The Genesis of Jack

(and the Evolution of Rogers Flagship Stations)

Shock waves were felt throughout the land. A prophet came down from the mountain clutching programming commandments written in stone (which looked peculiarly like BBM diaries). After a tasteful pause for a commercial message, he issued a proclamation from the radio gods. "Thou Shalt Have A New Format and its name shall be *****".

It seems that while everyone was in agreement on the nature of this new sound, the people at CHUM thought he said "BOB". After some brief reflection, the people at Rogers were pretty sure he said "JACK". Lastly, the people at Corus are certain he said "Dave". Thus was born the divisions among believers in the new format sweeping the country.

While the above may be an overstatement of how earthshaking the new programming trend is, this unconventional approach is certainly making its presence felt across Canada. And it would appear listeners are taking notice and tuning in. At the same time, a series of other format shifts are taking place, changing the ever-evolving sonic landscape. As players carve out their own niches, everyone is hoping for a bigger piece of the pie.

The godfather of JACK is Sandy Sanderson, executive vice-president of programming for Rogers nationally. A little over 10 months ago, he and his team decided to revive their AC franchise in Vancouver with a dramatic change in sound. KISS-FM was caught up in a perennial battle with soft rocker 103.5QM-FM and wasn't gaining any ground with the core female 25-54 demo. After considering various options, the first JACK was born on December 27, 2002.

The playlist, which is three times normal size, boasts an eclectic mix of pop from the '80s, '90s and beyond. The station proudly rejects listener requests and concentrates on "playing what we want". Irreverent splitters feature such things as the station filing listener requests with the sound of a toilet flush. Results were immediate and dramatic with the station jumping from 4.3% share of hours tuned (A12+) in fall '02 to a 10.7% share in spring '03 and a 12.7% in summer '03. The female/male split is approx. 51%/49% and the age emphasis is on the lucrative 25-54 demo.

Promos proclaim "If you haven't heard about the new station in town, you don't know Jack". The promotional tone for Jack has been tastefully irreverent and consistently playful. Campaign details include prizes of Cracker Jack, life sized posters of a Jack Ass, Jack-in-the-box TV creative and a series of in your face splitters. It seems some listeners are tired of being told how valuable their requests are and embrace this brash approach. Maybe this explains why so many women say they like "bad boys".

But before there was Jack, there was Bob. The trend actually began in March 2002 with a CHUM-owned Winnipeg station (CFWM-FM) that flipped to an "'80s, '90s and whatever" format positioned with the moniker Bob (99.9 BOB-FM). The format was the brainchild of Howard Kroger (program and operations manager). He sought to develop a sound designed for 30-somethings. His goal was to forge a psychological affiliation with the group caught between the Generation Xers and Baby Boomers, giving them the music and attitude associated with their not so distant youth.

The results were immediate and impressive with the station leapfrogging past the competition. Executive v-p of CHUM Radio Limited, Paul Ski, proudly points out that "BOB in Winnipeg has been number one in reach and share of hours tuned for adults 25-54 since its launch". CHUM has, in turn, flipped their Ottawa station KOOL-FM from contemporary hit radio to BOB.

(By the way, no one has yet come up with an appropriate category descriptor for this format. Is it gold?, AC?, hits of yesterday and whatever?. BBM is currently grappling with this dilemma, so don't bother checking the front of your book for an answer.)

In a market already rocked by change including the launch of HOT 89.9, BOB came through in a big way for the summer BBM, delivering a 17.6% share of females 25-54. While they dropped some teens and very young adults, they more than made up for it in the 25-54 money demos. In recent months, CHUM has also rolled out the successful experiment to include their stations in London and Brockville.

The Rogers team adopted the new concept, renamed their new-born Jack, and encouraged even more irreverence. In fact Rogers, was so pleased, they ultimately repeated the experiment in Calgary, Toronto and most recently, Orillia. Not to be left behind, Corus has revamped their station in Cambridge and dubbed their incarnation Dave.

