Tidal Wave

By now you’ve probably heard that KTWV-FM (better known as the Wave) has abandoned its old no-deejay policy, bringing in a group of what new program director John Sebastian is terming “announcers” to provide listeners with programming information. “They’re going to be discreet, brief and warm--I think they’ll add a lot of humanity to the station,” said Sebastian, who comes to the Wave after programming successful New Age-style formats in Washington and Phoenix.

But the real news is that the station is dramatically expanding its playlist. “We’re adding 1,000 new tracks, which will allow us a lot more variety and let us concentrate more on New Age artists with a progressive rock background,” said Sebastian, who doesn’t like that ‘New Age’ moniker--he prefers to see Wave artists as performing “new progressive” music. “When you punch in the Wave,” he said. “You’ll hear everything from instrumental artists like David Arkenstone and Checkfield to vocal artists like Michael Tomlinson, Tracy Chapman and Brian Ferry.”

The Wave hasn’t lived up its blast of debut publicity, when programmers here boasted that it would revolutionize pop radio with its new “life-style” format. But it has earned surprisingly strong ratings in recent months--Sebastian said its August Arbitrend scores were the highest numbers in its two-year history. “I’d agree that the format has had a bigger impact culturally than it has ratings-wise,” he said. “But the station’s identity is very strong. And its potential hasn’t been maximized, which is why they hired me. That huge, still growing chunk of 25-44 listeners is probably the most disenchanted radio audience in America. We think we have perhaps the only format with the potential to attract their loyalty.”