Hip-Hop, Ya Do Stop

After more than a decade, KKBT-FM 100.3 The Beat has dropped its hip-hop format, and has flipped to an Urban Adult Contemporary format (think Babyface, Earth Wind & Fire, Keith Sweat, Luther Vandross, etc.) under the slogan "L.A.'s R&B Leader."

They're keeping the name -- "The Beat" -- but the station is now going after a much older audience.

The switch isn't too much of a surprise: The Beat has seen its ratings slump for some time now, and last month it announced that Tom Joyner's syndicated morning show would debut soon. Joyner is heard mostly on urban AC stations, so his show wouldn't have flowed well with a hip-hop lineup the rest of the day.

KKBT had been an urban contemporary station since around 1990, after its failed "Rock with a Beat" AC format. But the station began to see a lot more erosion as the market got too crowded. KIIS-FM is heavily hip-hop these days; KXOL "Latino 96.3" plays a great deal of hip-hop; and although it's not really much of a player, 93.5 KDAY-FM has also added some saturation to the market.

The station also saw its fortunes fall as morning host Steve Harvey, who exploded in the mornings before declining, left the station. It will be interesting to see if Harvey has much of an impact at KDAY, where his syndicated morning show launches at the end of the month.

When I first moved to L.A. in 1996, I was fascinated by the station's makeup. It was an urban contemporary station geared toward African Americans, yet its morning show was hosted by an aging white guy (John London) and its afternoon drive was handled by a Japanese-American DJ with deep pipes (Theo). The station preached diversity on air with the slogan "No Color Lines."



In other radio news, the L.A. Times reports on turmoil at L.A.'s jazz station, KKJZ-FM. The California State University Long Beach Foundation, which owns the station's license, is shopping around to potentially find a new operator for the station. (Current operator Pacific Public Radio's contract expires at the end of the year.)

KCRW and KPPC operators Southern California Public Radio are among the suitors. The CSULB Foundation promises to keep jazz on the station, but KKJZ's staff is nonetheless concerned.