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The End of Z102?

G

Garrett

New information including recent posts here suggests that Z102 in its final days.

What went wrong?
When I came to Lubbock, Z102 was still recovering from being unfairly gutted by Gulfstar. On the air, the station still souned good, with reverb and jingles still held over from better times. Music direction was focus, and the format was fun.

Fast forward to today.
What happened?
Is it the continued competition from Hot, The Beat, Stars and Mix eroding the audience base?
Is it because of a lack of interest from corporate in budgeting a station that's run its course, causing the format and the elements to suffer?

Or, is it a little of both?

Is it the end of Z102?
If so, how much time is left?
What format could replace Z102? JACK or some kind of Danc format?

Is there anything or anyone that can save it?
And, if Z102 does go away, will anyone replace the format?
Will GAP do like they did in Amarillo and start Kiss FM format another frequency?
Or maybe some other station group in town will go CHR?

Thoughts?
 
It's an interesting thought since between KMMX, KSTQ, and KBTE, that KZII has the lowest rating.

This is what I think would happen if the Z were to leave the airwaves.

First Scenario: Like you said, just like Amarillo.

Z102 would turn to 102.5 Jack FM. Then my guess would be KQBR might become a Kiss FM format.

Second Scenario: KQBR stays the same...and KZII relaunches as 102.5 Kiss FM.

Third Scenario: KQBR stays the same...KZII becomes Jack FM. And Mix 100 turns toward the same format that Z102 had.

Until I hear from a reliable source, I'm going to guess that Z102 is here to stay.
 
Back when it was still Clear Channel, I would have agreed that Z102 stays put. Now that its GAP (which is the smallest station group they've been part of since the Gulfstar/Capstar days), I suspect Z102 is done after Valentine's Day.

Unless Z102 has some strong billing that is keeping it alive, I can't imagine a situation where a CHR doing this badly for this long would survive.

And I'll offer this: You have to do more than just throw a bunch of hits together in rotation and expect it to work. BIG is entertaining and the one bright spot in the station. The morning show did their best. But that's not good enough. Look at what Mix 100 does? Focused format, lots of involvement in local charities. Beat and Hot have Mix shows. Z102's mix show is usually in mono, and sounds like it is through a phone line. If you want a station to do well, you have to make at least some investment in format. When somebody says "nobody in the building cares for Z102" I believe it, and it comes through over on-air product. The CHR formats needs to be re-engergized in Lubbock, and just keeping Z102 on life support isn't goning to cut it much longer. Not to discredit the long history of Z102 in this town, many grew up on this station, I understand. But it's over...
 
As for Z getting yanked... I don't know. There was always a threat that would happen and I hope for Eathen and Big that this doesn't happen... becuz getting another job in radio is hard as hell! Trust me... I know.

My only thing is that Z needs to focus on one format! Stop being BIPOLAR. Once they do this... I would think that they would see improvements. They can't go HIPHOP etc... cuz it wouldn't work. Not when you have REAL HIPHOP stations already in town. So, they need to go up against MIX head on. However, there is more to improving then just the format. They need to lock down some personalities. I am not saying get rid of Eathen or Big. They need to get a damn night show in there *** However, I don't listen so they might have done this already. They need to give more to Eathen to do mornings the right way. He's got to have money etc... to go up against KRADDICK. There is no way around it. Yeah, you can say some crap like "Well, if you have good local people then that can beat KRADDICK etc..." but that is not true! And this is why I would be worried about Eathen getting the shaft becuz GAP does not want to spend money. I know that when I was APD and was applying for the job of PD along with Eathen... part of my proposal was to ditch the live and local mornings and get a good match for KRADDICK. I enjoyed doing mornings, hated the music though, however, I didn't want to have to start over with a new morning crew. It just wasn't worth it. Its hard to get the right chemistry and then hope that people dig you.

