Why did these stations disappear?

[BBontheRadio]

I think you're going to get a variety of answers as wide as the experiences of the respondents.

I hadn't listened to the Eagle since the days of Stevens and Pruett. I loved those guys and their sound effects on the stacks of cart machines.

 

[easttxtv]

I hadn't listened to the Eagle since the days of Stevens and Pruett. I loved those guys and their sound effects on the stacks of cart machines.

Ah yes, those days in the early 80s with new wave and S&P... their stupid stories and skits always had me laughing, and there was always the occasional Clarice-bashing (among other targets).

 

[FOZZIE BEAR]

"KEGL became so desperate it got in trouble with Arbitron for one of the promotions it did. The promotion bombed horrifically; after all that, KEGL went up but was still in a statistical dead heat with Y-95."


I would love to know what the stunt was that got KEGL in trouble with ARBITRON....

 

[BBontheRadio]

Ah yes, those days in the early 80s with new wave and S&P... their stupid stories and skits always had me laughing, and there was always the occasional Clarice-bashing (among other targets).

I still have some old cassette tapes with some of their bits on them!

I remember listening to them early in the morning and then going to school and re-enacting the skits for my friends.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

"I am trying to remember back then, but KIDD sucked on THE EAGLE and it was only until he left that the EAGLE got good."

Kidd is a perfect example of taking a guy that was excellent as a night jock and ruining him by promoting him to afternoon drive, then mornings. I never understood how he had a prayer in morning drive. Familiarity in the market must be the only reason his current show is doing ok. Somewhere, somehow there's very talented guy in there, but I haven't heard him sound good since litterly the 80s. KEGL beginning of it's downfall was when really when it's creator, Randy Brown, and Moby exited. With a weak Kraddick and Company morning show and substandard leadership, the station was bound to flounder. After the stupid insurance guys got ahold of the place (well after the change to hard rock) it was most definately the beginning of the total end. CC had a broken product that they really broke and eventually insulted us all by flipping to that cookie-cutter crap Sunny.

 

[BBontheRadio]

I would love to know what the stunt was that got KEGL in trouble with ARBITRON....

I dunno, but remember when Young Country hid the money in the library books?

 

[Robert Bass]

Most likely it was the B. Spears is dead prank, from Krammer & Twitch

R

 

[Kent]

I would love to know what the stunt was that got KEGL in trouble with ARBITRON....

It was something to the effect of telling listeners to write down KEGL and get paid for it.

There's a better description of it than what I remember at: http://www.dfwradioarchives.com/1989.htm.

 

[TheRover]

I remember that, with Kidd, it was a love-him-or-hate-him deal, particularly among the 12-24 male audience. The young girls had no problem with him. But remembering my high school days, you always told people you listened to Q-102 or The Zoo and NEVER The Eagle! (But most of us were still closet listeners.)

I remember the Eagle being popular with 12 year olds because... Porn Sells !!!
They had Howard Stern, Mr. Tittillator Himself !
But... I was never a regular listener to his Filth !!!

 

[FOZZIE BEAR]

I would love to know what the stunt was that got KEGL in trouble with ARBITRON....

I dunno, but remember when Young Country hid the money in the library books?

YES! I remember the money in the book thing. I also remember the night K&T pulled the Britney is dead pit. (I remember K&T were on a TOP 40 or some station before getting over to THE EAGLE. Before them was Dangerous Darren... then he came back at one point.)

As for STERN... I loved listening to him on the EAGLE. At the time he was freaking fantastic. However, at some point he became ALL PORN, ALL THE TIME. At the point, he became lame. It wasn't interesting radio anymore.

 

[Slambang]

Stern was about the only good thing about the reformed eagle. When they tossed him and put RMS in his place, it began that downhill slide.

