Radio's Last Hope?

By Adam Pitluk/Dallas

As the clock signals 11 a.m., and work-weary Dallasites bide time until their noon lunch break, a smattering of songs streams over their radios. Pink kicks off a four-song music block, followed by Lenny Kravitz, Tina Turner and Led Zeppelin. These days radio listeners usually have to surf different stations to hear those four sounds, as the range of genres doesn't fall within a typical station's playlist. But not at one Dallas station--a station that has topped the ratings charts for five of the nine months since it switched formats.

Music aficionados, don't touch that dial: 100.3 Jack FM is in random-shuffle mode, and a finicky channel changer might miss the next segment of generation-spanning sounds, which at noon includes Prince, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Men at Work. Jack FM is an example of terrestrial radio's answer to the satellite challenge, a hodgepodge of sound and attitude that marries prolonged music streams--sans DJ interruptions and caller requests--with limited commercials and shorter ad blocks. And when there are commercial breaks, a Jack announcer all but apologizes. "Time to pay the bills," he says.

The concept of more music, fewer commercials and no DJs was birthed in Vancouver, B.C., in 2003 and later spread stateside with the formation of the first Jack FM station, in Denver, in April 2004. Last August, Dallas--Fort Worth radio listeners were baptized in the new Jack format during their 8 a.m. commute, when the former occupant of the dial space, Wild 100.3, suddenly went jockeyless and played a selection of movie theme songs and sound bites that said "Jack." The station ranked 20th in its debut, then skyrocketed to No. 1 four months later. It has been there ever since. "People listening to the radio don't want to hear chatter," says Joel Hollander, chairman and CEO of Infinity Broadcasting, the parent company of Dallas' Jack FM. "It's really about the music. The station's programming director chooses the music. It's totally random."

Indeed, the randomness of the Jack format--which is spreading to stations throughout the U.S.--is its only consistent element. The typical Jack station does not rely on a 400-to-500-song playlist--the industry standard--but instead taps into a selection of 1,200 titles or more. Local station managers have autonomy to pick and choose their favorites, which is what Dallas program director Kurt Johnson is doing.

Jack FM is on to something, and listeners in Dallas are resetting their radios at a breakneck pace. "This station just makes sense," says Richard Lovett, 38, owner of Dallas Home Renovations. "If I want talk, I'll listen to sports-talk radio. But I want to hear music throughout the workday." Kathy Reinisch, 43, of Fort Worth, loves that she and her 17-year-old son can enjoy the same radio station. "When I used to rock out in the car, he'd complain until I turned the channel. Now songs he likes play right after mine."

Is the Jack format less user friendly for advertisers? Not necessarily. Jackie Barrera, associate media director of Asher Media in Dallas, says listeners are less prone to channel surf when Jack FM goes to commercial breaks. "It actually benefits the advertisers because people aren't tuning out," she says. "They know they'll have a shorter break, so they pay more attention."

Of course, there is a downside: Jack FM is a request-free zone for listeners. As a promo recently declared, "Tell us what you think. Just don't tell us what to play." --By Adam Pitluk/Dallas