Suggestion: The Next Station Tribute for The Sound: KNX FM

[socalguy]

On a whim I searched You Tube for KNX FM. Random, I know. What I found was amazing. Someone has posted 200 songs/videos he remembers listening to while dating his soon to be wife. He's right on the money but sadly many of the videos have been removed. It's like he had a copy of the playlist. I know, I worked there.

It got me to thinking. How does The Sound follow up it's tribute to KMET (or was it KMET's tribute to itself?)? Why not pay tribute to a station I (humbly) think The Sound more closely resembles, KNX FM. Take a look at the artists and songs in this list of 200. Take some time to sample the music. I think you'll get a sense for the musical greatness that was KNX/FM. KMET had the great jocks, attitude, concerts and features...but for my money, musically, KNX FM was in a league of it's own and now lost in time. Come on Burton and Beasing...turn yourself into KNX/FM for a 3 day weekend...and you'll own this town!

(Let me know if you need Steve Marshall's email address...)

 

[radiojomo]

Sounds great but...
-CBS wouldn't be too happy about it. Jack FM is can be considered a competitor of The Sound and they wouldn't want the Sound to gain listenership using one of their former formats and a set of call letters still used for one of their AM stations.
-KNX wasn't necessarily as revolutionary as KMET was to most people. KMET was a special station because it broke all the rules and wasn't as cool as stations like KLOS and KNX.

 

[davideduardo]

Come on Burton and Beasing...turn yourself into KNX/FM for a 3 day weekend...and you'll own this town!

I'm told the KMET recreation tanked the numbers... why would they want to do that again?

 

[michael hagerty]

"...we lost three one-thousandths of a point on the MediaPulse instant feedback board. I mean, there it is, in day-glo orange."

--Tomorrow Radio, TM Productions, 1977

 

[calguy]

"We're going punk-country!"

But seriously, there would be a lot more involved than just getting some people together. KNX-FM had a very special way of doing things that would be hard to reproduce for just one day. Of course it depends on which KNX-FM you're talking about. The super smooth automated KNX-FM of the 70's up to 1982 where all the songs flowed in the same key, or the "live" version of 1983, or even the later 1980's version. The "live" versions would be easier to re-create, but they weren't that special. Not special enough to want to try reproducing. No, I think it would have to be the 70's/Early 80's KNX-FM and that wouldn't be easy...

 

[ChannelFlipper]

When the Sound first premiered it was much closer to KNX than to KMET in terms of playlist and presentation. It has drifted more towards KMET ever since and especially since the "Finally a KMET Friday" on July 10.

Back in the day I loved both KMET and KNX-FM. Get yer Van Halen and Aerosmith on the Mighty Met; Get yer Joni Mitchel and Poco down on KNX. Each were great in their own way. KNX-FM is still one of the best automated stations ever. They were way ahead of their time in that regard.

The problem with a KNX recreation, like was alluded to above, is that it was all about the music and not the personalities, so a recreation would only pull out songs that were particular to KNX back in the day that no one else played. Steve Forbert and Rickie Lee Jones come to mind. Honestly, since I knew the station was all automated, I never really paid attention to the personalities and couldn't hardly name them today. In fact, to give the station some non-musical character, they came up with the little one minute vignettes known as the "trip to the Odyssey files" which gave some DJ talking time about some whimsical little topic or other. Then, back to the music, (flowing of course in the same key). So in order to recreate, you'd have to get all of those songs (many of which are not played any more, even on soft stations like KOST) and the right sequences and tapes of Odyssey files etc. The end result would be a ratings killer. KNX was a great station but doesn't have nearly the cache that KMET does after all of these years.

I actually find David's comment above that the KMET day was a ratings killer to be very interesting, because the station has moved musically in that direction noticeably since that day. My guess was that they did well with it and were really trying to keep new listeners that tuned in to the event to stick around.

 

[Dick Skinner]

Does anyone have any ratings data on either rendition of KNX-FM?

 

[michael hagerty]

Does anyone have any ratings data on either rendition of KNX-FM?

