Effective early July, Fox Sports KRKO is officially becoming KRKO-Everett’s Greatest Hits. Snohomish county’s AM and FM classic rock station featuring the hits of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
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New Format at KRKO
- Thread starter CarAgencyGuy
- Start date
I'm confused. "Everett's Greatest Hits" sounds like a pop oldies station. "Snohomish County's AM and FM classic rock station" sounds like something different. Which is it?
Greatest hits 60's-80's mean Beatles, Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Bee Gees, Madonna, Michael Jackson. Classic Rock 60's-80's mean most of the same w/o Bee Gees, Madonna and Michael.
Sounds like they took a page out of the KGY playbook.
IMO, a great use of the 95.3 FM translator also!
I'd bet they apply to cut power back to 5000 watts at least. I think they used to be 5K a long time ago.
Big question is, what happens to Everett Silvertips broadcasts? They made it to the WHL Finals this year (no easy feat)...or are they going away once the Seattle NHL team gets established?
Small market sports broadcasts of local teams are totally dependent on the revenue they can produce. Any format will be pre-empted by local sports if there is revenue involved. So the question is really, are the Everett Silvertips broadcasts profitable? This is where you will find your answer, regardless of the format.
Come to think of it, the only times I have heard local ads on KRKO were during Silvertips hockey and high school sports...so I think that also answers the question of why they dumped Fox Sports in the first place.
Anyway, I wish them luck with the format. It should be an easier to market station...here in Lynnwood it’ll be the 5th-6th (depending on your definition of The Jet) classic rock station I can receive with little difficulty on any radio. That being said, only one is Snohomish County’s AM and FM Classic Rock Station(TM)
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KRKO doesn't just broadcast Silvertip games. They also broadcast the Everett Aquaso and local high school football and basketball. I grew up in Marysville (now live in Everett) and remember listening to 1380 back in the 80s when they were Top 40. Moose Moran and Jeff Chase made stops through KRKO back then. In fact on Jeff Chase's last day on KRKO I got up the nerve to call in during a segment where he asked listeners to call in knock knock jokes. I still have the cassette recording of my 30 seconds of fame. Off topic, thinking about local radio in 80s. Anyone remember KPLZ's lunch box countdown, hit election and stereo wars?
Yes. The Hit Election was a staple on Mark Allen's evening show in the mid to late 80's. Stereo War's was a gimmicky type of feature where a hard rock song or two would be played to out-noise the competition. This feature was certainly directed at competitor KUBE at the time, and it worked, as KPLZ gradually gained and eventually beat KUBE by 1989. (Not that this feature was entirely responsible!)
Another feature you may remember was "Mark's Moment of Mush", a dedication and social media outlet before social media was invented. By that, I mean there were messages sent out left and right that had nothing to do with love, more to do with relating to other listeners. Sound something like Facebook or Twitter? It was. BTW, I am not Mark, but I was pretty close to what was going on there and treasure those days when KPLZ was a monster!
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Both need each other, can’t see them breaking up.
Baseball does fine around here with two minor league teams and one pro, no reason why three hockey teams can’t do the same.
Thanks guys for reminding me I've been meaning to make a phone call up there for months regarding some liners I wrote for KXA, a couple of which were inspired by some of the stuff I heard on Alt 102.9. I'm sure that conversation is going to be even more interesting with a new format on the way for 1380.
Please get back to us with a full report on how that conversation goes. We can't wait.
AM Classic Rock.....Well, it wouldn't be a new thing. The legendary CHRX 600 is the most fondly remembered regional example. But there was also KILO 1460 in the '70s (back when classic rock was the new stuff.) KZOK 1590 took stabs at it (on full simulcast with FM in the pre-KJET days and after the Z-Rock format in 1993), even KVI added some single edits of '70s classic rock songs to their '60s Motown/Beatles-heavy 1987 oldies playlist.
Portland and even Houston had AM classic rock stations. Spokane has two currently (with FM translators).
When I was growing up in the '80s, the music on Seattle AM adult standards radio (KIXI, early KSPL and pre-1986 KARR) was the big bands. Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, mostly based in the '40s.
This is also where '70's/'80s classic rock is in 2018. 40something, TODAY'S adult standards, it's fans graying, needing hearing aids and extra fiber. But in my observation, it seems to be a popular format for AM stations with FM translators.
As for KRKO cutting down power, that would be a hell of a thing to do after that epic battle and expense to crank it up to 50,000 watts in the first place. But ROI is still ROI. And these days, the old homestead on Lowell-Larimer may not look so bad (is that still the back-up or did they sell it?) They have a new CP for their translator, which dramatically lowers the power to 120 watts, but dramatically raises the HAAT and primarily covers the vastly developing Lake Stevens/Granite Falls area - which is also getting pretty upscale as the retiring older folks with $$$ (the lucky ones), priced out of Seattle/Eastside take over. They have one big advantage as a music station here - Seattle FM stations are really spotty in this area. You either get them reasonably clearly or you don't.
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=K237GN-FX&s=C
So from the looks of it, I'm seeing truth in advertising as "Snohomish County's AM and FM Classic Rock station", the FM translator indeed will likely be heard in most of Snohomish County. Or at least where CKZZ or KDXB-LP doesn't bleed in. But that's pretty much it from the map. And east Snohomish County has lots of classic rock fans (Darrington, traditionally known for bluegrass, now hosts a classic rock festival.)
From their current translator location, it didn't make much sense to me, From here, it does.
Portland and even Houston had AM classic rock stations. Spokane has two currently (with FM translators).
When I was growing up in the '80s, the music on Seattle AM adult standards radio (KIXI, early KSPL and pre-1986 KARR) was the big bands. Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, mostly based in the '40s.
This is also where '70's/'80s classic rock is in 2018. 40something, TODAY'S adult standards, it's fans graying, needing hearing aids and extra fiber. But in my observation, it seems to be a popular format for AM stations with FM translators.
As for KRKO cutting down power, that would be a hell of a thing to do after that epic battle and expense to crank it up to 50,000 watts in the first place. But ROI is still ROI. And these days, the old homestead on Lowell-Larimer may not look so bad (is that still the back-up or did they sell it?) They have a new CP for their translator, which dramatically lowers the power to 120 watts, but dramatically raises the HAAT and primarily covers the vastly developing Lake Stevens/Granite Falls area - which is also getting pretty upscale as the retiring older folks with $$$ (the lucky ones), priced out of Seattle/Eastside take over. They have one big advantage as a music station here - Seattle FM stations are really spotty in this area. You either get them reasonably clearly or you don't.
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=K237GN-FX&s=C
So from the looks of it, I'm seeing truth in advertising as "Snohomish County's AM and FM Classic Rock station", the FM translator indeed will likely be heard in most of Snohomish County. Or at least where CKZZ or KDXB-LP doesn't bleed in. But that's pretty much it from the map. And east Snohomish County has lots of classic rock fans (Darrington, traditionally known for bluegrass, now hosts a classic rock festival.)
From their current translator location, it didn't make much sense to me, From here, it does.
Last time I checked, they were. I want to say one either has slightly less power or height, but the difference in coverage should be negligible on paper.
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