The Cumulus frequency moves in Kansas City have already made for one unlikely format battle, pitting KCJK (Hits 105) on a new dial position against CHR powerhouse KMXV (Mix 93.3). This week, Cumulus used the former frequency to create a simulcast for Adult Hits KMJK (Jack FM), intensifying a second format battle with Steel City Media, owners of KCKC (102.1 Bob FM).
Steel City owns the highly successful, long-running WRRK (96.9 Bob FM) Pittsburgh. It launched KCKC in December 2024. The new Bob’s build was gradual enough that I actually remember one market observer declaring it a failure online, to which PD/p.m. driver Natalie Rush graciously responded that the station was continuing to build, and that management was much happier with advertiser and listener response than with its AC predecessor.
It’s a different story now. Bob KC was at a 3.4 in March, a 4.6 in June, and a 6.3 6-plus in the July Nielsen PPMs. Cumulus no longer subscribes to ratings, so we don’t know how Classic Hits KCMO-FM and Classic Rock KCFX (The Fox) are doing. But Bob’s success was the seeming impetus for Cumulus to lean further into the already-tight Adult Hits/Classic Hits/Classic Rock battle.
Kansas City is the first recent PPM Bob- vs. Jack-FM battle on major signals. (In Austin, Texas, KBPA is up 6.1-7.0. AM/translator combo KJFK went 1.0-1.2 in July.) Bob Kansas City is on a locally scheduled log but uses the syndicated imaging and library. Based on Mediabase comparisons. Jack Kansas City is using the syndicated format’s national log.
Jack KC is, like much of its U.S. format brethren, jockless. Bob-FM is hosted in mornings and afternoons. On the day I heard it, PD Rush was on the air to break the news of Dolly Parton’s death. Later that morning, she returned to the theme of “acts of kindness” in conjunction with the musical Come From Away, which Bob was promoting. The station is also teaming up with the Kansas State Lottery for a “Chiefs Red Friday” giveaway.
Here’s the K.C. version of Bob just before 1 p.m., August 25:
- Spacehog, “In the Meantime”
- Dolly Parton, “9 to 5”
- Deep Blue Something, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
- U2, “With or Without You”
- Prince, “Little Red Corvette”
- Whitesnake, “Is This Love”
- Avril Lavigne, “Complicated”
- Queen, “Fat Bottomed Girls”
- Bryan Adams, “Heaven”
- Dave Matthews Band, “What Would You Say”
- Daryl Hall & John Oates, “You Make My Dreams”
- 2Pac & Dr. Dre, “California Love”
- Coldplay, “Clocks”
An Adult Hits format battle is as much about the imaging as the music. Among some of the sweepers heard on KCKC:
- “An apple a day keeps the doctor away … if you throw it hard enough.”
- “The reason the ‘thumbs up’ was invented” — from a sweep-starter leading into the hourly “Bob-a-thon.”
- “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you’re doing a great job, you have a nice butt, your enemies deserve to perish … and this is Bob!”
Here’s Jack-FM during the same hour:
- “No, Jack FM is not the Powerball winner. If we were, we’d be giving you the silent treatment.”
- Into stopsets: “If you had a radio station, Jack FM would listen to your commercials” and, “Be nice, commercials on Jack FM have feelings, too.”
- “If they want people to get on board with Flock cameras, Jack thinks they should just add TikTok filters.”
Here’s Jack FM music, as heard in Kansas City, from that hour:
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, “By the Way”
- Eagles, “Take It Easy”
- Beastie Boys, “Intergalactic”
- Foreigner, “I Want to Know What Love Is”
- Cranberries, “Zombie”
- Corey Hart, “Sunglasses at Night”
- Barenaked Ladies, “One Week”
- Rick Springfield, “Jessie’s Girl”
- Pearl Jam, “Alive”
- Earth, Wind & Fire, “September”
- No Doubt, “Hella Good”
- Clash, “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
- AC/DC, “Thunderstruck”
- George Michael, “Faith”
