The worst format flips in Houston? So say I

[truthsayer]

U 1069 what a terrible mess
The planet to Spanish that one really was sad
Easy Country though some argue it was a smokescreen to Young Country
97Rock when it died
KLOL to Mega long live rock n roll
KPRC to MOJO
KIKK when CBS took over and killed it
Every flip made here on 97.5

 

[radiobop]

Don't forget KSRR Star 97 the Top 40-Country combo...

 

[radiobop]

Oh...and KLYX The Music Station to the NBC News and Information Service!!!

 

[snoman]

KTJM from Jammin' Oldies to Regional Mexican. Actually, it should still be KHYS Kiss 98.5 (Urban AC).

KQUE 102.9 (B/EZ-Soft AC Music) to "The Planet 102.9" and then shortly after to Estereo Latino 102.9 (Regional Mexican).

KBME 790 (Adult Standards) to 790 The Sports Animal.

KYOK 1590 (Urban Oldies) to KMIC Radio Disney.

KRWP 97.5 (Urban AC) to KIOL Rock 97.5 (later moved to 103.7)

KLDE 107.5 (Oldies) to KHTC 107.5 K-Hits (Classic Hits)

And, not technically format changes, but ownership changes that ruined stations...
KMJQ Majic 102 from Clear Channel to Radio One (one of the worst UAC stations I've ever heard! Tom Joyner needs to hang it up. His show is terrible now. It's pretty bad when Clear Channel was the better owner).

KLOL Rock 101 from Chancellor Media (later AM/FM) to Clear Channel.
KODA Sunny 99.1 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel.
KLDE Oldies 94.5 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel & Spun to Cox on 107.5.
KRBE 104.1 from Susquehanna to Cumulus.
KTJM 98.5 from Clear Channel to Liberman.

I'm sure there is more, but my tired brain is needing sleep. Goodnight.

 

[dx7]

Classical KLEF flipping to Light Rock KJYY in March 1986.

 

[kirby]

Y-94 becoming Disco 94. That was awful!

 

[PyThomasTX]

I remember in 1990 when KNRJ "Energy 96.5" switched to alternative-rock for a few months. I LOVED that station, I had it on my car stereo all the time, it seemed so fresh in a time when KLOL seemed neutered. But, alas, I found out it was a "smoke-screen" for what would eventually become Mix. It was frustrating when they finally came back on after a week of nothing but a ticking noise and it became yet another lite-rock station.

Fortunately, not long after that, I read about Rice's KTRU in the Houston Press and my radio stayed there for the most part until I moved to Dallas (and then just after that, Houston finally got a real alt-rock station).

 

[kendro]

Flipping formats trying to court an ever smaller number of potential listeners.

Narrative "local" talent, overrun blaring commercials, mal-aligned syndicated content and two hour playlists seem to carry-over from flip to flip. Our Quebec-ish contention that foreign languages should have an equal representation over local airwaves.

It seems that the flipping and flopping are more akin to death throes than movements to increase listenership.

Sorry, just a listener's point of view.

 

[CW]

KTJM from Jammin' Oldies to Regional Mexican.

KLDE 107.5 (Oldies) to KHTC 107.5 K-Hits (Classic Hits)

And, not technically format changes, but ownership changes that ruined stations...
KMJQ Majic 102 from Clear Channel to Radio One (one of the worst UAC stations I've ever heard! Tom Joyner needs to hang it up. His show is terrible now. It's pretty bad when Clear Channel was the better owner).

KLOL Rock 101 from Chancellor Media (later AM/FM) to Clear Channel.
KODA Sunny 99.1 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel.
KLDE Oldies 94.5 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel & Spun to Cox on 107.5.

KTJM 98.5 from Clear Channel to Liberman.

KTJM can be summed up in one word; Liberman............but they seem to make money, just not as much as they could with the RIGHT format but Lenard doesnt care. 98.5 really screwed up when it moved from Port Arthur to the Devers tower....their Urban/Soul format on the short site was perfect...then CC decided to make it a clone of Magic which it didnt own at the time and it tanked (the poor coverage didnt help either)....
Chancellor to CC?? That all goes back to the Telecom Act of 1996 and our wonderful US Government who is soo in the back pockets of big business...KLDE to KHTC really hasnt been that bad but I DO wish COX would let the jocks be themselves....

I just noticed on my RDS radio yesterday that 106.9 shows its category as "adult hits"....hmmmmmm maybe a Jack flip coming??

 

[rageradio]

"....a "smoke-screen" for what would eventually become Mix. It was frustrating when they finally came back on after a week of nothing but a ticking noise and it became yet another lite-rock station. "

It was actually 2 days of ticking. They went of the air at 7am Wednesday morning and relaunched that Friday at 7am as Mix. Yes I was frustrating. I recorded the final hour to the launch.

