Listeners tuning into KCTY (106.9 FM) Friday at 3 p.m. will no longer hear the "BOB FM" format that has been in place since May of last year.NRG Media Vice President of Programming Mark Todd mentioned two factors which precipitated a change.
First, the format - a mix of classic songs from the 60s through the 90s, along with some current adult contemporary hits - was not resonating well with listeners. In the most recent Arbitron ratings, KCTY ranked in the bottom half of Omaha metropolitan area stations among listeners ages 12 and older.
The more immediate reason for the change, though, is Connisseur Media's permit to "construct" a new radio station on 107.7 FM, which NRG Media operated as its translator station for KBLR (97.3 FM) - more commonly known as "HOT 107.7/97.3 FM."
A translator station operates as a signal "relay," extending the range of the original radio station's signal into areas that cannot receive them otherwise. In the case of 107.7, the translator provided listeners in downtown Omaha with a chance to hear 97.3 FM, which operates off a tower northwest of Omaha near Blair.
Whether the music of "Hot 107.7" will be moved to 106.9 FM remains a question that Todd declined to answer Thursday. He also would not say whether the station's call letters - which remain from its time as "The City" dating back to 1999 - will stay the same.
The 106.9 FM frequency has seen its share of changes in the past two years. In March of 2004, KCTY switched to "Retro 106.9" with an 80s playlist. A little more than a year later (May 26, 2005), the BOB format made its debut.
"We did the research and it told us what Omahans want to hear," Todd said, when asked whether it was tough to decide between ditching "BOB" or the "HOT" format.
In the interim before the switch, "BOB" listeners are being encouraged to tune to another NRG Media station, KLTQ (101.9 FM), a move that some radio insiders say is an attempt to steer fans of the format to a similar one in the same ownership group.
The three on-air personalities on KCTY - Chuck Denver, "Emjay" and Ethan Stone - will continue to be employed by NRG Media, Todd said. They were informed in early November of the changes.
"They were just voice trackers on the BOB," Todd said. "Emjay and Chuck will continue to do work for Waitt Radio Networks and Ethan is now doing part-time work on KGOR (99.9 FM)."
10 comments:
Oh God...not another HIP HOP station. Isn't Channel 94.1 more than enough? I guess radio really is dying--again!
"They were just voice trackers."
When you treat the listeners like they don't matter, you end up not having any listeners.
Emjay was more than just a voice-tracker on 106.9. She actually had a real personality and I hope she lands another gig in Omaha. Good luck, Emjay.
PS: To the powers that be at 106.9...Please don't bring another hip hop format to this market. Anything would be better than that...and listeners of that format won't generate any ad revenue anyway.
Power 106.9 made its debut at 3pm. I think the young and urban audience will listen. However, I'm not sure that "Power" is the best name for it. First, the station is only 25,000 watts (unless the FCC granted approval for an increase in power), which is on the low end of wattage of most FM stations in town. Second, "Power" is used by a lot of Clear Channel stations. I hope this doesn't become another "Kiss" incident where Clear Channel owns that name--like what happened to 94.1 a few years ago. Third, "Power" has been used as a moniker since the '80s and may be a little dated.
But what's in a name, right? If they play the right music, people will listen.
I wish the boyz @ Power 106.9 good luck...that frequency hasn't had the best of success here in the Big O.
"Power" 106.9...how cute. Get a Sirius subscription and listen not only to about a half dozen hip-hop stations including classic hip hop, new hip hop, Eminem's Shade 45, Boombox (which features a three hour live broadcast Saturday performed by Grandmaster Flash) and others, but you've literally got about 185 other stations with as much variety, programmed by the best in the biz who are sick of Clear Channel Infinity Broadcasting, etc and the FCC breathing down their necks.
Try listening to some fresh, censor free radio for a change.
"Ethan is now doing part-time work on KGOR (99.9 FM)."
KGOR is not NRG Media owned.....
I doubt the listernship really cares what they call it. The playlist and website are the same station with a few new jocks. Besides HOT 107.7 97.3 did not sound that cool besides. However the HOT brand could be usefull on another Omaha format.
I'm going to miss BOB. I thought it was a great station with the mix of oldies, classic rock, 80's, 90's and current hits without the crappy pop music. I enjoyed Chuck Denver, Emjay and Ethan. I heard Ethan on KGOR driving home from work and he sounded solid. Power 106.9 and it's crap hip-hop will be removed from my preset.
I understand and even have empathy for the BOB listeners who no longer will be able to listen to it. However there is no need to bag on Hip-Hop by calling it crap. HOT 107.7/97.3 has been in the Omaha market for four years. It's the only "REAL" HIP-HOP/R&B station in the Omaha market. Whether you like it or not Hip-Hop is a culture within itself and anybody that knows anything about Hip-Hop would not call Channel 94.1 a Hip-Hop station. So truth be told NRG is not adding another Hip-Hop station to the market they are simply moving the current one to a more powerful signal. Furthermore 107.7 wasn't strait Hip-Hop, they also played R & B (Rythm and Blues), both new and old school as well as gospel on Sundays. 107.7 The biggest advantage with 107.7(now 106.9)is that it has served the african-american community in Omaha, which is without a doubt one of the most underserved and unappreciated markets in the city.
When Hip-Hop started crossing over into mainstream pop culture, Channel 94.1 tried to go head-to-head with 107.7 a couple of years ago. The result was that 94.1 was unable to capture the african-american community which is always going to be the strongest base of people who are going to support hip-hop/R&B. The thing about 94.1 back then was it just came across as a white owned station trying to make money off of hip-hop music. There was no "COMMITMENT", to the community. Most of 94.1's DJ's sounded like they knew more about "Brittney Spears and Kellie Clarkson than "Three Six Mafia and Ludacris". Hot 107.7 on the other hand had legitimate DJ's (oops Im sorry, radio personalities),who not only knew more but also loved the music they were playing. The result was that 107.7 won over the "real" Hip-Hop/R & B community. 94.1 eventually gave up and now they seem lost, trying to mix pop songs with hip-hop songs... It just doesn't work for most "real" Hip-Hop and R & B fans whether they are white or black.
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