94.5 Birmingham Goes Country (For Now?)
July 5, 2008
Update 7/25/08: 1005TheVibe.com has been registered by CSC Corporate Domains, the registrar responsible for all of Citadel’s internet operations. We’d expect Rhythmic CHR or Urban to form a tandem with sister Urban AC “Hot 107.7″ WUHT to compete with Cox’s Urban “95.7 Jamz” WBHJ and Urban AC “98.7 Kiss” WBHK.
Update 7/21/08: As of today, sister Sports 100.5 WJOX has moved to the 94.5 frequency. 100.5, licensed to Northport, AL rimshots Birmingham from the Southwest from near Tuscaloosa, while 94.5 broadcasts from the center of Birmingham. WJOX had moved from 690 AM to 100.5 in November 2006.
Original Post 7/5/08: Following its broadcast of the local July 4 fireworks, Citadel Adult CHR “The New 94.5” WYSF Birmingham, AL flipped to Country at 10:00pm Friday night. The station is currently running jockless and nameless, which seems to point towards a stunt.
Birmingham currently has 3 other Country stations. Cox has the combo of 104.7 WZZK and 97.3 WNCB, while Clear Channel owns 102.5 WDXB. All three combined for 15.6 of the audience in the recent Arbitrends, while sat at 2.4.
The most likely formats could be Rhythmic CHR like recently launched sister “Power 102.9” in New Orleans or a relaunch of Hot AC/Adult CHR with actual branding.
Harrisburg FM Gets Touched
July 25, 2008
1400 WTCY Harrisburg, PA has begun simulcasting on FM translator 95.3 W237DE Harrisburg. In doing so, the Cumulus Urban AC has rebranded itself as “95.3 The Touch”
970 WWDJ New York to go Talk
July 25, 2008
After 34 years as a Christian station, Salem Communications will flip 970 WWDJ Hackensack, NJ to Talk as “970 The Apple”. On July 25, the WWDJ call letters were swapped with sister 1150 WTTT Boston. The WTTT calls in New York will be short-lived, as Salem requested WNYM, which can also be seen in the station logo above. As a historical aside, WNYM were the calls of Salem’s first New York outlet on 1330 until the purchase of 570 WMCA in 1989.
970theapple.com and am970theapple.com were both registered on June 13. While the domains are not active, the site for the future format can be found at http://am970theapple.townhall.com.
A look at the schedule listed on the website includes Fox News Radio’s John Gibson from 5 to 8am, The Wall Street Journal Report from 10am to 11am, Bill Bennett from 11am to 2pm, Mike Gallagher from 2pm to 5pm, Dennis Prager from 5pm to 8pm, Michael Medved from 8pm to 11pm, Hugh Hewitt from 11pm to 2am, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger from 2am to 5am. Jim Bohannon is listed without a timeslot, while no program is listed from 8am to 10am. Bennett, Gallagher, Prager, Medved, and Hewitt are all syndicated by Salem.