First showing was 1973:

Pulse November/December 1973 Total Audience Share

1. KHJ (top 40) 5.4
2. KABC (talk) 5.0
3. KFWB (news) 4.3
4. KLOS-FM (aor) 4.1
5. KFI (mor) 3.6
5. KGFJ (r&b) 3.6
5. KNX (news) 3.6
8. KMPC (mor) 3.5
9. KLAC (country) 3.3
10. KALI (Spanish) 3.2
11. KPOL (beautiful) 3.0
12. KKDJ-FM (top 40) 2.9
13. KRTH-FM (oldies) 2.7
14. KJOI-FM (beautiful) 2.6
15. KFOX (country) 2.2
16. KIIS (a/c) 2.1
16. KWKW (Spanish) 2.1
18. KWST (beautiful) 1.8
19. KMET-FM (aor) 1.7
20. KNX-FM (soft rock) 1.6
21. KOST-FM (beautiful) 1.5
21. KWIZ (?) 1.5
23. KDAY (top 40/aor) 1.4
23. KEZY (top 40) 1.4
23. KRLA (a/c) 1.4
26. KGBS (a/c) 1.3
27. XETRA (beautiful) 1.2
28. KFAC (classical) 1.1
29. KIQQ (top 40) 1.0


Pulse November/December 1974 Total Audience Share

1. KABC (talk) 7.2
2. KHJ (top 40) 6.3
3. KDAY (r&b) 4.6
4. KFWB (news) 4.3
5. KNX (news) 4.2)
6. KJOI-FM (beautiful) 4.1
6. KLAC (country) 4.1
8. KLOS-FM (aor) 3.9
9. KMPC (mor) 3.6
10. KALI (Spanish) 3.3
11. KRTH-FM (oldies) 3.1
12. KGFJ (r&b) 2.5
12. KNX-FM (soft rock) 2.5
14. KFI (mor) 2.3
14. KMET-FM (aor) 2.3
16. KBCA-FM (jazz) 2.1
16. KWST-FM (beautiful) 2.1
18. KBIG-FM (beautiful) 2.0
18. KFOX (country) 2.0
20. KPOL (beautiful) 1.8
21. KKDJ-FM (top 40) 1.7
21. KWKW (Spanish) 1.7
23. KJLH-FM (r&b) 1.4
24. KIIS (a/c) 1.3
24. KIQQ (top 40) 1.3
24. KRLA (a/c) 1.3
24. KUTE-FM (r&b) 1.3
28. KEZY (top 40) 1.3
28. KFAC (classical) 1.2
28. KWIZ (?) 1.2
28. XETRA (beautiful) 1.2
32. KPOL-FM (beautiful) 1.1


Arbitron
October/November 1975 Persons 12+

1. KABC 6.9
2. KHJ 5.4
3. KJOI 5.3
4. KBIG 5.1
5. KDAY 4.6
6. KMPC 4.4
7. KFWB 4.1
8. KNX 3.9
9. KFI 3.8
10. KLOS 3.5
11. KNX-FM 3.3
12. KLAC 2.9
13. KIQQ 2.7
14. KLVE 2.5
15. KRTH 2.4
16. KPOL 2.0
17. KOST 1.7
18. KWKW 1.6
19. KMET 1.5
19. KIIS-FM 1.5
21. KGFJ 1.4
21. KPOL-FM 1.4
23. KIIS 1.2
23. KFAC-FM 1.2
25. XETRA 1.1
25. KUTE 1.1
25. KWST 1.1
28. KRLA 1.0


Arbitron October/November 1976 M-S 6AM-12MID 12+ Shares

1. KABC (talk) 6.7
2. KBIG (beautiful) 5.9
3. KHJ (top 40) 5.3
4. KJOI (beautiful) 4.9
5. KNX (news) 4.8
6. KFWB (news) 3.9
7. KLOS (aor) 3.8
7. KNX-FM (soft rock)
9. KMPC (a/c) 3.6
10. KRLA (top 40) 3.3
10. KDAY (r&b) 3.3
12. KIQQ (top 40) 3.2
13. KFI (top 40) 2.9
14. KMET (aor) 2.7
15. KOST (beautiful) 2.4
15. KPOL (beautiful) 2.4
16. KLAC (country) 2.3
18. KRTH (oldies) 1.9
19. KIIS-FM (a/c) 1.8
20. KWST (beautiful) 1.7
21. KPOL-FM (beautiful) 1.6
22. KEZY (top 40) 1.5
23. KIIS-AM (a/c) 1.4
24. KUTE (r&b) 1.3
25. KBCA (jazz) 1.2
25. KFAC-FM (classical) 1.2
25. KLVE (beautiful) 1.2
28. KBRT (beautiful) 1.0
28. KNOB (jazz) 1.0
28. KWKW (spanish) 1.0



