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We once again reach the time of the year when many stations prepare to come out of the Christmas season. This year the addition of many new translators from the AM Revitalization Period will potentially increase the amount of stations making changes after Christmas or New Years.
Completed Changes
1/2 – One Putt Broadcasting moves AAA “99.3 The Jewel” KJWL Fresno CA to 105.5 and rebranding as Soft AC “K-Jewel” replacing Classic Hip-Hop “Rewind 105.5“, while 99.3 becomes CHR “99.3 Now-FM” KJZN
1/1 – Classic Dance “DJ 105.3” WZDJ Fernandina Beach/Jacksonville FL reverts to former owner NIA Broadcasting and begins simulcasting Country “K-Bay 106.3” WKBX Kingsland GA.
1/1 – iHeartMedia Oldies “Downtown 97.7” K249DV Baton Rouge LA switches to a simulcast of News/Talk 1150 WJBO.
1/1 – The closing of Red Rock Radio’s multiple sales in Minnesota leads to multiple changes. Country “Z96.1” KGPZ Coleraine/Grand Rapids goes to Classic Country “96.1 Duke-FM“.
1/1 – Classic Rock 102.9 KMFG-FM Nashwauk/Hibbing MN flips to Christian AC “Refuge Radio”
1/1 – Classic Hits 106.3 WMFG-FM Hibbing MN flips to a simulcast of Classic Rock “KQ 95” KQDS-FM Duluth.
1/1 – KQDS-FM simulcaster 105.5 KBAJ Deer River MN flips to locally originating Classic Rock “J105 The Thunder“.
1/1 – Earls Family Broadcasting’s 1220 KCAX/98.1 K251BZ Branson MO flips to Classic Country after stunting with Christmas Music since October 1. KCAX was previously Southern Gospel KOMC.
1/1 – Cherry Creek Radio Classic Country “Big Classic Country” 106.1 KXFF Colorado City/99.1 K256CD Cedar City/101.9 K270BV St. George UT flips to Variety Hits “101.9/99.1 Dave-FM“.
1/1 – Cherry Creek Radio Classic Country “Helena’s Gold Country” KHGC Montana City/Helena MT also switches to Variety Hits “98.5 Dave-FM“.
1/1 – JVC Broadcasting Rock “93.5 The Bar” WBFG Belle Glade/West Palm Beach flips to Oldies “93.5 True Oldies Channel“.
1/1 – Hella Media Group flips Classic Country “87.7 Hank-FM” KNNN-LP to to Alternative “Hella 87.7”
1/1 – Conservative Talk “95.9 The Point” 1470 WQXL Columbia SC moves its FM translator to 100.7 W264DF.
12/30 – CBS CHR “Hot 95.7” KKHH Houston flipped to Adult Hits “95.7 The Spot“.
12/30 – iHeartMedia Country “B92.5” KBEB Sacramento rebranded as “92.5 The Bull“.
12/30 – Saga News/Talk 1240 WTAX Springfield IL moved its FM translator to 93.5 W228DL. 107.5 W298AP will debut a new format at the end of January.
12/28 – Rochelle Broadcasting News/Talk 1060 WRHL Rochelle IL flipped to Oldies “Good Time Oldies 1060“.
12/28 – Leighton Broadcasting flipped Sports “1220 The Game” KJJK to CHR “Channel 97.7” following addition of new translator.
12/27 – Alpha Media launched Rock “Rock 99.7” W259CL Columbia SC
12/27 – Brewer Media Soft Oldies “Big Easy 106.9” W295BI Chattanooga relaunches after Christmas Music as Soft AC “Easy 106.9“.
12/26 – Cumulus Standards 600 WSOM Youngstown OH flips to Classic Country.
12/26 – William McCutcheon’s 103.5 KBJX Mertzon/San Angelo TX launched its permanent identity as AC “Majic 103.5“.
12/26 – LHTC Media AC “Variety 100.9” WZST Fairmont/Morgantown WV flips to Variety Hits “100.9 Jack-FM“.
12/26 – Iris Media’s 98.3 KDVC Columbia MO debuts its permanent identity as Soft AC “98.3 The Dove”
12/26 – Bold Broadcasting completes stunting on 104.7 WELJ Montauk NY and launches its new Soft AC format.
12/26 – iHeartMedia’s 102.1 KDGE Dallas debuted its new AC “Star 102.1” format.
