KDHC-FM Switches to All-Advertising Format

CHANDLER, Arizona (July 29, 2004) -- KDHC-FM, "Hitz Radio 103.3," announces a format change effective midnight Monday, August 2. The station will be switching from its current Top 40 to all advertising, all the time. The station will now be known as "103.3 The Message."

"Starting Monday, we will be broadcasting only commercials that are backed by music," said Kevin "Amazing" Gracie, general manager and drive-time disc jockey for KHDC. "This new format will allow us to maximize our advertising revenue while still delivering what our listeners crave -- today's hit music, now."

The format change is an experiment based on trends the station has noted in both music and advertising. Recent years have seen an increase in product placements within popular music, such as Busta Rhymes's "Pass the Courvoisier," while the advertising industry has used popular contemporary songs in commercials.

"It's becoming common for songs to become popular because of their being used in commercials," Gracie added. "For instance, 'Days Go By' by Dirty Vegas was virtually unknown outside the electronic dance scene until Mitsubishi used it in a car ad."

The station has reached agreements with local and national advertisers to air extended versions of commercials, so that listeners will hear the entire song rather than a 15- to 30-second samples. The advertising message will be adapted to the format as well. In some cases the ad copy will only appear at the beginnings and ends of songs, in others the message will extend over the length of the song.

KDHC will follow all Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and industry guidelines regarding advertising standards. No cigarette or hard liquor ads will be run, and adult-oriented advertising will air no earlier than 8 p.m.

This is not the first time an all commercial format has been tried. In 1966, Gordon McLendon bought a Los Angeles station and created KADS-FM, hoping to take business away from newspapers. The station ran everything from local want ads to national spots, but closed in 1967 and switched to the beautiful music format under the call letters KOST-FM.

"The difference between the KADS experiment and what we're doing here at KDHC is the music," Gracie said. "We'll be playing all your favorite hits, coupled with a marketing message."

KDHC-FM is owned by EnCommunicado Broadcasting Inc., based in Chandler. The station broadcasts at 2,000 Watts, serving Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun.

### Posted by Andrew Huff at July 29, 2004 02:29 AM