The old Z100 has a copycat in Missouri!

[nd2023]

I recently had the pleasure of hearing KZMA 99.9 Poplar Bluff MO. They go by Z100 and have a classic hits format focused on the 80s. They use many of the old Z100 jingles and call themselves the “hot rockin flame thrower”. I must be the only one who made the connection that they wanted to emulate the Z100 of NYC in the 80s. Their morning show is the “Z Morning Zoo”.

 

[Mikey Radio]

I recently had the pleasure of hearing KZMA 99.9 Poplar Bluff MO. They go by Z100 and have a classic hits format focused on the 80s. They use many of the old Z100 jingles and call themselves the “hot rockin flame thrower”. I must be the only one who made the connection that they wanted to emulate the Z100 of NYC in the 80s. Their morning show is the “Z Morning Zoo”.

This is more of a question than a statement, but isn't at least some of the original Z100 stuff copyrighted or protected in some way? While I know many stations emulated Z100 back in the day (including a small market station I worked at, which bought the same jingle package Z100 was using at the time - the PD heard it on a Century 21 or JAM demo, liked it and ordered it, sung with our frequency/calls), but to lift the actual jingles, positioning stuff and even the name Morning Zoo that Z100 had developed, bought and paid for, seems a bit much.

 

[nd2023]

This is more of a question than a statement, but isn't at least some of the original Z100 stuff copyrighted or protected in some way? While I know many stations emulated Z100 back in the day (including a small market station I worked at, which bought the same jingle package Z100 was using at the time - the PD heard it on a Century 21 or JAM demo, liked it and ordered it, sung with our frequency/calls), but to lift the actual jingles, positioning stuff and even the name Morning Zoo that Z100 had developed, bought and paid for, seems a bit much.

Elvis Duran no longer calls it the Z Morning Zoo. And this Z100 doesn’t sound like the NYC Z100 of today.

 

[Mikey Radio]

And this Z100 doesn’t sound like the NYC Z100 of today.

Yes, this was understood from your original post. The question (to those radio pros in the know) was, whether any/all of the stuff from the Shannon era of Z100 was licensed or protected, as from what you've explained, this other station seems to have just taken everything Z100 in NYC had developed back then, and more or less just swiped it for use on their modern day station.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes, this was understood from your original post. The question (to those radio pros in the know) was, whether any/all of the stuff from the Shannon era of Z100 was licensed or protected, as from what you've explained, this other station seems to have just taken everything Z100 in NYC had developed back then, and more or less just swiped it for use on their modern day station.

It is unlikely that anything on Z100 back then was registered except in the local NJ-NY market area. It was not particularly common to register phrases, names and positioners in that era.

 

[dcowboy7]

Do they have mr. leonard ? he was a trip.

 

[gr8oldies]

I know a guy who has a pretty good sounding Z100 tribute station online. Zfunhundred.com. https://www.zfunhundred.com/

 

[erwin33]

I recently had the pleasure of hearing KZMA 99.9 Poplar Bluff MO. They go by Z100 and have a classic hits format focused on the 80s. They use many of the old Z100 jingles and call themselves the “hot rockin flame thrower”. I must be the only one who made the connection that they wanted to emulate the Z100 of NYC in the 80s. Their morning show is the “Z Morning Zoo”.

I hear a Christian station when I listen to their livestream?

 

[mjb1124]

The rights to the jingles in particular are usually controlled by the company that produced them, not the station. (There are exceptions, like some of the custom BBC radio station packages.) And it's not unheard of for jingle companies to license previously sung jingles (not resings) to stations with the same branding. The original stations don't necessarily have the rights to use those jingles in perpetuity, nor do they necessarily have any say in what a station outside of their market does.

 

[Marcos_C]

I hear a Christian station when I listen to their livestream?

And their listed domain (kzmaz100.com) is parked.

 

[gr8oldies]

Back in the stone age, a package could be exclusive to a station for a set period of time, and then syndicated elsewhere. WCBK in Morristown, IL has the CBS-FM package and logo.

 

[nd2023]

They don’t stream and have no website, but they do have a Facebook page