12/26 – Flagler Broadcasting Soft Oldies “Easy Oldies 100.9” W265CF Palm Coast FL relaunched as Oldies “Kool 100.9“.
12/26 – Townsquare Media 105.3 WJLT Evansville IN debuted its new AC “My 105.3” identity after dropping Sports in November.
12/26 – Adams Radio AC “Soft Rock 103.9” WWFW Fort Wayne IN rebranded as “103.9 Sunny-FM“.
12/25 – Alpha Media AC 94.5 KBAY flipped to Classic Hits “94.5 Bay-FM“.
12/25 – Corus Radio Hot AC “99.1 Fresh Radio” CJGV Winnipeg MB flips to AC “Peggy @ 99.1” with mix of 1980s and recurrents.
12/20 – Commonwealth Broadcasting Sports “ESPN 1310” WTTL Madisonville KY flipped to Classic Hits “Classic Hits 103.5” with addition of translator.
12/19 – Saga Communications flipped Classic Hits 92.7 WKVT-FM Brattleboro VT to Classic Rock and Classic Rock “103.1 The Mountain” W276CB Keene NH to Classic Country “WINK Country Classics“.
Upcoming Changes
Bloomington IN – Mid America Radio Group’s “The Christmas Station” 101.1 WDCK Bloomfield will flip to Classic Country on Tuesday, January 3.
Norfolk – Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Gospel 1270 WTJY Newport News will relaunch as “Praise 104.9” on January 3.
Stations Stunting
Astoria OR – Radio Beam’s 93.3 KEUB Gearhart has been running Christmas Music since signing on in October.
Bellefontaine OH – V-Teck Communication’s 107.3 W297BP is running Christmas Music until debuting its permanent identity (Domain Insight).
Roanoke – iHeartMedia Classic Hits “Sunny 93.5” WSNV is running a “Wheel of Formats” type stunt until debuting new format on January 3 at 10am.
Tampa – Beasley Media Rock “98.7 No Rules Rock” WBRN-FM which was running commercial-free Christmas Music as “Santa 98.7” continues stunting with a Donald Trump themed “98.7 Donald-FM“.
Other Potential Changes
Boston – Beasley Media’s Silent 1330 WRCA will return to the air with a new format and translator 106.1 W291CZ.
Terre Haute – The three-way Emmis/DLC Media/Midwest Communications deal will close in early 2017 leading to Classic Rock “105.5 The River” WWVR West Terre Haute moving to one of Midwest’s frequencies and a new format for WWVR and potentially others.
Star 101.5 (Santa FM) as been running a promo saying be sure to check out the new sound of Star 101.5 after the holidays
Probably just a slight tweak in music. I can’t see them going to anything else, particularly if Kent Phillips has anything to do with it.
That’s pretty much what happened: a relaunch/refresh that apparently plays up the “throwbacks”…
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/161066/kplz-seattle-returns-with-today-s-best-mix-and-thr
99.1 fresh Radio Winnipeg (Canada) rumoured to flip to classic hits boom on or around boxing day. Just before they flipped to all country they let go of morning show and the afternoon host was leaving for a different opportunity. Corus owns the station and rumors of boom coming in to Winnipeg have swirled for months. Recently http://www.boom991.com was registered also
Only issue is that the Boom991.com domain was not registered by Corus but rather to a local person in Winnipeg. The registrant owns a few dead fake news sites in Winnipeg as well. Someone has been trying really hard to spread this Boom rumor on social media though.
Yeah, I was gonna say that I haven’t found any connection with the domain and Corus. Rumor is a rumor, but until I see some concrete proof, I won’t believe it.
Boston Radio Watch says WKAF 97.7 Brockton MA which has been simulcasting rock WAAF 107.3 will go female-leaning Urban AC a few days after some on air staffing changes Jan 3 on WAAF
Keep an eye out on “99.5 WMAG” (WMAG-FM, High Point, NC). They are still playing Christmas music as of today.
Many AC’s continue to play Christmas music through New Years. Doubtful there is a change coming there.
Well, how many other radio stations from the iHeartMedia family of stations, across the country, are still playing Christmas music, as of ? You heard what is going on with WSNV-FM in Roanoke. WMAG-FM may be doing something similar.
You might want to add WZDJ/Jacksonville to the list. The website and stream is gone and Tony Q just left a goodbye message on Facebook.
The Branson station is now classic country. http://www.kcaxbranson.com/