ALAN, WHAT WAS THE BASIC MOViN PHILOSOPHY WHEN YOU PUT THE FORMAT TOGETHER?

Why do people go to movies, seek praise, fall in love, listen to music, exercise, drink, use drugs, take vacations, hang out with friends, buy things they can’t afford? Most of the time, it’s because those things make them feel better. Even if that mood elevation is only temporary, and sometimes comes at great personal cost - such as addiction, destructive relationships, financial problems - people seek it constantly.

And at its simplest, that’s why MOViN works: it’s fun, and listening to it makes you feel good. With no annoying hangover.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MUSIC AND WHAT DRIVES THE DECISION TO PLAY THE SONGS?

The music’s predominantly uptempo, and the library isn’t burned out as it is in other forms of adult contemporary formats. Most of the songs played on MOViN stations have barely seen the light of day on radio for years; they are market-exclusive to MOViN and would sound odd on any other station in town. Thus, the format is both entertaining and differentiated.

In addition, the music offers both nostalgia and currency - a powerful combination. A woman in her 20s through her early 40s will hear songs she loved when she was younger, when she was in school. She won’t feel dated, though, but instead will feel current and hip, because she also hears today’s music on MOViN. Many programmers are surprised to learn that all the styles played on MOViN are compatible - and they are.

MUCH OF THE JACK FORMAT CREDITED ITSELF WITH A GREAT DEAL OF “ATTITUDE” AND EVEN “SELF DEPRICATION.” WHAT’S MOViN’S ATTITUDE, AND ITS PHILOSOPHY TOWARD AIR TALENT? WHAT SEPARATES MOViN FROM THE PACK?

The format doesn’t take itself, or its music, too seriously. Being playful, irreverent, and fun is more important than being “cool” - at least as “cool” is usually measured by Program Directors of current-based formats. We’re not afraid to do something that’s a little bit cheesy, then point it out and make fun of ourselves for doing it.

MOViN is a product designed to make listeners feel good, and all the imaging is centered around both doing that and reminding the audience of it. (By the way, we’ve protected the primary benefit statement, so forget about trying to copy it). The station voices are real and believable....not hyped or smarmy.

Even while they are initially jockless, MOViN stations talk to women: about their husbands and boyfriends, how they feel about their bodies, the stresses in their lives, what they’re doing right now, etc. And MOViN is adding live personalities everywhere, such as Rick Dees in LA, Monti Carlo in Seattle, and Baltazaar & Maria Todd in San Francisco.

Most of those things make MOViN not only fun, but different...and different is good. Very good. Yet MOViN shares one important trait with all other formats and stations, which is that it performs best when executed well and given support commensurate with expectations. KQMV in Seattle is a perfect example of that: MOViN 92.5 launched halfway through last Spring’s Arbitron sweep and has screamed up the rankers. With women 25-54, for example, from the station’s last full book in its previous format to its first full book as MOViN 92.5, its rank improved from 15th to 5th in the market, and moved on up to 4th in this fall book.

ARE THEIR BASIC “MOViN” INGREDIENTS THAT YOU CAN TALK ABOUT?

Achieving that kind of rapid growth required several ingredients:

• A commitment to both perceptual and music library research to get it right for the market.
• Passionate, obsessive, and creative execution by GM Marc Kaye and PD Lisa Adams (who’s now with MOViN 107.5 KVMX in Portland).
• A courageous and aggressive commitment to marketing on the part of Marc Kaye with the support of his ownership.
• And a reasonable commercial load limit.

The more other stations employ those elements, the more success they’ll see. But there’s one other factor that accelerated Seattle’s growth, and that’s the fact that they launched MOViN on a frequency with a Hot AC cume. That gave them a head start. Some of the other MOViN stations started with, and have to replace, cumes that were based on country, oldies, smooth jazz, etc. and thus may not jump as quickly. They’re dealing with ingrained adult listening habits.

While those habits take some time to change, the MOViN stations are definitely on the move. We’re seeing some great months on the stations that launched this fall. Keep in mind that most MOViN stations launched, on average, 12 days after the fall book started.

WHAT’S THE REACTION FROM THE PEOPLE ALREADY MOViN?

As Mike Preston, PD of MOViN 99.7 KFRC said recently, “I’ve never seen this much passion for a format!”

MOViN generates passion in the sales arena as well, where most of the stations are ahead of projections. After all, most sales staffs and most agency buyers are squarely in the target and love the format. Marc Kaye in Seattle says “this format is as buyer-friendly as radio can be.” Few things sell better than a unique product sold by an enthusiastic seller to a buyer who already loves it!