Alice 107.7 & K-Hits 96.5, another example of Little Rock having two or more CHR/Top 40 stations. Hard to believe that 10/11 years ago, Little Rock actually had three CHR/Top 40 stations with the old K-Hits 106.3 with Todd & Lucas in the morning, the old Q-100, which briefly cracked the top 5 before beginning a slow, but sad fall, and Alice, 107.7FM. Anyone remember back in the late 80s/early 90s, when the old KKYK and Zou-98 were duking it out? Can two CHR/Top 40 stations work in a market like Little Rock? Can they co-exist?
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Two CHR stations in Little Rock............can they work?
- Thread starter sportsannouncer
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sportsannouncer said:Alice 107.7 & K-Hits 96.5, another example of Little Rock having two or more CHR/Top 40 stations. Hard to believe that 10/11 years ago, Little Rock actually had three CHR/Top 40 stations with the old K-Hits 106.3 with Todd & Lucas in the morning, the old Q-100, which briefly cracked the top 5 before beginning a slow, but sad fall, and Alice, 107.7FM. Anyone remember back in the late 80s/early 90s, when the old KKYK and Zou-98 were duking it out? Can two CHR/Top 40 stations work in a market like Little Rock? Can they co-exist?
It wasn’t much of a fight in the 80’s. KZOU beat KKYK in one ratings period. I'm not sure how close they got in Arbitron, but KZOU actually beat KSSN in Birch. It wasn’t until several years later when Jerry Lousteau left KZOU that KKYK mounted anything like a comeback.
Yeah, Little Rock had trouble supporting ONE CHR in the mid 90s, when the format was going through an identity crisis. I remember from about 1993-96, the closest thing to a CHR was rimshot KLAZ. And they were Hot AC by day and CHR only at night. But CHR nationwide is now going through its highest ratings since the 80s.
Two CHRs in a market is not that uncommon these days. Even in a smaller market like Fayetteville, the 2 CHR's here have had good ratings for over 10 years.
Little Rock is capable of that, too. But K-Hits needs to put out a better product to call it a ratings war. It will be interesting to see what changes will happen to Alice 107.7 when the transition from Citadel to Cumulus is complete. I hope they don't change much, but I fear Alice will lose its unique playlist and be turned into a Cumulus clone.
Two CHRs in a market is not that uncommon these days. Even in a smaller market like Fayetteville, the 2 CHR's here have had good ratings for over 10 years.
Little Rock is capable of that, too. But K-Hits needs to put out a better product to call it a ratings war. It will be interesting to see what changes will happen to Alice 107.7 when the transition from Citadel to Cumulus is complete. I hope they don't change much, but I fear Alice will lose its unique playlist and be turned into a Cumulus clone.
radiosaur said:It wasn’t much of a fight in the 80’s. KZOU beat KKYK in one ratings period. I'm not sure how close they got in Arbitron, but KZOU actually beat KSSN in Birch. It wasn’t until several years later when Jerry Lousteau left KZOU that KKYK mounted anything like a comeback.
I didn't think that happened until KZOU was sold in '91, and the new owners ran scared from the CHR format despite The Zoo's success! That left KKYK as the only CHR in the market, and, even then, it didn't last long.
Kent said:radiosaur said:It wasn’t much of a fight in the 80’s. KZOU beat KKYK in one ratings period. I'm not sure how close they got in Arbitron, but KZOU actually beat KSSN in Birch. It wasn’t until several years later when Jerry Lousteau left KZOU that KKYK mounted anything like a comeback.
I didn't think that happened until KZOU was sold in '91, and the new owners ran scared from the CHR format despite The Zoo's success! That left KKYK as the only CHR in the market, and, even then, it didn't last long.
No, sadly. When Jerry left the new morning show just couldn’t keep up.and the new PD just didn’t get it. For instance, he came to me and told me the station “sounded too loud”, and to cut back on the processing.
By the time the sale happened KZOU was in trouble, and KKYK had started a comeback. I left in late '89 so I don't know how successful KKYK ultimately was.
What did ya'll think of the old Star 102, the predessor of KOKY 102.1? I loved Star, its a shame that it didn't last long. I always thought it was a true CHR.
Peter and the Butler was the successor to the Uglees on Zoo 98, right??
