107.3 WKAZ Stunting

If it's about broadcasting, radio, TV, satellite, cable, this is where to talk about it.

Moderators: Hoosier Daddy, The People's DJ, Arp2

Post Reply
User avatar
Mr. Jones
Member
Member
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 2:09 pm

107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Mr. Jones »

Friday at 8 AM, they're promising "the 1st radio station of its kind anywhere."

Now playing "American" music.

http://1073krock.com/
http://stream.liquidcompass.net/2137/stream.pls
Shanen Wright
Member
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2001 12:06 pm
Location: Charleston, WV
Contact:

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Shanen Wright »

It sounds like the playlist from an 80s fireworks show when they used to synch them with music. Lee Greenwood, Neil Diamond's "Coming to America", etc...

Unless the stunt is designed just to deceive, it's probably foreshadowing to a flip to conservative talk as "the Patriot" or something like that. Maybe a simulcast of Rush from 580 or a complete shift of his show to FM to anchor the lineup?

If so, I could see wanting to sell 580 as more of a mainstream news/sports/middle-of-the-road talk station with a local focus (Hoppy, Dave Weekly, etc.) Rush has become quite polarizing with advertisers and might be a better fit with an all-conservative talk lineup on 107.3.

107.3's stunting liners also say, "the party starts Friday at 8:00am." Maybe they mean a political party? Or maybe 580 is just moving to FM in HD? Regardless, they'll have to work hard and do a better job at talk than 94.5, which can't even muster a 2 and has absolutely no local advertising outside of MU football. And they have some of the so-called big names in conservative talk (Hannity, Savage, Ingraham, Beck, etc.) If I were Bristol, I'd dump the lineup to AM, put the heritage WBES calls on 94.5 and go soft AC to squeeze V100. Or at least sell some dollar-a-holler spots on the station. The few times I've listened, all I hear are PSAs outside of the national spots.

And if I were calling the shots at WVRC, I'd give the Beat 107.3's big signal and do something new on 98.7 after a simulcast period. The Beat's now WVRC's top 12+ station with their little Class A signal. Their air talent is great (especially Uncle Woody) and the music stacks up with any CHR/Rhy station you'd hear in a big city. They could finally overtake Electric if they had the wattage, in my humble opinion.

I guess we'll find out 107.3's next format tomorrow morning. There sure have been a lot of them over the years...
Greg Goodfellow
Member
Member
Posts: 574
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:16 pm
Location: Friendly, West Virginia...I kid you not

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Greg Goodfellow »

I used to tune in 'KAZ back in the day on my few forays into Charleston when they had an amazing oldies playlist. Now I don't even bother to tune in. Is oldies that toxic a format there? If another frequency is running it in the capital, let me know.
"Television is a medium because anything well done is rare."
~ Fred Allen ~

“Radio is the theater of the mind; television is the theater of the mindless”-Steve Allen
User avatar
Dave Harman
Member
Member
Posts: 420
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2002 11:00 am

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Dave Harman »

WKAZ-AM
680 am with 10k day, 220 night.
95.3 translator.
Shanen Wright
Member
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2001 12:06 pm
Location: Charleston, WV
Contact:

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Shanen Wright »

Well, I guess the "America" theme was designed to deceive on the talk front. "Tailgate 107.3" launched at 8:00 with a very broad playlist of up-tempo songs spanning genres. Even country, hip-hop, etc. are in the mix. Thus far have heard Macklamore, followed by country, Dave Matthews, more country, 2Pac & Dre's California Love, and Bryan Adams' Summer of 69 is now playing. Sounds like an ipod on shuffle for sure. I'm not familiar enough with country to name the artists/titles...

They are calling it "no rules radio" and they must mean it format-wise. Wow, this makes the Jack format they had a few years ago seem tight. Interesting move...will it work? Or is it another stunt? Kudos for creativity if it sticks...
Dave Allen
Member
Member
Posts: 1859
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:22 am
Location: Nowhere near Wheeling, thank you Jesus!

