JerodSchaefer.com

The latest development in a radio market that has certainly seen its share of changes should come as no (or little) surprise.  Kurt Anthony, local radio broadcaster and owner of the advertising agency, Anthony Media,  has taken the plunge into radio ownership with his recent LMA (Local Management Agreement) with current licensee Chaparral Broadcasting, Inc.  to manage 92.5 KBXI, formerly known as My92.5.  According to Anthony, the LMA allows for him to purchase the license for the signal after 4 years.

My92.5 was most recently managed by Connoisseur Media, LLC and was touted as a “Classic Hits” format that played a little of everything.  Since the acquisition of the Cherry Creek Radio properties by Connoisseur the station was moved up the dial to 105.9 where it kept its name and format. This move left the signal “dark” and in its owners in search of new management.

Anthony’s radio experience is varied and spans more than 20 years – something that will undoubtedly come in handy as he attempts to gain a foot hold in a market already saturated by radio signals.  His approach to this over saturated market? “Be local.”  Anthony’s goal is to return radio (or at least his station) to its former days of local broadcast glory when radio was fun and headlined with live disk jockeys instead of pre-recorded segments and nationally syndicated content.   He is planning on calling his station “Mojo 92.5″ and is in the process of putting together a studio at the corner of 24th and King next to City Brew Coffee.  Anthony will co-host the morning show with another local radio legend, Allen Moos, and is planning to program a station that sounds like nothing else in the market.

According to Anthony, the station will not have a specific “format” as much as it will appeal to a certain demographic which Anthony hopes to be primarily women over men (a 60 / 40 split).  He has already purchased the music rights and plans to have a library of over 2,000 songs ranging from the 60′s through the 90′s.  Compare Mojo’s 2000-song playlist to the average station’s 700 or so and it is plain to see that Anthony will be crossing many format boundaries.

Mojo92.5 is scheduled to debut before March 1st with Kurt and Allen in the Morning. At the very least it will be interesting to see how the other radio groups react.

Thanks for the read and God speed!

Jerod

94.1 KRKX to change formats January 1, 2010.

Connoisseur Media announced today that one of Billings’ heritage rock stations will change formats to country music effective midnight, January 1, 2010. The station,  94.1 KRKX, was known as “Montana’s Home of Rock N’ Roll,” and conducted several familiar annual events including the “Hell On Wheels” giveaway, in which a Harley-Davidson motorcycle was given away to a local listener every year.   Other events / promotions for which KRKX was known were the giving away of several fully restored classic vehicles, including a classic Corvette.  KRKX went on the air in 1994 and faithfully “Rattled the Rims and Rocked the Rockies” ever since.  The station gained a large following during the 90′s and climbed to be a fierce competitor for the number 1 spot in Billings radio, something that continued into the first decade of the 2ooo’s.

The pending format change will not affect the frequency or call letters, and will kick off with 10,000 songs in a row with no commercial interruptions.  The station will be known as “Big Sky Country” and will presumably take aim at KCTR-FM, Cat Country 102.9, the clear country powerhouse in the Billings, MT market.  KCTR has faced many direct competitors over the years; including Thunder Country (now KRZN-FM 96.3), The BAR, and others, but has always maintained its dominance in the market.  This begs the question of how long the new “Big Sky Country” will survive – a question that I am sure Connoisseur Media is anxious to answer.

While I am disappointed to see the end of KRKX as a classic rock station,  I am not surprised about the decision Connoisseur made.  The Classic Rock (or Album Oriented Rock – AOR) format has been steadily losing ground over the last several years as the lines between classic, pop, country and new rock have blurred.  Plus, the Billings market’s exceptionally competitive environment means that only the strong survive.