The Twin Cities' one and only all-hip-hop station, B-96, is no longer only about hip-hop. "Party in the U.S.A." by tween queen Miley Cyrus ushered in an evolved format at noon Wednesday at 96.3 FM. The station is promoting itself as "96-3 Now," promising "the most hit music." There are no DJs now, but they will resurface in a few weeks.
The change so far has proven to be minor: Hits by such hip-hop and R&B stars as Jay-Z, Beyoncé and David Guetta are still prominent along with pop smashes by Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and even Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.
"We did market research and decided the best route is to shift to the more mainstream lane," said Sam Elliot, the station's vice president of operations. "The big change was the name. We're rhythmic Top 40. We won't play Disney pop like the Jonas Brothers or rock stuff like Nickelback and Shinedown."
Still, the tweaks in the play-list, which have been evolving for six months, will bring the station closer to what's heard on longtime Top 40 kingpin KDWB (101.3 FM), which ranked No. 2 in the December ratings, with B-96 at No. 12 and about half as many listeners. (Classic-rock behemoth KQRS remains at No. 1, of course.) KDWB is part of the nationwide Clear Channel chain while 96-3 Now is locally owned by the Pohlad family's Northern Lights Broadcasting.
With the adjusted format, 96-3 Now is changing its call letters to KHTC (K-Hits Twin Cities) from KTTB and has established a new request line, 651-989-HITS. Four familiar DJs -- Peter Parker, Zannie K, Anjali and Hot Rod -- were let go, but Tone E. Fly and Danni Starr will return, Elliot said, though not necessarily as morning personalities. Elliot did not specify a return date for the DJs, but promised a new website by next week.
Staff writer Chris Riemenschneider contributed to this story.
