Looks to be more shifting of staff than any major house cleaning. Sounds like Karen Kay may be a casualty...nothing mentioned this am about here...but maybe going to another Newcap station
I'm all for freshening and rebranding but I have to question if this move will actually increase ratings. I tuned in just in time to hear American Woman... yup. Now I'm just spitballing here but if they dropped 100K or so for design, increased marketing, new imaging packaging etc., will that make people that stopped listening to say "Hey, I didn't like American Woman before but NOW I can't wait to hear it again!"?
Wouldn't it make more sense to invest the money in better talent or resources for the existing talent to become more entertaining between American Woman and Roadhouse Blues?
That would all depend if you believe that the only reason K-Rock was down in the ratings was because people got tired of listening to "Classic Rock". K-Rock had a major music shift in the past two years...playing more Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and Alice In Chains. To some...not really "Classic Rock". K-97 means something in Edmonton...it's a heritage brand. I'm not for a second saying it's going to be all they need to do, but it's a good start.
In "heritagizing" 103.1 Calgary (XL) and 97.3 Edmonton (K97), it'll be interesting how ratings change for these two stations specifically. Newcap is on to something or will burn out spinning.
In "heritagizing" 103.1 Calgary (XL) and 97.3 Edmonton (K97), it'll be interesting how ratings change for these two stations specifically. Newcap is on to something or will burn out spinning.
Likely 'B' You can take a beater with 350,000 km on it, give it new paint and tires but under the hood it still has 350,000 km on it. They will always have a loyal fan base but that's about it. I don't know if "heritagizing' will make a difference. K97 ruled the roost back when there was two FM stations, times have changed. From what little I heard this morning, Walk this Way and Hotel California, the station hasn't. The change to the morning show can't do anything but help though, it was god-awful before. I think this will have a minimal impact if any on their ratings.
Even a 1 point bump is significant progress in the Edmonton market that's going to be even more competitive. .5 will do nicely if timed for the right book.
Kicking back to the nostalgia calls is a solid move, I don't know how many people I've met that would still refer to the station as K97, and that was with years of concentrated K-Rock branding. Fine tune the music, and work on the morning show and there could be some moderate (not spectacular) gains.
You know, it never ceases to amaze me how quick people are on here to crap all over something...wow.
A station tries to do something to increase it's numbers - and it's obviously meant as a shift to the heritage in the market and what response does it get on here:
"I don't see how changing the logo and name is going to make a difference." "Gee...which US station did they steal the logo from?" "From what I heard - Walk This Way and Hotel California - the station hasn't changed"
And what radio stations are you all programming? Yeah...that's what I thought.
having lived and worked in radio in Edmonton at the forerunner to K97, CJCA FM, this is great! K97 is the foundation to rock and roll on the FM dial in Edmonton and I believe Edmontonians love to look back on their roots, don't we all? I see WINNER all over this! It's a natch and most important, it feels 'comfy' Love it!
Honestly... I don't get Newcap's "heritage" moves. Part of me believes that while brands are important, there's also a truth to the fact that people just don't care all that deeply about radio.
If heritage meant anything, IBM would still be cranking out home personal computers, Eatons would still be around, and the big three auto makers would be riding high in the face of competition from imports.
Sunspot sitckers, heritage call letters, and classic contests -- they're all things that make radio geeks get warm and fuzzy inside. Average folks just don't care that deeply.
At the end of the day, it's not what you call yourself... it's what you put on the air that matters most.
You know, it never ceases to amaze me how quick people are on here to crap all over something...wow.
A station tries to do something to increase it's numbers - and it's obviously meant as a shift to the heritage in the market and what response does it get on here:
"I don't see how changing the logo and name is going to make a difference." "Gee...which US station did they steal the logo from?" "From what I heard - Walk This Way and Hotel California - the station hasn't changed"
And what radio stations are you all programming? Yeah...that's what I thought.
Good luck to the K97 crew...
So... instead of crapping all over the posters who were "crapping" all over the move, and since you seem to have some programming expertise the rest of us are sorely lacking, I'd love to hear your answer to my previous question:
Wouldn't it make more sense to invest the money in better talent or resources for the existing talent to become more entertaining between American Woman and Roadhouse Blues?
Seriously - has anyone else in this city done the same format for that long? K-97 hasn't always been a 'classic rock only' format, but for a lot of those album tracks they play, they earned the right because they were the first to play them here. Good to see that Newcap will keep *one* of it's format's stable without changing it on a whim. They're in the unenviable position of fending off attacks from all sides (The Bear, Sonic, and even their stablemate Capital FM), while having the only all-classic-rock format around. Does anyone else do that format, classic and nothing but? This'll serve to differentiate them from the other K-Rock's around (including the new ones in Ft. Mac and Cold Lake/Bonnyville).
Rebranding to K-97 is a solid idea, but that logo is terrible. I don't get it at all. Isn't that shape a play on highway signs in the US? Or even worse, a deputy badge? How is that relevant to Edmonton? I grew up in Edmonton, and there is no signifigance to that shape that I can see. Please, correct me if I am missing something.
There is a ton of classic K-97 logo's out there from the past. Why not use one of those? Maybe even rehash "The Spirit Of Edmonton" sell line. Instead, generic "Classic Rock, K-97". If you are going to live in the past including long promo's about how Terry started in 1986....why not go all the way?
Maybe they'll bring back the foreground feature "Focus 97" at 10:30am weekdays with Sharon Mallon.
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I'd love to hear your answer to my previous question:
