Billboard Broadcaster Of The Week: Zellner Takes Kmxv Back To Top With Mainstream Mix

Despite what people say about the special quality of a first love, PD Jon Zellner says that capturing the 12-plus market crown was more special the second time around, when KMXV (Mix 93.3) Kansas City, Mo., soared 6.3-7.8 in the spring Arbitron survey, tying R&B KPRS for the market lead.
It took a year for KMXV to reclaim the top spot, a slightly shorter length of time than it took Zellner to take Mix from 14th place in February '96 to No. 1 in spring '97, with an 8.3 share. "Radio is a never-ending struggle," he says. "When we hit No. 1 in the spring of '97, the staff was obviously happy but more surprised than ecstatic. In the fall, however, we were served a dose of reality."
KMXV fell 8.2-6.6, dropping to third. "We never had the heritage [that] longtime top 40s such as WFLZ Tampa, Fla., and KKRZ Portland, Ore., enjoy," Zellner says. "When a station has been No. 1 for many years, it develops a loyalty factor. That's not to say our listeners weren't loyal, but people are more prone to try something new."
Specifically, the new entities were a top 40 sign-on, KCHZ, and, ironically enough, its own sister, KOZN (the Zone), which flipped from album rock to modern AC. "Actually, we didn't really see that much of a drop in cume," Zellner says. "People just spent less time with us and more on other options, be that a new radio station or new fall TV shows. People naturally give new things a shot."
He admits that even though the just-flipped Zone took away from Mix's audience, in the long term, he says, "the purpose of that was more to protect us from another modern AC that would sign on and directly attack us. Yet the Zone was designed to specialize in modern music, a big portion of what we play."
So how did KMXV climb back up the mountain? "We adjusted as much as we could, to move away from the Zone. We gave them breathing room by being later on modern records and playing as many dance and rhythm records as we could without sacrificing listeners who didn't like that type of music," Zellner says.
"The problem was, and is, there isn't much appeal for dance and rhythmic music in the market," he adds. "When I first got here, we were playing rhythmic and dance to narrowly focus on women 12-24. By the time we were No. 1 last year, we were a pretty broad top 40 that played modern and AC yet still had a dance/urban image. Which is another reason why the station is vulnerable: When you do so many things, you're vulnerable when specialists come in.
"Fortunately, the music shifted in the last nine months away from harder modern rock to mainstream pop. The beauty of top 40 is that we can play anything that's popular."
Here's a recent hour on KMXV: matchbox 20, "Real World"; Aerosmith, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing"; Prince, "When Doves Cry"; Alanis Morissette, "Uninvited"; 'N Sync, "Tearin' Up My Heart"; Goo Goo Dolls, "Iris"; Madonna, "Into The Groove"; Sheryl Crow, "My Favorite Mistake"; Natalie Imbruglia, "Torn"; Backstreet Boys, "I'll Never Break Your Heart"; Fastball, "The Way"; Jennifer Paige, "Crush"; and Semisonic, "Closing Time."
So how can Mix stay on top? "It's a matter of staying focused and consistent and matching our listeners' expectations," he says. "Inevitably, we're going to have new competitors, especially when we're a top 40 that's No. 1 25-54.
"The target of KMXV is always women 25-44," Zellner continues. "When we were super-serving 12-24s three years ago, we took the station in a more AC direction to get the adults back. Now that we have the adults back and we kept most of the kids, we can target moms and their daughters."
Mix attracts both generations through "a lot of lifestyle promos," Zellner notes. "We give away circus tickets, Disney videos, and theater tickets on the morning show, but we also brought in Hanson last fall and attracted over 20,000 people to a mall parking lot. Granted, there were a lot of teens, but they all brought their mothers."
KMXV's success is the latest accomplishment in a line of Zellner goals. "My first goal was to be a major-market MD by the time I hit 25, which I did in Phoenix," he says. "My second goal was to be a major-market PD by the time I hit 30, which I did in Kansas City. Now I'd like the opportunity to oversee more than one station with the CBS/Infinity family, be it in Kansas City or elsewhere. But I really enjoy living here; Kansas City is the best-kept secret in America."