Corus launches new easy listening station for Kingston

Corus Entertainment was the first out of the box in launching their new FM station at 12noon today, the reformatted, rebranded Lite 104.3 FM. It proves that our inside info was close when we predicted a Magic 104.3 FM. With CTVglobemedia having gone to a more Hot AC format with FLY-FM, the door was left open for someone to come in and go after the Women 35+ who don't want to hear Britney or Beyoncé.

Here is the official release from Corus:

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On Monday, October 15th, 2007, a brand new radio station hit the Kingston airwaves, reflecting the tastes of adults who enjoy an Adult Contemporary style of music and programming. This station will be appealing to adults 35 to 64, in particular - women.

Lite 104.3 - Kingston’s Lite Rock plays music that includes artists such as: Elton John, Phil Collins, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel and other fabulous artists from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s!

With a blend of everyone’s favourite “Lite Rock” songs, and a commitment to “no repeat workdays”, Lite 104.3 is soon to be a hit with the Kingston work force! Whether its at one of the areas five largest employers: CFB Kingston (5,277 employees), Queen’s University (4,200), The Limestone District School Board (2,720), Correctional Services (2,670), Kingston General Hospital, or anywhere else Kingstonians are working - Lite 104.3 will provide listeners with their favourite music throughout the work day - without repeats! And when the station breaks we promise to be back in two minutes - Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm!

With a mix of your favourite songs from the past, and some of your newer favourites, Lite 104.3 will be a station you can share with everyone. You’ll never hear “on air content” that is offensive, never again will you be embarrassed by your choice of stations.

Lite 104.3 will also feature “The Classic Café”, weekdays from 12pm to 1pm. Then Saturday mornings from 7am to 12pm, tune in for “The Saturday Morning Oldies Show”! When it comes to local information, Lite 104.3 has got you covered! With local news every 30 minutes, weekdays from 6am to 9am and every 60 minutes from 9am to 6pm, Lite 104.3 will keep you informed about your community.

Lite 104.3 and “no repeat work days” can be heard on air in the Kingston area at 104.3 on the FM dial, or world wide at www.lite1043.ca

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Who will be next to launch their new FM stations? Word inside is that K-ROCK will hold true to their intention and launch 93.5 FM as KIX, giving them 102.7 FM available from Cape Vincent, NY to add a third format, but they are in no hurry. My bet is with CTVglobemedia, but with firm competition to the Female AC part of the market, will they branch their Top 40 on 98.9 FM when they have Hot AC on FLY-FM?

Time will tell...keep your radio tuned!

New CORUS FM station to launch on October 15?

It looks like CORUS Entertainment will be the first to launch their new FM radio station in Kingston on October 15, 2007. The event, billed as a client appreciation mixer, is being held at King Street Sizzle in similar fashion to how CORUS relauched 96.3 JOE-FM to FM96 on June 28, 2007 at the Tir Nan Og. Since CORUS has been testing the 104.3 FM frequency for the past few weeks, they should reach the required 30-day frequency broadcast test before they can go live. Will it be The Edge 104.3 or Magic 104.3?

Time will tell...keep your radio tuned!

The Real Deal On Demographics

Radio stations sales reps love to give advertising clients ratings to show how well they are doing compared to the competition. The system is as old as commercial radio. Usually, the sales rep will give ratings for a demographic group that is the most favourable for their station ("hey Bill, we're the number 2 station for Adults 52-59!"). In reality, there are only 2 age groups that advertisers should care about: 18-49 and 25-54. Think about it.

From 18-49 you:

• go to college
• have your first job
• change jobs
• get into a whole lot of debt
• buy cars
• get a mortgage
• get married
• have kids

From 25-54 you:

• get married
• change jobs
• buy more cars
• sell your house and buy another
• have kids
• send your kids to college & university
• plan for retirement

Those two lists have one very big thing in common: spending money! Advertisers really only care about people who have money (or credit) to spend. The next time a sales rep for a radio station shows you the numbers, ask to see those age groups, either Males, Females, or Adults, to get a sense if you're advertising with the right station.

In Canada, the service that provides ratings to the broadcast industry is the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement- BBM (http://www.bbm.ca/en/home.html), a private company shared by the three groups that actually care about the ratings: radio stations, advertising agencies, and advertisers. Every year, the BBM surveys the Kingston market twice: in the spring and fall, which also coincides with all the great contests stations run (all to get more listeners, listening for longer).

This backgrounder will come in really handy when I start posting the Ratings Rankers, direct from the BBM, when they come out (April and December). In the meantime, I'll post some of the more recent Ratings Rankers from the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007.

Time will tell...keep your radio tuned!