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What happened to 100.7 KBZI? Why did AMI shut it off? That was the best programmed station not only in Pittsburg, but in Joplin! I hope Beej went to a bigger market.

Because B100.7 (later to be known as 100.7 BZI) was a joke with a crap signal. They were too cheap to hire a real PD so they hired a 20 something fresh out of college (Beej) whose only experience was in college radio and a swing shift at a Pennsylvania station.

He hosted mornings and the rest of the day as VTed by KKOW jox.

I was surprised he lasted this long. The ratings have been bad because the station had no identity. I've talked with Beej several times about it and he always thought it should be a jukebox of stiffs with no set plan. I blame that on his inexperience more than anything.

Now maybe he'll go somewhere that he can actually learn. (So little of that happens in either Joplin or Pittsburg.) I highly doubt Bicknell hires an experienced PD, so I would have prefered Beej staying and learning a bit.

Well I've heard In Da Club-50 Cent and Low-Flo Rida on KBZI, they were trying to go after every station (KSYN-CHR, KSEK-Active Rock, and KMXL-Adult Hits/Mike FM)

First, get your facts straight. They were live in the mornings and during the all requet lunch hour.

There were several problems with KBZI:
- I liked Beej, but he was not ready to be a PD. He had nobody teaching him how to improve himself.
- A radio station should NOT be a jukebox but that is how the station sounded. The station should have core artists that it plays every quarter-hour.
- The station was voicetracked so much there was no audience interaction. The only time listeners could reach a jock was during mornings or the lunch hour. They had no street presence.
- During football and basketball season, it was a sports station at night. If I want to hear music, I may not come back as a listener.
- The contests were not good. If I live in Pittsburg - which should have been their target audience - I wouldn't drive to Nevada or Ft. Scott to redeem a prize. The AEs didn't sell the station in Joplin or Pittsburg.

As for the poll, there isn't a good group in the market. Carthage will fire you without warning and then take you to court over severance. SEK has a poor signal with no leadership. ZRG thinks they are the best - starting at the top with the GM and OM - but in reality they are the worst. AMI pays slightly above minimum wage but expects you to wear a lot of hats. If I had to choose, I'd pick AMI, but I hate country.

THAT is why consultants are VERY important in order to win in a small market!! A PD with experience/talent isn't gonna go to a gig in the middle of nowhere with slightly more than minimum wage when he/she could program a big market with a bigger salary and less hours. A newbie PD learns a lot from a consultant, and they help you with winning strategies.

Are Fort Scott and Nevada even in the Pittsburg Arbitron market?

If not, they didn't count in the ratings, and it had a scratchy-at-best signal in Pittsburg and non-existent signal on the south side of Joplin.

That partially explains the lack of ratings in Joplin and the poor ratings in Pittsburg then.

I always thought Beej did well with the limited resources. Of course when you are a one-man station, there's no time for everything. btw, check out his post: http://missouriradio.mywowbb.com/view_t ... forum_id=2

OMG I missed KBZI! Where else could I find a morning jock who can do a 10-minute break on absolutely nothing while the afternoon jock repeats his entire morning show from the country station break-for-break in the exact same order? And how many other Hot AC's played "Fake It" by Seether, "Live Your Life" by T.I., The Cure, and Cake?

AMI doesn't pay consultants, but I don't think that would have helped KBZI. Beej had this desire to break new music regardless of the genre. He played everything from Cake to Fall Out Boy to NKOTB to the Bee Gees because the positioning statement was "80's, 90's, and now." However, he needs to learn an important radio fact - just because a listener requests a song doesn't mean you have to play it.

I think the signal was clear in Joplin. Looking at the spring book, they pulled a 2.4 so they had listeners there. They were ignored by the AEs and the jocks.

Beej never did 10-minute breaks in the morning, but they were lengthy. Afternoons on the other hand were a complete waste. Watts did use the same prep with the same stupid jokes from his morning show on the Kow. He should have prepped for a different audience with fresh material. If AMI had better AEs who knew how to sell the station in Pittsburg or Joplin, they could have had enough revenue to hire a full airstaff.