 

[txchipk]

Kidd actually held his own during his 1984-92 tenure at KEGL. Starting off in evenings (catering to the "homework crowd," complete with boogie checks, dedications, make-it-or-break it, etc,) he went to mornings after Moby was fired, I believe...then we had "Burn Your Buns," etc. The Top 40 format got out of control when crossover country started invading the Pop charts, and KEGL obliged by playing Garth Brooks, if you can believe that. Once the format change was announced in 1992, Kidd was dumped. With Howard Stern, Madd Maxx Hammer and others coming on board, there was no room for the old guard that was so closely tied with the station's former bubblegum image. Now there were indeed tweaks along the way; around 1986, during the Moby era, KEGL started going a little harder-edged with their music, and even tossed in a few select oldies. By 1987, it was back to Top 40, and going head-to-head with Y-95 and Kiss-FM (until Kiss flipped to The Oasis in September.) Y-95 did an admirable job trying to compete, but Sonny Fox, Billy Burke, Trey and Bill and the gang couldn't hold much of a candle. Y-95 had the same problem establishing legitimacy and respect as Wild 100 and The Bone did years later (and still do, in one case.)

I remember that, with Kidd, it was a love-him-or-hate-him deal, particularly among the 12-24 male audience. The young girls had no problem with him. But remembering my high school days, you always told people you listened to Q-102 or The Zoo and NEVER The Eagle! (But most of us were still closet listeners.)

Kidd went from nights to afternoons first. After a couple of years, he went to mornings.

KEGL had always been a rock-leaning CHR during the '80s. In late 89, it started migrating towards a more mainstream CHR and evolved into a full blown CHR in the spring of 1990. By that summer, the music mix was heavy on Paula Abdul, Bobbie Brown, etc. -- sort of an anti-KEGL of the previous years. In June 1992, it canned the DJs and after a weekend of playing Eagles songs, went back to a rock CHR format. In '93, it completely moved to the rock format that it maintained until it became "Sunny 97.1".

 

[txchipk]

Once the format change was announced in 1992, Kidd was dumped.

Actually, I seem to recall everyone getting dumped when that happened. In the summer of '92, KEGL was the station with no jocks! It did a stunt as "All Eagles Radio" for a few days.

Now there were indeed tweaks along the way; around 1986, during the Moby era, KEGL started going a little harder-edged with their music, and even tossed in a few select oldies. By 1987, it was back to Top 40, and going head-to-head with Y-95 and Kiss-FM (until Kiss flipped to The Oasis in September.)

I remember KEGL hardened its sound up a lot in 1989, too. The playlist was horribly repetitive, even for a CHR, but it hammered home that it didn't play rap, and it also didn't have the long stopsets Y-95 had between 25 hits in-a-row.

It began to lighten up at the end of 1989...moved from rock CHR to CHR by the spring of 1990.

KHYI: "25 songs in a row, every show, every day on Y95"

Y-95 did an admirable job trying to compete, but Sonny Fox, Billy Burke, Trey and Bill and the gang couldn't hold much of a candle. Y-95 had the same problem establishing legitimacy and respect as Wild 100 and The Bone did years later (and still do, in one case.)

Actually, Y-95 mopped the floor with KEGL during most of its existence. It was almost always the higher rated of the two CHR's. KEGL became so desperate it got in trouble with Arbitron for one of the promotions it did. The promotion bombed horrifically; after all that, KEGL went up but was still in a statistical dead heat with Y-95. Plus, it got listed below-the-line. The next book, it was off sharply while Y-95 held steady. In the end, that bitter rivalry was what led to the demise of both

They went back and forth...of the 20 books they competed against each other, KEGL was on top 11 of them. Most of the time it was fairly close. KHYI beat KEGL by more than a point twice; KEGL beat KHYI by more than a point four times. A lot of times, they were separated by .2 or .3 of a point.

The real loser of the KHYI/KEGL battle was KTKS. It immediately became the #3 CHR when KHYI came on and never could compete...thus the format change to KOAI. KTKS never beat KEGL or KHYI in its existence. It got squeezed, much like it sqeezed out KAFM.

stations. When CHR was starting to suffer nationwide, both stations were so determined to be the only survivor, they became so focused on getting each other that their listeners just got ticked off and tuned out. Y-95 tried unsuccessfully to reimage as Power 95 before bowing out. KEGL emerged victorious but at a tremendous cost. After losing its only competitor, it still dropped in the ratings. A year later, the entire staff was chucked with the rest of the format following suit.

