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The Zone Returns To Phoenix

ted chittenden said:
Thanks for the interveening owners and formats of KTWC--I had forgotten those! Unlike you, I very much enjoyed KTWC's music format--it played a lot of oldies that KOOL-FM wouldn't touch at the time! I think the station's biggest problem (beyond the format issues you noted) was that it couldn't be received very well by less-than-perfect radios even in downtown Phoenix. To protect the 103.9 signal licensed to Gilbert, the station was required to place its transmitter in the White Tank Mountains (where it remains today) and that location, even at 100kw, only serves the western parts of the Phoenix market well.
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I think the best station for Oldies/Standards in the valley, is one that, unfortunately most cannot pick up. KSCW-LP 103.1. The senior volunteers in Sun City West that run and program this little station know their oldies, and are having fun on the radio. Oldies is a format that really should be kept out of the hands of corporations, and left to those who really love the music.

 
KilowattKat said:
I think the best station for Oldies/Standards in the valley, is one that, unfortunately most cannot pick up. KSCW-LP 103.1. The senior volunteers in Sun City West that run and program this little station know their oldies, and are having fun on the radio. Oldies is a format that really should be kept out of the hands of corporations, and left to those who really love the music.

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I did not know this station existed. I'm not quite their demo (yet) but always happy to check out local LP's. Thanks.
 
KilowattKat said:
oldies is a format that really should be kept out of the hands of corporations, and left to those who really love the music.

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while thats one of the dumber things ive heard in awhile.. youll get your wish because oldies is really no longer a commercially profitable format
 
KilowattKat said:
I think the best station for Oldies/Standards in the valley, is one that, unfortunately most cannot pick up. KSCW-LP 103.1. The senior volunteers in Sun City West that run and program this little station know their oldies, and are having fun on the radio. Oldies is a format that really should be kept out of the hands of corporations, and left to those who really love the music.

Click to expand...

I think we can thank those who sought a low-power FM service for the likes of KSCW-LP and its ilk.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
while thats one of the dumber things ive heard in awhile.. youll get your wish because oldies is really no longer a commercially profitable format
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A long time ago, someone commented on one of the airchecks at reelradio.com that radio then (and I'd say today as well) was aimed at the casual listener and not the person who listens incessantly. I think how the oldies format evolved on the commercial radio bands makes that point quite clearly. For the most part, the oldies that were played were the biggest national hits because *that's* what the majority of the casual radio listeners wanted to hear.

Yes, I agree there are many more casual listeners now than incessant (for want of a better word) listeners and the results for the incessant listeners turned out to be very underwhelming. What will be interesting to see is if the growth of LPFM plus the availability of individual songs on youtube.com allows both groups of oldies radio listeners to survive and thrive.
 
So, back to KZON. Last Monday I was in town listening over the air; the translator only ran into interference around the 101 and 51, which was impressive. Not impressive was the automated voice who spent close to a minute talking about the Phoenix Open, saying to “tell your boss I said it was okay for you to go today.” The Open, as it always does, wrapped up on Super Bowl Sunday, the day before.

Tell your boss to put kill dates on the breaks.
 
johndavis said:
So, back to KZON. Last Monday I was in town listening over the air; the translator only ran into interference around the 101 and 51, which was impressive. Not impressive was the automated voice who spent close to a minute talking about the Phoenix Open, saying to “tell your boss I said it was okay for you to go today.” The Open, as it always does, wrapped up on Super Bowl Sunday, the day before.

Tell your boss to put kill dates on the breaks.
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Jeez, that's bad. I remember back when we were writing the imaging for The Zone's "Yeti Golf Classic" (which was itself an absurdist take on the Open) and it was just "let's see how ridiculous we can make this" fun.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen...
 
KilowattKat said:
Here's a real novel, gimmicky idea that might actually attract listeners...

How about a real live human being sitting behind a microphone hosting a show. Nah, probably too innovative.
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I'm listening this morning, and it seems like they've replaced "AI Nicole Sandler" with "AI Mimi." Unless, they're doing some kind of trick where if the real person is sick, their AI is also "sick."
 
TheBigA said:
Read what I wrote. What does "were" mean?

People didn't care that there were no personalities. If they want humans, there are lots of other stations.
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Then why did they drop so suddenly in the ratings? Something is turning listeners away there.

Please don't insult me, I know what were means.
 
KilowattKat said:
Then why did they drop so suddenly in the ratings? Something is turning listeners away there.

Please don't insult me, I know what were means.
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They may still be top 10 55+, but that doesn't matter in regards to ad rates.

I know that Sebastian changed up the audio processing to sound more "Wall of Sound-ish." That could be causing listener fatigue.
 
KilowattKat said:
Then why did they drop so suddenly in the ratings? Something is turning listeners away there.
Click to expand...

Perhaps the fact that the signal is no longer what it used to be, because it now transmits The Zone.

The Wow Factor has been on the air for about 8 years with basically the same music. At some point it gets stale.
 
Here’s the dirty little secret about PPM:
You get one person who really loves you on the panel and they happen to be in an undersampled demo cell?
You’ll really miss them when they finally cycle out of the panel. But you will ride that train as long as you can.
 


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