99.7 KFRC Gets Movin'
Shock and awe: 99.7 KFRC has abruptly switched from a bland mish-mash of Oldies-ish music to upbeat R&B-leaning Rhythmic Pop Contemporary as MOViN 99.7 (bizarre mixed caps theirs). The switch occurred at 10 a.m. this morning and is being streamed from the station's website at http://www.kfrc.com.The switch follows the recent Movin' format segue at KZLA/Los Angeles, in which Smogville's legacy Country station was flipped, adding Rick Dees as its morning anchor.
CBS Radio/SF Market Manager Doug Harvill, quoted in Radio Online, said, "The MOViN format has exploded in popularity in markets such as Los Angeles, and has become an instant favorite in Seattle, achieving top-rated status among women 18-44 in only six weeks on the air. There is great demand among the Bay Area's diverse population for the MOViN blend of music and we look forward to making the most of this rare opportunity to launch an entirely new and different musical presentation."
No word on staff changes at the Bay Area version of Movin' ... but I'm guessing we'll see them soon.
UPDATE(S): As you may have noticed, CBS has eliminated the air staff from the station, at least temporarily, but expect wholesale changes. One rumor that is gaining momentum is that former 610/KFRC and KMEL voice Broadway Bill Lee, recently released from his obligations at WKTU/New York, might be heading in our direction.
Meanwhile, in the many years that I've been doing this, I have never received as many messages as I have regarding a single subject ... and (with maybe one or two exceptions) they have all been negative, blasting CBS for killing off KFRC.
If you haven't already, go to the KFRC/Movin99.7 website and let them know how you feel, positive or negative.
Personally, I've added 99.7 back to my presets on my car radio, and I had the station on almost the entire weekend, in the car and in my office. And, surprisingly, my wife — a/k/a Their Target Demographic — caught on and says she likes the station, too.
Go figure...
(And feel free to click on the "Comments" link just below to add your thoughts.)
posted by DavidFerrellJackson at 10:22 AM
40 Comments:
this sucks...good by....I am a baby boomer...not a 24 and younger hip hopper...
goodbye, your new music SUCKS!
goodbye, your new music SUCKS!
this is ridiculous, you just lost another baby boomer. we have enough hip hop. 95.7 will be my new station.
All airstaff got let go except Katie Mason
i always used to listen to your music, it was good, now it sucks, we want oldies back
is 95.7 just like 99.7 used to be??
thats my new stations also
what the hell???
I just switched to 95.7 myself, before reading these comments. Where's Cammy Blackstone? I've listened to her in the mornings for years.
Just heard the news guy, Mark, so he's still there...
KFRC did a lot for the community including several annual fund raisers for Oakland's Children hospital.
Ron and Cammy, Sue Hall, and the rest of the gang. We will miss you all!
Ron hasn't been there for about 6 or 7 years.
That sucks. Cammie & Dean were my favorite morning DJs. I'm taking KFRC off my radio dial and going to KRTY or the news.
hey !!!! what the hell happened , i have been driving to the bay area for the past six years , and every morning at 450am tune in to 99.7 to hear the traffic report and then wait for the morning crew to sign on just like many of times befor then this monday there was this noise , that just not sounded right , a new format was on kfrc , what happened , did a weapon of mass destructon hit the station? did the taliban take cammy and dean ,mark and skippy boy hostage?, o no another sept 11th but only on the sept 22 2006 look,s like KFRC takes the axe gain , but this time from fm radio. i will miss all the good humor early in the morning looks like 99.7 lost another long time listener,hello Renal in the morning!!!!! good luck to my early morning friends
It took KFRC a year to rebuild the station with great personalities on the air almost 24/7 after the last major change 13 months ago from the oldies format.
What is this Movin' 99.7 all about??? They are just copying a pre-made format same as station in LA and another 'movin station in Seattle.
I don't think management even gave "Bay Area Classic Hits" a chance after the station was changed from more dated Oldies format just 13 months earlier.
VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THE RECENT CHANGES!!! KFRC has lost another listener!
KFRC was a great station when it did the Golden Oldies, and it was even better when it became a more Classic Hits station. I loved it. Everyone I knew loved it, and a lot of commenters here loved it. This was a bad move by CBS, but then what do you expect? Aren't they the ones that have killed 106.9 (FreeFM) as well? That was a great station at the beginning too...
Bay Area radio is getting scary. It used to be that you could hear a song on the radio that was a brand new cut, brand new single... now you don't hear anything on the radio that's brand new unless the station has a deal with the artist because they're coming into town, or you're listening to new releases Thursday on KFOG (which plays only a certain niche of music that appeals to their demographic). Forget new music in the Bay Area unless it's already an established hit somewhere else in the country - as in, cracked the Top 10. But that's probably true of a lot of major radio markets.
I have been listening to KFRC for over 35 years even with the change to the "new oldies" (which is just s clever way to say we are getting older ourselves!) and have been enjoying them through all this time.
