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Waterloo Changes in Austin

Amazing all the format changes on 93.3 since it moved into the market as KBTS "B93" in 1986. The decade spent as AAA when KGSR relocated is the rare exception of a format that lasted some time.
 
I loved the old Hot 93.3 (early to mid 2000s). I thought ditching Hot 93.3 to allow KGSR to relocate was a surprising and potentially unwise move.

I am a little surprised they are demoting the Latino CHR format to a translator.

I like the rhythmic throwbacks format in general, so I'm rooting for Vibe 93.3's success!
 
txchipk said:
Amazing all the format changes on 93.3 since it moved into the market as KBTS "B93" in 1986. The decade spent as AAA when KGSR relocated is the rare exception of a format that lasted some time.
Click to expand...
I believe this is the seventh flip/tweak since KGSR moved off of 93.3 in March 2019 alone.

Soft AC "Star 93.3"
Hot AC "Star 93.3"
CHR "93.3 Austin"
Hot AC "93.3 Austin"
Hot AC "Lucy 93.3"
Spanish CHR "Latino 93.3"
Rhythmic Throwbacks "Vibe 93.3"
 
Speaking of Waterloo Media, has there been any action on the new transmitter site for KLBJ 590? Seems that project has faded into oblivion.
 
Waterloo Media has made a habit of bad decisions. Since they've taken over, they've lost Dale Dudley, Deb O'Keefe, Jeff Ward and B-Doe. They've messed with the schedule and moved talent around, had some of them working two shows - morning and PM drive, both live. Demoted KGSR to an afterthought in a city that it was built for. And I'm not a "bring back the old KGSR" listener either. I thought the more modern 93.3 version had some really good years and smart programming. If you can't make Triple A work in Austin, getting beat by a non-comm, and can't keep heritage talent, what exactly are you doing, Bob Sinclair?

Pity Emmis is getting out of radio. Those were good days.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Speaking of Waterloo Media, has there been any action on the new transmitter site for KLBJ 590? Seems that project has faded into oblivion.
Click to expand...
No. I was near there a few weeks ago and drove by on Metric and nothing has happened. Not even any dirt moved.

They still have over another year left on the CP so it might still be happening.

I think unless this second iteration of Vibe takes off… and let’s be honest, it won’t, then KLBJ will eventually land on 93.3.
 
lanceventa said:
I believe this is the seventh flip/tweak since KGSR moved off of 93.3 in March 2019 alone.

Soft AC "Star 93.3"
Hot AC "Star 93.3"
CHR "93.3 Austin"
Hot AC "93.3 Austin"
Hot AC "Lucy 93.3"
Spanish CHR "Latino 93.3"
Rhythmic Throwbacks "Vibe 93.3"
Click to expand...

The pre-KGSR picture...
1986: KIXS moved into Austin market as top 40 “B93” (calls to KBTS)
1991: KBTS shifted to dance top 40 “B93 Jamz”
29 May 1992: KBTS flipped to hot AC “Mix 93.3” (calls to KMXX in September)
April 1993: KMXX flipped to “hot country” “Hot 93” (calls later to KHHT)
1 Sep 1994: Country KHHT flipped to classic hits “Hits 93.3”
16 November 1995: Classic hits KHHT To smooth jazz (calls to KAJZ in January)
18 Sep 1998: Smooth jazz KAJZ changed to country "Lone Star 93" 9/18/1998 (calls to KLNC in October)
Aug 2001: Country KLNC changed to dance top 40 KXMG "Mega 93-3/99-7"
April 2003: Dance KXMG changed to R&B “Hot 93.3” (calls to KDHT in August)
2009: KGSR AAA format and calls moved to 93.3 from 107.1

So basically averaging a change every 2 years since the station moved into Austin in 1986.
 
stan said:
Waterloo seems exceptional at ruining legacy radio stations like KGSR.
Click to expand...

Waterloo on the whole is a good outfit, but ACL/KGSR was my favorite station in their cluster so this is a sad day for me.

The rest of the stations are solid. It's really just this 93.3 station that seems to never establish enough traction to stick round.
 
93.3 seems cursed. There's usually one in every market where they flip every year or so and nothing really gains much traction. KRLD FM in Dallas (now KAFM Lone Star) went through many years of spinning the format wheel. Sadly, like KRLD FM years ago, there were some well programmed formats what came out of that dial position although they had little budget to work with.
 
Ryan Williams said:
I think unless this second iteration of Vibe takes off… and let’s be honest, it won’t, then KLBJ will eventually land on 93.3.
Click to expand...
Or move Vibe to 99.7 and swap the KLBJ simulcast to 93.3. Wonder what Waterloo would do about the call as there is already a KLBJ-FM.

