March 10, 2009
<NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type=" ">CBS’s K-Rock Is Switching to Top 40 </NYT_HEADLINE>
<NYT_BYLINE version="1.0" type=" ">By BEN SISARIO
</NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>Making its third identity change since Howard Stern left for satellite radio three years ago, WXRK in New York, better known as K-Rock, will switch to a Top 40 format, the station’s parent company, CBS Radio, announced on Monday.
Instead of the “active rock” K-Rock has been playing — mostly classic rock, with some harder-edged current rock in light rotation — the station, to be known as Now FM (92.3), will play music from acts like “Kanye West, Beyoncé, Pink, Flo Rida, Akon, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake,” according to the announcement. The change will be made at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
K-Rock’s ratings have been suffering ever since Mr. Stern’s departure, and CBS Radio is hoping that the format change will bring in a larger and more youthful audience, said Karen L. Mateo, a spokeswoman.
Once one of the New York area’s top stations, K-Rock has seen its share plunge in recent years, going from a rock format to talk and back to rock again. In the January ratings from Arbitron, the radio ratings service, K-Rock was ranked No. 21 in the market for all listeners age 12 and above; Z100, the Top 40 station that Now FM will be competing against, was No. 2. Z100, or WHTZ-FM (100.3), is owned by Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio’s biggest competitor.
“There’s obviously a huge audience out there,” Ms. Mateo said, “so clearly there’s an opportunity for growth for a station like K-Rock.”
To promote the new format, Now FM will play 10,000 songs in a row, with “limited to no commercial interruption,” Ms. Mateo said.
Two weeks ago, CBS Radio switched the format for another of its stations, KLSX-FM in Los Angeles, to Top 40. It competes against another powerhouse Clear Channel station, KIIS-FM.
Sean Ross, a radio analyst at Edison Research in Somerville, N.J., said that station owners have flipped to the Top 40 format with the realization that pop music in the “American Idol” era has an appeal that crosses generational lines.
“This is a good time for mainstream Top 40 radio,” Mr. Ross said. “It’s doing better with younger listeners than hip-hop, and better with some 25-plus listeners than the softer pop stations aimed at adults.”
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<NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type=" ">CBS’s K-Rock Is Switching to Top 40 </NYT_HEADLINE>
<NYT_BYLINE version="1.0" type=" ">By BEN SISARIO
</NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>Making its third identity change since Howard Stern left for satellite radio three years ago, WXRK in New York, better known as K-Rock, will switch to a Top 40 format, the station’s parent company, CBS Radio, announced on Monday.
Instead of the “active rock” K-Rock has been playing — mostly classic rock, with some harder-edged current rock in light rotation — the station, to be known as Now FM (92.3), will play music from acts like “Kanye West, Beyoncé, Pink, Flo Rida, Akon, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake,” according to the announcement. The change will be made at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
K-Rock’s ratings have been suffering ever since Mr. Stern’s departure, and CBS Radio is hoping that the format change will bring in a larger and more youthful audience, said Karen L. Mateo, a spokeswoman.
Once one of the New York area’s top stations, K-Rock has seen its share plunge in recent years, going from a rock format to talk and back to rock again. In the January ratings from Arbitron, the radio ratings service, K-Rock was ranked No. 21 in the market for all listeners age 12 and above; Z100, the Top 40 station that Now FM will be competing against, was No. 2. Z100, or WHTZ-FM (100.3), is owned by Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio’s biggest competitor.
“There’s obviously a huge audience out there,” Ms. Mateo said, “so clearly there’s an opportunity for growth for a station like K-Rock.”
To promote the new format, Now FM will play 10,000 songs in a row, with “limited to no commercial interruption,” Ms. Mateo said.
Two weeks ago, CBS Radio switched the format for another of its stations, KLSX-FM in Los Angeles, to Top 40. It competes against another powerhouse Clear Channel station, KIIS-FM.
Sean Ross, a radio analyst at Edison Research in Somerville, N.J., said that station owners have flipped to the Top 40 format with the realization that pop music in the “American Idol” era has an appeal that crosses generational lines.
“This is a good time for mainstream Top 40 radio,” Mr. Ross said. “It’s doing better with younger listeners than hip-hop, and better with some 25-plus listeners than the softer pop stations aimed at adults.”
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