seems more of a straight AC to me....Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Beyonce, John Mayer, Nelly Furtado...my guess is they'll be trying to compete more with Silk than Sun.
Country music fans have lost their radio station in Kelowna and some of them are none too happy.
After two-and-a-half years on the air, B-103 played its last tune Wednesday afternoon.
It officially switched over to Q-103 at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
B-103 grew from the ashes of CKOV, the AM station which first signed on in the valley in 1931.
"The country music fans are upset and I really feel bad for the listener," says Bruce Davis, General Manager of Q-103 and Power-104.
"They are disappointed -- there is a sense of loss, but we can't continue to lose money."
Davis says the company did extensive research in the marketplace before launching B-103 in August of 2007.
He says the research pointed them in the direction of country music, however, since then, two new stations have entered the marketplace and the recession hit.
"It's a hard lesson to learn. Country fans are extremely loyal. They love the format," added Davis.
"There are just not enough of us (I'm a country fan myself) to make it commercially viable. We were losing money. We had a great radio station and gave it the best shot we could."
This is the fourth time country has failed in the Kelowna radio market.
CKOV was a country station in the late 1970s and early 80s. The Bullet, now AM-1150, also tried -- twice.
"We could never find a way to make it work," says Astral Media Regional General Manager, Don Shafer.
"We tried a couple of different ways of doing it. Country is a great format, I just don't think anybody has done it right here."
Shafer believes, done right, country can work in Kelowna.
The new Q-103 kicked off its latest incarnation with Sheryl Crow's hit 'A Change'.
In a news release announcing the format flip, Q-103 says it will play music from signature artists including Madonna, Nelly Furtado, John Mayer, Taylor Swift, Michael Buble and Pink, with just the right amount of flavoring from artists like Gwen Stefani, U2, Sheryl Crow and Train.
The musical line-up is very similar to that played on SILK-FM and SUN-FM, however, Davis says there is a difference.
"We have purposely positioned ourselves right between SUN and SILK," says Davis.
"We think this music will attract the 25 to 44 female demographic."
The station will run commercial and news free until 5:30 a.m. Monday when the new team of DJs hits the airwaves.
The new line-up includes Steve Thompson, formerly of Bob-FM in Winnipeg joining Heather Adams in the morning.
Drew Ferreira, who moved to Kelowna from Toronto, will anchor mid-days, while Troy Scott moves from mornings to host afternoon drive.
Long-time Kelowna broadcasters Dave Pears and Grant Scott are not included in the line-up.
IMO, this is a much better fit for the area, and some of the jocks, too. Troy Scott has always been a Hot AC jock pretending to be a Country guy, and I think he'll really thrive in this situation. Good for him!!
When analyzing the current Kelowna Market - its strange how all the stations seem to be jumping at the same piece of pie...
K96.3 - Kelowna's "Classic Rock"... Hardly a straight classic rock station. Great sound, but they are definitely a classic rock & classic hits station. Big on males - but with many of the classic hits trying to appeal to the upper female demo as well.
103.9 The Juice... Very female - Very male - very middle of the road. Lots of 80s - Pop AND Rock - They're clearly trying to be as mass appeal as possible to the adult demo, 25-54, males AND females.
99.9 Sun Fm... Younger Female Demo. Hot AC. But COULD be hotter. They're holding on to some of those 80s/90s Gold to be as mass appeal as possible - and be the "Big" station in k-town. And they are. But again - keeping the upper end of the female demo in tact.
Power 104... Rock. Modern Rock. Younger men, Older Men, took a hit when K and Juice hit town, but that's expected.
And then you have B103... the ONLY country station in the city... ONLY 2 years old... you literally have NO competition since country listeners are so loyal to their favorite format... and you flip to an AC/Hot AC station... The theory I see from listening to their sound for an hour is "Let's take a stab at ALL the females in the city." With Power, play more Classic Rock and take a stab at "ALL males in the city"...