I remember that, with Kidd, it was a love-him-or-hate-him deal, particularly among the 12-24 male audience. The young girls had no problem with him. But remembering my high school days, you always told people you listened to Q-102 or The Zoo and NEVER The Eagle! (But most of us were still closet listeners.)

Until I got sick of all of the Y-95/KEGL bashing, that was definitely me. Q-102 sticker in the locker, but usually listening to KEGL in the daytime and Y-95 at night! However, by the time Y-95 became Power 95, I really was listening to Q-102 and KZPS!

Power 95 was initially essentially a dance station. Dance, as a format, has never really worked in Texas markets --- except those lacking a urban. Urban stations have changed to be all hip hop these days, but certainly in the late '80s/early '90s, they weren't when your typically urban would be playing Janet Jackson, Karen White, En Vouge, etc. So, "Power" didn't work here with KJMZ and KKDA-FM as well as its traditional rival KEGL; KNRJ "Energy" didn't work in Houston with KMJQ and KBXX; etc. It worked elsewhere at the time -- KTFM San Antonio, KZFM Corpus Christi, KBFM Brownsville, KPRR El Paso -- since they didn't have an urban competitor to deal with.

 

[Kent]

It began to lighten up at the end of 1989...moved from rock CHR to CHR by the spring of 1990.

That sounds about right. I was a KEGL listener in Spring of '89, and it was heavily focused on rock. I remember the repetition as being exceptionally bad, even for a CHR. It seemed like even the golds would play several times during the day, and the playlist was more predictable than the soon-to-be-launched Warm 97.9. In 1990, I remember hearing "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe on KEGL and thinking you never would have heard that song on The Eagle a year earlier. They also started running the same jingle package KJYO ran about that time. I guess that wasn't much of a surprise since Folger was the PD of KJ-103 before coming to The Eagle; the only surprise was that it took so long to switch to it.

KHYI: "25 songs in a row, every show, every day on Y95"

"Y-95, 25 hits-in-a-row, and I promise you that's a fact!" I also remember those billboards for "The Texas 10 in-a-row station" with the 10 crossed out and "Now 25" handwritten above it!

They went back and forth...of the 20 books they competed against each other, KEGL was on top 11 of them. Most of the time it was fairly close. KHYI beat KEGL by more than a point twice; KEGL beat KHYI by more than a point four times. A lot of times, they were separated by .2 or .3 of a point.

Y-95 had some trouble gaining traction its first year, but, after 1987, it was on top in 75% of the surveys over the next three years. I always think of that battle as being like the game that had an ending score that was close, but the game was never really as close as the score. From '88 through '90, KEGL never won back-to-back surveys. Y-95 started the bashing campaign late in 1990, though, and never recovered.

The real loser of the KHYI/KEGL battle was KTKS. It immediately became the #3 CHR when KHYI came on and never could compete...thus the format change to KOAI. KTKS never beat KEGL or KHYI in its existence. It got squeezed, much like it sqeezed out KAFM.

KTKS got wedged out of the CHR battle pretty quickly as I recall. I wasn't in Dallas during that part of the battle. So, I never listened to the station. I did, however, hear a story or two about it.

Power 95 was initially essentially a dance station. Dance, as a format, has never really worked in Texas markets --- except those lacking a urban. Urban stations have changed to be all hip hop these days, but certainly in the late '80s/early '90s, they weren't when your typically urban would be playing Janet Jackson, Karen White, En Vouge, etc. So, "Power" didn't work here with KJMZ and KKDA-FM as well as its traditional rival KEGL; KNRJ "Energy" didn't work in Houston with KMJQ and KBXX; etc. It worked elsewhere at the time -- KTFM San Antonio, KZFM Corpus Christi, KBFM Brownsville, KPRR El Paso -- since they didn't have an urban competitor to deal with.

