only1moore
Star Participant
Yes, KIFM dropped "Easy" and Soft AC for more upbeat current AC fare today (April 21, 2016).
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It's always "Sunny" in San Diego!
- Thread starter only1moore
- Start date
From Entercom's website, a statement about the new format:
http://www.entercom.com/entercom-san-diego-introduces-the-new-sunny-98-1#.VxmPeZIUVPZ
Story link: https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/105921/sun-sets-for-san-diegos-easy-98-1/
New website address: http://www.sunny981sd.com/
Station playlist link: http://kifm.tunegenie.com/ - format change occurred at 5 PM PT on 4/21/2016, but that hour is missing.
Refer to story link above for the that first hour's songs.
http://www.entercom.com/entercom-san-diego-introduces-the-new-sunny-98-1#.VxmPeZIUVPZ
Story link: https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/105921/sun-sets-for-san-diegos-easy-98-1/
New website address: http://www.sunny981sd.com/
Station playlist link: http://kifm.tunegenie.com/ - format change occurred at 5 PM PT on 4/21/2016, but that hour is missing.
Refer to story link above for the that first hour's songs.
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That is a rather amazing shift. The station was #1, but swung very old. Only 10th in 25-54. They obviously found a niche in traditional AC as opposed to soft AC.
It'll be interesting to see how they compete with KyXy.
Seems from the first few hours that their song selections will skew a bit older ('70s, '80s, '90s with a few '00s + currents thrown in) whereas KyXy is more up to date.
Everyone's favorite chestnut
"Bang 545" is even included for good measure.
Seems from the first few hours that their song selections will skew a bit older ('70s, '80s, '90s with a few '00s + currents thrown in) whereas KyXy is more up to date.
Everyone's favorite chestnut
"Bang 545" is even included for good measure.What I don't like is the lack of essential variety among the radio stations in the San Diego market. Technically the only two stations that were standing out with something different (now that KPRi is gone) was KFM-BFM and Easy 98.1. I'm talking about stations that were actually playing some music that was not being shared with anybody else for any number of reasons (I suppose Rock 105.3 and Magic 92.5 can sort of fit that bill too - KSON too, but only because it has the Country format to itself). Supersoft AC may have been playing some sleepy and boring "old people" music, but some of that playlist was now unique in this market, AND that may have been the reason for them being #1 overall. Now that KFMB-FM is doing something a bit different they are seeing a rise in the ratings. The rest of the market is pretty homogenized now...
2 Alternative stations plus one (Rock 105.3) that share a good bulk of similar music
Two Hot AC stations plus three CHR stations and now one "upbeat" AC station (plus Max-FM with golds from the 80s) means that seven stations are essentially sharing a lot of playlist action (Jack-FM got disappointing because it settled back into Hot AC territory before it changed)
70s Classic Rock is being covered by KGB, Max FM, KFM-BFM and some Rock 105.3)
The only stations that can be considered truly unique, in that they play some music not offered by others are:
Magic 92.5 - has some old school and R&B that doesn't get played elsewhere
I don't listen to 95.7 but I think they do some Classic Hip Hop
97.3/92.1 KSON - Country
98.9 More FM - has some good Classic Alternative at times that you used to hear a lot here but don't as much now
100.7 KFMB-FM - does play a lot of music that you'll find on hard rock, classic rock and alternative, but their approach and mix is what's making them unique
105.7 Max FM may play a couple of classic hits that you won't hear elsewhere but otherwise share a lot with KGB and the various incarnations of AC stations
Then you have the truly niche formats like K-Love, Air 1, the weak classical station from Tijuana and Spanish that won't share ANY playlists with anyone else.
When I was a kid San Diego had some fun and truly unique radio, but it just started to get boring and predictable. I think it started when B-100 blew up itself for.....well, essentially B-100 again but with a different name.
2 Alternative stations plus one (Rock 105.3) that share a good bulk of similar music
Two Hot AC stations plus three CHR stations and now one "upbeat" AC station (plus Max-FM with golds from the 80s) means that seven stations are essentially sharing a lot of playlist action (Jack-FM got disappointing because it settled back into Hot AC territory before it changed)
70s Classic Rock is being covered by KGB, Max FM, KFM-BFM and some Rock 105.3)
The only stations that can be considered truly unique, in that they play some music not offered by others are:
Magic 92.5 - has some old school and R&B that doesn't get played elsewhere
I don't listen to 95.7 but I think they do some Classic Hip Hop
97.3/92.1 KSON - Country
98.9 More FM - has some good Classic Alternative at times that you used to hear a lot here but don't as much now
100.7 KFMB-FM - does play a lot of music that you'll find on hard rock, classic rock and alternative, but their approach and mix is what's making them unique
105.7 Max FM may play a couple of classic hits that you won't hear elsewhere but otherwise share a lot with KGB and the various incarnations of AC stations
Then you have the truly niche formats like K-Love, Air 1, the weak classical station from Tijuana and Spanish that won't share ANY playlists with anyone else.
When I was a kid San Diego had some fun and truly unique radio, but it just started to get boring and predictable. I think it started when B-100 blew up itself for.....well, essentially B-100 again but with a different name.
Yeah, it's disappointing that KIFM was doing a format that has disappeared from most markets, and now San Diego too. But it's understandable with KYXY moving more to a Hot AC sound and KFMB-FM switching from AC to Rock. And let's remember that Entercom inherited the Soft AC format on KIFM. So they had no loyalty to it.
KIFM was at a loss on what to do when the Smooth Jazz format that had done so well for so many years ran out of steam. Lincoln Financial tried several ideas on KIFM before settling on Soft AC a few years ago. It went to #1 6+ and into the top 10 25-54, a big improvement. I assume KIFM was either top 5 or close to it for Women 25-54, since this format leans more female.
But now it's owned by Entercom and that company saw a more profitable opening in Mainstream AC... so they went for it. How unusual that as Entercom abandons the Soft AC format, iHeart picked it up a week earlier in San Francisco... and also on 98.1. In this case it replaced an Urban AC/Gold format on KISQ 98.1 The Breeze (formerly KISS-FM).
KIFM was at a loss on what to do when the Smooth Jazz format that had done so well for so many years ran out of steam. Lincoln Financial tried several ideas on KIFM before settling on Soft AC a few years ago. It went to #1 6+ and into the top 10 25-54, a big improvement. I assume KIFM was either top 5 or close to it for Women 25-54, since this format leans more female.
But now it's owned by Entercom and that company saw a more profitable opening in Mainstream AC... so they went for it. How unusual that as Entercom abandons the Soft AC format, iHeart picked it up a week earlier in San Francisco... and also on 98.1. In this case it replaced an Urban AC/Gold format on KISQ 98.1 The Breeze (formerly KISS-FM).
Does this new incarnation of the station have any jocks? I listened to the stream for about an hour today (3:30PM 4:30PM PDT ) and didn't hear anyone that sounded like a DJ.
Lotsa traffic reports though.
(Is the jock talk cut out of the stream?)
sweetbabylee
Regular Participant
Jockless for now.
chrocket87
Star Participant
IIRC, They were still "Easy" until right after the reporting period ended.
The April, May, June and July books have all been above the 25-54 average of the softer version of the format.
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