Cumulus Media has dropped the Alternative format of “Alt 101.9” KHTB Ogden/Salt Lake City as the station has begun simulcasting CHR “Power 94.9” KENZ Provo.
The move gives the CHR format better coverage of Salt Lake City as 94.9’s transmitter was located on the southern end of the market. The previous Alternative format itself had debuted on 94.9 before moving to 101.9 in September 2015.
The Alternative format registered a 2.2 share in today’s October Nielsen Audio ratings while Broadway Media’s “X96” KXRX was not listed. “Power 94.9” registered a 3.5 share, while iHeartMedia CHR 97.1 KZHT held a 5.5 share and Broadway’s “Mix 105.1” KUDD does not subscribe.
No word yet on the status of the 101.9 airstaff.
There is almost zero chance that this simulcast will be long-term in nature.
94.9 will either flip to a new format at some point (probably by January 2) or will be sold.
I have to agree with Mark W. Although the story is accurate in that the 94.9 signal favors the southern portion of the market, it still does cover the majority of it. And the 101.9 signal covers the entire market resulting in a ton of redundancy. That’s just not smart business.
Covering a market and being a usable in-building signal are two different things.