What Happened to "No Rules Country"

[southerncomfort]

I noticed 93.5 is playing traditional country today and I didn't hear Walker Johnson this morning? Is another format change coming?

 

[StorminNorm]

Sources have it that lack of sales revenues and an active sales staff were the chief cause for the station/format to fold.

Sad day too, because I thought it had so much potential. I am no rules Country's former Music Director. (goose eggs to nine tenths in three books on a baby stick!) Operations have gone back into the hands of B.P. Broadcasters and the old KZ Country that dwelt in the cellar is headed back to the cellar unless some life support is called in.


> I noticed 93.5 is playing traditional country today and I
> didn't hear Walker Johnson this morning? Is another format
> change coming?
>

 

[Steve]

> Sources have it that lack of sales revenues and an active
> sales staff were the chief cause for the station/format to
> fold.
>
> Sad day too, because I thought it had so much potential. I
> am no rules Country's former Music Director. (goose eggs to
> nine tenths in three books on a baby stick!) Operations have
> gone back into the hands of B.P. Broadcasters and the old KZ
> Country that dwelt in the cellar is headed back to the
> cellar unless some life support is called in.
>
>
> > I noticed 93.5 is playing traditional country today and I
> > didn't hear Walker Johnson this morning? Is another
> format
> > change coming?
> >
>


0.0-0.9?? And that's the success story??

There's your answer right there. From the cellar...to the bottom step of the cellarway. No ratings+no revenue=no format.

 

[wimzfan]

Man, I hate to hear this has happened. When I could pick the station up I'd listen to Walker and Tonya and man what an incredible mix of music on that station. They really had true variety and Walker is one of those guys that you just love to hear talk. You never get tired of hearing him talk about stuff. He's always funny and interesting and a true Knoxville radio legend. I'm really going to miss this station even though I could barely pick it up most of the time! I've noticed the other classic country / new country / classic rock station South 105.7 has been playing mostly new stuff lately too. I think a classic country format on a stronger signal would be nice. But, no station will ever be able to compete with WIVK - a station that makes me absolutely SICK! They say that they play country legends and classic country stuff but their idea of classic country is some 80's Barbra Mandrell song. They have too many commercials, too much just plain old stupid talk about nothing, and play the same songs over and over and over again and that's not variety. WKZX would go from vintage Johnny Cash to new stuff from Gretchen Wilson and then do something from ZZ Top in one set of music - now that's variety. ZZ Top on WIVK - that will never happen.

 

[soc]

I was in Knoxville last weekend and had the chance to check out "No Rules Country." I, for one, was very impressed with the music mix. I don't get down to KnoxVegas that much, but that was certainly been a nice change of pace from all the crap that I hear anymore. But the lack of revenue does tend to change things from time to time. What a shame!

And I agree...WIVK is the same s**t, different day. I remember Walker Johnson from the old C.P. and Walker days at WRJZ...they're both professionals from the word GO.

It's time someone had the cojones to take a big stick and go toe to toe with the frog. The bigger they are...you know the rest.






> Man, I hate to hear this has happened. When I could pick
> the station up I'd listen to Walker and Tonya and man what
> an incredible mix of music on that station. They really had
> true variety and Walker is one of those guys that you just
> love to hear talk. You never get tired of hearing him talk
> about stuff. He's always funny and interesting and a true
> Knoxville radio legend. I'm really going to miss this
> station even though I could barely pick it up most of the
> time! I've noticed the other classic country / new country
> / classic rock station South 105.7 has been playing mostly
> new stuff lately too. I think a classic country format on a
> stronger signal would be nice. But, no station will ever be
> able to compete with WIVK - a station that makes me
> absolutely SICK! They say that they play country legends
> and classic country stuff but their idea of classic country
> is some 80's Barbra Mandrell song. They have too many
> commercials, too much just plain old stupid talk about
> nothing, and play the same songs over and over and over
> again and that's not variety. WKZX would go from vintage
> Johnny Cash to new stuff from Gretchen Wilson and then do
> something from ZZ Top in one set of music - now that's
> variety. ZZ Top on WIVK - that will never happen.
>

 

[coltsfan]

Hey Norman...its Eric! my comments on WKZX

well, this makes me sad too because it sounds like when Arthur Wilkerson passes away that the station was sold and everything was brought up to par with transmitter, equipment, new studios, new tower location, and better signal. so now you tell me that Zollie Cantrell has the station again? Or does Don Palmer still own it? WKZX really should give up country and stop competing with WIVK. When I used to work at WLIL, there were so many little country stations around, no one could compete with the Frog. I can remember when Chuck Ketron has 99.1 and 99.3 and tried to be a big country station against WIVK....within a year, it folded. What WKZX needs to do is try to be a station that no one else is doing in Knoxville. Go after the Smooth Jazz audience! Sounds like that format doesn't exist anymore in Knoxville. Or go after the Urban contemporary or maybe the R&B oldies audience. Just do something other than country! The last time I was in Knoxville and it was for just a weekend, I was very impressed with the way they totally IMPROVED the signal of 93.5, especially the fact that for the first time in the station's life, it was STEREO!!! WLIL was never STEREO in all the years it existed! Just my two cents worth from all the way up here in the cornfields of Central Illinois!!!!

