RadioInsight

A format change appears imminent at Press Communications CHR “Hit 106” 106.3 WHTG-FM Eatontown/106.5 WBBO Bass River Township, NJ. Following the dismissal Program Director/Afternoon host Matt Knight and few other personnel today it appears that the station will soon flip to Country. Press registered Thunder106.com earlier today, which seems to indicate a move of the format from 98.5 WKMK which only covers the Ocean portion of the Monmouth/Ocean market.

Not surprisingly WKMK is hyping a major announcement for 7:20 Wednesday morning.

LC Media’s 104.7 KQIE Redlands, CA quietly made its long awaited debut over the Labor Day weekend. Dubbed “Q104.7” like its sister in Oxnard/Ventura, the station is currently running jockless Rhythmic CHR. We are awaiting word whether this is the official format or not although there are Facebook and Twitter pages for the new station.

As we approach the Labor Day weekend there seems to be heightened activity on the format change front, especially with nine markets switching to PPM ratings in October. This entry will be a catch-all for all changes and rumors happening this week:

Update 9/6 - Format Changes in Lubbock, Idaho Falls. New Station in Edmonton. And a Move-In to Phoenix.
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Clear Channel Classic Country “96.7 The Legend” WWLG Peachtree City/Atlanta has flipped to a simulcast of Rhythmic CHR “105.7 The Groove” WWVA. The move give “Groove” increased coverage of the Southern portions of the Atlanta market as it attempts to fill the niche opened up by the flip of “95.5 The Beat” WBTS to a simulcast of News/Talk WSB last month.

105.7 is located about 21 miles north of downtown Atlanta, while 96.7 is 21 miles southwest of the city. Since the flip of WBTS, The Groove has gotten much more current musically and has shifted from Rhythmic AC to Rhythmic CHR.

Update 9/3/10: All the projected flips happened at 5pm today. 93.5 WOZZ shifts from Classic Rock to Active Rock as “93 Rock” and AC 94.3 WROE & 99.7 WRQE shifts to Classic Rock as “The Drive“. Along with the changes are a bunch of call letter changes. 94.3 WROE is now WYDR, 99.7 WRQE is WZDR, 93.5 WOZZ takes the WRQE calls, while WOZZ shifts to the former 1390 WRIG in Wausau.

Update 8/30/10: WOZZ has launched a Facebook page promoting its format change to Rock on Friday, September 3.

Update 8/29/10: Forget about the second batch of domain registrations for 94.3 and 99.7. As we expected they all appear to be decoys registered following our original report. On Friday, Midwest applied for call letter changes at 94.3 WROE to WYDR and 99.7 WRQE to WZDR to signify their pending “Drive” identity.

Update 8/26/10: After our original report, Lewis and Midwest have gone back and added a few more domains in an attempt to keep people guessing about their future plans in Appleton and Green Bay. The new domains are 935LiteFM.com, Wild93Online.com, 943TheBull.com, 943TheMix.com, 997TheBull.com, and 997TheMix.com. We really should start consulting some of these companies on how to properly hide domain registrations from competitors and knowledgeable snoops like ourselves.

Original Report 8/23/10: Midwest Communications appears to be planning rebranding of a pair of stations in Appleton/Green Bay, WI. A number of new domains have been registered by the company’s Multimedia Content Director, Lori Lewis for planned use at Classic Rock 93.5 WOZZ and AC simulcast 94.3 WROE and 99.7 WRQE.

The domains 943TheDrive.com and 997TheDrive.com point to an obvious rebranding or format change at WROE. Meanwhile three domains point to a possible tweak at WOZZ: 93RockOn.com, New93Rock.com, and New93RockOn.com could all lead to a tweak towards Mainstream or Active Rock at WOZZ. We’ll be watching these stations closely in the coming weeks.

Max Media News/Talk “101.5 The Truth” KTNI Denver has flipped to Urban Oldies as “Jammin 101.5“. The station is promoting itself as “Denver’s Old School” and featuring artists such as Michael Jackson, Salt ‘N Pepa, Prince, and Stevie Wonder.

The “Jammin” moniker was previously found on Chancellor’s 92.5 KDJM from 1999 to 2005, where it began as one of the many Jammin Oldies stations of that time. That station was then sold to CBS who shifted it towards Urban Oldies before flipping to Country.

