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WKIX-FM is now "Kix 102 FM" and simulcasts on WKJO and WPLW-FM

rduradio

rduradio

Curtis Media Group is making some big changes in the Raleigh market. WKJO 102.3 Smithfield and WPLW-FM 102.5 Hillsborough are now simulcasting WKIX-FM 102.9 Raleigh as of today. The station is no longer known as "Kix 102.9" but now "Kix 102 FM." The station's website has the new logo and advertises that people can listen to the station on 102.3 FM in Johnston County, 102.5 FM in Durham County, and 102.9 FM in Raleigh and Wake County.

WKIX-FM has gotten some good ratings lately but 102.9 is only a 1,700 watt signal. This greatly expands the coverage of the station.

WKJO was previously a country format known as "Country Superstars 102.3" and was recently purchased by Curtis. It had been stunting as "Christmas 102.3" for the past few weeks. WPLW-FM was previously CHR "Pulse FM" simulcasting with WWPL in Goldsboro.

We were all expecting the format to change on WKJO but I am shocked by the WPLW-FM flip. Pulse FM doesn't get great ratings but they were getting pretty close to WDCG.

Overall, I am somewhat disappointed. 102.3, 102.5, and 102.9 were all presets on my radio. Now they are all broadcasting the same station (with the same limited playlist) so we have effectively lost two stations.
 
Pulse FM seems to be sticking around at 96.9 (WWPL) and partnering with the 104.7 translator that's been rebroadcasting WKIX 850's programming as "Oldies 104.7". Meanwhile, WKIX 850 is now apparently paired with a 93.5 translator--not sure which as they operate at least two of them-- as "Oldies 93.5".
 
Curtis has never been able to leave things alone with 102.3 and 102.5, so I’m not surprised. Even 20 years ago they were doing stuff like this with Star, the country “Kix”, La Ley, etc.

They’ll probably do this for a while and change 102.3/102.5. Always have.

And this may help Pulse - adding 104.7 is smart because the Cary translator hits outside of 96.9’s main 60dbu. That was always an issue I found with 102.5 and 96.9. For an effective simulcast, it’s really not best to have a weak area between signals. 104.7 helps them in Cary, Morrisville, Apex, and other areas that 96.9 and 102.5 didn’t primarily cover. They lose Durham but get some prime areas in the Raleigh proper metro. It’ll probably wash out ratings wise.
 
Putting Pulse FM on the W284CP 104.7 translator was surprising to me. They rebranded WKIX 850 from "Just Right Radio" to "Oldies 104.7" just last year. Why would they go through the trouble of rebranding the station to include the FM frequency but change that frequency just a little over a year later?

I am not sure what 93.5 translator the new logo refers to as I can't pick up the station on 93.5 at all. One of Curtis' 93.5 translators is relaying the signal from WQDR-AM ("Rock 92.9") and that's all I have been able to pick up. I haven't heard any on-air mentions of "Oldies 93.5" yet but one traffic reporter did say "Oldies 104.7" this afternoon.

Also, the HD2 channel of WQDR-FM no longer relays WKIX-AM programming. It's now relaying WWPL (Pulse FM). The TOTH IDs on WKIX-AM no longer include WQDR-HD2, as they did for a long time.

104.7 has been one of my top presets for a long time because it at least sounded better than AM. But does anyone else think that 104.7 sounds bad? It sounds like a low bitrate stream or something on SiriusXM. It's kind of compressed. The other Curtis translators on 92.9 and 98.5 sound perfect but 104.7 always sounded bad. I'll probably listen to Pulse on 96.9 from now on since I can get a signal most of the time.
 
I live in the middle of the market, near Brier Creek/RDU International, and the only thing I get on 93.5 is a cacophony of the 'Classic Rock 92.9' translator-translator W228CV Chapel Hill (Radioinsight.com reports that W228CZ Cary is the new FM half of the 'Oldies 93.5/AM 850" format--both are directional away from my location) and northwest Raleigh's 'Oak 93.5' WRLY-LP. I listen to WKIX a lot but mostly on 850. While those of us who follow the industry rightly guessed 102.3 would simulcast WKIX-FM, they didn't promote this or the other, more listener-jarring changes at all as far as I can tell. Even some of the air talent seem to be playing 'catch-up' with the new station addresses/branding.