Of course with all of this being said... they could flip to an alternative format. However, there could be some concerns that might take some away from FMX. Honestly, I don't know if that would be a real concern. This was also something I had in my proposal.

However, from what I was told... Eathen had a 5 star proposal for Z... so the question is... why are they NOT allowing him to move forward with that proposal? I don't listen but I know those who do... and they say that it sounds the same since the change. So, once again... why not let him take a chance with his ideas and see what happens? I mean, its not like the stations ratings could get any worse then they have in the past.

Why is the GAP Corp in Dallas treating their stations like crap? Are they just trying to get it to make money as a whole then simply turn around and sell the clusters in a year or two... where they can walk away with a little bit of profit?

But then.... what the hell do I know...
 
Z102 Wow that's sad how once a really good station has fallen. I normally don't post on sites like this but when I was called and told about how bad the Z is doing I wasn't surprised one bit. I believe that we all know what needs to happen to that station and it's sad to say but it's done. Scrap it and do something else. The fact is that's what happens when you put people in positions that they know they're not qualified for and now Eathan is in bad spot. When you put people on a station that has no idea of there format nor cares about it then it goes back to that old saying " You Get What You Pay For". Well I hope for the best for Eathan because he's good guy and deserves better but hey it is what is.
 
That station has been in a bad place for a long time. When you have past, past PDs come in and just hit the load button on Power Gold and they do that over and over... people get sick of hearing the same crap over and over and bail. Then of course there is the fact of a past syndicated morning show that would run the same thing over and over... people get tired of that as well. So, once all these things have been done and done for who knows how long.... its hard for anyone to come in and try to get the listeners back.
 
What's killing them is not dayparting the heavy R&B music that throws the station off. What they should do is take on Mix by scrapping the "Z" name and calling it "My102.5." That way they can focus their music and format better. I don't think Stars is a threat.

Well, that's what I would do, because I know it would work.
 
Re: The End of Z102? UPDATE

Looks like Z102 will get their mornings syndicated after all.
The announcements have been running on the Z, thanks to our very own BVG...


http://www.z102.com/dyn_page.php?id=45

A little net research finds that the show comes out of Austin, which is interesting because that is where Z102's last successful morning show, "Jay, Chris and Dina" originated from after Jay Shannon moved to Austin (if I recall correctly).

Question is, will this work?
 
Correct. In fact, Bobby Bones is coming from the same station...96.7 KISS-FM (formerly known by its call letters, KHFI). Jay Shannon is still the program director (minus a couple of years at Mix 96.1 in San Antonio).

The decline at Z102 started when Jay moved to Austin. Some of the folks at 82nd and Quaker were glad to see him go (he wouldn't bend over and hold is ankles for the sales staff). But that's when things gradually started to go downhill. Things got out of control when they started moving FMX staffers to Z102.

Someone once posted that they "FMXed" the station. Very true. And very disasterous.

As for whether or not The Bobby Bones show will work? Maybe over time. We all know that syndicated shows work in Lubbock...but it will be an uphill battle. Too much damage has been done over the years to the Z102 brand.
 
So what happened to Chris & Dina then? Did they stay in Austin?

They were just getting going when Gulfstar came along. I didn't really know what happened to them after I was let go.
 
Chris and Dina moved back to Lubbock and did the show on Z102. Then Chris got a gig somewhere else and bailed. Dina stayed on for a while then took a gig outside of radio.

As for the station being FMX'd... Moving us over there wasn't disasterous. Maybe the personalities weren't a perfect fit for some... however... many of the listeners loved it because there is a huge cross over from FMX to Z102 and visa versa. So, to those who felt that was a bad move... that is simply there opinion. However, even with that being said... there are still past FMX staff on board at Z102. I would imagine that they are working their hardest to make the station successful just as many have before them, myself included.
 
And a side note....

Good Luck to DAN COLLINS from Kool 98.


As I have said before... GAP stands for....