Arbitron October/November 1977 M-S 6AM-12MID 12+ Shares

1. KBIG (beautiful) 6.8
2. KABC (talk) 5.8
3. KJOI (beautiful) 4.4
4. KNX (news) 4.0
5. KFWB (news) 3.9
6. KLOS (aor) 3.6
6. KNX-FM (soft rock) 3.6
8. KHJ (top 40) 3.5
8. KMPC (a/c) 3.5
10. KRTH (a/c) 3.4
11. KFI (top 40) 3.1
12. KLAC (country) 2.9
13. KMET (aor) 2.8
14. KIIS-FM (a/c) 2.7
15. KDAY (r&b) 2.6
16. KRLA (oldies) 2.5
17. KIQQ (top 40) 2.4
18. KTNQ (top 40) 2.1
19. KPOL-FM (beautiful) 2.0
20. KPOL (beautiful) 1.8
20. KWKW (Spanish) 1.8
20. KWST (beautiful) 1.8
23. KOST (beautiful) 1.7
24. KIIS-AM (a/c) 1.6
25. KLVE (beautiful) 1.5
26. KALI (Spanish) 1.3
26. KBCA (jazz) 1.3
28. KUTE (r&b) 1.1
29. KEZY (top 40) 1.0
29. KKTT (r&b) 1.0


Arbitron October/November 1978 M-S 6AM-12MID 12+ Shares

1. KABC (talk) 6.5
2. KBIG (beautiful) 6.0
3. KJOI (beautiful) 5.3
4. KMET (aor) 4.9
5. KNX (news) 4.3
6. KFWB (news) 4.2
7. KLAC (country) 3.9
8. KOST (beautiful) 3.3
9. KMPC (a/c) 3.1
9. KNX-FM (soft rock) 3.1
11. KRTH (a/c) 3.0
12. KHJ (top 40) 2.7
13. KFI (top 40) 2.6
13. KRLA (oldies) 2.6
13. KUTE (disco) 2.6
16. KDAY (r&b) 2.5
17. KLOS (aor) 2.4
18. KIIS-FM (disco) 2.1
18. KTNQ (top 40) 2.1
20. KZLA-FM (a/c) 2.0
21. KALI (Spanish) 1.9
22. KIQQ (top 40) 1.8
23. KLVE (Spanish) 1.7
24. KFAC-FM (classical) 1.6
25. KWKW (Spanish) 1.4
26. KHTZ (country) 1.3
26. KWST (aor) 1.3
28. KKGO (jazz) 1.1
29. KIIS (disco) 1.0
29. KROQ-FM (aor/punk) 1.0


Arbitron October/November 1979 M-S 6AM-12MID 12+ Shares

1. KBIG (beautiful) 6.1
2. KABC (talk) 6.0
3. KMET (aor) 5.8
4. KJOI (beautiful) 4.9
5. KLAC (country) 4.3
6. KFWB (news) 4.1
7. KNX (news) 4.0
8. KRTH (a/c) 3.8
9. KRLA (oldies) 3.7
10. KFI (top 40) 3.3
11. KIIS-FM (disco) 2.8
11. KMPC (a/c) 2.8
11. KOST (beautiful) 2.8
14. KNX-FM (soft rock) 2.7
15. KUTE (disco) 2.6
16. KDAY (r&b) 2.4
16. KHJ (top 40) 2.4
18. KHTZ (top 40) 2.2
18. KLOS (aor) 2.2
20. KZLA-FM (a/c) 1.9
21. KTNQ (Spanish) 1.6
22. KALI (Spanish) 1.5
22. KIQQ (top 40) 1.5
22. KLVE (Spanish) 1.5
25. KKGO (jazz) 1.4
26. KFAC-FM (classical) 1.2
26. KGFJ (r&b) 1.2
28. KWKW (Spanish) 1.1
28. KWST (aor) 1.1
30. KGRB (big band) 0.9


By fall of 1983, KNX-FM was down to a 1.6...it was late August of that year that they flipped to CHR as KKHR.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[Woody985fm]

I have created KNX FM 93 Online. You will hear a great mix of songs that were part of the KNX FM Mellow Sound. Plus the station features jingles that were played on KNX FM. Listen at www.knxfm93.com. The station is also on TuneIn Radio for mobile listening.