You are correct, sir. Don't know what happened to Peter, but the Butler can be heard now and again doing voice work when the script requires an Englishman.kevinkelly said:Peter and the Butler was the successor to the Uglees on Zoo 98, right??
IIRC, KKYK had a restrictive playlist with a PD who was quite unimaginative. KZOU exploited those weaknesses. Classic maneuver--hit 'em where they're weak. It resulted in HUGE 12+ numbers, and the quick decline of KKYK.
My goodness, I loved listening to Peter and the Butler!! I know in the early to mid 90s that Peter was working midday for a group that simulcasted their signal to various A/C stations across the country, including the old KPIK, 101.5FM, which at that time, still had a studio in Beebe. I remember that the Butler even did some commercials for a furniture store in Little Rock in the early 90s. Those were indeed the good ol' days.
Sennheiser said:You are correct, sir. Don't know what happened to Peter, but the Butler can be heard now and again doing voice work when the script requires an Englishman.kevinkelly said:Peter and the Butler was the successor to the Uglees on Zoo 98, right??
IIRC, KKYK had a restrictive playlist with a PD who was quite unimaginative. KZOU exploited those weaknesses. Classic maneuver--hit 'em where they're weak. It resulted in HUGE 12+ numbers, and the quick decline of KKYK.
You got it…Jerry’s philosophy was to take KKYK apart using their weak points. From my perspective, KKYK’s engineer was a purist. He didn’t like highly processed audio. Therefore, I made KZOU’s audio the biggest, baddest, cleanest signal I could possibly engineer, knowing we’d blow them right off the dial. Plus, with all of Snider Telecom’s paging subcarriers, even if they had tried to keep up they would have trashed the data streams, and that was a lot of revenue. KKYK was conservative. KZOU pushed the envelope in every way possible. Remotes were a good example. If you bought a Zoo remote, you got the entire dog and Zoorilla show, not just a guy with a mic.
KZOU’s numbers were great, but Greg Geary absolutely owned nights, back when the teens were a huge factor.
But, all good things…
The original idea for Peter and the Butler, at least in GM Hal Smith’s mind, was for Butler to be the smart-a$$ to Peter’s straight man (Think Arthur, the movie). It didn’t turn out that way at all. Far from being the sarcastic type, Butler was a pretty nice guy on the air. The show just didn’t work on a CHR.
Peter ended up on Unistar on the "Hits and Favorites" channel.
I remember the Zoo well back in the day. I didn't always like the music at times, but it was far better than the run it up the middle mentality of KKYK. KKYK catered to soccer moms before they were called soccer moms. I remember KKYK's audio being a bit flat. It was a treat to hear out of town CHR/Top 40 stations before 1986 (such as KISR, KWTO-FM, and KNOE-FM) because they played songs KKYK avoided like the plague. Sometimes, I think my hobby of DXing FM may have been started by a desire to hear more adventurous music than what KKYK played.
Fast forward to the present day. I don't listen to CHR stations these days (except for DXing them), since my music tastes are a bit more eclectic Alice (KLAL) has the better signal and audio quality, but its new owners (Cumulus) could turn it into a clone station and voice track everything except mornings and run some syndicated junk. K-Hits (KHTE) has the worst audio in this market and most overprocessed. The only redeeming quality is that the station does run RDS text.
Fast forward to the present day. I don't listen to CHR stations these days (except for DXing them), since my music tastes are a bit more eclectic Alice (KLAL) has the better signal and audio quality, but its new owners (Cumulus) could turn it into a clone station and voice track everything except mornings and run some syndicated junk. K-Hits (KHTE) has the worst audio in this market and most overprocessed. The only redeeming quality is that the station does run RDS text.
sportsannouncer said:What did ya'll think of the old Star 102, the predessor of KOKY 102.1? I loved Star, its a shame that it didn't last long. I always thought it was a true CHR.
I remember Star 102 in 1997. Didn't last long, but not a bad station. I remember it having a nice, diverse playlist. Once Q100 signed on by 1998, it was hard for them to compete against Clearchannel. Didn't KDRE 101.1 also have a brief stint as a CHR at about that time?
I remember Z-101 and it was definitely short lived. I thought if Star 102 was given a chance and a stronger signal, it could've kicked some serious butt, but you're right, once Q-100 came on the air, the handwriting was on the wall. Q-100 could've done well had they been able to keep a morning man/personality. I didn't much care for the "Way Back Wednesdays" they they had for a while.
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