Gutting Anything Profitable
 
it looks like the fat lady is singing her tune over there at GAP
 
You know... it's not surprising... however... at the same time it kinda is. I only say that because George came in at least twice given us all the speech that the way to be truly successful in radio was to keep things LIVE & LOCAL. You might think I'm making that up... I am not. Yeah, I understand, thats the usual Corporate crap that they dish out. However, to preach it more then once? Dan Collins was a tool some times, but he made me laugh and his station always did well. So, to cut him, once again, doesn't make any sense. I hope he has better luck at finding a radio gig then many others. GAP Corp has got to be gutting as much as possible before selling it off. Thats the only thing I can think of. I wonder if these type of cuts are happening thru out all of the GAP clusters. I would think there would only be one person at work for the AMARILLO cluster. Seeing that it's the worst of all the clusters.

It's sad to say... but things were so much cooler when it was owned by CC. They never bothered you in the smaller markets. I would hate to be a GAP employee right now... wondering if your next. Because, at this point, it doesn't matter how well you do etc... that won't save you.
 
First of all, I don't see how a CHR demo could look anything like an Active Rock demo. As far as I've known, (and that includes working at 2 different CHRS), those two audiences couldn't despise each other more. KFMX listeners can't stand the Pop that makes up Z102, and I don't see Hanna Montana fans flocking to KFMX. But I guess this is Lubbock, and I will NEVER second guss Crow, so whatever...

Second, if all this information that's being presented on the board is true, it might be a good time for a non-GAP station group in town to pick up CHR and Oldies. Will Kool 98 have employees besides Landon? I thought the guy in the mid day was VT'd from another market? KLZK has a GREAT signal now, too bad its being wasted on that Stars format.

As for Jay Shannon... No comment!
 
This may not be true, but it was my understanding that Landon was doing all the work at KOOL. If that is true, management decided that he was more valuable to the day-to-day operation of that station. Again, that's somewhat an assumption on my part. Regardless, it's a well deserved and overdue promotion for Landon.

The days of working a 4-6 hour day are over. If you can't multi-task and be of value in a variety of roles, you will get cut. That's not just a GAP thing...and it's not just a smaller market thing, either. It's happening in Dallas! VTed middays, syndicated nights, one PD overlooking numerous stations, etc.

As for the FMXing of Z102, obviously, it was bad move. Otherwise, we wouldn't be discussing the future of the station. Nothing against those FMX staffers that ended-up on Z102. You were given an opportunity and you took it! But it was doomed to fail. When Z102 was at its best, it was the polar opposite of FMX. The two stations had nothing in common.

One last note...Jay Shannon (like him or not) was probably the best and most knowledgable PD in the history of Lubbock radio. Z102 was a stellar radio station that dominated the market during his tenure...better than a ton of radio stations in considerably larger markets (back when market size mattered). Z102 was far from stellar when Chuck Luck was in charge, and we all know what has happened since Jay moved to Austin.
 
if that's true we will see where kool goes after dan, i remember where kool was before he arrived, and you can read the arbs today. dan was about only one there without ties to fmx, it looked like it worked.
 
No doubt about it! KOOL is a much better station today than it was when Dan took over! Absolutely.

However, there are still some simple improvements that can be made musically. If Landon does his homework and taps some resources outside of Lubbock, he'll be fine.

Here's a question that I can't answer. Has KOOL been pulling better numbers in middays and afternoons than in mornings? Is it possible that mornings were the lowest rated daypart?
 
it looks like kool's morning numbers matched or outpaced the stations average, and he works alone, afternoons were down this time, mid-days were strong due to the lead in, as it usually is.
donald trump builds skyscrapers, but when was the last time you saw him swinging a sledge hammer?
its the vision "thing", that is gone now.
 
For those of us who missed it, exactly what is happening at Kool?
Is Dan leaving? Who is in mornings then? What promotion for Landon?


Last I heard, Kool was puttng out great numbers.
What happened?
 
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