 

[bp37918]

When you go and try to pay over $2 million for a small town station on a class A freq. you had better have deep pockets to keep it going for a while. The guy that was trying to buy it apparently didn't have that. He was also going to buy WITA in Knoxville and had the approval from the FCC but never closed on that deal either.

Here's a novel idea. Since it's licensed to Lenoir City maybe try and serve Loudon County. There are 3 FM's licensed for Loudon county and none serving it. Go figure that one out.

 

[historyprof]

> When you go and try to pay over $2 million for a small town
> station on a class A freq. you had better have deep pockets
> to keep it going for a while. The guy that was trying to buy
> it apparently didn't have that. He was also going to buy
> WITA in Knoxville and had the approval from the FCC but
> never closed on that deal either.

Here's a lesson boys and girls. If you are going to convince family members to loan you the money to buy a money pit radio station, NEVER EVER do an LMA. Then your money people get to see what a loser the station is. If you wait until you can close to borrow your money, then they have to keep throwing good money after bad.

Palmer apparently doesn't even the money to close on WITA, whose owners wisely didn't do an LMA.


>
> Here's a novel idea. Since it's licensed to Lenoir City
> maybe try and serve Loudon County. There are 3 FM's licensed
> for Loudon county and none serving it. Go figure that one
> out.
>

There are 4 FM's licensed to Anderson county and none of them serves Anderson County.

Monroe COunty has 2 FM's, both of whose studios are outside Monroe County. Roane County has 2 FM's, both of whose studios are outside Roane County.
Welcome to the 21st century.

 

[bp37918]

I was wondering where Palmer was coming up the cash. I used to work for him back in the 80's in Jeff City. He had no money then either. He tried to buy WSEV-AM but couldn't do it. Thank GOD Chuck Ketron bought it instead of him.

> > When you go and try to pay over $2 million for a small
> town
> > station on a class A freq. you had better have deep
> pockets
> > to keep it going for a while. The guy that was trying to
> buy
> > it apparently didn't have that. He was also going to buy
> > WITA in Knoxville and had the approval from the FCC but
> > never closed on that deal either.
>
> Here's a lesson boys and girls. If you are going to
> convince family members to loan you the money to buy a money
> pit radio station, NEVER EVER do an LMA. Then your money
> people get to see what a loser the station is. If you wait
> until you can close to borrow your money, then they have to
> keep throwing good money after bad.
>
> Palmer apparently doesn't even the money to close on WITA,
> whose owners wisely didn't do an LMA.
>
>
> >
> > Here's a novel idea. Since it's licensed to Lenoir City
> > maybe try and serve Loudon County. There are 3 FM's
> licensed
> > for Loudon county and none serving it. Go figure that one
> > out.
> >
>
> There are 4 FM's licensed to Anderson county and none of
> them serves Anderson County.
>
> Monroe COunty has 2 FM's, both of whose studios are outside
> Monroe County. Roane County has 2 FM's, both of whose
> studios are outside Roane County.
> Welcome to the 21st century.
>

 

[StorminNorm]

As a Music Director, I say that with absolutely no other targeted programming (or live talent -period- outside of Morning Drive, that was success. The station had never at ANY time, past or present, been rated higher. (Nobody but Walker or Tonya was allowed to crack a mic except to read a lame sponsor tag.) And considering as well that the signal couldn't penetrate inside any buildings over 10-15 miles of the tower site at Glendale without an outdoor antenna, I think the music mix was a smashing success. If I programmed the station, (which I did not) and was given some sort of resonable Operations budget, you can bet it would've been considerably more than 0.9 18+. We OWNED Monroe County, but never served them with nothing more than a automated jukebox.




> 0.0-0.9?? And that's the success story??
>
> There's your answer right there. From the cellar...to the
> bottom step of the cellarway. No ratings+no revenue=no
> format.
>

 

[Steve]

Looks like we'll have to agree to disagree. Less than a one share isn't success. No revenue isn't success. If the 'music mix was a smashing success', someone would have liked it enough to sell it, and someone would have bought it....providing you with the 'reasonable operations budget' you wanted; and preventing a format change. And if you "OWNED" Monroe County, maybe you should have targeted them at a dollar a hollar...and made a couple bucks as a local station, instead of trying to bulldoze Denali (WIVK) with a soup spoon.

Just my take.