"I just noticed on my RDS radio yesterday that 106.9 shows its category as "adult hits"....hmmmmmm maybe a Jack flip coming??"

Wouldn't the 80's be considered "adult hits" I dont see Jack EVER coming to Houston and I hope it never does, or Bob, Dave, or whatever. No flip coming to 106-9 in the near future, trust me.

 

[purpledevil]

97.5 KAYD flipping to 97.5 KKTT/KRWP. This caused KD 97 to move to 101.7 and KLOI was lost. 97.5 has never recovered, KLOI was replaced by a station with horrible audio.

92.9 KKBQ flipping from Top 40 to Easy Country. Even the guy running the board that fateful day in '91 couldn't let go. After the stunt started, 30 minutes into it he started playing rock and Top 40 cuts for about 20 minutes.

101.1 KLOL flipping from Rock to Spanish. No matter what you may have thought about what KLOL had become, it still left a huge hole in the FM dial when the Legend went Spanish.

92.1 KRTS flipping to La Mera Mera. When the Stude's brought Classical back to Houston at 92.1 after KLEF left the airwaves, it was said by the family that Houston would always have a Classical station from this point forward. Well...maybe not.

106.5 KQQK flipping from Tejano to K-Love. Tejano and KQQK had become synonymous. Every Hispanic friend that I have used to listen to KQQK. I remember the all day Selena-thon that KQQK did the day she was murdered. Another piece of Houston history gone by the wayside.

107.5 KTBZ flipping to Oldies. While The Buzz got a citygrade signal out of the deal, Oldies 94.5 never really recovered from the flip in frequency. Now the KLDE calls are dustbinned somewhere, and K-Hits is a sad shell of what KLDE used to be.

102.9 KQUE flipping from Standards to Hot AC. This domino effect of a flip ended up being the murder of 2 legendary stations in Houston. KQUE never had a chance once it was moved to 1230's limited signal, and KNUZ completely left the Houston market, and now is alive in calls alone in the huge metropolis known as Austin County.

 

[rageradio]

"92.9 KKBQ flipping from Top 40 to Easy Country. Even the guy running the board that fateful day in '91 couldn't let go. After the stunt started, 30 minutes into it he started playing rock and Top 40 cuts for about 20 minutes."

I have some of that on tape but not all of it. Anyone have it? I was planning to post it for everyone to hear but its incomplete.

 

[stan]

I'm showing my age (and my personal musical preferences) by stating that I missed the old KZFX when Carson and Christy were on in the morning. I never understood why they flipped to the "Rocket" briefly then what is now the Buzz.

 

[-juan-]

Wow, many of you guys are going back into decades ;D
Nice to hear a bit of Houston Radio History though

 

[PyThomasTX]

I'm showing my age (and my personal musical preferences) by stating that I missed the old KZFX when Carson and Christy were on in the morning. I never understood why they flipped to the "Rocket" briefly then what is now the Buzz.

My guess is they found out a lot of people were confusing Rocket 107.5 with Rock 101 (as KLOL was known at the time). If I remember correctly they went from Rocket to Buzz sometime in the summer or fall of 1995. Was there a sale of the station (or media company buyout) around that time?

 

[purpledevil]

When KZFX flipped to "The Rocket" it was a name play off of the then back to back Houston Rockets' World Championship teams. I believe Nationwide (maybe Chancellor) owned The Rocket/Buzz at that point. Unfortunately for Z 107, The Arrow dropped the Rock and Roll oldies and skewed to what it is today. That in turn ate away at 107's listenership, and of course KLOL did some damage as well. If you'll recall, Houston actually lost 2 rock based stations within months of each other back in 1995, at that end of the dial. KKZR/Conroe flipped from Z-Rock's sattelite feed to Christian talker KKHT just 3 months before the demise of Z 107.

 

[its time w (your name)]

I'm showing my age (and my personal musical preferences) by stating that I missed the old KZFX when Carson and Christy were on in the morning. I never understood why they flipped to the "Rocket" briefly then what is now the Buzz.

I would kill to hear Paul Christy somewhere where he could say whatever came into his mind.....

 

[urban]

KTJM from Jammin' Oldies to Regional Mexican. Actually, it should still be KHYS Kiss 98.5 (Urban AC).

KQUE 102.9 (B/EZ-Soft AC Music) to "The Planet 102.9" and then shortly after to Estereo Latino 102.9 (Regional Mexican).

KBME 790 (Adult Standards) to 790 The Sports Animal.

