As expected Cumulus Media relaunched Alternative “X105.1” KCJK Garden City/Kansas City MO as what they are calling ‘Rockternative’ “105.1 The X“.
Describing the new sound as a “natural Rock blend of Alternative and Active Rock formats”, the station will flank Classic Rock “101 The Fox” KCFX against Entercom’s combo of Active Rock “98.9 The Rock” KQRC and Alternative “96.5 The Buzz” KRBZ.
The station has also revised its on-air lineup. The Woody Show remains in mornings, while Joel Weiss, who joined KCJK as APD/MD in April moves from nights to middays. Joining the station to host afternoons in Cassiday Proctor. Proctor departed afternoons at Hubbard Variety Hits “106.5 The Arch” WARH St. Louis in July to return home to Kansas City after her husband gained a job in the city. She was part of morning shows at KAMX Austin, WNKS Charlotte and WSTR Atlanta prior to joining WARH in 2017 and hosted a daily television show in Charlotte.
Cumulus Kansas City announces the debut of Kansas City’s newest radio station, 105.1 The X (KCJK-FM), Kansas City’s first “Rockternative”-formatted radio station. 105.1 The X launched at midnight on Wednesday, October 9th. Rockternative is the natural Rock blend of Alternative and Active Rock formats. The new station’s unique blend of sound and music reaches across both formats for a one-of-a-kind listener experience. Artists featured on 105.1 The X include: Tool, Shinedown, The Black Keys, Disturbed, The White Stripes, Motley Crue, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and many other artists across generations.
The weekday programming lineup for 105.1 The X features “The Woody Show”, airing Mornings from 5am-10am, with Joel Weiss in Middays from 10am-3pm, followed by Cassiday Proctor in Afternoon Drive from 3pm-7pm.
Proctor joins Cumulus Kansas City from Hubbard Media in St. Louis, MO, where she was afternoon on-air personality for 106.5 The Arch/WARH-FM. Prior to that, Proctor was part of morning shows at Mix 94.7/KAMX-FM in Austin, TX, Kiss 95.1/WNKS-FM in Charlotte, NC, and Star 94.1/WSTR-FM in Atlanta, GA. She also hosted a daily television show at WCCB in Charlotte, NC. The most memorable moment of her radio career happened in February 2018 when she gave birth to her son live on the radio. A native of Kansas City, Proctor studied Theatre Performance at Wichita State University.
Donna Baker, Regional Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Kansas City, said: “Kansas City’s Rock Alternative is exactly what Rock fans are asking for. With the perfect companion, our #1 station KCFX/101 The Fox Classic Rock, Cumulus Kansas City reaches the most listeners and provides our advertiser partners with unmatched radio and digital solutions that create results.”
Cassiday Proctor commented: “I am thrilled beyond words to be joining the Cumulus family. My passion for radio began as a young child growing up in Kansas City. To get hired to work at 105.1 The X is a very full-circle moment that is not lost on me. Thank you to Donna Baker, Mike O’Reilly and Troy Hanson for their vision and for giving me the opportunity to shine in the Rock format.”Mike O’Reilly, Program Director for KCJK, added: “A new day has dawned for Rock radio in Kansas City… Let the next evolution of Rock/Alternative begin.”
Original Report 10/9: Cumulus Media is preparing to relaunch Alternative “X105.1” KCJK Garden City/Kansas City as “105.1 The X” with a move to a harder music presentation positioned as “Kansas City’s Rock Alternative”.
The promotional video below shows core artists as including AC/DC, Disturbed, Foo Fighters, Incubus, Metallica, and Nirvana pushing the station in a harder and more gold based direction than the current/recurrent Alternative direction it had. The new logo matches that utilized by other Cumulus Rock stations including “93X” KXXR Minneapolis and “93.9X” WNDX Indianapolis.
The move pushes KCJK from competing directly with Entercom Alternative “96.5 The Buzz” KRBZ and positioning it between KRBZ and sister Active Rock “98.9 The Rock” KQRC. In the September 2019 Nielsen Audio ratings KCJK placed seventeenth with a 2.6 share, while KQRC was ninth with a 4.2 and KRBZ nineteenth at 2.3.
The relaunch of KCJK will follow the exit of afternoon host Afentra in September after just eight months with the station.
Mark W.
What a moronic move!!!
The same guy who ran 94-9 Zeta in Miami into the ground many moons ago (Troy Hanson) thinks he can compete with the almighty KQRC?!?!
Bwahahahahaha!
Yeah, I’m sure the typical KQRC listener is going to switch to 105.1 so they can:
–Hear rehashed segments from a Los Angeles-based morning show;
–Listen to the same music they enjoy on KQRC, except interspersed with unwelcome fruity garbage from the likes of Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and Twenty One Pilots;
–Listen to an afternoon jock who’s spent almost her entire career in the Hot AC and CHR formats.
KQRC is going to whip 105.1 like a rented mule!!!
Meanwhile, 96.5 The Buzz – without doing much of anything – will be able to enjoy an almost immediate and likely very significant rise in the ratings!
Most of 105.1’s incumbent audience has fled or will likely soon flee to 96.5; I don’t expect very many 98.9 listeners to make the new 105.1 appointment listening.