> As a Music Director, I say that with absolutely no other
> targeted programming (or live talent -period- outside of
> Morning Drive, that was success. The station had never at
> ANY time, past or present, been rated higher. (Nobody but
> Walker or Tonya was allowed to crack a mic except to read a
> lame sponsor tag.) And considering as well that the signal
> couldn't penetrate inside any buildings over 10-15 miles of
> the tower site at Glendale without an outdoor antenna, I
> think the music mix was a smashing success. If I programmed
> the station, (which I did not) and was given some sort of
> resonable Operations budget, you can bet it would've been
> considerably more than 0.9 18+. We OWNED Monroe County, but
> never served them with nothing more than a automated
> jukebox.
>
>
>
>
> > 0.0-0.9?? And that's the success story??
> >
> > There's your answer right there. From the cellar...to the
> > bottom step of the cellarway. No ratings+no revenue=no
> > format.
> >
>

 

[BRH]

> Personally, I thought the "no rules country" format sounded like a mess. I thought it was a big step backward from the previous "KZ Country" format. The "no rules country" format had horrible sweepers, no jingles, and cold intros out of stop sets and just sounded like a small town mess to me. Granted, "KZ Country" was just an automated jukebox, but at least it sounded half way professional with decent production. Also, I didn't care for the "all over the road" music format either. Instead of the eclectic "No rules country" format, why not simply try a straight out all classic country format. It is being done in several southern markets and has been successful as a niche format in some of these places. Also, it would be better competition against WIVK and something more people would listen to. But the oddball country into Southern Rock, into pop that was "no rules country" just sounded like a trainwreck to me.
I agree with the earlier post that they should actually try and target Knoxville (not Maryville) with a niche format that isn't being done. I agree that smooth jazz would be a wise choice since the station covers Farragut and Oak Ridge and Maryville well, and these are the places where the money is and that format would be most popular. Or maybe another talk station that featured more "fun" talk like Walker and Tonya without sports and politics. I am a huge fan of Walker's, but I hated the music format. I would have preferred a straight talk show like Walker used to do on 105.3.
Anyway, just some ideas. I still think they should try either classic country or smooth jazz, and do it with decent production, sweepers, and formatics. Not the "small town" sound and style they had with "no rules country". As I said, I think "KZ Country" was far better than it was.

 

[wimzfan]

> > Personally, I thought the "no rules country" format
> sounded like a mess. I thought it was a big step backward
> from the previous "KZ Country" format. The "no rules
> country" format had horrible sweepers, no jingles, and cold
> intros out of stop sets and just sounded like a small town
> mess to me. Granted, "KZ Country" was just an automated
> jukebox, but at least it sounded half way professional with
> decent production. Also, I didn't care for the "all over
> the road" music format either. Instead of the eclectic "No
> rules country" format, why not simply try a straight out all
> classic country format. It is being done in several
> southern markets and has been successful as a niche format
> in some of these places. Also, it would be better
> competition against WIVK and something more people would
> listen to. But the oddball country into Southern Rock, into
> pop that was "no rules country" just sounded like a
> trainwreck to me.
> I agree with the earlier post that they should actually
> try and target Knoxville (not Maryville) with a niche format
> that isn't being done. I agree that smooth jazz would be a
> wise choice since the station covers Farragut and Oak Ridge
> and Maryville well, and these are the places where the money
> is and that format would be most popular. Or maybe another
> talk station that featured more "fun" talk like Walker and
> Tonya without sports and politics. I am a huge fan of
> Walker's, but I hated the music format. I would have
> preferred a straight talk show like Walker used to do on
> 105.3.
> Anyway, just some ideas. I still think they should try
> either classic country or smooth jazz, and do it with decent
> production, sweepers, and formatics. Not the "small town"
> sound and style they had with "no rules country". As I
> said, I think "KZ Country" was far better than it was.
>
I could listed to Walker talk 24 hours a day if he could go that long! That guy has been around and saw so much stuff, it's just fascinating to hear him talk about his experiences. You know, I'm really surprised that none of the big stations here in Knoxville haven't tried to grab Walker. He's a legend, he's funny, and everyone I've talked to loves him. One of the big stations here should really think about getting him. I've always thought he'd be good on Oldies 95 / 106 with Ashley Adams in the mornings. I'm not sure how the chemistry between the two would be, but he knows the music because he played it when it was new, and I think he was working at U-102 with CP about the same time Ashley Adams came on board. I'd love to hear those two together but I would also like to see Phil & Billy get back together - all of which probably will never happen. I too wish we had an all classic country station and WKZX would be great for that since they already have the stuff in their library. They might make a splash or atleast a good size ripple in the pond that might scare the big frog sitting on it's lillypad - I just had to say that! There's alot of people, including myself that don't care for the new country stuff too much ( with the exception of Gretchen Wilson! ) and since WIVK's idea of classic doesn't go beyond 1989 then WKZX might just draw in a few listeners.

