99.7 OKC

KXY went Classic Country in 2010 I believe. I love KXY and I hope they don't change it.

Many don't know this, and those that do will deny it ever happened. During high level meetings at (unsaid broadcast company), concerns were expressed (interpret that as 'fears' if you will) regarding kkng and its impact on the oklahoma city radio market. Discussions about how to stop them from being a success included a wide variety of ideas. The (unsaid broadcast company) mission....stop kkng. Steal their advertisters. Force them to make changes to the format that destroys their listener loyalty. And the list goes on.

Many people post their opinions as to why classic country could never succeed, or that oklahoma city would never support another country station. The truth is, (unsaid broadcast company) was scared when it came to kkng. They saw the potential that it had, and they wanted it stopped.

And it did. The toe is getting off his/her soapbox.

KXY went classic country well before 2010. I believe it stopped reporting to R&R as far back as 2003 or 04.

I can't imagine why they are moving to 1640 AM and have no clue as to what will happen to 99.7, but I know I will miss it. Just can't make myself do AM, so will have to go back to KOMA.

Another Country station, just what we need.

I'd gladly listen to a good AM over a crappy FM any day. And I'd welcome a new country station IF it had something better to offer than what's on the air now. Today's radio, especially country music, is mediocre at best. In my opinion. But what do I know? I'm just a cameltoe.

Cameltoe said:

I'd gladly listen to a good AM over a crappy FM any day. And I'd welcome a new country station IF it had something better to offer than what's on the air now. Today's radio, especially country music, is mediocre at best. In my opinion. But what do I know? I'm just a cameltoe.

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Do you think OKC will be able to support four country stations? I know its a popular format here, but it has failed when attempted before. Remember 104.9 The Bull? That should have been a smash success thanks to its red dirt lean, but it was a flop. I think this new classic country station will either be a success and force one of the others to flip, or it will flop. I doubt all four will still be on the air a year from now.

All joking and sarcasm aside, I honestly believe that four country stations would be a bad idea. But...if someone came in with a powerhouse country station, I have no doubt that it would greatly affect the other country stations, and we would see some major changes. Bchristi, you make an excellent point in regards to the bull. I had completely forgotten about them until you mentioned it. And red dirt, well, that seems like more of an intangible gimmick to me.

If a really good classic country station were to come along, I think that kxy would be in a panic. And I would love to see that happen. Some competition might clean up the mediocre radio in town. And if kxy were to flip to a different format altogether, that wouldn't hurt my feelings either. But when you have a large company with lots of resources like (unsaid broadcast company), they will pull every rabbit out of their corrupt hat to make sure that the competition doesn't survive.

I believe that 1640 might have a fighting chance doing oldies IF they decided to do real oldies, not True Oldies. Granted, sales would be to mainly retirement-age targeted folks, but it could be done. Trying to fight KOMA with an AM just isn't going to work. Their only real option with oldies is to go with a older approach. Chances are that won't be happening.

Well after over an hour of low levels and stumbling around it seems Hanky-FM has "graced" the airwaves. So far, nothing but ag crap still on 1640 (It's not like many people are going to bother to switch over there anyway.) Just what OKC was waiting for! More country. Yehaw.

Originality isn't exactly a strongpoint of OKC radio managers, is it?

If you have question's about the format, call the station manager. He spoke to me about it....

I hope Dave and Shawn weren't shown the door.

I know Dave will be on HANK and Shawn will be on 1640 with True Oldies... At least that is what the GM told me.

okcradioguy! said:

Originality isn't exactly a strongpoint of OKC radio managers, is it?

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Unfortunately, originality doesn't usually make money. Most of the new formats that have been introduced over the last 10 years have either been successful early on only to flame out quickly or have gotten a response of, "God, this sucks!", right out of the starting gate.

Having said that, I know classic country has a pretty good sized audience in OKC, but it seems like that audience will be pretty tough to monetize on account of its age.

[Having said that, I know classic country has a pretty good sized audience in OKC, but it seems like that audience will be pretty tough to monetize on account of its age.[/QUOTE]

Harder than True Oldies?