In this age, you have to be up-to-date online because that is another way to reach your audience. Would you run a concert promo that was three weeks old? No. As for not having an in-house web guy, that may have been true but I know he had offers to help him but he refused. Again, I think it goes back to having more experience and knowing when to delegate responsibilities.

KBZI also played some rap music from the likes of 50 Cent ("In Da Club"), Kanye West ("Love Lockdown", "Stronger", and "Heartless"), T.I. ("Live Your Life"), Digital Underground, Sir Mix A Lot, etc. and hairbands from the likes of Winger, Def Leppard, Cinderella, etc. because he thought Hot AC listeners grew up with CHRs playing rap and hair bands so they were acceptable now. Not the over 40 listeners!!

Plus he was "breaking new music" from "every genre" (who's Sandi Thom?!) and "playing everything because it was 80s, 90s, now" because he was trying to go after every station in the market (KSYN was probably the closest to their true competition), even the ACTIVE ROCK and MIKE-FM stations! That's part of why the station had no identity.

Hot AC's aren't meant for breaking new music, they're for playing retro 80s, 90s, early 2000s hits and some familiar current hits.

Hopefully, he goes somewhere where he gets more experience and grows. Wish him luck.

Wow. Someone has a revenge boner for Beej. What the hell did he do to piss someone off this much? The station died six months ago. He has moved on. Get over it.

I am only remaining anonymous because I'm going to criticize management. They did absolutely nothing to help KBZI. They handed him the station and hoped for a miracle. And he did a damn good job with what little they gave him. Management never knew what to do with the station, and that was the case well before Beej even got there. He just walked into a bad situation.

To whoever said KBZI played FloRida and 50 Cent, shut the hell up. They never did. They never played the Bee Gees either. You obviously never listened to the station and just want to make Beej look bad.

Sports were out of his hands too. He was told what games were going to air, and had no choice but to air them. Whoever said Beej was offered help with the website... name a name. Tell us who in the building offered. Because no one did.

Yes, Nevada and Fort Scott are in the Pittsburg market. And with KBZI's tower sitting just outside of Fort Scott, the station pulled in good ratings in those areas. It was scratchy in Pittsburg, it was nearly unlistenable in Joplin. KBZI didn't pull a 2.4 in the spring Joplin ratings. Rock 107 has the KBZI call letters. Rock 107 pulled a 2.4.

Beej summed up the rest in the post he wrote on Art Morris' board, which someone else linked to in this thread. He never did 10 minute talksets, Thom never used the same prep morning and afternoon, blah blah. Again, whoever wrote that never listened to the station. What is the point of posting about it then? You posted what... 4 times in an hour on a Saturday night? How pathetic of a person are you?

Beej took what little management gave him and made it work, but to make a station successful, you need more than just having it on-air,. You need marketing and good promotions, and management absolutely dropped the ball and just flat out didn't care. They did nothing to market the station, they did nothing to get the station on the streets. The sales staff didn't care and were never pushed to do anything with the station either. He fought to get anything he could for the station, and it was still ignored, yet he stuck with it. AMI made a bad mistake letting him and the station go.

I don't think Beej reads these boards anymore anyway, so I doubt he'll even know this thread exists unless someone points it out to him. But seriously, what is someone's problem with him? He did a job, he got laid off, and you want to rub salt in an open wound six months later? He has moved onto other opportunities in and out of the industry, You're trying to rub salt in a no longer open wound. I was glad I got to work with him, and only wish him the best in the future.

In other words, he was FIRED.

Again, what is with your revenge boner for Beej? He was laid off when the AMI merger went through. He was not fired. What is the point of spreading lies like the ones on this board? You obviously weren't in the building, so why post like you were?

You hurt my feelings.

Your friend said you didn't post here.