I wonder if the sale of the legacy 590 site fell through? Real estate prices in Austin appear to be dropping lately. Perhaps ditch the new tower construction at the KVET site and diplex somewhere?
b-turner said:
93.3 seems cursed. There's usually one in every market where they flip every year or so and nothing really gains much traction.
Click to expand...
Initially the 93.3 move-in on the tall Bertram stick in 1986 was quite a success in the “B-93” days. But the appearance of CHR on a solid 96.7 signal in the early 90s pretty much killed them, and it has been a format merry-go-round for 93.3 since then.
b-turner said:
KRLD FM in Dallas (now KAFM Lone Star) went through many years of spinning the format wheel.
Click to expand...
Yep, in the 70s and early 80s the changes on 92.5 in DFW came quite frequently. The “92K” Top 40 format only lasted 10 months, and successor Progressive Country perhaps two years. The Mellow Rock format that came next didn’t have much more luck.

BTW 92.5 in DFW hasn’t been KAFM since the mid-1980s.
 
KGSR was an overly commercialized Modern AC station during much of its time on 93.3. The sweepers even sounded CHR-ish for a time.

It was AAA in name only.
 
MarkW said:
KGSR was an overly commercialized Modern AC station during much of its time on 93.3. The sweepers even sounded CHR-ish for a time.

It was AAA in name only.
Click to expand...
It wasn’t less AAA than KINK in Portland.

It did have a tighter playlist than many non commercial AAAs but I don’t know…. I don’t enjoy listening to only obscure songs and artists all the time and that is what KUTX feels like to me.
 
txchipk said:
The pre-KGSR picture...
1986: KIXS moved into Austin market as top 40 “B93” (calls to KBTS)
1991: KBTS shifted to dance top 40 “B93 Jamz”
29 May 1992: KBTS flipped to hot AC “Mix 93.3” (calls to KMXX in September)
April 1993: KMXX flipped to “hot country” “Hot 93” (calls later to KHHT)
1 Sep 1994: Country KHHT flipped to classic hits “Hits 93.3”
16 November 1995: Classic hits KHHT To smooth jazz (calls to KAJZ in January)
18 Sep 1998: Smooth jazz KAJZ changed to country "Lone Star 93" 9/18/1998 (calls to KLNC in October)
Aug 2001: Country KLNC changed to dance top 40 KXMG "Mega 93-3/99-7"
April 2003: Dance KXMG changed to R&B “Hot 93.3” (calls to KDHT in August)
2009: KGSR AAA format and calls moved to 93.3 from 107.1

So basically averaging a change every 2 years since the station moved into Austin in 1986.
Click to expand...

Oops...I left out one. KHFI had the LMA on 93.3, but when it ended, KMXX dropped hot AC for country in February 1993, not April 1993. It was the first run using the "Lone Star 93" brand. Two months later, KLBJ-AM/FM entered into a LMA-to-buy of 93.3 and rebranded it to "Hot 93" and the call sign change to KHHT. I forgot "Lone Star" had that brief 2 month run while it was orphaned between leases.
 
txchipk said:
Oops...I left out one. KHFI had the LMA on 93.3, but when it ended, KMXX dropped hot AC for country in February 1993, not April 1993. It was the first run using the "Lone Star 93" brand. Two months later, KLBJ-AM/FM entered into a LMA-to-buy of 93.3 and rebranded it to "Hot 93" and the call sign change to KHHT. I forgot "Lone Star" had that brief 2 month run while it was orphaned between leases.
Click to expand...

Always seemed strange to me that Genesis/Booth bailed on Texas. Although it had pretty much ruined 92.9 in San Antonio (switching KITY “Power 93” to KSRR-FM “Star 93” was a disaster), KBTS was going strong and usually outperformed KHFI. Booth, however, had decided to merge with Broadcast Alchemy to become Secret Communications, and it decided to sell its properties in Texas. I could understand it selling South Bend to focus on larger markets, but San Antonio and Austin were on-par with Indianapolis and Sacramento, which it kept.
 
Kent said:
KBTS was going strong and usually outperformed KHFI.
Click to expand...
That would have been the original KHFI on 98.3 in the late 1980s, which was a Class A at the time. After its big upgrade to a Class C1 on 98.1 the CHR format only went a year or so before the signal was LMA’d to KVET.

After the flip of 98.1 to Country as KVET-FM the KBTS ownership tried to move the now available KHFI call out of the Austin market to one of their stations in California. The owners of Classic Hits KQFX 96.7 successfully petitioned to block that, and wound up with the call themselves to go with their flip to CHR as the “new” KHFI.
 
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