But unfortunately, the move to R&B hip hop is a move I do not want to make. I guess I will try the 95.7 that other people have suggested and go from there.
Thanks to all from the "oldie" KFRC days
With "Boss Radio" flipping to country in Sacramento a few months ago and KFRC going to hip-hop, I regret to say that the era of oldies music in Northern California has come to an end. I will get XM or Sirius next year and listen to all the good stuff.
This is the worst thing that could have possibly happened. First it was KABL, which I was upset over, but I could live with it. But this- this makes me so mad it makes me feel dumb for caring so much.
Why does everyone want Top 40 stations? I'm a 23 year old, and I love oldies! We can hear shitty, brainless pop anywhere, anytime, on TV and on 50% of the other stations- but now there are NO MORE bay area oldies stations. And the only reason it's been "dead" for a while is because they started trying to make it a "classic" station instead of an oldies station by adding 70's & 80's, which is good music but doesn't belong on an oldies station.
Anyways, like I said, worst thing that could have happened.
The decision made regarding KFRC just finalized my decion to subscribe to XM radio and to hell with commerical/profit driven radio. Sounds like the powers to be want our Bay Area market to be just like LA's. Not me.
they lost me...I know for a fact its the baby boomers who are the money market out there and they lost most of that market (actually all of it) by switching and trying to market to the 20 something crowd. The brief time I had the radio that night they switched, all I heard was modern hip hop...
Back to KFOG...
at least they still play SOME classic rock.
okay...so I want to see all of the money these 25 year olds have that they are a controling factor of the airwaves...THEY ARENT!! in fact most of them still live with the baby boomer parents that have the money and used to listen to KFRC..
have fun with your new format...this aint east L.A..
I'm so stunned. I just returned from LA where 99.9 plays the oldies and KKGO (1260 am) plays the real oldies (like KABL). If there's room in that market for at least two oldies format shows, what's the problem here? Count me as one of those people on their way to XM. Also, I used to split my time between KFRC and KLLC, another CBS station. I'm ditching KLLC as well. Not one minute of my listening will go to CBS. Very, very disappointing and so short-sighted. And yea, yea, I know you did focus groups and called on all the experts. That means nothing to the legions who found incrdible comfort in the music and personalities that defined KFRC for so many years. Such a pity!
its all a big joke isnt it? the math is simple, they were making money, and a consultant comes along and says..."Hey, you can make mo' money by switching to this format, that we say sells"....
then they dont make any more money....they have to switch consultants, and in a year will switch to something else...the ebbs and flows are very predictable..its greed...mo money mo money mo money...that concept makes you loose yo' money...
but hey, it makes for tax right offs and losses right?!?!
goodbye KFRC...nice knowing ya...prove all those execs and consultants wrong.
As a radio pro myself, I agree with one of the posters above who said that radio isn't the same anymore.
We've done A LOT of listeners a great disservice by becoming a lazy, over reseached and less creative business.
Sure, it's a business and you've got a bottom line, but what most people don't seem to understand (or have forgotten) at an ownership and managment level is that it's entertainment and it does take certain elements to be there consistently in order to win.
Cut, cut cut, then wonder why you're not billing or winning? Hey DUMBASS! remember all the cuts? Geez, after 13 years in the business, I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever be able to fix the mess that some of these goons have made.
PS: Yes, Bay Area radio has gone to hell...WAY too many people able to get in here with no respect for the business and less and less desire to be creative.
People need to call the station man and protest in front of the station and let them know what you think.
Bring back Free Form Radio get rid of the radio consultants they are messing and have messed up all the good stations since the 1980's.
Here comes XM radio and MP3's on CD so I can hear the great music KFRC used to have!!! I dislike the new format!! Bring back the classics. I switched from 98.7 to KFRC, now its back to 98.7
Ho-hum. "Movin' 99.7," aka KFRC (how long will those calls stay?), is just another adult-oriented hip-hoppy-sounding station that - once again - caters to an 18-44 demo. Seems anymore that diversity in radio formats means only those genres appealing to 18-44 or younger, not to 45+. Where's the MOR, soft Adult Contemporary, or early Rock ('50s-'70s) formats now, aside from XM/Sirius?
Thank you, FCC Deregulation.
< jayjarnold@yahoo.com >
I love the new music! I am completely thrilled. It's been too many years where this party of the late 80's early 90's has been played. Those were the days where we still had the concerts in the clubs (it was safe), and the radio stations played a huge role in that, and brining the artists to the public... it's the 'FEEL GOOD' that's been missing for too long!
I've been with KFRC since the early 60's. KYA and the nifty 1050 stations were expected to go, but not KFRC. I can't even find decent station to replace them.
Unbelievable! KFRC 99.7 The Move is still playing Michael Jackson songs. With thus they are throwing money at a child molester. I'm not going to support them any longer and am switching to another station.