Whoever is running that ship has the right idea in mind - but it's too much for Kelowna... If you're running a station with NO COMPETITION as B103 was - and not yeilding desired results - going up against the majority of the rest of the stations isn't exactly going to help your cause. Too many stations going after the same pie, something/someone is bound to crumble. With SO many stations on the dial now in that market - the first to streamline their sound will stand out among listeners.
6 Fm's. 1Am. No CHR. No Country. All a big ol' blend of adult hits/classic rock/pop/pop hits.
All I can say is good luck... if you manage to take your desired numbers with this male/female dual - great! - But I can't see it happening... IMO - wrong move. Should have stuck with country...
Kelowna would be a terrific fishbowl-environment for testing the only element that is left and which could delineate the stations for the audience.
This, since What We Play is now - for the sake of argument and debate - so homogeneous in the market that the only element left is: What We Say and How We Say It.
I have no doubt but that all the management will ignore this element completely - other than to crack down on anything being said at all.
Each station out-sweeping the other would be an expected, but still pathetic strategy.
I'm a long-time radio listener (and reader of this site) but I haven't seriously listened to private radio (or enjoyed it) for many a year so maybe I'm completely in the wrong field here..
But this latest move to get rid of country (as much as I don't like country music) is a big mistake. Monopolies of any kind just waters everything down to the same mush. Listeners want and need variety - but that's not where the money is.
Money is in repetition and sameness, not in being different. In Pattison's world, if you don't bring in the bucks, you're out. Doesn't matter what biz you're in. Cars, plastics, radio. I know, I know...that's the name of the game. It's just really sad, that's all.
I know private radio has always been about selling and money, but was it always this mercenary?
I have this recollection of a time (early 80s) when private radio was fun, and something for everyone. I can't just be getting old before I'm 40.
At first glance, I was scared poor Kelownians were getting the beta version of the Jian Ghomeshi network....
Pattison (and Bruce Davis) made a big mistake in giving up on the country format, after only two years and a bit on the air.
Pattison spent a LOT of money promoting the new country format, and pulled the plug, too soon. Therefore, the filp to the Q format is a big gamble for Pattison.
The new "Q" format, we are told, (according to Castanet) proceeds without two, long-time Kelowna broadcasters who were very versatile and durable performers while at the former CKOV 63 (Grant Scott and Dave Pears).
I wonder what their fate is, now ?
Grant Scott was the former long-time morning man at CKOV and was an outstanding play by play host for the Okanagan Sun during their glory years. He was literally the unofficial sports director at 'OV that Pattison was too cheap to hire...and he often read the sports at Pattison Kelowna for many years...
So, here we have it folks,... another outstanding sportscaster sitting on the sidelines here in the Okanagan....The Okanagan is becoming a JUNKYARD of sorts for former sportscasters... ( ie Pat Kennedy, Gary Raible and now, Grant Scott !) Sorry guys, but it just seems that WAY ! LOL
However, like a black-eyed pea that "doesn't say single for long," (ie fergie) a talent like Grant Scott doesn't end up out of work for long (I predict). LOL
Dave Pears was a versatile, talk-show host and interviewer who was relegated to deejay work at B103. He was a "workhorse" and a very durable performer...Any radio station would be very pleased to have Grant and/or Dave on their team...
Meanwhile, questions have to be raised about Bobby Mills, the current PD. Maybe the reason the country format "bombed" is because Mills is primarily a rock programmer and not really interested in "cuntree music" ?
That CFOX type of "new music" he brought with him from Vancouver might have an audience, but if you turn back the clock, Rob Bye's Power 104 had a MUCH bigger market share.
Essentially, what Walter Gray and his ppl did at CKKO... was take the successful rock format that Rob Bye once built in this town and "stole the ball" from Pattison...an interesting irony, some might say !
Meanwhile, "Big bang boom" is bang on in saying that one of the others (Sun-Fm, Silk, and the Juice) will eventually succumb to the intense competition for females and will convert to Country, the big question is, who will that be ?
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