Variety Hits/Classic Hits always fails in SF

[kenrayc]

I go to the bay area to see the SF giants and the Raiders , and I think a JACK format would work. KFRC sould do it

 

[Bowler Bob in Brisbane]

Keep in mind that Max FM was dumped when Entercom took control of the 95.7 signal via an LMA with the station swap that took place with former Max FM owner Bonneville. So, while the format didn't last, I'd suggest that the change in ownership had as much as anything to do with Max FM's demise.

The thing that pissed me off most about MAX FM getting flipped is that it happened only 3 days before the airing of "Mick FM", which I had already recorded at the station afew weeks prior, thanks to PD Dean Kottari.

I really did like their format, it played a lot of songs that I knew and really like, even though the Max Schtick was kinda hokey.

After doing a "Hey Mom I'm on the Bone" segment as "Mick Flaire" with Steven Seaweed on the Hot Lunch in January 2007, I was really looking forward to following that up with that "Mick FM" segement, but alas, it was not meant to be...

And it flipped to Country, eeyewww...

 

[LKellerIII]

I go to the bay area to see the SF giants and the Raiders , and I think a JACK format would work. KFRC sould do it

It was tried - as indicated above. It was called Max-FM. Before 99.7 flipped to MOViN, there were rumors that KFRC was going to become a Jack station, but Bonneville beat CBS to the punch with Max-FM. Perhaps CBS should be RELIEVED now - given that they've had so many format failures lately - that they didn't get the chance to fail with Jack as well.

Some people claimed that Bonneville executed the format poorly, but I thought it was good, and listened a fair amount. But apparently, not too many other people did.

 

[DavidKaye]

Some people claimed that Bonneville executed the format poorly, but I thought it was good, and listened a fair amount. But apparently, not too many other people did.

In 1959 I believe it was, Gordon McLendon took over yet another radio station, KROW. He had started a bunch of rock stations. People had assumed that he was going to put another rock station on the air in the San Francisco Bay Area. He listened to the radio dial. Instead, he unveiled the first "beautiful music" station, KABL. It was lush with strings, and elegant-sounding music. The station became a phenomenal hit immediately.

Why? Because all the other stations were trying to do the same thing. KABL had a market all to itself at a time when SF had 8 rock stations, or stations trying to reach rock listeners.

This is also the same phenomenon that makes KDTV Channel 14 the #1 early evening newscast. It's the only one in Spanish. All the other TV newscasts beat each other to death and split a piece of the pie while KDTV has a larger piece of the pie all to itself.

What I'm getting at is that any kind of "Jack" format is going to fail because it's too much like other formats already on the air, with just a slightly different music mix. No matter how well-executed it is, it's not going to capture a large enough percentage of listeners to work.