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The Zone Returns To Phoenix

KilowattKat said:
That's good to know that it's once an hour. I haven't listened through an entire hour yet, just streaming it every now and then.

Another reason they don't have to backsell the music is that this is a very mainstream AAA, and most songs are going to be recognizable to a listener.
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A change in management at KVIT brought about a brief AAA-style format with a "pop" lean (they had Harry Styles' "As It Was" in heavy rotation) in 2022. I heard Colbie Calliat's "Bubbly" on The Zone yesterday, and I always thought of that song as being a mainstay of Hot/Mainstream AC in 2007.
KilowattKat said:
I hope today they are staying better on track with the proper talk breaks. Coming out of The Moody Blues, "...and that was Smash Mouth from 1996."
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If that's what you heard, the AI isn't getting the music history right. "Walking On The Sun" was Smash Mouth's first hit, and that was released in the summer of 1997.
 
"They also need to limit the amount of talking that the A.I. jocks are currently doing It's very excessive for a music FM. We don't need to know every detail about the song that was just played."

If its TRULY A.I. generated (and not just sort of voicetracked, and calling it "A.I." since thats hi tech buzz worthy now) that could be an offshoot of why A.I. still needs alot of work. How many bogus A.I. generated stories and "news" articles on Facebook and Twitter have you seen with terrible information, run on information, or just downright wrong content? Plenty. All A.I. seems to do is scour the digital world for information. If one of those "A.I. Jocks" hits Songfacts, its a 3 minute break on The Cure's "Love Song"
 
EricStein said:
If that's what you heard, the AI isn't getting the music history right. "Walking On The Sun" was Smash Mouth's first hit, and that was released in the summer of 1997.
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I brought up that potential problem earlier...

Nicole A.I. waxed poetic with the back story of Bruce Springsteen's 'The River', left me wondering...how much of it was accurate?
 
Looking at their playlist, it seems they have a 13 hour time frame before they start playing the same songs in the same order.
 
EricStein said:
Looking at their playlist, it seems they have a 13 hour time frame before they start playing the same songs in the same order.
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That's not good. Even the most basic music scheduling software is designed to prevent that from happening. But when they're scheduling hosted banter, it adds another factor to the mix. That may work for a Christmas format, since it's for a limited time. Once the rotation becomes predictable, it becomes stale. Especially when it's all classic music and no new releases to spice it up.
 
EricStein said:
But, the General Manager/part owner has 40+ years worth of experience in broadcast radio. He's not been afraid of trying new things (he gave John Sebastian's "Wow Factor" a chance), but has been impatient (remember "My 103.9" during its three-month run with Adult Hits in 2012?).
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I remember that station, one month is was mostly 80s, then add mostly 90s alternative. It lasted 5 months or so. That was after the Edge 1039 ended because Dave Pratt was added to the station.
 
KilowattKat said:
That's good to know that it's once an hour. I haven't listened through an entire hour yet, just streaming it every now and then.

Another reason they don't have to backsell the music is that this is a very mainstream AAA, and most songs are going to be recognizable to a listener.

I hope today they are staying better on track with the proper talk breaks. Coming out of The Moody Blues, "...and that was Smash Mouth from 1996."
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I noticed that last night when they said the name of a song 3 songs prier like they just played it. They need to fxed that part of it for sure.
 
DavinaR said:
I remember that station, one month is was mostly 80s, then add mostly 90s alternative. It lasted 5 months or so. That was after the Edge 1039 ended because Dave Pratt was added to the station.
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I believe they were a year early on guessing when The Peak would be switched over to sports. The first few months of 2012 they were your standard "adult hits" station. Then, all of a sudden, they added modern adult pop when there were two other stations doing the same thing (96.9 and 97.5, the latter of which they later "merged" with).

They were just as impatient with the Soft AC format on 95.1, which they pivoted toward mainstream AC, then classic hits before becoming WOW.
 
EricStein said:
I believe they were a year early on guessing when The Peak would be switched over to sports. The first few months of 2012 they were your standard "adult hits" station. Then, all of a sudden, they added modern adult pop when there were two other stations doing the same thing (96.9 and 97.5, the latter of which they later "merged" with).

They were just as impatient with the Soft AC format on 95.1, which they pivoted toward mainstream AC, then classic hits before becoming WOW.
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After The Edge didn't they become X103.9 KEXX.

