Unlike my commentaries up until now, this one isn’t one that was planned in advance as a move from the Radio crytic, but a commentary on recent developments in the market I called home for 26 and a half years.
Last week, Hubbard brought back country to their struggling AAA 98.9 KPNW, which had been known as The Bull before flipping to AAA. Apparently, the flip was accelerated by Lotus deciding to flip Star 101.5 KPLZ from its longtime Hot AC format to Classic Country 101.5 Hank FM.
First, let’s take a look at 101.5. What really did Star in was the purchase by Lotus in 2021. At the end of that year, the entire airstaff exited and was replaced, and the station went through a major imaging overhaul. The imaging and music had been tweaked before, but the changes Lotus made left the station nearly unrecognizable. Lotus continued to tweak, but ratings sank and remained low for the next 2+ years. It’s kind of a sad end to a station that did so well for so long, but with Classic Country having a moment right now, this flip makes sense.
Now, let’s move to Hubbard. With AAA really not able to gain traction in the market after 14 months, it was only a matter of time before the station flipped formats. Going back to Country was a bit of a surprise though, as the station had been equal at best with Audacy’s 100.7 The Wolf in the ratings. From a business perspective, 98.9 going back to Country, or really any other format, makes sense. I can’t imagine any full market FM with a 0.8 share in the ratings making any money, and Hubbard knew what kind of numbers they could pull with Country. Still, I agree with everyone who says three country stations in Seattle can’t last, but I don’t think Hank is going to be the odd man out in this case. Although the Bull has a strong morning show that got its start at KKWF, they had that morning show for a couple years prior to replacing it with Bobby Bones. I do not think that’s going to happen this time around, but even with Fitz, they were still about equal with The Wolf. While 98.9 and 100.7 run current-based formats, 101.5 focuses on 90s and 2000s product, which could give them an advantage.
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