Saskatoon Media Group (SMG) unveiled a new format in the city Tuesday morning, introducing KICK 98 (CJMK-FM), playing the best of pop and the best of country.

Formerly branded as Cool 98, the station had been airing a Classic Hits format since 2014.

“We took into account that Saskatoon is one of the youngest major cities in Canada,” Program Director Steve Chisholm told Broadcast Dialogue. “The median age is 36-37. Greater Saskatoon is now over 400K and about two-thirds of the people who live here are between ages 15 and 64, very much in their active, working years. We wanted to put together a format that spoke to them and when we took a look at what’s doing well formatically, it’s pop and country. The next step was asking ‘can we combine the two?’ The genres blend together extremely well.”

KICK 98’s Tuesday afternoon playlist included country tunes from Chris Stapleton, Dallas Smith, Jon Pardi and Morgan Wallen, interspersed with pop hits from Tate McRae, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo and Ariana Grande.

“We’re trying to be very, very cognizant that we don’t want it to become a country station that lays a little bit of pop or a pop station that plays a little bit of country,” said Chisholm of the music mix.

KICK 98’s talent lineup includes the three-person morning show of Gregger, Keira Miller and Clayton Kroeker, while afternoons are being hosted by Kendra Helms.

The rebrand comes following SMG’s sale of 92.9 The Bull (CKBL-FM) to Rawlco Radio, which was relaunched as 92.9 The Grid last week.

Also airing a hit country format, alongside SMG’s own AM country station, CJWW, Chisholm said he believes there is room in the market for what KICK 98 is offering.

“We think that there’s room in the market for it, based on the growth and age of our city, and it’s also interesting…this morning I got a call from a woman who sounded to me that she was of the older demographic and her only advice to me was to make sure the announcers say the name of the song and the artist,” said Chisholm. “She told me she was a day one listener of Cool 98 and while this was all new to her she wanted to get to know the artists and the songs. I thought that was a home run.”