1977
FM
came on strong in 1977, with many upstarts delivering knock-out blows to their
AM counterparts. In the top 40 race,
1977 saw the debut of “Z97”. KFJZ
was a legendary AM top 40 in its own right, and during most of that time,
its sister FM was programming middle-of-the-road music as KWXI.
Seeing the rise of FM, KFJZ’s owners saw a chance to move their
top 40 franchise to FM. Initially, the new KFJZ-FM simply simulcast KFJZ 1270
AM. Then in April 1977, “Z97” was
launched as a top 40 station in its own right. Running commercial free for its
first month, Z97 debuted in the top 10 in its very first ratings period. The
immediate effects can be seen most drastically with KNUS’s decline. That
station fell out of the top 10 in the fall, and would never quite recover from
the blow. Of even greater significance was the effect on the market’s lone
remaining AM top 40. The fall ’77 survey would mark the very last top 10
appearance for KLIF, marking the end of an era that spanned almost a quarter of
a century.
Another
station to take note of in 1977 was KKDA-FM, which had been launched the previous
spring. While traditional “soul” stations had faded from the ratings race on the AM dial (KKDA-AM
peaked in ’75, while KNOK-AM peaked in ’74), a new kind of “soul” music
was taking root in dance clubs across America. “Disco”
took the rhythm of soul, combined it with pop hooks, and created a
new form of dance music that had very broad appeal. KKDA-FM (or K104 as it was
known) would becoming one of a growing number of FM stations nationwide jumping on the
disco bandwagon, and it’s popularity would place it in the top 10 in the fall
of 1977. K104’s popularity would
prove much more durable than disco’s – the station evolved to urban
contemporary after disco’s demise, and placed in every single top 10 from the
fall of 1977 through the fall of 1993!
12+ Ratings for April/May 1977 | ||||||||
Call Letters | Frequency | Format | O/N 1976 | A/M 1977 | ||||
WBAP | 820 | Country | 10.0 | 12.3 | ||||
KVIL-A/F | 1150/103.7 | Adult Contemporary | 10.1 | 9.2 | ||||
KOAX | 105.3 | Easy Listening | 5.6 | 5.9 | ||||
KSCS | 96.3 | Country | 3.9 | 5.3 | ||||
KRLD | 1080 | Full Service | 9.4 | 5.2 | ||||
KFJZ-FM * | 97.1 | Top 40 | 1.2 | 4.6 | ||||
KMEZ | 100.3 | Easy Listening | 5.0 | 4.6 | ||||
KNUS | 98.7 | Top 40 | 6.1 | 4.4 | ||||
KLIF | 1190 | Top 40 | 3.6 | 4.3 | ||||
KZEW | 97.9 | Rock | 4.3 | 3.9 | ||||
* was KWXI (MOR) until September 1976. | ||||||||
12+ Ratings for October/November 1977 | ||||||||
Call Letters | Frequency | Format | A/M 1977 | O/N 1977 | ||||
WBAP | 820 | Country | 12.3 | 8.9 | ||||
KRLD | 1080 | Full Service | 5.2 | 7.7 | ||||
KVIL-A/F | 1150/103.7 | Adult Contemporary | 9.2 | 6.9 | ||||
KSCS | 96.3 | Country | 5.3 | 6.3 | ||||
KOAX | 105.3 | Easy Listening | 5.9 | 6.1 | ||||
KKDA-FM | 104.5 | Disco | 3.3 | 5.7 | ||||
KMEZ | 100.3 | Easy Listening | 4.6 | 5.4 | ||||
KFJZ-FM | 97.1 | Top 40 | 4.6 | 5.1 | ||||
KLIF | 1190 | Top 40 | 4.3 | 4.5 | ||||
KBOX |
1480 |
Country | 3.8 | 3.9 |
©2002 Arbitron Inc.