Hello Jack. I am just trying to get our side of the story out to our fellow radio people. Just because we don't work for the big boys, I want them to know what is going on with us. We miss you here at the Kross & KXOJ.
Did you see this e-mail that Bob sent out? I don't think I sent it to you yet.
-----Original Message-----
From: KXOJ 100.9 [mailto
[email protected]]
Subject: Christian radio in Tulsa
Dear Tammy,
I am writing you today because you identified Spirit 102.2 as your favorite station over KXOJ. First let me stress that you certainly have your own choices and you are free to choose which station you like best. However I also recognize that because you are a part of our listener panel you also have a relationship with KXOJ and have an interest in what we do and think.
Therefore I wanted to answer a question I receive quite often, which is "What is the difference between KXOJ and Spirit?".
Question #1: Are you owned by the same company?
Spirit 102.3 is owned by Cox Communications. Cox owns several stations in town including Star 103, Mix 96, K95 and others. In fact Cox Radio owns
79
radio stations in 18 cities, and Spirit is the only one out of 79 that plays Christian music. Cox is also the company that brings pay-per-view (all
ratings) and cable channels into your home among other ventures.The frequency that Spirit is on was most recently secular hard rock under Cox's ownership.
KXOJ is a family owned business that started in Sapulpa 30 years ago and remains to this day. KXOJ has been a Christian music station for all 30 years. The same family has owned 7 other Christian music stations over the years, and now in Tulsa also owns 100.3 The Kross which plays Christian rock and a sports talk station.
Question #2: Is the ownership Christian?
KXOJ has been Christian owned and operated for 30 years. KXOj also believes in the local church, with services including VBS support and Churchbuilder to offer free websites and sermons to area Christian churches.
Spirit 102.3 is owned by publically traded Cox Radio, is based in Atlanta, Georgia and makes no mention of faith in any of their cooperate statements or communication. Cox Communications ventures include delivering adult films via cable to your home as well as various adult-oriented radio shows. On KKCM's website they do have a church directory, which includes all denominations and several religions including Universalists and Unitarian churches. Any other ties to Christianity are not clear stated.
Question #3: Who plays more music? I get tired of repetition!
According to independent monitoring companies, Spirit 102.3 plays their "top 20" songs on average 40 times each per week. Their overall library is about
235 different songs per week. The station currently features no other specialty programming, so it's this same format 24/7.
KXOJ plays their "top 30" an average of 20 times each per week. The overall library consists of over 600 songs spanning the last 30 years of music.
KXOJ
also features a no-repeat Thursday when the same song is never repeated between 6am and 6pm, an all-request hour each weeknight from 8-9 and a Sunday morning praise and worship show which features music familiar to most modern churchgoers.
Question #4: Why not listen to who plays the least commercials?
In it's infancy Spirit 1023. is certainly playing fewer commercials.
They
advertise a "52 minute music hour" which means they are playing 8 minutes of commercials each hour. The 52 minutes of "music" includes DJ chatter, weather, traffic, and any else that is not an actual commercial. One only need listen to another Cox station such as KRMG or K95 to hear how many commercials they could potentially start playing if they grow their audience.
KXOJ has historically strived for a good balance between commercials, which are necessary for the operation of the station, and music. KXOJ plays no more than 12 commercials in a given hour, 9 in the morning show, and that is rare. We also strive to make sure the commercials are interesting, of service to you and appropriate for your family. We would never advertise that we play "fewer commercials" because we fundamentally believe that commercials can and do provide a service. It's how we learn of concerts, events, Christian businesses and much more. To state that commercials are a bad thing would be disrespectful to our sponsors and supporters. That said, we have responded to your feedback and made sure that our music sweeps are as long as possible so you can enjoy the music more before it is time to break. We also believe non-musical elements can be very entertaining, such as artist interviews, broadcasts from the Dove Awards and visits to local churches, etc.
The above information is not an attempt to brainwash you or unduly influence you in any way. It's simply honest answers to the most frequently asked questions about our station and the newest station in town. These questions also came up when Clear Channel launched Live 101.5 a few years ago, only to pull it off the air and change it to rap a few months later. We hope it helps give you a clear understanding of why we do what we do, and why we covet your listenership.
If you have further questions, comments or suggestions please let us know.
We want more than anything to serve you and be what you expect a Christian radio station to be.
Thank you for listening,
Bob Thornton
KXOJ Program Director