X 105.1 Kansas City relaunch

[AnyHuman]

From RadioInsight:
"As expected Cumulus Media relaunched Alternative “X105.1” KCJK Garden City/Kansas City MO as what they are calling ‘Rockternative’ “105.1 The X“.
Describing the new sound as a “natural Rock blend of Alternative and Active Rock formats”, the station will flank Classic Rock “101 The Fox” KCFX against Entercom’s combo of Active Rock “98.9 The Rock” KQRC and Alternative “96.5 The Buzz” KRBZ."

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/181000/format-shift-imminent-at-x105-1-kansas-city/

 

[macattack]

This is in all likelihood a grave mistake, even though it was probably triggered somewhat by Afentra's exit.

Hybrid active/alts can work. There's quite a few successful hybrids out there, and they lend the Mediabase and Billboard Alt panels whatever rock cred they have left. But the thing is that hybrids only work where there is a clear and obvious void in the market. Kansas City does not have such a void.

Ideally both Active and Alt is absent where the hybrid is located, but the hybrid can exist with one competitor if necessary (KPNT routinely thrashes its Alt competitor in St. Louis for example). KCJK has two competitors, both of which are well established and KQRC in particular has a loyal fanbase.

I don't see KQRC listeners migrating to a softer variant, and KRBZ will likely see an uptick without doing much of anything at all (though they'll probably rehire Afentra at some point). I just don't see how this format will last long enough for KCJK to rejoin the Alt panel (it was kicked off yesterday due to the half-flip), much less succeed in such a competitive market.

 

[Saladressing]

This marks at least the fourth station now in the mold of 93.7 in Minneapolis along with 93.9X/Indy and Rock 100.5/Atlanta. There was a period of time maybe around 10 years ago when there was a translator station with a hybrid format like this in KC. It didn't last long, but I enjoyed it when passing through. Like the previous poster alluded to, hybrids like KXXR or KPNT are on established signals with competition on one end, not both ends. In Atlanta, WNNX recently finished its first month in this format and saw a small 0.1 drop in the 6+ ratings.

 

[MarkW]

X 105.1 is a great reminder of what a clueless buffoon Troy Hanson is!!!

Ratings have been a COMPLETE DISASTER since the change.

Macattack is 100% correct!

 

[macattack]

X 105.1 is a great reminder of what a clueless buffoon Troy Hanson is!!!

Ratings have been a COMPLETE DISASTER since the change.

Macattack is 100% correct!

Honestly, the fact that I was proven correct is terrifying considering I am not a PD or even an MD. I should be proven wrong.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

X 105.1 is a great reminder of what a clueless buffoon Troy Hanson is!!!

Ratings have been a COMPLETE DISASTER since the change.

Macattack is 100% correct!

The farthest back neilsen shows for KCJK is Nov 2019 with a 1.7 and now theyre at a 1.4... not a huge or complete disaster in terms of a .3 drop.

What were they before the change?

 

[macattack]

The farthest back neilsen shows for KCJK is Nov 2019 with a 1.7 and now theyre at a 1.4... not a huge or complete disaster in terms of a .3 drop.

What were they before the change?

Generally getting 2.4-2.8s and beating KRBZ by about a half-share or so on a regular basis. I remember September and October being a bit lower than their average, though, somewhere around 2.2 or 2.3.

 

[wastedtalent23]

What a waste of a great signal. What else can Cumulus do with it?

There are already too many Country stations, and you don't want to compete with the stations you already own either.

Here are a couple of ideas:

Flip the format to a very urban leaning Rhythmic CHR and play the hits in a high rotation, going up against KPRS. They could sell advertising on KMJK as a combo.

OR

Move the Mainstream CHR format to 105.1 which would give them a much better signal to battle with KMXV, and put something like a smooth jazz or another niche format on 95.7.

OR, They can continue to do whatever it is they are doing and go nowhere.

Let KRBZ have the alternative audience, they will never have more than a 3 share.

 

[AnyHuman]

There are lots of country stations but no classic country.

Also KC lost it's only regional Mexican FM outlet as 99.3/100.5 went to Catholic programming in Spanish half the time with dead air the other half.

 

[davideduardo]

There are lots of country stations but no classic country.

The problem with classic country is that it leans old, but a station that plays 1995-2005 could do very well in a market that is traditionally a good country performer and where the format has a stellar image.

 

[Route66Fan]

There are lots of country stations but no classic country.

The problem with classic country is that it leans old, but a station that plays 1995-2005 could do very well in a market that is traditionally a good country performer and where the format has a stellar image.

There is an AM station (KCWJ, 1030AM.), in nearby Blue Springs, MO that, since 2016, has been playing classic country (They also carry local High School sports.), although they mostly serve the Eastern Jackson Co. MO area & (At this time.) do not have a FM translator. KCWJ seems to be carrying Westwood One's "Real Country" satellite fed format.
http://kcradio.robzerwekh.com/1030.html
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=kcwj&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C
http://www.realcountry1030am.com/
http://player.listenlive.co/48561

 

[MarkW]

Wow - 105.1 made some shocking AQH share gains in the just released survey!!!

They are now in a virtual statistical tie with 98.9 The Rock, just two tenths' difference. AQH share has doubled for 105.1 versus two surveys ago.

Just a blip due to overall radio usage levels remaining lower than normal? Time will tell.

Can we drop the facade that 105.1 is a "rockternative" station? It's Active Rock. Almost the same playlist as sister station WNDX-FM in Indianapolis. Zero or almost zero alternative chart singles are played, and the library tracks consist almost entirely of songs appropriate for Active Rock (that many "alternative" stations would largely never touch).

 

[wastedtalent23]

Just a blip due to overall radio usage levels remaining lower than normal? Time will tell.

Can we drop the facade that 105.1 is a "rockternative" station? It's Active Rock. Almost the same playlist as sister station WNDX-FM in Indianapolis. Zero or almost zero alternative chart singles are played, and the library tracks consist almost entirely of songs appropriate for Active Rock (that many "alternative" stations would largely never touch).

What is somewhat impressive about this is that their cume is at a six month high. However even though their AQH shares are sharply higher in the last 2 months, they haven't done much damage to KQRC or KRBZ in the process which leads me to believe that it is a fluke. They haven't done much if anything differently programming or promotions wise, except for a few TV spots on the local news.

This is a 1.4 radio station. I'm hardly convinced that they have "arrived" out of nowhere.

 

[Kent]

Time will tell whether The X is viable or if this is just a fluke. I will, however, point out that not too long ago, KQRC routinely pulled ratings in the mid-to-upper 6 share range. It also got a significant portion of its numbers from the Johnny Dare Show and spent the rest of the day diving. If KQRC is now dropping off a cliff as soon as Dare leaves the studio, The X might actually be viable if it’s capturing some of that audience.

KRBZ was also pulling a lot better numbers even more recently. I couldn’t tell you what’s going on there. I lived in Kansas City the day it signed on, and, personally, I've long thought the station sounded terrible. It was, however, great at finding and breaking new artists, and it got a lot of visibility because those artists made a point of always playing Kansas City because of the early support there. As much as I thought Lazlo was horrendous on-air, he's amazing at finding good talent and promoting it. The Buzz seems to have started declining since The X signed on, and it’s audience doesn’t appear to have returned since 105.1 changed its formula.