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Dave Allen »

"Party Songs For Party People". Research has shown that although people may listen to "shuffle" on IPODS they generally don't like it out of their radio stations. Oh well, they have tried everything else, I guess.
Titties and beer...thank God almighty for titties and beer!
TimeEnuf
Member
Member
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:58 pm

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by TimeEnuf »

I think the format could work with the younger crowd(teen to mid twenties).....problem is that the younger crowd doesn't listen to "over the air" FM radio.
djsandman
Member
Member
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 10:39 am

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by djsandman »

This will be worse than the JACK format. Better strategies would have been to bring back the oldies format before JACK, bring back Z-Rock to the Valley, move the "peanut-powered" BEAT to 107.3, or simulcast 58 WCHS.
unchoopfan
Member
Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:52 am

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by unchoopfan »

W.Va. Radio station switches to ‘Tailgate’ format
Charleston Daily Mail
Monday, August 11, 2014


West Virginia Radio Corp. has unveiled a new format for its K-Rock 107.9 WKAZ-FM radio station.

On Friday, the company switched the Charleston station from classic rock to what it’s calling “Tailgate FM,” which will feature every genre of popular music on one station. The company said it’s the first FM station in America to play multiple formats of music — including country, pop, rock and all-time party classics — on a single station.

West Virginia Radio market manager Christian Miller said the time has come for radio to reinvent itself.

“The iPod generation has allowed our younger demographics to listen to all genres of music simultaneously, so we decided it was time give them that experience on the radio,” Miller said. “Tailgate is similar to your iPod on a 50,000-watt transmitter.”

Tailgate 107.3 plays “party songs for party people” and always a “Tailgate 12-pack” in a row. In addition to broadcasting on the radio, the station can be streamed online at Tailgate1073.com.

Tailgate 107.3 is one of seven stations West Virginia Radio Corp. owns in the Charleston market.
unchoopfan
Member
Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2003 10:52 am

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by unchoopfan »

unchoopfan wrote:The company said it’s the first FM station in America to play multiple formats of music — including country, pop, rock and all-time party classics — on a single station.


Listened during the morning drive today - sounds like JACK trending younger to me.
djsandman
Member
Member
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 10:39 am

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by djsandman »

unchoopfan wrote:
unchoopfan wrote:The company said it’s the first FM station in America to play multiple formats of music — including country, pop, rock and all-time party classics — on a single station.


Listened during the morning drive today - sounds like JACK trending younger to me.
Hmmm... the majority of college stations (even older than the station itself) would beg to differ on the first "multiple format" statement. Besides, CHR & A/C stations have been playing multiple formats since their evolution. Nice try, WVRC - smh.
User avatar
Big Media
Member
Member
Posts: 2286
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Cruising I-64

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Big Media »

Yeah. I listened for a while and I don't get it. But, then again, I'm in my late 30s and most of my music library is made up of songs from the mid 90s. Oh well. I'm old. So be it.
User avatar
Arp2
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2136
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:58 pm

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Arp2 »

West Virginia Radio market manager Christian Miller said the time has come for radio to reinvent itself.

“The iPod generation has allowed our younger demographics to listen to all genres of music simultaneously, so we decided it was time give them that experience on the radio,” Miller said. “Tailgate is similar to your iPod on a 50,000-watt transmitter.”
WVRC, I love ya and everything, but, in trying to make the argument for the new radio station, you just made the argument for why it's unnecessary.

You're giving me what I already have on my phone, cluttering it up with imaging, loading it up with commercials, forcing me to sit through songs I don't recognize and don't like at first listen, and making me use a radio to get what I just said I already have on my phone.

Now, those aren't necessarily deal-breakers! I still love radio. The gripe I'm making is in the starting point of the station's description: the comparison to / the frame of reference of the personal MP3 player. The MP3 player is a knockoff of what we can do, not the other way around.