Longtime Honolulu CHR “Hot 93.9″ KIKI Honolulu, previously known as “I94” flipped to Rhythmic Oldies “93.9 Jamz” at 12pm Hawaii Time today. The new station is positioning itself as “Your Generation’s Ol’ Skool” with Rhythmic Pop from the 80′s and 90′s.

The station bid farewell on its Facebook Page:

Mahalo nui loa for listening over the past 25 years.
From its inception as HOT I94 in 1986 to making us the #1 rated radio station in Honolulu for the first time in 1991 to today, just before noon, when we reach “The End Of The Road”…Thanks for listening!
Catch the end of HOT 93-9 and the beginning of something new at http://Hot939.com/
Many thanks to the air personalities and people behind the scenes that each had a part in creating the most legendary Top 40 radio station in Hawaii history.
Your contributions on the air and off the air will not be forgotten.
A special thanks to the team that gave it that last “hail Mary” over the past year.
You are all special people who we will always remember. fondly.
It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday…
Aloha Hawaii…

The first hour of 93.9 Jamz consisted of:
2 Unlimited – Get Ready For This
Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam
Prince & The Revolution – Kiss
Sir Mix-A-Lot – Baby Got Back
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch – Good Vibrations
Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It
Quad City DJ’s – C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)
Cameo – Word Up
La Bouche – Be My Lover
Rick James – Super Freak
Johnny Gill – Rub You The Right Way
MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
Jennifer Lopez – Waiting For Tonight
The Gap Band – You Dropped A Bomb On Me

The ESPN Radio affiliation could once again be on the move in Boston. After “ESPN Boston” 890 WAMG/1400 WLLH went dark last September, ESPN Radio has been relegated to overnights on 850 WEEI even with the launch and strong presence of ESPNBoston.com in the market.

That could soon change. Anthony Pepe, GM of Black Strap Broadcasting’s 1510 WWZN, recently registered 1510ESPNBoston.com and ESPN1510Boston.com via his Mouthpiece Boxing company. WWZN is currently airing a mix of brokered Progressive Talk, Mouthpiece’s MMA/Boxing/Wrestling shows, and Sporting News Radio.

WWZN will be the third entrant in a sports battle between Entercom’s incumbent WEEI and CBS’ upstart “98.5 The Sports Hub” WBZ-FM. The 50kw WWZN has a highly directional signal sending much of its power over the Atlantic Ocean.

CBS Smooth Jazz WSJT Tampa Bay flipped at 3:00pm to Adult CHR “Play 98.7“. Positioning itself as “Today’s Best Hits Without The Rap”, Play 98.7 is positioning itself between Clear Channel Hot AC “Mix 100.7” WMTX and CHR “93.3 WFLZ“. Paired with sister Rhythmic CHR “Wild 94.1” WLLD, the CBS and Clear Channel combos should have a nice battle shaping up for the female 18-34 demographic in the market.

WLLD PD Orlando adds similar duties at “Play 98.7″. WLLD and WSJT had swapped frequencies in August of 2009 to give the Rhythmic outlet broader coverage of outlying areas of West Central Florida. The previous Smooth Jazz format will be relaunched on 98.7-HD2.

We should also note that CBS had registered Play987.com in March of 2009, in a flurry of registrations hinting at flips that came in Tampa, Boston, Detroit, and Washington.

The first hour of Play 98.7 consisted of:
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With PPM measurement set to become the law in October, Clear Channel and Cox are cutting morning shows left and right in Orlando.

Dave Collins, co-host at AC “Magic 107.7” WMGF was let go on Friday after ten years at the station. Leslie Gayle and Zach Roberson continue with a more-music approach.

With Lex & Terry departing Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks for United Stations Radio Networks following the flip of their flagship “Planet Radio 107.3” WPLA Jacksonville earlier this month, the pair have been dropped from sister 101.1 WJRR as well. Afternoon host Crash moves to mornings paired with LT. Pat Lynch, who at one time hosted mornings at the station, moves from weekends back into a daily shift. Lynch will air in the 3pm to 8pm slot.

