The Radio People CHR “Star 101.9” KNOE-FM Monroe, LA has bailed on the format and flipped to Urban AC.
Branded as “Monroe’s R&B and Classic Soul”, the station is now known as “Mix 101.9“. The new format will flank sister Urban “100.1 The Beat” KRVV which led the Monroe market with a 20 share in the Fall 2012 ratings.
Mix1019.net was registered by The Radio People on February 4 but is not yet live. Around the same time the domain was registered the station began airing Yea Networks’ “Bert Show” based at Cumulus’ “Q100” WWWQ Atlanta for mornings. The flip leaves Opus Broadcasting’s “Hot 103.1” KQLQ as the only CHR in the Monroe market.
The flip to Urban AC may also have been triggered by an STA filed by KP Music Group’s “Majic 97.3” KJMG Bastrop last month. That station, which filled the Urban AC niche in the Monroe market filed for Special Temporary Authority to operate with a mere 115 watts at 65 meters after getting booted off its existing tower because, “LANDLORD OF THE TOWER SITE HAS ORDERED THE APPLICANT TO LEAVE; HE HAS TURNED OFF THE TRANSMITTER WHICH HAS RESULTED IN THE STATION BEING TAKEN OFF THE AIR. AS A RESULT, THE LICENSEE HAS PURSUED AND FOUND A TEMPORARY SITE FROM WHICH TO BROADCAST.”
The owner of said tower is Clay Halladay, who operates his stations locally as “The Radio People“. The STA filing does not add why Halladay ordered KJMG off the tower. We’re not trying to insinuate any kind of gamesmanship here, as we don’t know what KP did to get itself evicted from its tower site. Halladay’s company simply could be taking advantage of the Urban AC void that was created by 97.3’s temporary demise with a format the company was familiar with as it sold KJMG to KP Music Group in 2011 in order to complete its purchase of 101.9 KNOE.
They also get top 40 in the market from KQID 93.1 from Alexandria,La. http://www.q93fm.com/ that has a tower roughly just south of the half way mark between Monroe and Alexandria.. But puts a decent signal in the area
KJMG was “booted” off the tower by the local
Holladay, who also turned Majic 97 off the air without consent, not Clay! Yes, “alledgedly” there was “gamesmanship” played and seemingly “orchestrated in perfect rhythm in an effort to ruin KP! The only problem being, KJMG (KP Music Group) won’t “die”! The owners of KP Music Group, LLC. are African Americans, the only African American commercial radio station owners in the market. They are continuing to go up against this deep-pocketed giant with a vengeance. Even though Majic 97 was off the air for approximately 2 1/2 months, coming back at low power (temporarily), they still managed to “show up” very well on the charts!! It’s not hard to gain the numbers that Mix 101 has in the ratings when they were the only Urban AC radio station in the market for that length of time. If you have NO competition, you automatically win… right? That was the idea… it seems! Does that give bragging rights? I don’t think so… I’m just saying!