After stunting with Christmas Music since Halloween, Cumulus Media flipped former Classic Hip-Hop 98.9 The Vibe” WKIM Munford/Memphis TN to AC “98.9 The Bridge” at 6am this morning.

Positioned as “Connecting You To Your Favorite Music” and promoting 50 minutes of music per hour, the station is taking direct aim at Entercom’s “104.5 The River” WRVR. With WRVR’s former morning duo Mike Montana and Mandy Morgan resigning in September to “pursue new opportunities”, will the duo reappear on WKIM upon completion of their non-compete?

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Original Report 10/31: The first entrant has come for our 2017 Post-Christmas Format Change Watchlist, as Cumulus Media began Christmas music stunting on what was Classic Hip-Hop “98.9 The Vibe” WKIM Munford/Memphis TN.

Branding as “Christmas 98.9“, the stunt began at 12pm with Elvis’ “Blue Christmas”. The former Classic Hip-Hop format had ended a streak of under-performing formats since the station moved into the Memphis market in 2001 as it went through runs with Smooth Jazz, Urban, Hot AC, 90s Hits, and Conservative Talk until its flip to Classic Hip-Hop in February 2015. In the September Nielsen Audio ratings the station placed tenth in the market with a 3.1 share.

Cumulus Media announces that Memphis, TN, radio station WKIM-FM/98.9 The Vibe officially turned on the holiday spirit today as Memphis’ destination Christmas station, Christmas 98.9! Christmas 98.9 launched today at 12 Noon Central, playing the first of the season’s most popular holiday tunes, Elvis’ “Blue Christmas”. Memphians who love Christmas music can tune in to Christmas 98.9 throughout the holidays and can also stream the Christmas music they can’t get enough of at: http://www.christmas989.com.

Morgan Bohannon, Vice President and Market Manager, Cumulus Media-Memphis, said: “We are really excited to offer a new and unique listening experience for the hundreds of thousands of people that enjoy non-stop Christmas music. “Christmas 98.9” offers the River City an exciting choice as soon as you cross the bridge.”