At Cox Country “K92” WWKA, market morning mainstay Doc Holliday has been taken off the air. Holliday had spent 17 years at Clear Channel CHR “XL 106.7” before joining WWKA in 2007. WWKA PD Len Shackleford tells The Orlando Sentinel that Holliday remains on the Cox payroll but did not specify on his new role, or if they are just keeping him off the air to prevent him from going elsewhere at this time.

Update 8/26/10: KOCP made the flip to “Rewind 95.9” on Wednesday afternoon, mere hours after our report went live. The station is focusing on 70′s and 80′s pop hits or as station GM Chip Ehrhardt quotes, “The new station will focus on music from the 70s and 80s. It’s the kind of music mix of pop and rock hits that you might hear played at a wedding reception or anniversary party when people want to have fun and feel good.”

The first hour of Rewind 95.9 consisted of:
Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Starting Something
Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine
The Eagles – Heartache Tonight
Wang Chung – Dance Hall Days
Madonna – Borderline
The Rolling Stones – Miss You
Naked Eyes – Always Something There To Remind Me
Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
R.E.M. – The One I Love
Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes
War – Low Rider
Bon Jovi – Wanted Dead Or Alive
Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time
Tom Petty – Free Fallin’

Original Report 8/24/10: Roy Laughlin, former Market Manager of Clear Channel Los Angeles had us baffled with the registration of 959Rewind.com a few weeks ago until our Twitter followers helped up put the pieces together. Laughlin, is a partner in LC Media (owners of currently silent 104.7 KQIE in Riverside/San Bernardino, CA) and Rincon Broadcasting (owners of 6 Santa Barbara, CA stations) with John Hearne. Hearne also operates five stations in Ventura, CA (just northwest of Los Angeles) as Gold Coast Broadcasting. One of these stations happens to be “95.9 The Octopus” KOCP Camarillo, CA. KOCP also has a Constructon Permit to move closer to Los Angeles giving the station coverage in parts of the San Fernando Valley. Will a flip to the fast-growing Classic Hits branding come along with the move?

Meanwhile across the country on the Virginia/North Carolina border, Lakes Media appears ready to flip 101.9 WKSK South Hill, VA from a simulcast of sister Country “US 98.3” WLUS to “Rewind 101.9“. The station reaches the northern fringe of the Raleigh-Durham market.

Following ESPN Radio’s announced departure from 98.9 XHMORE-FM Tijuana/San Diego, MEC Networks will flip the station to one of its previous incarnations. Based on the station’s website, Rock en Espanol “More FM 98.9” will return to the frequency that hosted it two incarnations ago as of September 1. It also appears that sister 800 XESPN will remain affiliated with “ESPN Deportes Radio”.

Clear Channel has rebranded its Des Moines area Modern Rocker. The former “105.1 Channel Q” KCCQ Ames has relaunched as “New Rock 105.1“.

Cox Radio is taking advantage of Clear Channel’s flip of Modern Rock “Planet Radio 107.3″ WPLA to Classic Hits to revamp one of its struggling outlets. Classic Rock “Rock 105“. Following last weeks departure of The Greaseman and Cowhead, the station has added currents and recurrents to its former Classic Rock mix and relaunched as “Rock 104.5 – Jacksonville’s Best Rock” retaining Bubba The Love Sponge in Mornings and hyping 52 minutes of music per hour. WFYV had used the “Rock 105″ moniker since 1980.

WFYV has lost ratings share in recent years as Cox built a wall of Rock with sister Modern Rock “X102.9” WXXJ and Classic Hits “96.9 The Eagle” WJGL to flank their heritage Rock outlet. By shifting WFYV to Mainstream Rock, WJGL can focus on the Classic Rock hits in order to battle Clear Channel’s new “Magic 107.3“.

Cox Radio has flipped Rhythmic CHR “95.5 The Beat” WBTS Atlanta to a simulcast of News/Talk 750 WSB. WSB has struggled slightly in the ratings since the flip to PPM measurement, as its lack of younger listeners has become more noticeable. The addition of the FM signal, a move that Cox has made in recent years in Tulsa, Dayton, and Jacksonville will give WSB a chance to reach listeners that normally don’t find their way onto the AM band.

The Beat’s format will continue jockless on 97.1 WSRV HD-2 and as a webcast, although Clear Channel’s similarly formatted “105.7 The Groove” WWVA-FM stands to benefit from The Beat’s demise.