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"Fresh, New, Very LA:" The 2023 Sound of KNX News

That melody is back, re-imagined for what KNX is in 2023: 97.1 FM, streaming on the Audacy app, podcasting, smart speakers, and more.
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Whether you’ve been along for the ride for a while, or you’re brand new to KNX News, we hope you enjoy the new sounds, and make sure to listen on 97.1 FM, by asking your smart speaker to “play KNX News,” here on KNXNews.com, or anywhere on the free Audacy app.
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KNX is truly placing less emphasis on its AM signal, even compared to other all-news stations like WINS and WBBM, which feature both the AM and FM frequency. It seems that the only reference to the 1070 AM signal on the KNX / Audacy website is a link (labelled "Public Inspection File") to the FCC profile.
 
victorres43 said:
KNX is truly placing less emphasis on its AM signal, even compared to other all-news stations like WINS and WBBM, which feature both the AM and FM frequency. It seems that the only reference to the 1070 AM signal on the KNX / Audacy website is a link (labelled "Public Inspection File") to the FCC profile.
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The audience knows 1070. They don't need to be reminded where it is. 97.1 is a year and a few weeks old. People need reinforcement on that.
 
victorres43 said:
KNX is truly placing less emphasis on its AM signal, even compared to other all-news stations like WINS and WBBM, which feature both the AM and FM frequency. It seems that the only reference to the 1070 AM signal on the KNX / Audacy website is a link (labelled "Public Inspection File") to the FCC profile.
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They occasionally still mention 1070.
 
I'm happy to hear the return of a full music image package. I put the last one on KNX more than a decade ago. At the time, it was significant update of the "legacy" package, but it still maintained the iconic theme. After I left at the end of 2014 almost all the music was dropped. Gradually a little bit has returned but it always sounded like it was just plugged in. This attempt is a little challenging because they can't complete the traditional theme without the words "10-70 Newsradio." But, all in all, from what I heard it is refreshing, catches my attention and gives the listeners some sonic clues as to what element is coming up. (Back in the day when we actually did research we found those clues were very effective in increasing listener attention.)
 
Andy Ludlum said:
(Back in the day when we actually did research we found those clues were very effective in increasing listener attention.)
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Andy, I am glad you mention "research" as many who are either in small-ish markets or just involved listeners do not appreciate the extent to which radio used sophisticated listener feedback techniques to find out the likes and dislikes as well as the "hot buttons" of the audience.
 
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Andy Ludlum said:
I'm happy to hear the return of a full music image package. I put the last one on KNX more than a decade ago. At the time, it was significant update of the "legacy" package, but it still maintained the iconic theme. After I left at the end of 2014 almost all the music was dropped. Gradually a little bit has returned but it always sounded like it was just plugged in. This attempt is a little challenging because they can't complete the traditional theme without the words "10-70 Newsradio." But, all in all, from what I heard it is refreshing, catches my attention and gives the listeners some sonic clues as to what element is coming up. (Back in the day when we actually did research we found those clues were very effective in increasing listener attention.)
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I played with the theme in my head, and found that it can be completed with the new branding, as (sung): “KNX News Ninety-Seven-One FM.”
 
Andy Ludlum said:
I'm happy to hear the return of a full music image package. I put the last one on KNX more than a decade ago. At the time, it was significant update of the "legacy" package, but it still maintained the iconic theme. After I left at the end of 2014 almost all the music was dropped. Gradually a little bit has returned but it always sounded like it was just plugged in. This attempt is a little challenging because they can't complete the traditional theme without the words "10-70 Newsradio." But, all in all, from what I heard it is refreshing, catches my attention and gives the listeners some sonic clues as to what element is coming up. (Back in the day when we actually did research we found those clues were very effective in increasing listener attention.)
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By the time I relocated to LA in late 2016, your image package was gone, replaced with a fairly generic news sound.

Prior management refreshed that sound again for the move to FM, but again, it was very generic. This new package makes the station sound like KNX again, and as you noted, the sonic clues for different elements including music beds for traffic and weather really help identify where we are in the news wheel.
 
Karl said:
If they add in the background teletype sound as they news readers speak they will be complete.
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As a stunt I added the teletype into the background of KFWB during the 40 year anniversary year of going all-news. Even with an older audience, people were confused by what they were hearing. I even kept a picture of an old UPI teletype handy to attach to emails when I got the response, "What is a teletype?" Interestingly, it was surprisingly complicated setting up the teletype sound in a digital/computerized suite of studios. It took about 3 feet of computer code to have the sound go on and off with the mics - something we used to do by connecting to the "ON AIR" light relay!
 
Andy Ludlum said:
As a stunt I added the teletype into the background of KFWB during the 40 year anniversary year of going all-news. Even with an older audience, people were confused by what they were hearing. I even kept a picture of an old UPI teletype handy to attach to emails when I got the response, "What is a teletype?" Interestingly, it was surprisingly complicated setting up the teletype sound in a digital/computerized suite of studios. It took about 3 feet of computer code to have the sound go on and off with the mics - something we used to do by connecting to the "ON AIR" light relay!
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I loved the sound of the TTY, it had a kind of "white noise" effect, it strangely added comfort and at the same time a sense of urgency. Please don't ask me to explain this... because I don't understand it either!
 
Thank heavens. I flip between KNX and WINS on my Amazon echo. And the quality of image has been night and day.

KNX sounded decent after the flip to 97.1. And then they dumped the OK imaging for something really weak and generic for the last few months. Just an anemic "The people you know, the voices you trust. This is KNX."

Glad to hear they are taking the imaging seriously.
 
henry said:
Thank heavens. I flip between KNX and WINS on my Amazon echo. And the quality of image has been night and day.

KNX sounded decent after the flip to 97.1. And then they dumped the OK imaging for something really weak and generic for the last few months. Just an anemic "The people you know, the voices you trust. This is KNX."

Glad to hear they are taking the imaging seriously.
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It sounds like Alex Silverman may have pared back what he inherited from Ken Charles until he could have a new package produced that aligned with the research findings.
 
Been listening to KNX all afternoon (why is the Audacy app so terrible?!).

Most of the imaging is pretty good. But the traffic sounder is really bad. Like a bad Atari game. Not sure why it bugs me so badly.
 
henry said:
Most of the imaging is pretty good. But the traffic sounder is really bad. Like a bad Atari game. Not sure why it bugs me so badly.
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One thing they're struggling with a little bit is the backtiming into CBS news at the top of the hour. It's not meant to be the KNX sounder directly into the CBS sounder. Most of the time the anchor can get in "it's 2 o'clock" between them, but not always. It sounds best when they give enough time for "I'm Art Sanders it's 2 o'clock" but they're not consistently hitting that.
 
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