The Infinite Dial

We've been following radio's attempts to replace the traditional spot sales model with a sponsorship model for several years. This morning, the Dallas Business Journal reports that Clear Channel's Classic Rock/Americana hybrid KZPS (Lone Star 92.5) Dallas has added some traditional pre-recorded spots to the all-sponsorship approach it launched in April.

Depending on when you listen to KZPS, you can still hear a sponsored hour, in which case the "commercials" are still likely to be the live DJ testimonials for that given sponsor that typified the station a few months ago. But you can also hear unsponsored segments where the live breaks feature various shorter live spots or client promo mentions. And there are also :30s for Verizon Wireless, DirecTV, and Wrangler, according to the Business Journal and our monitoring.

The pre-recorded spots are still few and far between on the air. GM J.D. Freeman tells the Business Journal that some clients found the live spot approach "restrictive." While the station remains committed to sponsorships, he says, the station is no longer "not going to consider [pre-recorded ads] because we don't think it's compatible with the station."

There have also been some tweaks to KZPS' music, bringing the station just a little bit closer to the Classic Rocker it once was. There are still songs from Americana acts like Wilco that you wouldn't hear on a Classic Rock station, and a handful of Country titles per hour (e.g., Waylon & Willie and the Bellamy Brothers' "Old Hippie" in the hour I monitored this morning). But it's also possible to go from "Are You Experienced" to "Sympathy for the Devil," two songs that don't have much of a Country/Rock or roots rock connection.

We'll look at the KZPS experiment in greater detail in a forthcoming Ross on Radio column.