KYOK 1590 (Urban Oldies) to KMIC Radio Disney.

KRWP 97.5 (Urban AC) to KIOL Rock 97.5 (later moved to 103.7)

KLDE 107.5 (Oldies) to KHTC 107.5 K-Hits (Classic Hits)

And, not technically format changes, but ownership changes that ruined stations...
KMJQ Majic 102 from Clear Channel to Radio One (one of the worst UAC stations I've ever heard! Tom Joyner needs to hang it up. His show is terrible now. It's pretty bad when Clear Channel was the better owner).

KLOL Rock 101 from Chancellor Media (later AM/FM) to Clear Channel.
KODA Sunny 99.1 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel.
KLDE Oldies 94.5 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel & Spun to Cox on 107.5.
KRBE 104.1 from Susquehanna to Cumulus.
KTJM 98.5 from Clear Channel to Liberman.

I'm sure there is more, but my tired brain is needing sleep. Goodnight.

I agree with you about KRWP and the ownership change with Magic 102. The alarms should be ringing if CC is considered the better of the two ownership groups. Magic was one of my favorites to stream. They were quick with the new music, great jocks and a great sound (almost a Hot UAC). KRWP didn't have a chance on a poor signal. If they were introduced with a better signal and Steve Harvey in the morning, Magic would be through.

 

[snoman]

I'm showing my age (and my personal musical preferences) by stating that I missed the old KZFX when Carson and Christy were on in the morning. I never understood why they flipped to the "Rocket" briefly then what is now the Buzz.

I would kill to hear Paul Christy somewhere where he could say whatever came into his mind.....

I don't know if he's doing anymore stints on XM using the alias "Eric Chase" as he did when he was on the air in Los Angeles, but he did some work for their 70's channel and he was outstanding and in rare form. I will never understand homogenized radio. I can understand with younger, newer jocks, but vets like Paul do not need straight liner cards and scripted material.

 

[snoman]

KTJM from Jammin' Oldies to Regional Mexican. Actually, it should still be KHYS Kiss 98.5 (Urban AC).

KQUE 102.9 (B/EZ-Soft AC Music) to "The Planet 102.9" and then shortly after to Estereo Latino 102.9 (Regional Mexican).

KBME 790 (Adult Standards) to 790 The Sports Animal.

KYOK 1590 (Urban Oldies) to KMIC Radio Disney.

KRWP 97.5 (Urban AC) to KIOL Rock 97.5 (later moved to 103.7)

KLDE 107.5 (Oldies) to KHTC 107.5 K-Hits (Classic Hits)

And, not technically format changes, but ownership changes that ruined stations...
KMJQ Majic 102 from Clear Channel to Radio One (one of the worst UAC stations I've ever heard! Tom Joyner needs to hang it up. His show is terrible now. It's pretty bad when Clear Channel was the better owner).

KLOL Rock 101 from Chancellor Media (later AM/FM) to Clear Channel.
KODA Sunny 99.1 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel.
KLDE Oldies 94.5 from Chancellor Media to Clear Channel & Spun to Cox on 107.5.
KRBE 104.1 from Susquehanna to Cumulus.
KTJM 98.5 from Clear Channel to Liberman.

I'm sure there is more, but my tired brain is needing sleep. Goodnight.

I agree with you about KRWP and the ownership change with Magic 102. The alarms should be ringing if CC is considered the better of the two ownership groups. Magic was one of my favorites to stream. They were quick with the new music, great jocks and a great sound (almost a Hot UAC). KRWP didn't have a chance on a poor signal. If they were introduced with a better signal and Steve Harvey in the morning, Magic would be through.

Majic is so horribly programmed it's amazing. I get mad at them, because they play too much of the newer music. And, the few older songs they play, are the same ones. I used to love "They'll Never Be" by Switch and "Voyage To Atlantis" by the Isley Brothers, thanks to 102, I don't think I'll be able to listen to those songs again for a long, long time. Steve Harvey would be a better option, but I still think they should move Larry Jones over from their Gospel sister station and put him back on in the morning with Val Wilson, "Chilly" Bill Smith, Dezz, and JP Spees again, like they were before Radio One threw them under the bus. However, Radio Ugh owns a piece of Joyner's Reach Media or Joyner owns a piece of Radio Ugh, I'm not sure which one is which. So, as long as Joyner continues his fledging radio career, we'll be stuck with him. I just wish Cox would flip one of their bottom feeders to UAC, like 107.5. Move K-Hits down the dial to 106.9 and put UAC on 107.5. I think the change would do wonders for Cox. Then they could put Harvey on in the morning and I guarantee you will see a massive improvement in their ratings.