The X, I believe, stood for Generation X, and were still Alternative.
 
johndavis said:
The other mainstay of AAA was backselling every song in the set, which they are thankfully not doing. With radios and streaming displaying metadata, nobody is waiting 4 songs to hear the DJ tell you who sang the second song in the set.
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Not entirely true. First day of media studies class back in college, the professor cited some studies (psychology) that people love the 'human connection' they got from the radio - would anybody have listened to AT40 and Casey Kasem if it weren't for those back stories? Furthermore, having a DJ back announce *proves* there's a real person there right with you - I have listened to some stations 6, 7, 8 songs in - a full hour in some cases (see: WFMU) - and it just feels so *impersonal.* I'm frankly looking forward to the return of now-defunct KDHX's former line-up on a new streaming service in St. Louis because they will never, ever try to capitalize on A.I. garbage. Human connection - especially on radio - means more now that ever and DJ-less programming isn't necessarily a good thing.
 
indieradioguy said:
Not entirely true. First day of media studies class back in college, the professor cited some studies (psychology) that people love the 'human connection' they got from the radio - would anybody have listened to AT40 and Casey Kasem if it weren't for those back stories? Furthermore, having a DJ back announce *proves* there's a real person there right with you - I have listened to some stations 6, 7, 8 songs in - a full hour in some cases (see: WFMU) - and it just feels so *impersonal.* I'm frankly looking forward to the return of now-defunct KDHX's former line-up on a new streaming service in St. Louis because they will never, ever try to capitalize on A.I. garbage. Human connection - especially on radio - means more now that ever and DJ-less programming isn't necessarily a good thing.
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That has been my biggest complaint about the WOW Factor, no human element, no DJ, just endless music. It’s not as bad now as when the station started, but the transitions on the WOW Factor can be jarring. That’s where having a DJ, even voicetracked, helps a lot. But this is what happens when stations are run on the cheap - you get impersonal humanless radio.
 
EricStein said:
I believe they were a year early on guessing when The Peak would be switched over to sports. The first few months of 2012 they were your standard "adult hits" station. Then, all of a sudden, they added modern adult pop when there were two other stations doing the same thing (96.9 and 97.5, the latter of which they later "merged" with).

They were just as impatient with the Soft AC format on 95.1, which they pivoted toward mainstream AC, then classic hits before becoming WOW.
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I hope they are more patient with the new Zone station then they were back then. They did not give them much time at all to find an audience.
 
"Not entirely true. First day of media studies class back in college, the professor cited some studies (psychology) that people love the 'human connection' they got from the radio - would anybody have listened to AT40 and Casey Kasem if it weren't for those back stories? Furthermore, having a DJ back announce *proves* there's a real person there right with you - I have listened to some stations 6, 7, 8 songs in - a full hour in some cases (see: WFMU) - and it just feels so *impersonal.* I'm frankly looking forward to the return of now-defunct KDHX's former line-up on a new streaming service in St. Louis because they will never, ever try to capitalize on A.I. garbage. Human connection - especially on radio - means more now that ever and DJ-less programming isn't necessarily a good thing."

EXCEPT a good number of stations make a conscious effort to NOT back sell. Its a programming tactic called "forward momentum". Dont tell people what they have missed, tell them whats coming up. Front selling. What if the 3rd song you played in the last set is a listeners favorite song? They just missed it...wont be played again for quite awhile. Perfect reason to tune away. But if you tell them whats coming next, maybe they stick around, since ignorance is bliss.
 
TheBigA said:
That's not good. Even the most basic music scheduling software is designed to prevent that from happening. But when they're scheduling hosted banter, it adds another factor to the mix. That may work for a Christmas format, since it's for a limited time. Once the rotation becomes predictable, it becomes stale. Especially when it's all classic music and no new releases to spice it up.
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KTWC (what was first at 103.5 during the mid-1990s) had the same problem. With the exception of the local morning show, all of the announcers were voiced-tracked and the same music you heard during midday was played in the same order overnight. No wonder ZSpanish (later Entravision) bought them out!
 
XMportable said:
Anyone old enough to remember KEYX 100.3 or KSTM 107.1? KSTM – The Storm In The Valley

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Yes, especially KSTM. It was KSTM that first put the translator on 99.3 mHz in Glendale, AZ back in, I believe, 1982. Jeff Parrots was the program director and Andy (I can't think of his last name now) was the music director. For many years, KSTM was the closest thing that Phoenix had to an alternative rock station except it was adult album alternative.
 


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