New FM coming from....

[radioaircheck]

Any more news on this new station?

[rufus]

It WILL be a music station..but where are the format holes and weaknesses among the players in the market.

[radioaircheck]

I think a good Classic Hit Station or Classic Country.  i am more for the Classic Hit format

[wxman76]

There are several options that I think could make Cumulus and ClearChannel sweat...

Classic Country: Someone at Cumulus made a bad decision for US 94 cut some classic tracks and add more current country.  Ratings have gone from 4.3 to 1.0 in the last year and even 99.7 KBTN out of Neosho/Joplin has suddenly shown up in the last 2 ratings.  Country is king in Arkansas, but for some reason...KIX 104 has never had a solid rival.  Its interesting to me that down the road in Fort Smith, KTCS and KMAG have had a long standing rivalry, each with consistent top 5 ratings, but nobody has been able to give KIX 104 a good run of direct competition.  Big Country 107.3 in Fort Smith and 105.1 The Wolf in Little Rock are each currently #2 in the ratings. 

60s/70s Classic Hits: There was a time when Magic 107.9 had a pretty good helping of “oldies” in its AC format.  Nowadays, with the exception of its Sunday morning Dick Bartley syndicated “oldies” show and the occasional spin of “Brown Eyed Girl”, the 60s tracks have all but disappeared.  The 70s gold library is slowly being trimmed and AC has become “hotter” in the last 5 or so years.  This is opening the door for someone to go classic hits.  Some of the greatest hits of all time from the mid to late 60s rarely or never get played in NWA.  They are either getting too old for Magic or is too “pop” to be played on 93.3 The Eagle.  While there is a hole, the problem is that the format is slowly and surely dying.  There are not many stations flipping to “oldies” these days.  Many of the more successful outlets are those who have been playing those hits for years and is living off its heritage. 

Variety/Adult Hits "Jack": This was the hot new format back in the mid 2000s, but has since cooled off.  I thought that Y94.9 should have and would have flipped to this a few years ago.  Something along the lines of 92.9 Bob FM Tulsa or 94.9 Tom FM Little Rock could be used to flank both Magic and The Eagle.  Both 106.5 The Arch St. Louis and 95.3 out of Fort Smith (recently renamed Max) have a more Hot AC flavor to its Variety Hits format that could give Magic some good competition.

Rhythmic CHR: Here is an option that hasn’t been talked much on this board, but I think it is very viable.  Cumulus and ClearChannel will never do this because it would undermine Power 105.7 and Hot Mix 101.9. But another owner could.  12% of NWA is Hispanic.  Not all Hispanics are exclusive to listening to only Spanish…especially younger Hispanics.  Rhythmic CHR is the format of choice to many younger Hispanics.   A Rhythmic CHR would be more of an option to Hispanic and Black listeners and would steal some of demos of Power & Hot Mix.  92.1 The Beat out of Tulsa will sometimes beat crosstown CHR K-Hits and 102.7 The Vibe in Fort Smith is giving KISR a good run. 

[Bat Fastard]

Interesting points, wxman.  I offer for your consideration:

1)  When was the last time anyone tried...seriously TRIED to go after KIX-104?  The Cumulus counter-programming efforts were a joke.  Did anyone else try?  In the old days of KIX dominance, we assumed that the competitors knew better.

2)  When the corporate people get their hooks into a signal, sometimes they strangle it.  I don't know why.  Both companies are cut-throat about their decisions.  My way or the highway.   They know better than you about the music, so don't bring it up.

3)  Tends to work in a bigger market.  Is NWA big enough?  Jack and Bob were good ideas, but I don't think they are exclusively owned by C.C. or the Dark Cloud and that's what their iheart tells them is right.  You may get this form of programming, but I'll bet it'll be called something else.

4)  Unless and until this becomes so lucrative that someone HAS to do it, I don't look for anything to develop simply because of the presence of a minority populace.  In my opinion, it's a racial issue, not one of programming...and it is NOT exclusive to Northwest Arkansas.

Ultimately, much of what you describe in your post is the direct result of big corporate ownership where "one size fits all" and they DON'T want your opinion.  Why, can you imagine some hotshot in Atlanta (from Toledo, no less) accepting an idea from a local yokel in Hog Land?  When I danced with these clowns, they couldn't even fix their signals so they could be properly heard...and even if they had, there were other issues they didn't want to address that would have kept them from winning.  It no small wonder they weren't successful against the heritage of KIX.

They want their stations to be what/how they dreamed of.  Problem is, what they want and what they need to do to get there are two entirely different things.  They still believe in their formula.  Clearly, I don't.

When we work the studio equipment, I frequently find that there are different ways to get the same job done.  If the goal is to complete the voice-track, who cares how you do it?  The equipment doesn't.  The result is the same.  Is one way right and another wrong?

These are concepts that the Dickeys and their kind either never pondered or rejected outright, probably because it wasn't their idea. 

...and that's why it is what it is.

[Rich Moellers]

If I was in NWA, I would do a Red Dirt/Texas country station.  The scene's huge in Fayetteville.  The artists come there all the time.

[RadioHoor]

@Rich - I would love if someone would do something like that.  There are many great "real" country bands out there.

[RadioPhillyFan]

Here in Philly, Rythmmtic CHR is popular with kids of every race, it seems. I'd have to say, really solid format, Wired is like a Dance-Rhythmtic CHR however; it plays a dance remix of Domino by Jesse J. and has an HD2 Dance-CHR,  I'd hope to see that pop in at our only open FM slot. Plus, the signal can go 100 miles south, so it's pretty strong, that may be why it's as high as it is.


Given your circumstances, A Rythmtic CHR may do really well!