This piece is me elaborating on a Facebook post I wrote on August 22, 2017, in reference to several radio stations in my area suddenly switching their formats in a short amount of time.

This short amount of time I am talking about is approximately from May of 2017 to August 2017.

I am attempting to list all of the stations in my area that suddenly changed their formats, many times not for the better.

On August 22, 2017, the New Orleans area FM radio station KVDU on the frequency of 104.1 MHz switch from VooDoo 104 to 104.1 The Spot. While the former played music from the 1990s to present, the latter has a more diverse playlist (though I’ve only been listening to it for a few minutes.) This change maybe is indeed for the better, but not all of these changes are.

On June 19, 2017, the New Orleans/Baton Rouge area FM radio station WRKN on the frequency 92.3 MHz switched its format and call sign to WZRH. Formerly it was a Nashville Pop/Country format, but converted to Alternative Rock. Country music has left something to be desired in these past few years, (since 2013.) I’ve listened to this new station quite a bit and I say I’m quite impressed. It’s probably my favorite Rock station in this area, but there are indeed plenty of Rock stations almost to the point of redundancy.

On June 1, 2017, the Houma FM radio station KDLC on the frequency of 97.7 MHz switched its format from Adult Contemporary to Classic Rock. I don’t really agree with this move, because of all the other Rock stations that can be received between New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Houma and Lafayette.

On May 26, 2017, the Thibodaux FM radio station KXOR on the frequency of 106.3 MHz switched their call sign to KLXH and later adopted the K-LOVE networks programming, a Christian format. It was formerly a rock station. As a Christian, I should be happy about this, but I am not. Yes, I’m all for praising Jesus Christ through music and preaching the Gospel to the masses by radio, don’t get me wrong. However, there is already a station in this area carrying the same thing. That station is on 107.5 MHz and covers this area just fine. This is redundant and is costing K-LOVE unneccesary amounts of money to keep both these stations on the air which could be very well be used for something else.

On May 11, 2017 the Thibodaux AM radio station KTIB on the frequency of 640 KHz switched from a format of news, talk and variety hits, with the branding “The Balcony-Music We Like” to Adult Contemporary. It also added a translator FM carrier (callsign K279CU) on 103.7 MHz. This, I believe was a decent move, but I believe either the strength of the signal on both the AM and FM transmitters should be increased as it is hard to catch at times in Raceland which is only a little over ten miles away.

That’s five local stations that switched their formats suddenly and in a short amount of time. As I posted on Facebook, I’ve been an avid radio listener since the age of eight and I am now thirty going on thirty one. I’ve never seen so many stations in the same area change their formats so suddenly and in this short period of time.

I wonder if this is going on in other markets as well?

These are just my thoughts, take ’em or leave ’em…

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