Palm Springs Station Shuffle
February 1, 2010
A pair of station sales triggered by one station’s move to a neighboring market will lead to new formats for 5 stations in the Palm Springs, CA market. Here’s a rundown of what will happen:
On February 2, R&R Radio’s Classic Hits 104.7 KDES will move its programming to its newly acquired 98.5 signal that was previously home to Beautiful Music KWXY-FM. R&R purchased the station for $7.5 Million as part of the sale of 104.7.
KWXY’s format will shift to 1340, displacing Progressive Talk KPTR.
KPTR’s Progressive Talk slides down to the former 1450 KGAM, replacing the Conservative Talk/ESPN Radio format.
In an attempt to capitalize on the confustion caused by those shifts RM Broadcasting’s Variety Hits “95.9 Jack-FM” KAJR has flipped to Soft AC “95.9 The Oasis”.
All of those moves were made in order to allow 104.7 to move west into the neighboring Riverside/San Bernardino market following a sale to LC Media, a group led by longtime KIIS-FM Los Angeles GM Roy Laughlin for $10.5 Million. No format has been disclosed at this time, however we have discovered 1047PirateRadio.com was registered by Laughlin this past October.
Cincinnati Sports Swap
February 1, 2010
Update 2/12: The Sports network flip in Cincinnati will occur on Monday 2/15 as 1530 WCKY becomes “ESPN 1530“, while WSAI becomes “Fox Sports 1360“.
Original Entry: Clear Channel appears to be on the verge of shifting the network programming of its two all-sports stations in Cincinnati. Currently, “1530 Homer” WCKY airs a mix of local programming and Fox Sports Radio, while “ESPN 1360” WSAI is a 24/7 simulcast of ESPN Radio.
Based on a number of domain registrations made last week, Clear Channel appears to be merging the marketing of the two stations under the “Homer” brand, while moving the ESPN affiliation to the 50kw 1530 signal and Fox Sports to the weaker 5kw 1360 stick. Among the domains registered are CincyHomer.com, Homer247.com, HomerRadio.com, HomerCincinnati.com, ESPN1530.com, and FoxSports1360.com.
104.5 KMCQ Seattle Officially Launches
February 8, 2010
First Broadcasting’s 104.5 KMCQ has spent the past two years moving its license from The Dalles, OR to Seattle. With some help from the frequency swap of KAFE Bellingham, WA and CHHR Vancouver, BC last month, KMCQ was able to complete its quest towards becoming a full-market Seattle signal.
Today, KMCQ offically debuted its Classic Hits format as “American Pop Radio” featuring pop hits of the 1960’s and 70’s. Former 97.3 KBSG air personality Mark Christopher has joined the station for an undisclosed air shift.
Citadel Joins Gen-X Fray in Baton Rouge
February 14, 2010
Citadel Broadcasting has flipped AC “Sunny 103.3” WCDV Baton Rouge to 90’s based Classic Hits as “103.3 Baton Rouge’s Gen X Music“.
Live 100.5 Birmingham To Flip To News/Talk
February 15, 2010
Citadel Broadcasting has announced that AAA “Live 100.5” WWMM Birmingham, AL will flip to a simulcast of sister News/Talk 1070 WAPI in the next week to 10 days. The station will be the third News/Talker in Birmingham to make the move to FM joining 101.1 WYDE and 105.5 WERC.
An amazing groundswell of support for the current AAA format has been built online as over 14,000 people have joined the Facebook Group “Save Live 100.5” in the past 72 hours. Whether or not it is enough to prevent the flip to talk (We doubt it will), it should be enough to get another station in the market to at least consider picking up the “Live” format and staff.
94.3 The Talker To Launch in Scranton on 3/1
February 18, 2010
As we first tweeted on 2/1, Bold Gold Media will flip its recently acquired 94.3 WLNP Scranton, PA to News/Talk on March 1 as “94.3 The Talker“. The station’s lineup will feature:
6am to 9am – Imus In The Morning
9am to 12pm – Glenn Beck
12pm to 3pm – Laura Ingraham
3pm to 6pm – Sean Hannity
6pm to 9pm – Mark Levin
In the interim, the station has flipped from its former AC “94.3 Lite-FM” format to a simulcast of sister Classic Hits “105 The River” 104.9 WWRR.
Talking Big In Syracuse
February 22, 2010
Update 3/3: After a short stunt with TV Theme Songs, “105.9 The Big Talker” launched today in Syracuse. More at CNYRadio.com.
Update 2/22: Citadel quickly confirmed our report of WLTI flipping to FM Talk as “105.9 The Big Talker“. The new lineup will include the syndicated Bob & Tom in the mornings, and a local show hosted by Gary Nolan from 4 to 7pm. Nolan began his talk career in Syracuse, but was most recently hosting afternoons at “Eagle 93.9” KSSZ in Columbia, MO. Other hosts in the lineup include Stephanie Miller, Michael Smerconish, Dave Ramsey, and Mark Levin. For more on the story visit our friends at CNYRadio.com.
Original Report 2/20: With rumors swirling about Citadel flipping one of its FM stations in Syracuse, NY to Talk we can confirm there are domain registrations to back up such a move. 1059TheBigTalker.com and 1059BigTalker.com were registered in late January by Citadel. 105.9 is currently the home of low-rated AC “Lite Rock 105.9” WLTI. Citadel owns two other stations nationally on 105.9, neither of which seem likely destinations for a “Big Talker”: Rock WVRX Washington, DC (CBS uses the Big Talker moniker on 1580 WHFS there) and Country WGKX Memphis, TN.
Elsewhere in Syracuse, Citadel seemingly has decided on a new moniker for 1260 WNSS when it loses its ESPN Radio affiliation on March 5. Score1260.com and TheScore1260.com were registered at the same time as the aforementioned BigTalker domains in late January.
WROW Albany Drops News/Talk – 100.9 WKLI Becomes The Bridge
February 24, 2010
Update 2/24/10: At 11:00am today, WKLI launched its new format as Variety Hits “100.9 The Bridge” following a brief stunt with a heartbeat, Christmas music, and Country. The station’s first hour consisted of:
The Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge
Madonna – Crazy For You
The Beach Boys – I Get Around
Alanis Morissette – Hand In My Pocket
Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
Billy Joel – My Life
.38 Special – Hold On Loosely
Daughtry – Home
Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
Jimmy Cliff – I Can See Clearly Now
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – I Hate Myself For Loving You
Uncle Kracker – Drift Away
Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Tom Cochrane – Life Is A Highway
Journey – Separate Ways
Clear Channel Grooving Into Pensacola
February 25, 2010
Update 2/26: WYCL did make the flip to Rhythmic AC “107.3 The Groove” today at 8:00 AM. The first hour consisted of:
Beyonce – Sweet Dreams
Kelly Clarkson – Miss Independent
Katy Perry – Hot N Cold
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch – Good Vibrations
Flo-Rida – Low
Madonna – Dress You Up
Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie
Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
Prince & The Revolution – Kiss
Rihanna – Umbrella
Young MC – Bust A Move
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
Jay Sean – Down
Kool & The Gang – Get Down On It
104.9 The Edge Albany Goes Country
February 26, 2010
Albany Broadcasting has made its second format flip this week in its hometown of Albany, NY. Following on the heels of the launch of Variety Hits “100.9 The Bridge” on Wednesday, the company has flipped Active Rock “104.9 The Edge” WZMR to Country as “104.9 The Cat” at 10:49 this morning. The flip give Regent’s market leading 107.7 WGNA its first head-on format competitor in quite some time.
