The Jack That Will Continue to Attack (June 27, 2005)

Here's what Rich has to say about the format, reprinted with permission. Also check out his new site: BobbyRich.com http://www.bobbyrich.com/

The JACK that Will Continue to Attack by Bobby Rich of acradio.com

Most experts speculate that the JACK format is a spoiler at best. A flanker for a few books. But what would it take for JACK to be a real player?

Start with the basics: music, mornings and marketing. Then put it on a solid signal with built-in cume. The frosting might be three decades of successful programming and true market heritage.

There is one station in one particular market that is putting all of that in their JACK basket. And that station is KFMB-FM in San Diego.

I think the San Diego JACK will succeed in a big way and leave all the others wondering why it didn't happen in their market.

The KFMB-FM switch from STAR to JACK is a stroke of genius. This station — lead for over a decade by Tracy Johnson — tends to make risky decisions. Taking a highly rated and top-billing station to a new identity takes guts, foresight and timing.

With this particular frequency that philosophy is actually in the genes. As a former Program Director at KFMB-FM I got to orchestrate two of those re-inventions. We were driven by the observation that (a) San Diego listeners loved something different and new from a radio station, and (b) that most stations operated in a five to eight-year window of popularity.

Add the wildly popular Jeff & Jer morning show. And the massive cume "100.7" has enjoyed through 30 years as a personality-driven music station. Lastly, you cannot discount the fact that the library will be chock full of hits that were introduced to the market when the station played currents in the '70s, '80s and ... whatever!

You begin to see why making a format change — even as the station continues to enjoy commanding ratings and revenue leadership — starts to make sense.

Back to the Future

Before we look back in this case study, consider this: The format flavor-of-the-moment that JACK presently represents is nearly always placed on a secondary facility. Usually an under-performer that clustering has either forced or allowed companies to use as a "fall guy" for skimming a point or two from a competing market leader.

But the San Diego JACK is part of a two-station cluster. Midwest Television is a unique company in many ways. One is that they own just one FM (along with an AM and a TV station) in the San Diego market.

Here is a comprehensive history of how this particular station has used the reinvention process to stay on top for 30 years.

In the beginning KFMB-FM featured Easy Listening music — literally background, dentist-office instrumental stuff. Amazingly, there were two other "beautiful music" stations in town, which inspired General Manager Paul Palmer to seek a format change.

1975: Palmer approached me — then PD of KFMB-AM — to take the FM station Top 40. The original intention was direct competition with market kingpin KCBQ and compliment the 35-plus demos reached by sister KFMB-AM.

My original plan was to get away from the KFMB image by changing call letters. I wanted a "Q" so we could be "Q-100 FM." When the company would NOT support a call letter change I named it "B-100." The legal ID was designed to blur the KFMB image "K-FM ... B-FM, San Diego's FM: B-100!"

"B-100 Boogies On": The station came on screaming — targeted at teens. The first window sticker was a "Boogie Ball." Billboards showed a giant Boogie Ball with the words: "Get It On/Win Cash." To reinforce the frequency, B-100 always gave away "B-100 dollar bills."

1976: We refocused on 18-34 and hired two key former KCBQ personalities, Shotgun Tom Kelley and Gene Knight. Other jocks of the era were Gary Kelley, Danny Wilde, Christopher Lance, Jimmy Rogers, Glen McCartney and, as "Beaver Cleaver," Ken Levine — now an Emmy winning writer/producer/director for TV shows like "Cheers," "M.A.S.H.," "Wings," "Becker," "The Simpsons" and others.

When the Fall 1978 Arbitron was released, KFMB-FM/B-100 became the first contemporary FM station in the United States to capture Number One 12-plus ratings.

1979: When I left for WXLO/"99X" in New York, B-100 changed to a 25-44 approach. "You've Grown Up, We've Grown Up" was the new positioner; later it became "Light Rock, Less Talk" under PD Glen McCartney (Martin). The station maintained strong ratings success, ranking Top 5 25-54.

1984: Paul Palmer brought me back as PD. I combined the Top 40 and AC charts to build a library and current playlist that featured only titles that were hits on both formats. This was my Hot AC format.

The line-up: The Rich Brothers B-Morning Zoo (Bobby Rich, Scott Kenyon, Frank Anthony and Pat Gaffey), Gene Knight, Gary Kelley, Danny Romero (now TV weatherman in L.A.), Ellen Thomas (now "Ellen K" at KIIS/Los Angeles) and John Fox. The new slogan was "Music, Money and Fun," and the station grabbed the ratings and revenues for demos from 18 to 54, usually scoring first or second place in all dayparts.

1989: I left to become VP/GM at KMGI & KIXI/Seattle; Mike Novak assumed the Program Director role, later replaced by Gene Knight. The station maintained the Hot AC format and replaced the Rich Brothers with Jeff and Jer. They departed for competitor KKLQ in 1992.

1994: KKLQ/"Q-106" PD Tracy Johnson crossed the street to B-100 and changed the identity to "STAR 100.7". The format was Modern AC (Hootie, Alanis, Sheryl Crow) mixed with five '80s titles per hour. Some of the key talent included: Dave Smiley, Anita Rush, Greg Simms, and Jagger & Kristi.

1998: Tracy Johnson is named General Manager. He persuades Jeff & Jer to return. Tracy's programming staff included Tom Gjerdrum, Scott Sands, Michael Steele and Jen Sewell.

Early 2000s: STAR evolved away from the '80s and out of the modern genre, swinging to a solid variety/Hot AC.

2005: Goodbye STAR. Hello JACK.