With 3 Horizons LLC’s CP to move 96.3 KWLZ-FM Warm Springs, OR to West Linn set to expire on August 31, we have our first indication of what the station will do upon its move into the Portland market.
Days after filing the application to transfer the license from Horizon Broadcasting Group to the 3 Horizons partnership with 3 Cities Broadcasting, the owner of AC “Mixx 96.1” KXXO Olympia/Tacoma, WA which has to move to enable the KWLZ-FM move-in, anonymous domain registrations were made for 963KWLZ.com and PDXCountry963.com.
A launch of a Country format with the new KWLZ-FM signal would give the market four Country stations. Alpha Media’s “98.7 The Bull” KUPL, Entercom’s “99.5 The Wolf” KWJJ, and iHeartMedia translator “Tailgate 103.7” K279BO combined for an 11.1 share in the April 2015 Nielsen Audio PPM ratings.
Once launched in the Portland market, KWLZ-FM will operate as a Class C3 signal with 1.4kW at 386 meters (Coverage Map).
Four Country stations in Portland? Sounds like overkill and possibly a casualty.
Would one of them benefit by flipping to classic country?