Some thoughts on a few of the format changes that took place this past week…
KMTT To Rhythmic Hot AC
The biggest and most surprising format change to take place over Labor Day Weekend was Entercom’s shift of “103.7 The Mountain” KMTT Seattle to Rhythmic Hot AC “Hot 103.7“. KMTT had struggled since the implementation of the PPM and jettisoned all its AAA currents/recurrents in 2011 for a full Classic Rock presentation in an attempt to streamline its brand. The new format has also had its issues in Seattle. 106.1 KBKS in the mid 90’s, “95.7 The Beat” KBTB in the early 2000’s, and “Movin 92.5” KQMV from 2006-2009 all attempted formats similar to what 103.7 is doing now and failed.
The new format enters a Seattle market that includes two Mainstream CHR’s, Rhythmic CHR, two Adult CHR’s, a Modern AC, and a pure Dance station. That’s a lot of stations with music and demographic overlap. That said, similarly formatted “Hot 96.9” WBQT Boston has carved a niche out of a similar competitive situation.
Alien Invasions
94.9 WMSR seals the award for most successful format change stunt of the year, or perhaps even the decade. When you get international press, you’ve done your job in generating attention for your station. The stunt’s intent may not have been to be as big as it became, but it had everything you hope for in a well orchestrated stunt: gullible listeners, word of mouth, and lots of press.
Simulcasts
In Baton Rouge, Eastern North Carolina, Fort Myers, and Winchester the overarching theme was stations that previously simulcasted doing so once again.
Unprepared Digital Properties
This is completely uncalled for in 2013. As I write this on Tuesday, September 3 around 1:00pm going to MyJackFM.com goes to a Triton Digital support page. It’s been 96 hours since the new format of 92.3 WQSL/101.1 WQZL launched, and while the old CarolinaTouch.com domain redirects to the new one there’s no content. How is anybody going to discover information about the new station?
Meanwhile over in Oklahoma City, Tyler Media’s much hyped Sports “107.7 The Franchise” debuted last Monday. Missing was one element that many listeners were looking for; an online stream of the content. That didn’t appear until Friday. News about the station’s impending launch had been leaked six weeks prior. For the station to launch with an under construction page and streaming not ready gives the indication that even after all that time it wasn’t ready to explode out of the gate.
On top of that, many domains that would more easily direct listeners to the station: 1077Sports.com, 1077TheFranchise.com, 1077TheSportsFranchise.com, 1045KRXO.com, and KRXO1045.com redirect to Clear Channel’s stations in Oklahoma City. When building a digital brand, protecting your assets needs to be considered.