I remember a friend telling me KEGL was airing promos welcoming all ex Y-95 listeners because it had decided to compete with K-104 and 100.3 Jamz, but, by that time, no one really cared. It was good riddance to Y-95, and KEGL was just one more annoying push of the seek button.

 

[txchipk]

It began to lighten up at the end of 1989...moved from rock CHR to CHR by the spring of 1990.

That sounds about right. I was a KEGL listener in Spring of '89, and it was heavily focused on rock. I remember the repetition as being exceptionally bad, even for a CHR. It seemed like even the golds would play several times during the day, and the playlist was more predictable than the soon-to-be-launched Warm 97.9. In 1990, I remember hearing "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe on KEGL and thinking you never would have heard that song on The Eagle a year earlier. They also started running the same jingle package KJYO ran about that time. I guess that wasn't much of a surprise since Folger was the PD of KJ-103 before coming to The Eagle; the only surprise was that it took so long to switch to it.

The jingle package was the same one KEGL had used for many years in the '80s. They dropped it for a different jingle package and Mark Driscoll as the new voice in the summer of 1988. That one didn't last very long. Around '90, they went back to the jingle package most people here recognize on KEGL (used elsewhere in the mid-80s on WCAU-FM Philly, KKHR Los Angeles, late 80s on KJYO OKC, KKBQ-FM Houston, etc.)

7/1985 KEGL jingle compilation/Kidd Kraddick aircheck -- http://www.jingles.com/audio/ota/1985-KEGL.mp3 (though missing the "it's <h>:55, I'm <DJ> taking off on another Eagle free flight of back to back hits" intro)

 

[CW]

Ah yes, those days in the early 80s with new wave and S&P... their stupid stories and skits always had me laughing, and there was always the occasional Clarice-bashing (among other targets).

I still have some old cassette tapes with some of their bits on them!

I remember listening to them early in the morning and then going to school and re-enacting the skits for my friends.

I have some tapes of when S&P were on 790 KULF before they left for KEGL.....Ahh the days of "Star Trots!! with Capt James T Shmirk, commander of the starship Refrise, his trusted Lt Bones and their weird little robot, AC/DC" as they blast off back the planet of the enormous gazungas, yes the planet Estrogen, ruled by that exacting mistress, Zarna! Pruett was damn good with the voices of Wherley (their resident Aggie engineer) and other characters.
NOW THEY were funny then...and noone has stepped up to the plate since...

 

[nativeatlanta]

Who at The Eagle came up with the idea for the billboard of The Devil giving a lethal injection to Timothy McVeigh? I remember seeing the story on Fox News or CNN about the billboard. Talk about upsetting people.

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

Who at The Eagle came up with the idea for the billboard of The Devil giving a lethal injection to Timothy McVeigh? I remember seeing the story on Fox News or CNN about the billboard. Talk about upsetting people.

Good Lord, that's a call back. But then again, when you suck and your ratings are swimming in the toilet with last night's dinner, shock value is the only way you get headlines.

 

[billyg]

97.1 The Eagle

By the late 80's CHR music quality hit the skids and in 1990-91 there was a truckload of one-album-wonders and the first generation of Boybands (New Kids). To me thats what really killed CHR radio.

92.5 KZPS

I agree what was wrong with this station? Predictable as a McDonalds cheeseburger but steady.

99.1 Z-Rock

Doomed by a weak rimshot signal and changing musical trends. When Nirvana, Pear Jam, Alice took over Rock radio and suddenly Hair Bands were history in 1991 Z-Rock couldn't adjust.

97.9 the Zoo

Legendary station, victim of cost cutting and blanded programming.

Q102?

Tried to become an "Alternative" station instead of sticking with mainstream AOR.

 

[Musicradio]

I miss KEGL from the old, old days and Q-102 and KZEW.

Many thanks to the airbrush guy at our local mall -- the old KZEW logo with the elephant head and wings is on the front plate of my Jeep.