This is definitely a big win for both 'Kix 102' and 'G-105', but 'Pulse FM' and 'Oldies' will likely take a hit with the sudden nature of the change. For instance, the audiences for Pulse and Oldies are so vastly different, I can see the average 104.7 listener simply turning the channel in disgust, thinking "Oldies 104.7" is simply no more since 850 is rarely mentioned in the imaging. Similarly, an average Pulse listener who listened via WPLW 102.5 will be confused with the new programming...maybe switch to G105 or even a Greensboro CHR offering (100.3 or 107.5). WWPL 96.9 can be heard in Durham but often marginally and 104.7/W284CP, while one of their better translator signals is spotty in Durham and only gets weaker traveling in the north and west parts of the city. There's actually a LPFM in Hillsborough, WHUP, which also interferes as you head north on US 501 or travel west of it. And in the late spring/ summertime with tropospheric ducting, you can forget any reliable coverage on those translator frequencies!

As Curtis has a lot more invested in the 'Pulse FM' format in terms of talent and promotion than the largely voice-tracked Oldies
format, I can't help but think these changes could be the first step in some additional moves to come. 2023 might prove an interesting year in Raleigh radio.
 
It looks like the "Oldies 93.5" branding on WKIX-AM was incredibly short-lived as they are now identifying the station as "Oldies 850" on air. The station website is now oldies850.com and the station logo now emphasizes "AM 850" with "93.5 FM" in smaller text below.

This is actually the first time that the AM frequency has been prioritized in the branding for the station since it was "TalkRadio 850" and before the W284CP translator went on the air.

I would expect the station's ratings to suffer in the next period. Why spend a year calling the station "Oldies 104.7" and almost completely ignore the AM frequency just to end the FM translator simulcast and use the AM frequency as the primary branding? It makes sense that Curtis would prioritize the "Kix 102" and "Pulse FM" formats over the "Oldies" format and I don't necessarily blame them. I'll be eagerly watching the next ratings release.
 
The call letters for 102.5 in Hillsborough have been changed from WPLW-FM to WKXU, according to this article on RadioInsight. The change can also been seen at the bottom of the Kix 102 FM website. This station had these call letters from 2004 to 2010 when it had a country format.

WKXU was also used on WYMY 101.1 Burlington from 1998 to 2004 when it was country.

Another change: WPLW-FM is the new callsign for WWPL 96.9 in Goldsboro.
 
rduradio said:
The call letters for 102.5 in Hillsborough have been changed from WPLW-FM to WKXU, according to this article on RadioInsight. The change can also been seen at the bottom of the Kix 102 FM website. This station had these call letters from 2004 to 2010 when it had a country format.

WKXU was also used on WYMY 101.1 Burlington from 1998 to 2004 when it was country.

Another change: WPLW-FM is the new callsign for WWPL 96.9 in Goldsboro.
Click to expand...
YOU ARE LEAVING OUT 102.5 FROM 04 2010.
 
rduradio said:
The call letters for 102.5 in Hillsborough have been changed from WPLW-FM to WKXU, according to this article on RadioInsight. The change can also been seen at the bottom of the Kix 102 FM website. This station had these call letters from 2004 to 2010 when it had a country format.

WKXU was also used on WYMY 101.1 Burlington from 1998 to 2004 when it was country.

Another change: WPLW-FM is the new callsign for WWPL 96.9 in Goldsboro.
Click to expand...
Curtis loves shuffling their call letters around and re-using old ones.

I’m still a bit confused why Curtis bought 850. It hasn’t really done anything since they bought it except for feeding translators which can be done by an HD subchannel. How many people are really listening to music on AM?
 
I don't remember all the specifics, but 850 (then-WRBZ) came into the Curtis fold roughly 11-12 years ago in a swap involving Don Curtis' son-in-law, Billy McClatchey's McClatchey Broadcasting (which owned WRBZ-then sports formatted as "850 the Buzz" and sports-formatted WDNC "620 the Bull" and later WKIX-FM Kix 102.9). Capitol Broadcasting sold the North Carolina News Network to Curtis and acquired all sports programming from WRBZ and WDNC radio from McClatchey, while Curtis sold WCLY 1550 AM to Capitol. The McClatchey properties eventually went into CMG.
The 850 facility first became a re-born "WKIX Channel 85" with jingles from its Top 40 heyday, then WPTK "TalkRadio 850 WPTF" (to complement "NewsRadio 680 WPTF"--about a decade too late to work), then standards Just Right Radio (with the 104.7 translator), and then back to 50s/60s oldies as WKIX.
 
Okay, that makes sense. I had forgotten how 850 ended up in Curtis’ hands - but about a decade ago I remember them going on about how AM wasn’t dead and they were still investing in music formats for it.

Ultimately they ended up making the translators the primary source for the AM’s, and downgraded the power, so I’m guessing that didn’t go over too well.
 
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