 

[Jeff_Cooper]

Walker, while a great guy, is and will always be a second banana. CP would have had the same success in the 70s and very early 80s with anyone. Of course, WRJZ and WMYU could have had a monkey on the air and they would have pulled the same third, fourth and fifth place numbers. It ain't that hard to run in the middle of the pack.

As for "classic country" its time has come and gone. Most of those that would have contributed to the success have passed away. You've got to remember that most of the country fans of today wouldn't know The Browns from the White Stripes.



> I could listed to Walker talk 24 hours a day if he could go
> that long! That guy has been around and saw so much stuff,
> it's just fascinating to hear him talk about his
> experiences. You know, I'm really surprised that none of
> the big stations here in Knoxville haven't tried to grab
> Walker. He's a legend, he's funny, and everyone I've talked
> to loves him. One of the big stations here should really
> think about getting him. I've always thought he'd be good
> on Oldies 95 / 106 with Ashley Adams in the mornings. I'm
> not sure how the chemistry between the two would be, but he
> knows the music because he played it when it was new, and I
> think he was working at U-102 with CP about the same time
> Ashley Adams came on board. I'd love to hear those two
> together but I would also like to see Phil & Billy get back
> together - all of which probably will never happen. I too
> wish we had an all classic country station and WKZX would be
> great for that since they already have the stuff in their
> library. They might make a splash or atleast a good size
> ripple in the pond that might scare the big frog sitting on
> it's lillypad - I just had to say that! There's alot of
> people, including myself that don't care for the new country
> stuff too much ( with the exception of Gretchen Wilson! )
> and since WIVK's idea of classic doesn't go beyond 1989 then
> WKZX might just draw in a few listeners.
>

 

[Mascot]

> > > Personally, I thought the "no rules country" format
> > sounded like a mess. I thought it was a big step backward
>
> > from the previous "KZ Country" format. The "no rules
> > country" format had horrible sweepers, no jingles, and
> cold
> > intros out of stop sets and just sounded like a small town
>
> > mess to me. Granted, "KZ Country" was just an automated
> > jukebox, but at least it sounded half way professional
> with
> > decent production. Also, I didn't care for the "all
> over
> > the road" music format either. Instead of the eclectic
> "No
> > rules country" format, why not simply try a straight out
> all
> > classic country format. It is being done in several
> > southern markets and has been successful as a niche format
>
> > in some of these places. Also, it would be better
> > competition against WIVK and something more people would
> > listen to. But the oddball country into Southern Rock,
> into
> > pop that was "no rules country" just sounded like a
> > trainwreck to me.
> > I agree with the earlier post that they should actually
>
> > try and target Knoxville (not Maryville) with a niche
> format
> > that isn't being done. I agree that smooth jazz would be
> a
> > wise choice since the station covers Farragut and Oak
> Ridge
> > and Maryville well, and these are the places where the
> money
> > is and that format would be most popular. Or maybe
> another
> > talk station that featured more "fun" talk like Walker and
>
> > Tonya without sports and politics. I am a huge fan of
> > Walker's, but I hated the music format. I would have
> > preferred a straight talk show like Walker used to do on
> > 105.3.
> > Anyway, just some ideas. I still think they should
> try
> > either classic country or smooth jazz, and do it with
> decent
> > production, sweepers, and formatics. Not the "small town"
>
> > sound and style they had with "no rules country". As I
> > said, I think "KZ Country" was far better than it was.
> >
> I could listed to Walker talk 24 hours a day if he could go
> that long! That guy has been around and saw so much stuff,
> it's just fascinating to hear him talk about his
> experiences. You know, I'm really surprised that none of
> the big stations here in Knoxville haven't tried to grab
> Walker. He's a legend, he's funny, and everyone I've talked
> to loves him. One of the big stations here should really
> think about getting him. I've always thought he'd be good
> on Oldies 95 / 106 with Ashley Adams in the mornings. I'm
> not sure how the chemistry between the two would be, but he
> knows the music because he played it when it was new, and I
> think he was working at U-102 with CP about the same time
> Ashley Adams came on board. I'd love to hear those two
> together but I would also like to see Phil & Billy get back
> together - all of which probably will never happen. I too
> wish we had an all classic country station and WKZX would be
> great for that since they already have the stuff in their
> library. They might make a splash or atleast a good size
> ripple in the pond that might scare the big frog sitting on
> it's lillypad - I just had to say that! There's alot of
> people, including myself that don't care for the new country
> stuff too much ( with the exception of Gretchen Wilson! )
> and since WIVK's idea of classic doesn't go beyond 1989 then
> WKZX might just draw in a few listeners.
>