Music on AM radio is not a money-maker, and KIXI has adapted their schedule to include some programming that might help keep the lights on.
3:00AM – 6:00AM KIXI Music – Frank Sinatra & Tony Bennett, as well as select tunes from the 50s to today.
6:00AM – 7:00AM, add NBC news, traffic and weather to your KIXI Music Mornings.
7:00AM Now, stop the music! Bloomberg Radio (until 9:00AM) business reports.
9:00AM – 10:00AM The Del Walmsley Show, financial advice-talk.
Another option would be brokered religious programming. Either way, KIXI loses some listeners to music stations on FM or their smart phone apps.
Will listeners switch back to KIXI when music resumes at 10:00AM (until 3:00PM) for The John Tesh Show? Along with the KIXI music, Tesh adds nuggets of info much like you will find in your Yahoo News or social media feed, minus the political arguments.
The work-day approaches closing and KIXI switches gears again. Prime listening time, 3:00PM – 4:00PM Voices of Experience, a locally produced program hosted by author and business consultant Paul Casey with emphasis in self-employment, but also featuring topics including lifestyle, public affairs, health, fitness, and travel.
4:00PM – 5:00PM Lance Jay Show, healthcare discussions. Though it may target the KIXI Boomer audience, placing the show in afternoon drive time may drive away many listeners. Same could be said for Bloomberg Radio, heard from 5:00PM – 6:00PM.
KIXI music returns at 6:00PM. Seth Thompson selects the tunes along with frequent traffic reports and NBC News reports sculpted for listeners with short attention spans.
8:00PM – 9:00PM When Radio Was, old-time radio programs are featured on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights. Jack Benny, Gunsmoke, Orson Welles drama and decades of great entertainment.
9:00PM – 3:00AM Stardust, a mellow mix of music to end the day.
Maybe add a Swap Shop, Lost Pet reports and Obituaries. Just trying to figure what might work.
Seth Thompson just segued from Feelings by Morris Albert to Red Roses For A Blue Lady by Wayne Newton, and it sounded nice. Station management has decided that a music format by itself will not profit the corporation. A likely outcome will be the sale of the station to a Spanish-language or religious media group someday.
Sports radio KJR’s move from 950 AM to 93.3 FM has not done great things for station ratings. Near the bottom of the Nielsen count for the past couple months, KJR-FM only betters AM 880 KIXI by 0.3 decimal points in the June book. KIRO FM (Talk) stayed at #1, while sister station KIRO-AM (Sports) is solidly among the top ten stations. Ratings given are based on 6+ Mon-Sun, 6a-12mid. Stations can do a deep-dive of Nielsen reports and come up with a win in a certain daypart that can sold to advertisers.
The first thing I would do is retire those call letters. Wally Nelskog’s KIXI was highly regarded for more than thirty years, but the poor old dear has been slowly wasting away since the turn of the century.
Let her be reborn as Colorful Cutie, Seattle’s 24/7 oldies station. Long live the 50s and 60s! Okay, maybe some 70s . . .
https://bigweck.com/
is a station I’ve been enjoying for the past year or so.
Yet, corporate-owned KIXI has considered a listener-supported model. https://qzvx.com/2020/07/10/880-kixi-considers-commercial-free-listener-supported-model/
Corporate combos don’t need to win with each station, just have some winning stations that get tied to loser stations and share the commercial inventory as a “value” buy. Like politics, radio sales is all fantasy and honesty is a goner.