The June 4 launch of Jack-FM in Toronto took place ahead of schedule. After hearing talk of a competitor adopting the format, v-p of Rogers' Toronto radio operations Chuck McCoy turned CHR station KISS92.5 around completely in a dizzying 27 hours. During the summer survey period, the station was without DJs, leaning on a distinctive series of splitters to maintain the flow and deliver the image. Two notable exceptions involved having Dan Ackroyd and Meat Loaf each serve as guest hosts for an afternoon. As of October 1st Rob Christie (last with JACK-FM in Vancouver) signed on as host of the breakfast show.

As a reward for his valuable contribution in Vancouver as program director of the original incarnation of Jack, Pat Cardinal was brought in September 8th to head up the Toronto operation as general manager and PD. Cardinal is oft-remembered in Hogtown as the man who brought Howard Stern to Q107. He likens Jack to 7-Up, and its breakthrough campaign as the UnCola. He proudly points to Jack-FM as the unradio station with a format that breaks all of the programming rules and is rewarded with a loyal audience looking for a fresh approach.

Jack-FM's sales team, headed up by Lannie Atkins, have crunched the numbers and are promising to steal 20-to-25% of the A25-54 ratings from each of CHUM-FM, MIX99.9, Q107, EZRock 97.3 and the Edge 102.1. While that wasn't the case as of the summer BBM, the jury is still out awaiting the fall numbers.

It is ironic that one of the casualties of this new sound is new music. Both in Ottawa and Toronto, CHR/Top 40 stations have been flipped. The important thing to note is that well under 1% of ad buys across Canada are directed at teens. Conversely, adults 25-54 see the vast majority of ad revenues.

Both KOOL-FM and KISS 92.5 were doing solid jobs in their markets, but with increased competition for a niche that wasn't tremendously lucrative to begin with, they had little choice but to seek greener (i.e. $$$) pastures.

As is always the case, format shifts have a domino effect in a market as surrounding stations adjust their sound to protect their audience shares. This game has become all the more strategic with expanded corporate ownership of up to four stations (and more with spill stations) per market.

Rogers strategy with their flagship franchise in the Toronto market has been especially intriguing. The acquisition of FAN590 has given them a solid base of talk on AM with two distinctive male-skewed niches. 680News is both unique and consistent with an expanding cume and a loyal audience that checks in "three, four, or five times a day". From a sales perspective, the station positions itself extremely well with business/financial community.

On FAN590, PD Nelson Millman did a masterful job of holding off the Team 1050 challenge and retaining a very loyal audience. Again, this distinctive niche allows for a very targeted sales approach which reaches far beyond boxcar numbers.

On the FM side, JACK-FM strives for a fairly even female/male split. CHFI-FM, the station which has frequently boasted the largest cume of any station in the country, is content with a female skew and a domination of office tuning.

Still, all was not well in paradise. With audience figures declining and the younger end of the demo slipping away, there was a need for some revitalizing. This new energy has come in the form of Julie Adam, recently named GM and PD at CHFI.

Most recently, Julie served as PD of KISS 92.5 before its flip to JACK. Her resume includes a successful history with Rawlco, with stints at Z99 in Regina and Energy 1200 in Ottawa. Her first order of business was to revamp the morning show, bringing in Mad Dog and Billie from KISS to replace Erin Davis and Bob Magee (Davis is gone from Rogers and Magee is now in the drive slot). Her goal was to develop a show that was both contemporary and "relevant" to current listeners. She continues to make programming tweaks with everything from the playlist to positioning statements and stylish splitters. Stay tuned to see how her programming savvy pays off.

The radio gods have spoken. All that remains for us to do is pick up the fall BBM and find out who was listening.

p>David Bray is senior vice-president of Hennessy & Bray Communications, Toronto. To contact him, call (416) 431-5792; Fax: (416) 431-0168; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; web site: brayandpartners.com