CBS Radio Drops "The Zone," Relaunches As "NOW 100.5"

2010-06-24T17:27:41Z

For the third time in less than a year, a Sacramento radio station has undergone a rebranding -- but out of the three stations to rebrand, this station isn't flipping formats.

KZZO, formerly known on-air as "100.5 The Zone" relaunched Wednesday morning as "NOW 100.5," a station that promises to play fresh pop-rock music, separating itself from the Top 40 genre that often includes R&B and rap music.

KZZO expects to continue to play music from artists including Train, Daughtry, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. The station eliminated 90s music from its playlist, a genre that was previously heard on "100.5 The Zone."

CBS Radio Sacramento Program Director Byron Kennedy told FOX40.com by phone several on-air employees were retained to work behind-the-scenes at the station, but the talent would not be heard on-air following the relaunch.

When asked why the station's rebranding was necessary, Kennedy said CBS Radio reached out to listeners in the Sacramento market and found "the appetite for 90s music is not as strong as it was."

"Sometimes, that happens when you've got a station in the market that's dedicated to that format," Kennedy said, adding that "NOW 100.5" will be known more for "what we're not playing than it is about what we are playing."

Though "NOW 100.5" won't feature any talent heard previously on "100.5 The Zone," the station has no plans to be fully-automated like Clear Channel's KGBY, CBS Radio Market Manager Steve Cottingim said by phone.

At a time when music listeners and consumers are ditching over-the-air radio for on-demand internet platforms and digital music devices like the iPod, corporate radio has been struggling to retain and grow their audience.

Earlier this year, Entercom-owned KSSJ dropped its smooth jazz format to relaunch as "Radio 94.7" with an alternative music format. The alternative genre was previously heard on Entercom station "KWOD 106.5," which relaunched last year as "106.5 The Buzz," a 90s genre station. Both Entercom format flips were attributed as business decisions made by the station in a struggling radio market.

However, CBS Radio, which operates KZZO and several other radio stations in the Sacramento market, posted a nine percent increase in revenue, raking in $282.7 million nationally in the first quarter of 2010.

Clear Channel radio, which obtained control of CBS Radio operated KQJK "93.7 Jack FM" last year, posted a profit increase of five percent for the first quarter of 2010, a sign that the terrestrial radio market may be rebounding.

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Matthew Keys is an online news writer for FOX40.com and community contributor to The Sacramento Press.

Is "The Buzz" Real? How "Classic" is Radio?

2009-07-03T01:32:23Z

Sacramento radio severely suffered two more steps back in the last six weeks. First KWOD-FM (106.5) stopped playing Alternative music, held on to Nirvana and Green Day, then re-birthed as 106.5 The Buzz -- "Totally 90s."

Anyone Else Puking?

Many former KWOD listeners did their marketing for The Buzz by publicly complaining about the new format. This has put The Buzz in a situation that every radio station would love to be in -- Everyone knows they exist. But do they care? No.

Will it last?

No.

It might adjust to add 80's and/or early 2000's music -- which, I might add, it already plays a little bit of. With time it might adjust to sound more like a KGBY-FM (My 92.5) or even KZZO-FM (100.5 The Zone). But it will not last more than 18 months with an all-90's playlist. The 90s lacked as a decade musically. It was great for those in their teens, but the decade only has approximately 300 songs to choose from. That will get old very fast.

Consider that in the last week The Buzz played 57 of those 300 songs at least 10 times. That's two full days of music. See why this will get old fast? When you can't play new music, you are bound to bury yourself. Hence why I do not think "all 90s" will last more than 18 months.

Classic Clear Channel

Clear Channel did it again. They started up a "radio station in a box" on their new 93.1 FM frequency. Touting "70's and 80's Classic Hits" they decided to start playing music already heard on multiple Sacramento-area radio stations. Many of those of which have local on-air hosts.

"Classic 93.1" does have DJs, and they are pre-recorded from markets around the country, including San Diego and New York. This was blatantly obvious when Michael Jackson passed away last week. Almost every radio station in Sacramento was conducting on-air tributes of some sort. Two of those even received TV coverage for their tributes (KCCL-FM 92.1, KHYL-FM 101.1). But, 93.1 was oblivious.

And this is how Clear Channel is paving the way for the radio industry. Thanks guys!

Feedback Time: Here's a question I'd love to have you post your answer to:

If someone handed you the keys to an FM radio station in Sacramento, what type of programming would you offer? Why?

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CBS Radio Drops "The Zone," Relaunches As "NOW 100.5"

Is "The Buzz" Real? How "Classic" is Radio?