RE: the previous comment on Michael Jackson: like it or not, he was found not guilty of child molestation, and he had a number of huge hits, so I don't think radio stations can be criticized for playing his music. As for MOViN, I'm still enjoying it. Though the most recent "Classic Hits" version of KFRC was showing some life in its last few months, the station was basically tired and worn out. I think Movin is an interesting change. It would be nice if they'd hire some air staff now, after almost 4 months.
L.Keller S.F.
Well I bought a new computer time to download all the years, yes there is SOME new music I like Marron 5, Eagle Eyed Cherry however its the 60's and 70's music that is the best. Now I flip between KOIT, KMAX, KFOG, KISQ, KKSF, KVYN, KUBA-am occasionally finding or listening to my newly burned CD's. I an investing in a MP3 soon and the decades satelite channel on XM is excellent. The original KFRC was great especially When Candy Chamberlin was there in the late 90's diving deep hearing tracks fron Jr. Walker, Marvin Gaye, Phil Phillips, Orlons, Temptations that you couldnt hear anywhere else. Also KVYN's DJ Jay Arnold is gone, KHYL (Kool 101) gone, KMGG gone. Classic rock the Eagle out of Sacramento did the A-Z library which lasted from Thanksgiging to Christmas which was way cool lasting about 30 days. I now stream Kearth out of Los Angeles which is KFRC sounds like its on Estrogen overload now and there is no hope for reality. Lastly if enough people blog maybe our voice will be heard..
> I now stream Kearth out of Los Angeles which is KFRC sounds like its on Estrogen overload now and there is no hope for reality.
Personally, I'm partial to The Big X (1340 AM), which plays '50s and '60s Oldies, with lots of Doo-Wop and Soul mixed in with the Beatles and Elvis:
http://www.bigx1340.com/
The new programing is terrible! Actually terrible is too light, it sucks!!! How could it be profitable when the only stations that are out there now are in spanish which I do not speak or understand and this pop crap! I hope this station goes under quickly!
Losing KFRC was like losing a limb. I was very attached to all those people. I have been listening to KFRC since inception. I was raised with KNBA, KNBR, KDIA, KKIS, KYA and now there is no where to go for the oldies. Nothing is greater than the 50's and 60's. Dr. Donald D. Rose is probably very sad by all this. I miss Cammie, Dean, Sue, Bobby, Joe and all those before them and all that could have been.
What a shame to lose all those music roots. Let other stations move on, us "older" people will be around for at least another 30 years and so should KFRC and all the wonderful DJs.
Well, I'm actually a twentysomething youngster, but I'm one of the few who grew up on golden oldies, big band, and American standards and stuck with it. 60s British Invasion is my favourite genre of music, and none of my friends can identify with me. I know there aren't a lot of kids like me out there, but we exist and I'm sure all of us are very upset with the cancellation of KFRC. Even with the 70s and 80s format, KFRC's last dying breath, there was a glimmer of hope for a return to its 50s, 60s, and 70s format mainstay. I noticed that a lot of listeners were saying that they'd switched to 95.7 Max FM, but that's since turned into a country station, as of today, actually. Especially since even online streaming of the historic KABL is gone, it seems like the Bay Area's change of having a proper oldies station have gone with these gems. Oh well, at least there's always my iPod. What a sad time for vintage rock and pop!!! At least you older folks had more years of listening to these tunes. My generation is listening to utter crap!
Friends of mine from California tell me there is no good new music. They listen to classic rock (say KFRC before this change). I agree that this new hip hop like the KFRC new format is crap! Here in the great northwest we have wonderful formats that blend new rock with classic rock and it is mighty fine.
Did I say Great northwest? There is no such a place...nothing but ice and cold up here...there no place like California, no place better to live....please stay there!
It is sad that the station I listened to the Beatles on in my youth now plays hip hop crap!
It's so funny to see people complaining about the hip hop they are hearing on Movin'! I can only imagine how awful a REAL hip hop station would be to them!! Anyway, The movin here in Phoenix is alright, but they really need to add more dance here in Phoenix. I heard the Movin' in Texas play "set u free" by Planet Soul as I just happened to stream in online to see what they were doing and I can't get any of that here! I even heard that they have some house and freestyle mix shows on one of the Movin's in California where they mix Rockell, Angelina, Lil Suzy...etc. and stuff like that!!!! Here in Phoenix, still NO MIX SHOWS!! How long must I wait for mix shows, because I'm sure they might play more stuff in the mixes that they wont play regularly. Energy 92.7 is o.k., but I want some rhythmic dance, and besides I don't really like how Energy is operating their station anyway. At least i know Movin' actually will invest money into their own station and has a signal I can pick up. Bottom line, I'm wanting more dance and freestyle sounds....and remember, I'm writing from phoenix, so the staion I have is also here in phoenix. ~ Dj KDM
I'm 49yo, and I love this station! Stop livin' in the past and start MOViN!
i've always prefered kya to kfrc growing up in the city. give me the original boss of the bay any day at http://www.kyaradio.com
mc
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