Despite what Morrissey says, there is a Lite that does go out.
Rogers Radio has re-christened its Halifax FM station Lite 92.9 as JACK FM, making it the fifth Canadian market – after Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa – to get to the know the broadly based mainstream music station.
Danny Kingsbury, vice-president and general manager of Rogers Radio for the capital and atlantic regions, said the JACK format has proven highly successful for Rogers since debuting in the early 2000s with the credo, “playing whatever we want.”
“It’s had a life of its own the past 10-plus years,” Kingsbury told Marketing this week. “It really became an instant success in all of the markets it went to, and we thought there was a good opportunity in Halifax.”
While JACK’s initial playlist was comprised of songs from the late 70s, 80s and 90s, Kingsbury said that copycat stations have undermined its early success. As a result, Rogers tinkered with the format at the start of the year, adding more contemporary music from artists like Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Adele and Pink.
“Like all formats, other stations reacted and closed in on it, and it became less and less of a sure thing,” said Kingsbury. “Rogers’ IQ in programming is pretty high, so we’ve been able to rework the format for 2014. It’s not the sound it had when it first launched – it’s less of a ‘classic hits’ and more of a variety station that includes some newer music.”
There are nine commercial music stations owned by Rogers, Bell Media, Newcap and two independent groups in the Halifax market (Rogers also owns a talk-radio station, News 95.7), and Kingsbury said there was considerable overlap in their playlists. “There was a lot of crossover on those stations, so we identified an opportunity for it and took the leap,” he said.
While Lite 92.9 was more heavily skewed towards older females, Kingsbury said he expects JACK FM’s audience to skew slightly younger, with close to a 50:50 split between men and women.
Lite 92.9 was the market’s third rated station among women 25-54 in the most recent BBM ratings, but was near the bottom in terms of total listenership. Kingsbury predicted that the format change would boost the latter number.
“We’re hoping it’s number one after two days, but we won’t know until the next ratings period comes out,” said Kingsbury. “We anticipate that we’ll see some immediate results. It does take a little bit of time to grow, but we’re optimistic that by the end of the year we’re going to be in a better position than we were last week.”
While Lite 92.9 attracted traditional radio advertisers including automotive and retail, Kingsbury said he expects the format change to attract more male-focused categories like home improvement as well as increased spend from incumbent advertisers.
Rogers is promoting JACK’s debut with a new print and out-of-home campaign that surrounds the station logo with images of the various musical artists it plays, including Coldplay, KISS, Bon Jovi and Katy Petty.
The ads, created in-house with media from OMD, also mention JACK’s new morning show Griff & Caroline in the Morning, featuring two mainstays of Halifax radio: Griff Henderson and Caroline Parker.
Disclosure: Rogers Radio and MarketingMag.ca are both owned by Rogers Media