And, good grief, don't refer, in public, to a "demographic" or "genres"....they're "people" (or why not "you!") and "kinds" of music! And the "we decided" reeks of the attitude of top-down control rather than an attitude of stewardship and service that matches the desire of the times for bottom-up influence.

The idea of the format isn't terrible (though its destiny is likely that of the other "mix tape" formats), but the sales pitch for it was.

There's much more that could be noted, but I would have wanted a formal relationship in place to note it. :mrgreen: And it's too late for the first impression. Like I said, WVRC, I love ya...sorry for the rant, but these things are pet peeves.
"I don't know the same things you don't know."

"Yes, you do; you just won't admit it!"


"Yeeee...it looks like a 'Belt Buckle & Ball Cap' convention in here......"
User avatar
Mr. Jones
Member
Member
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 2:09 pm

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Mr. Jones »

Review: WKAZ switches to “no rules radio,” emulates playlist programming
http://rainnews.com/wkaz-tailgate-switc ... ogramming/
When we heard about a daring format flip at WKAZ in Charleston, WV, we tuned in to the station’s webcast to hear the mix and find out how engaging the experience was on the digital side. We haven’t tuned away in 12 hours — an unusual level of engagement in an office known for its obsessive stream-surfing, app-switching, genre-scrambling listening tendencies.

The station, owned by West Virginia Radio Corp., ditched its classic rock format, and abandoned all the standard radio categories, rebranding as Tailgate 107.3, “Party Songs for Party People.” The relentlessly good-time playlist mashes Country with Hip Hop, Classic Rock with modern pop, in a programming strategy more akin to a free-spirited pureplay than a straight-and-narrow terrestrial. The experiment in “the world’s first no-rules radio station” is getting some buzz.

wkaz historyThere is a feeling of digital crossover here, both in the programming, which resembles the “shuffle” setting of a streaming playlist in a music service, and in the marketing. There is a clear attempt to emulate playlist sensibilities and the boundary-crossing range of many music-lovers. Market Manager Christian Miller said, “Tailgate is similar to your iPod on a 50,000-watt transmitter.” During our listening we heard a gleeful interstitial promo: “The station which makes your iPod jealous.” (iPods would be more jealous if WKAZ had a dedicated mobile app, which we could not find in Android or iOS.)

The station plays 12-song sets. Although the spot breaks are longer than in Pandora or other ad-supported Internet stations, the break frequency is less than in many pureplays. This scheduling supports the feeling that you’re listening to a personal playlist (if you disregard the incessant station promos).

This is the sort of mix you hear on Tailgate 107.3: Demi Lovato, Outkast, Miranda Lambert, 3 Doors Down, Lady Antebellum, Randy Houser, Kongos, J. Geils Band, Gorillaz, The Cult, The Hollies, Kenny Chesney, Ja Rule, U2, Led Zeppelin.

The web experience is enhanced by TuneGenie implementation, which provides an endless history of played songs, each of which expands to reveal YouTube and Vevo full-song videos, and a saving feature if you log in. The sound is adventurous while hewing closely to an upbeat, party-ready mood.

Format flips happen all the time, but this experiment is interesting for its apparent attempt to grab listeners by their attitudes and real-world listening habits, rather than by genre affiliation. The mood (happy) and activity (party) keystones hook into “Concierge” programming in Songza and its many imitators. If Tailgate were not a terrestrial webcast, it would be a clear selection in our Pureplay of the Day series. We’ll keep listening.
User avatar
Big Media
Member
Member
Posts: 2286
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Cruising I-64

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Big Media »

Mr. Jones wrote: This is the sort of mix you hear on Tailgate 107.3: Demi Lovato, Outkast, Miranda Lambert, 3 Doors Down, Lady Antebellum, Randy Houser, Kongos, J. Geils Band, Gorillaz, The Cult, The Hollies, Kenny Chesney, Ja Rule, U2, Led Zeppelin.
Christ.

Do we really need another damn radio station playing f-cking Led Zeppelin. I imagine they will play plenty of AC/DC and Leonard Skynard, too, because it's "West By God Virginia".

