tulsa with Star 103, 94.1 The Sound, and even, to some degree, sister station KMOD. Rock, which The Sound and Star specialize in, also generally has a longer shelf life than pop, which Kool loaded up on. Wading into an arena with two solid competitors and songs with a high burn potential is a recipe for disaster!

Between the 80s audience being 34 - 49 yr olds as of 2011, & the 80s format having bombed in other markets... I guess they figure the logical thing to do is leapfrog that decade and go straight for the 90s.

80's gold isn't overly different from the 70's gold we were just discussing. A classic example of making 80's work with a decent shelf life is the variety hits format. When you get right down to it, variety hits is an "80's and more" station, just presented differently than 10 years ago.

More power to 'em... I bet they'll go back in my presets, even if I don't listen all the time.

I'm looking forward to checking it out, too. I'll be in Tulsa over the holidays for the first time in 13 years. At least there will be an interesting format change to check out while I'm there, and I frequently find myself streaming WLGX.

 

[Kent]

While it's still doing Christmas music long after almost every other Clear Channel station has gone back to its old format, I noticed Clear Channel filed a request for calls of KTGX last week.

 

[billyg]

While it's still doing Christmas music long after almost every other Clear Channel station has gone back to its old format, I noticed Clear Channel filed a request for calls of KTGX last week.

But "Gen-X Radio" in Tulsa? Reminds me of the "Jammin' Oldies" format that came and went in other markets.

 

[Kent]

It's certainly a possibility. Anytime you run a new format, there's a chance it either won't have legs or won't take off at all. Of course, people were saying Jack would be just another Jammin' Oldies, and that was 7 years ago when it first launched in Canada. Time will tell which one it will resemble most. We just get to watch and wait!

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Speaking of Jack... How's the potentially new 94.7 going to effect them? I'd guess very, very badly!

 

[radioresearcher]

It's certainly a possibility. Anytime you run a new format, there's a chance it either won't have legs or won't take off at all. Of course, people were saying Jack would be just another Jammin' Oldies, and that was 7 years ago when it first launched in Canada. Time will tell which one it will resemble most. We just get to watch and wait!

Jammin' Oldies has morphed into Rhythmic AC and is doing just fine in places like Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno, Bakersfield, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

It's about programming it correctly. XHRM/San Diego is the #1 25-54 station in that market and has over a dozen years in the format. KHHT is now top 5 to 10.

 

[GeneSavage]

After midnight, 106.1 is playing "Christmas Shoes" for the umpteen-millionth time since November 1st.

Therefore, I am trying to gouge my ears out with a screwdriver.

The website (http://genxtulsa.com) is back to pointing to "Christmas 106." I assume they'll go at 6AM?

...I wish they'd throw in "Stars & Stripes Forever," just to see if anybody's paying attention...

 

[GeneSavage]

No more sleigh bells on 106.1!

I assume they flipped at noon; I was away from the radio then.

I just listened for 30 minutes & was shocked that they didn't play a SINGLE song I didn't like... some of them I loved! That's quite an accomplishment for me, considering I considered the 90s to be mostly a musical "wasteland." They also seemed to be balancing the harder stuff against the pop / dance / urban cuts. The variety was VERY refreshing, if occasionally a little startling. The imaging works well for me, too... no jocks so far, don't know if that'll change.

The biggest concern for me is repetition & burnout. If they play today's great long-lost songs tomorrow, that's gonna get old in a hurry... in about a day, in fact. ;D

I don't know quite what their target is, perhaps 25 - 34 yr olds? If so, this mix may be a bit lacking in grunge and lean too heavily on early 90s. For me, a nearly-40 yr old, the mix I just heard is perfect! Are they targeting 35 - 44 yr olds who liked 90s music? If so, don't a lot of 35 - 44 yr olds like grunge? (I hate it, but my tastes aren't the point.) I don't know if there are enough people with my musical tastes to make this fly.

For now, though, I'm having a ball! (Just please have a big enough library!)

ALSO: it's funny to hear the leftover prostate and youth cream ads from the older format.

 

[Kent]

I heard it launched at noon with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Go figure that the one time I'm in Tulsa when a format change happens is the one time I couldn't be near a radio when the change happened!

The station, if I remember correctly, will target 25-44. Remember, Generation X is now entirely within the 25-54 age group, hence why broadcasters are now trying harder to reach that audience.

 

[In_Tulsa]

They need more 90's hip hop Snoop dog, Coolio, Snow, Tag Team, MC Hammer and you've got to play Vanilla Ice. The mix needs to be great for this to work. PLEASE no more Justin Timberlake.

 

[billyg]

I just listened for 30 minutes & was shocked that they didn't play a SINGLE song I didn't like... some of them I loved! That's quite an accomplishment for me, considering I considered the 90s to be mostly a musical "wasteland." They also seemed to be balancing the harder stuff against the pop / dance / urban cuts. The variety was VERY refreshing, if occasionally a little startling. The imaging works well for me, too... no jocks so far, don't know if that'll change.

The biggest concern for me is repetition & burnout. If they play today's great long-lost songs tomorrow, that's gonna get old in a hurry... in about a day, in fact. ;D

That's the way I first felt when I heard Jammin' Oldies (on KTYL Tyler TX) - wow, a lot of good stuff.. But Clear Channel didn't add anything new or deep cuts, or pull any "safe" songs to keep them fresh. So they burned listeners out with the same playlist in less than a year. Then they switched to a "MIX" Hot AC format.

BTW I hope KRVT's been getting a lot of new listeners now. ;D