Is the format ready for “Young Country” again? The veteran broadcasters responsible for the new “Blake FM” format are betting on it. The brains behind the brand—Joel Folger, Kevin Christopher and Dan Halyburton—believe it’s the right time for a hipper, younger-skewing presentation.

They launched Blake FM as a national brand in January, pattered on the success of Tyler Media’s KJKE (Jake FM) Oklahoma City, which Folger consults and where Christopher serves as OM/PD. Their first affiliate, Townsquare Media’s KATP Amarillo, Texas, has been on the air a little under two months, and the Blake team is pleased with its progress so far.

Blake FM, which is virtually identical to Oklahoma City’s Jake in nearly every way but the name (the Blake team calls it “Jake’s fun loving twin brother”), features a specific presentation listeners of adult hits stations will be familiar with. (Tyler Media is not involved in the Blake brand.)

Folger, who is president of consulting firm Folger Media, is a specialist in the adult hits format, and says he wanted to venture into country because he thinks the format is “cool” and he’s excited about its potential.

“I’ve been lucky in my career to ride the wave when things are really starting to happen, and I just feel that right now with country music,” he says.

While the “Young Country” brand that was popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s eventually petered out, all of the architects of Blake FM see their format as the next generation of “Young Country,” and say the environment is right for it to work again.

“There’s a new generation of country listeners that want to embrace artists that they discovered and call their own,” says Christopher. “There’s a changing of the guard. I think that the 10-12 superstars that we’ve considered our core artist over the last 10 years or so are still relevant, but there’s some younger kids knocking on the door trying to knock them off the top of the mountain.”

Folger agrees, “There’s no denying right now that there’s some new country music that’s some of the best stuff in any music format out there right now,” he says. “It’s just hot, and these artists are going to have legs.”

Halyburton, who is executive VP of McVay/Cook Consulting, as well as a member of the Country Radio Broadcasters board of directors, sees the same trend developing.

“Clearly the trajectory of music in country has certainly been more contemporary,” he says. “While we’re not always first [in this format], we have gotten better about embracing change and welcoming in what is new and fresh, and you see that all over playlists today. I think there is more focus on the contemporary acts that are out there, the new sounds.

“With popular music, whether it’s country or any other format, the youth and new acts that come along are the lifeblood of what the future will be about,” Halyburton adds. “We’ve got to embrace new sounds, new acts, and we’ve already started to do that.

“There is definitely a trend toward that more contemporary sound that’s out there, and I think it’s a good time for stations to embrace it,” he adds.

The music on Blake FM skews younger and more current than a lot of mainstream country stations. Christopher says the current/recurrent to gold ratio is about 70/30, and while there’s a smattering of mid-’90s titles in the library, for the most part the music is from 2000 forward.

Core artists include Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton are, to a lesser extent, Eric Church, according to Christopher.

“Basically, what we’re trying to do is capitalize on what we perceive as a changing of the guard in Nashville and a new crop of superstars that the young end demo can embrace,” says Christopher. “We try to embrace those artists and play them a lot… We just think there’s a huge opportunity on the young side of the format right now.”

Blake (like Jake FM) also identifies the title and artist of every song it plays.

Says Folger, “It’s something that really stands out and listeners really appreciate. And in our relationships with these new bands, that’s something they appreciate too. When you’re playing so much new country, I think it’s important to do that.”

Folger likens the format's imaging, branding and presentation to that of KPLX (The Wolf) Dallas when it first signed on the air under Halyburton’s management.

“When The Wolf launched in Dallas, they had that bigger than life imaging,” he says. “We’ve got something that’s just as unique, just as special. This whole theme around this guy’s name, Blake, and building up who this character is makes it very memorable. So from PPM markets to diary markets, this brand really makes it easy for the station to stay top of mind with listeners.

“We try to make it as tight as possible,” Folger adds, speaking about the presentation. “Some of the imaging is done over the ramp of songs, and it just feels like a fast-paced, exciting approach to country radio.”

The national brand comes in two versions, one for stations with air personalities, and another designed to plug in on stations opting for a jockless presentation, like KATP, or those with limited staff. And while he recognizes the economic realities that force some station owners to go the jockless route, Folger says he has a strong preference for live talent, and encourages the stations he works with to employ jocks.

“We believe in live talent and we certainly try to steer clients that we work with to use live talent,” he says, “but if they decide to go the jockless route, the personality of the station comes from the writing and the imaging between the songs. We just feel that by having live talent on the air, you give yourself more options. It lets you stay in the moment of what’s happening right now. That’s hard to do without live personalities.”

Halyburton says the appeal of the format is that, “It’s certainly about the music, but it’s [also] about the attitude. One of the things I really liked about this approach is that in a lot of ways there’s more personality to a station like this than some stations that have [jocks] around the clock,” he says. “I think there’s a focus on what the station stands for and what it’s about. It’s not just a name and a brand, it’s about an attitude. This does a nice job of bringing that all together. If you have a staff, the Blake brand just amplifies that, and if you don’t have a staff, or have a smaller staff, it allows you to really amplify something that’s very clear to an end user. You can’t escape the branding of it… It’s fun, and it’s got clarity.

“I think it also offers the opportunity to break through,” Halyburton continues. “Everybody has started to play everything so safe. We know PPM has driven a lot of that, and in some of the diary markets some folks are beginning to follow some of that. What it doesn’t take into account is how do people feel about stuff? What we’re seeing over and over again is if you can make people really feel, then they will respond.”

Folger claims the brand’s moniker is not a loving tribute to Blake Shelton, but rather “just a hip name,” but it certainly doesn’t hurt that Shelton stars in a hit reality TV show and is one of the format’s hottest stars right now.