Kent said:

Unfortunately, originality doesn't usually make money. Most of the new formats that have been introduced over the last 10 years have either been successful early on only to flame out quickly or have gotten a response of, "God, this sucks!", right out of the starting gate.

Having said that, I know classic country has a pretty good sized audience in OKC, but it seems like that audience will be pretty tough to monetize on account of its age.

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I sort of understand where you're going with the fact that very odd formats usually flame out and don't make money. However, let's look at KRXO and KATT, for example. KOMA when it first hit the air at 1520 was in that boat too. All of these stations, when they first went on the air, were pretty unique and radical formats for their times. Sports radio 640 WWLS was too. Then there's 1049 and their version of sports. All of these stations were stations that served a niche audience, but had a big enough and wealthy enough audience to win. That's what is wrong with today's radio. No on is even willing to try something a little "out there". I'm not talking Ferris O'brien type of "out there" but at least something that is a little further out than 4 formats would be handy, and most likely PROFITABLE.

The best of luck to all at HANK. I hope that you can put every ounce of passion into what you do on the air and into the music you play. Beware, (unsaid broadcast company) will do everything they can possibly think of to keep you from succeeding. Everything EXCEPT providing the okc area with a better product. They couldn't care less about what they offer, all they care about is making sure they have no competition.

No matter what childish stunts they will pull to defeat you, please do not give up. I will listen to you everyday.

Well said "Toe".

I listened to Hank on and off today and thought it was a well put together play list, liners and etc... Needs to be tighter in a few area's, a little more local feel and etc. However, not bad. It reminds me of a Jakes older brother kind of deal.

HSF

okcradioguy! said:

I sort of understand where you're going with the fact that very odd formats usually flame out and don't make money.

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I don't know how you define "odd" formats, but there were some that I thought were fairly mainstream and didn't make it.

However, let's look at KRXO and KATT, for example. KOMA when it first hit the air at 1520 was in that boat too. All of these stations, when they first went on the air, were pretty unique and radical formats for their times. Sports radio 640 WWLS was too. Then there's 1049 and their version of sports. All of these stations were stations that served a niche audience, but had a big enough and wealthy enough audience to win.

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You're right in the sense that every format was unique when it was first started. I can also agree with you in the sense that there have been some really bad operators trying to do these tried and true mass appeal formats who have failed badly. Classic rock as a radio format is really only about 30 years old. Of course, for every classic rock we have, how many of these new ideas have been failures?

KATT, KOMA and WWLS may have been unique when they first launched, but they've changed a lot, too. I would argue they're much less so today, and that has both its bad and good points. KATT's active rock format was an evolution, and, unlike a lot of other stations (think Dallas's Q-102 and Kansas City's KY-102), they dumped AOR for active rock in the early 90's. If they hadn't, they would've been squeezed out of the format by KRXO and that short-lived experiment known as 95X a few years later. CHR/Top-40 has changed a lot since it was first launched as a format, and sports talk has evolved to include a lot more "guy talk" than it was when 640 flipped to sports from country in the mid-to-late 80's. Oldies has evolved, too. I hear a lot of complaints that you can't find 60's oldies on the radio today let alone oldies from the pre-Beatles era. These formats may have been radical when they first launched, but the approach has changed, and they're not really the same as they were. Usually, I hear these evolutions are too cookie cutter, but you can't have it both ways. It can't be cookie cutter yet original. If the original approach worked better and was more popular, it would still be going strong.

That's what is wrong with today's radio. No on is even willing to try something a little "out there". I'm not talking Ferris O'brien type of "out there" but at least something that is a little further out than 4 formats would be handy, and most likely PROFITABLE.

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It's easy to say people should try something "out there" when it's someone else's money. As much as I'd like to think of myself as a creative and innovative person, I can't say with a straight face that I'd try to find the next great thing if I had millions tied up in a radio station. I'd want to at least have a chance at getting my money back. If you can come up with a new and different format, I hope you can find someone who'll run with it and make it successful.