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News Archive: May/June 2007
June 7, 2007
Hey, I'm back. After a move to Nashville, adjusting to a busy schedule, etc., I'm working to get things up to date on here.
Congrats to Tracy Johnson, who has been the General Manager of Midwest TV's KFMB-FM in San Diego, who is leaving his job there to become Chief Operating Officer of Mass 2 One Media.
Here are some of the market changes involving from the past two months:
4/30/2007 Hobart, OK: KQTZ switched from AC as KQ-106 to Variety Hits as 105.9 Mike FM.
5/3/2007 Viola, AR: new station KSMZ signed on the air as SAM 94.3.
Memorial Day Weekend Lebanon, KY: I discovered that 100.9 WLSK is Variety Hits as 100.9 Mike FM (formerly it was Classic Hits, using its call letters as identification); further internet research reveals that the station has had the format since at least 5/22/2007.
6/4/2007 Roseburg, OR: KKMX flipped from Hot AC as 104.3 Kiss FM to Variety Hits as SAM 104.3. Interestingly, the station has retained the incumbent syndicated Kidd Kraddick morning show.
More soon...
June 19, 2007
Citadel's female-leaning Variety Hits 98.9 Kim FM (WKIM) in Memphis has shifted to Hot AC, according to All Access. Jack FM (WCJK) does gangbuster numbers in Nashville, but as anyone in Tennessee can tell you, Memphis and Nashville are two very different cities (and Kim FM was a very female-leaning station vs. Jack FM's P25-54 target.)
Kim FM is keeping its name and imaging, and All Access reports that the station is in the process of hiring an airstaff.
The trick with Variety Hits seems to be balance; tilt it too hard one way (Classic Hits, Classic Rock, Hot AC, too much new music) and you do so at your own peril.
In a Canadian update that has major implications with most of the stations carrying the Variety Hits format in Canada, CTVglobemedia has received approval to buy CHUM Ltd. CHUM is the company that debuted Bob FM in Winnipeg on March 26, 2002, and ended up putting Bob FM on in four other markets in Canada.
Ironically, the purchase of CHUM required a spin-off of CTV's "CITY-TV" television stations, which are being acquired by Rogers Broadcasting. Rogers operates Variety Hits stations under the Jack FM brand in Canada (and have since December 2002 when they debuted the format in Vancouver.)
June 21, 2007
There's a blog up promoting the forthcoming 106.8 Jack FM in Oxfordshire, Oxford, UK. Here's the link; the official site (jackfmoxford.com) promises that 106.8 Jack FM is coming in "summer 2007."
93.9 KSPQ in West Plains, MO has shifted from classic rock as Q94 to the satellite-fed Jack FM format. In a very unusual twist, it's being billed as "Q94 Jack FM", which is a departure from all the imaging of other Jack FM stations that I know of across the world.
Here in Nashville, 96.3 Jack FM is promoting a concert billed as "Jack's First Show" featuring ZZ Top, The Pretenders, and the Stray Cats at the Nashville Arena, now known as the Sommet Center (Sommet is pronounced like a French word, "Som-may", but it's still an upgrade over the former corporate sponsor name, Gaylord Entertainment.) I'm sure that Jack FM stations have promoted stations in other markets before, but it's a very interesting promotional approach billing it as a "Jack concert" vs. just another summer concert.
June 29, 2007
Female-leaning Variety Hits Jayne FM, distributed by Jones Radio Network, is on the air in Canada. It debuted as 92.9 Jayne FM on June 25, 2007 on the 92.9 FM signal in Haldimand-Caledonia, Ontario as CKJN, displacing AAA/Progressive (and at least 60% Canadian music) Mix 92.9 CKNS. That station had been on the air for just over a year, officially signing on in May 2006.
The station is limited in power by the CRTC to 3,300 watts ERP. But, according to the station's website, "If you hook up Mountain Cablevision to your FM receiver, you will find Jayne FM located at 101.7. Tune in there for crystal clear reception anywhere served by Mountain Cablevision."
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first station in North America to air Jayne FM. I found this website, claiming to be 101-9 Jayne FM (with "AJ in the Morning" from 6-10 a.m.) but with no city or regional disclaimer. I'm not sure if this is a real station, a demo page, or what.
There is the coincidence of radio vet (and Jayne FM creator) Robin Marshall working on-air at CD 101.9 FM in New York City, but that's only a coincidence... right? The website was purchased via proxy, so I'm unable to determine who owns it.
June 30, 2007
103.9 Bob FM in Spokane, WA, along with the rest of the Citadel cluster in that market, is being sold to Mapleton Communications, according to All Access.
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