Jack is the new name in the valley radio scene.

Choice FM at 92.7 on the radio dial is now Jack FM. Same station, different format.

Instead of new pop, listeners will hear tried and true hits from the '80s and '90s on Jack, which took over Choice at 5 p.m. Oct. 21.

What makes Jack different, said NRC Broadcasting vice president and general manager Steve Wodlinger, is no repetition. Jack boasts a library of 2,000 tunes, over Choice's 400 to 500 titles.

"We felt there was a need for a station with little talk that plays lots of music and has a broad library," Wodlinger said.

Denver-based NRC Broadcasting purchased KSPN, KTUN, KFNO and KKCH in July from Salisbury Broadcasting and AGM-Rocky Mountain Broadcasting. NRC acquired stations in Vail and Steamboat Springs several months ago.

A change in listener demographics in the Roaring Fork and Vail valleys triggered the change in format, Wodlinger said. Choice's "hot adult contemporary" format was geared to listeners under 30. Jack aims at listeners between 35 and 44, which also happens to be the median age in this area, Wodlinger said.

"We felt it was time to take KKCH (Choice FM) to the next level with the aging of the Baby Boomers," he said.

Jack is also a proven winner, Wodlinger said. Launched in April in Denver, it was an instant success.

"It was the most successful launch in Denver," Wodlinger said. "It gained critical mass quickly with remarkable popularity on the Front Range, which has 50 stations."

Jack, Wodlinger explained, was a concept developed originally in Canada, at stations in Toronto and Vancouver.

"In the two years it's been up and running it's had a meteoric rise," Wodlinger said. "We took the Canadian version and 'mountainized' it."

For example, Jam Band music plays well in the mountains of Colorado but not in Canada, he said.

Jack, the mountain version, is a live and locally produced format, not a satellite feed, Wodlinger said. It's broadcast on 92.7 FM, in Glenwood Springs at 100.1 FM, in Vail at 92.3 FM and in Rifle, Silt and New Castle at 107.5 FM.

"The early response from listeners has been very favorable," Wodlinger said.



Jack FM can be heard on:

• in Glenwood Springs at 100.1 FM

• in Vail at 92.3 FM

• in Rifle, Silt and New Castle at 107.5 FM.