KNRJ

Infobox Radio Station


name = KNRJ
city = Payson, Arizona
airdate =
frequency = 92.7 / 101.1 / 106.3 (MHz)
area = Phoenix
format = Dance Hits
owner = Sierra H Broadcasting ("Sale pending to Independence Media")
erp = 92.7 - 10 watts
101.1 - 77,000 watts
106.3 - 10 watts
branding = "Energy 92.7 & 101.1"
slogan = "The Beat of Arizona" "I Am Energy!"
class = 92.7: D
101.1: C1
106.3: D
webcast = [http://media.hostdepot.com/334479-02 Listen Live]
website = [http://www.energyarizonafm.com/ www.energyarizonafm.com]
callsign_meaning = NRJ sounds similar to energy
K 224 (92.7) CJ (systematically assigned translator calls)

KNRJ 101.1 FM, K224CJ 92.7 FM, and K292DF 106.3 FM are a dance music trimulcast station serving the Phoenix area. KNRJ is licensed to Payson, Arizona, which is 57 miles north of Phoenix, while K224CJ is a 10-watt translator from South Mountain's antenna farm to provide a better signal to the Phoenix area. Both are currently owned by Sierra H Broadcasting, but on December 14, 2007 the station was sold to Independence Media for $3 million. Independence will take over ownership of the station in 2008 [ [http://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/$rol.exe/business From Radio-Online (December 14, 2007)] ] .

KNRJ's dance music product includes house, techno, and club music, as well as remixes of pop and R&B hits. The mixshow lineup includes some of the worlds top talent, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Rod Carrillo, Armin Van Burren, Marcus Schulz, Spencer Thomas, Eddie Amador, Dj Perry, Dj Kilo, Mickey "Mixin" Oliver (Chicagos Hot Mix 5), Victor Dinaire, Chris Shannon and many more.

KNRJ is also a reporter in Billboard Magazine's Dance Radio Airplay panel.

KNRJ targets Phoenix; although KNRJ's 101.1 signal does reach the northern portions of Maricopa County, K224CJ brings crucial coverage to the Phoenix metropolitan area and can be heard in the central and southern portions of the region, although recently K224CJ has been suffering from severe multipath distortion. Its main signal on 101.1 between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon has interference from 101.1 FM KPLD in Saint George, Utah; the K292DF translator brings coverage to the Flagstaff area due to this interference. Past Seligman, Arizona, the signal from 101.1 FM KRRK in Lake Havasu City disrupts any KNRJ reception.

History

In the late 1990s, KESP-FM signed on from Payson, Arizona as a classic hits format station named Loop 101. In 2000, the callsign was changed to KAZL (K AriZona Loop), and K224CJ 92.7 FM from South Mountain and K292DF 106.3 FM in Flagstaff were applied for and signed on during the same period. The station's goal was to be an alternative to KSLX-FM, another classic hits station serving the Phoenix area. KNRJ, K224CJ, and K292DF never achieved sufficient ratings.

The dismal ratings were followed by a format change on 18 June 2002: KAZL stunted becoming an all-commercial station. This only lasted for three days, however. Stunting, or fooling the listeners, is a common radio tactic while changing formats. In this case listeners were led to believe that the station would now only be playing commercials. Steven Szalay, Operations Manager, created an entire phony radio format complete with sweepers, liners, I.D.'s and recorded DJ comments as well as a collection of classic radio commercials. The station received a great many calls asking if this was serious, some called to express their appreciation of the joke, some believed it and asked that the classic hits format be returned. The point is to try to get press coverage to announce a big change at the station at a particular time and date to drive curious listeners to the frequency. Many other stations have played the same song or nonsensical phrase over and over for days as a stunt for the same purpose.

The stunting was stopped at 5pm three days later (21 June2002) and because of the clever and original stunting did receive considerable press coverage for the end of the stunt and the start of a format similar to WKIE in Chicago, CHR Dance. At this time it was known that WKIE was sold and to be changed to a Spanish language format. Chris Shebel the program director of WKIE programmed the music of KAZL for nearly a year by e-mail. Also, the name changed to "Energy 92.7 & 101.1"; to match, the callsign on 101.1 became KNRJ. WKIE was also known as Energy; the name was chosen for KNRJ to continue the legacy. The station still gets calls from Chicago visitors asking if they are the same Energy that was in Chicago. The KNRJ callsign previously resided in Houston, Texas at 96.5 FM under a top 40/dance/alternative format from 1988 to 1990, as Energy 96.5.

On October 31, 2007 KNRJ began stunting, playing Wall of Voodoo's Mexican Radio, Front 242's Headhunter, and Ministry's Everyday Is Halloween along with commercials, the normal legal ID with Harry Legg saying "KNRJ Payson/Phoenix, 92.7 K227CJ Phoenix, 106.3 K292DF Flagstaff", and a white man speaking in Spanglish saying (roughly translated) "Friends, please excuse the music which you hear on 92.7 and 101.1. Tune in tomorrow at 10 o'clock in the morning for more information. Thank you." At 10 AM on November 1, 2007 KNRJ played the Mexican Hat Dance three times and then KNRJ was relaunched with Beau Duran saying that Energy is back. The New Energy has more DJs and more mix shows.

References

External links

* [http://www.energyarizonafm.com KNRJ website]
* [http://danceradio.blogspot.com U.S. Dance Radio Post]
* [http://simdancemix.blogspot.com U.S. Dance Radio Megamix]
*fmq|KNRJ
*fml|KNRJ
*fmq|K224CJ
*fmq|K292DF