And don't even get me started about the idiotic "Charleston, West By God Virginia" in your legal ID. Idiots!

Am I the only West Virginian that is sick of the stereo type that we all a bunch of backward, redneck, white trash, cig smoking, beer drinkin', couch burning imbeciles? I guess so.

Christ!
User avatar
Lester
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2803
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2001 5:47 pm
Contact:

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Lester »

Someone should tell them that the "iPod on Shuffle" radio gimmick went away years ago (because it failed)... followed shortly thereafter by the term iPod.

"This will succeed because I said it will!" --Most likely uttered at some point during the minutes long design phase.
User avatar
cgarison
Member
Member
Posts: 2032
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2001 11:28 pm
Location: The Encampment

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by cgarison »

Lester wrote:Someone should tell them that the "iPod on Shuffle" radio gimmick went away years ago (because it failed)...
In Philly, the eclectic AC playlist filled with hits from the late 70s through current day still works on WBEN-FM, but they added in voiced track DJs about 4 years after the format first went live and that defeats the original concept. As a caveat, this is the city that also continues to support WXPN, so almost any format could be a winner.

I did take a listen to the new WKAZ last night and despite it sounding like they are streaming through a late 80's 9800 baud modem, the music selected did have a better mix of tempos than what I hear on WNKU. I am not sure what tool they are using to sort the BPM of the music or join together the songs into a more cohesive blend, but it works very well. If you told me that you could go from Miranda Lambert into the Rolling Stones, I would have said that was impossible, but the overall tempo and sound of the songs did mix together better than the mess that I hear on Top 40 stations. Based on my experience with Pandora, this is not the result of using the Music Genome Project. So Kudos for WV Radio being able to pull this off. Now if they can only improve that streaming and find a way to monetize the YouTube pass through by means of cut and paste graphics on a web page.
The first step in a successful revolution is to defeat all competing revolutionaries.
User avatar
Arp2
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2136
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:58 pm

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Arp2 »

Lester wrote:"This will succeed because I said it will!" --Most likely uttered at some point during the minutes long design phase.
I'll give 'em more credit than that. I understand what they're trying to do, but I'm not 100% sure about how they're doing it.....for example, I would have thought it would have been not as current.

But that's just the music.... :mrgreen:
"I don't know the same things you don't know."

"Yes, you do; you just won't admit it!"


"Yeeee...it looks like a 'Belt Buckle & Ball Cap' convention in here......"
User avatar
Big Media
Member
Member
Posts: 2286
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:46 pm
Location: Cruising I-64

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Big Media »

cgarison wrote: I did take a listen to the new WKAZ last night and despite it sounding like they are streaming through a late 80's 9800 baud modem.... <sic> Now if they can only improve that streaming ...
It sounds great if you stream directly from their web site. Through the TuneIn link, it does sound like its 1996.

I listened for a while this afternoon and I like the fact that all of the songs are up tempo, but the mix was all over the place (by design, of course). But again, this has been tried and failed. Why do they think they have a magic potion that will make it work here?!?

I would be very surprised to find a country/pop fan willing to sit through hip hop and 1970s album rock just to hear Dirks Bentley or whatever.

Still, It's great we have something meaningful to debate on this site. Hasn't happened for a while. A long while.
User avatar
Lester
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2803
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2001 5:47 pm
Contact:

Re: 107.3 WKAZ Stunting

Post by Lester »

Arp2 wrote:I'll give 'em more credit than that. I understand what they're trying to do, but I'm not 100% sure about how they're doing it.....for example, I would have thought it would have been not as current.
I'm not busting on eclectic formats... I'm busting on the dated and busted press release proudly announcing they've reinvented the wheel, based on 10 year old technology. Pitch it as exciting and new, own it, even if you don't. Instead it looks like the Crash Davis Cliche Book, Radio Edition.

"And good Lord willing, we'll get some numbers."
Post Reply