After last month’s accidental flip to Classic Hits, Lotus Communications Rhythmic CHR “Q92.1” KQKZ Bakersfield CA made the flip for real on Thursday.
Still branded as “Q92.1“, the station is focusing on music from the 1970s and 80s placing the station between iHeartMedia Classic Rock “98.5 The Fox” KDFO and Alpha Media Rhythmic Oldies “Groove 99.3” KKBB.
Danny Spanks, longtime PD of iHeartMedia Alternative 106.1 KRAB, joins as morning host. Spanks programmed KRAB from 2001 until his exit last October.
As one of three Rhythmic CHRs (along with two Mainstream CHRs) in Bakersfield, KQKZ (duplicating the on-air lineup of co-owned “Q97.1” KSEQ Visalia/Fresno) had a mere 0.3 share in the July 2020 Nielsen Audio ratings.
Update 8/5 4:45pm: After approximately one hour and 45 minutes of Classic Hits, KQKZ went back to its regular format at 1:00pm. Glitch? Accidental launch before being ready? Or a decoy to throw a competitor off their game? Unknown at the point. We’ll update when we learn more.
Original Report: A little over a year after launching Rhythmic CHR “Q92.1” KQKZ Bakersfield CA, Lotus Communications abruptly dropped the format this morning and is currently running a brandless Classic Hits playlist.
The change took place around 11:17 this morning launching with Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days”, Eagles “Heartache Tonight”, Rod Stewart “Forever Young”, Hall & Oates “Maneater” and Loverboy “Working For The Weekend”.
KQKZ duplicated the on-air lineup of Lotus’ “Q97.1” KSEQ Visalia/Fresno. The station was the fourth Rhythmic CHR in the market along with joining American General Media’s “Hot 94.1” KISV, Alpha Media’s “Energy 95.3” KLLY (which has since evolved back toward Mainstream CHR), and Farmworker Educational Radio’s “Forge 103.9” KBDS. KQKZ had a mere 0.1 share in the June 2020 Nielsen Audio ratings.
