Beasley Media has come out of all-Christmas music with a new format on 98.7 WPBB Holmes Beach/Tampa FL.
The station has dropped its two year old AC “B98.7” brand format and has flipped to Classic Rock as “98.7 The Shark“. Positioned as “The Next Generation of Classic Rock”, the new format debuted at midnight with AC/DC “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)”, Stone Temple Pilots “Plush”, and Def Leppard “Photograph”.
The Shark will be anchored in mornings by 101.1 WRIF Detroit morning hosts Dave & Chuck The Freak making it the fourth Beasley station along with “Alt 92.9” WBOS Boston and “96 K-Rock” WRXK Fort Myers carrying the show. Dave & Chuck The Freak will debut on WPBB on Monday, January 7.
‘Ted Kamikaze’ Cannarozzi, Program Director of Classic Hits “Q105” 104.7 WRBQ, will add those duties for WPBB. Cannarozzi previously programmed Classic Rock “Thunder 103.5” WTBT in Tampa and Soft AC “Sunny 104.5” WSNI Philadelphia. His on-air career includes long runs at “98 Rock” WXTB Tampa and in New York at 660 WNBC, Z100 and 103.5 WAPP.
The new format positions WPBB between Cox Media Group’s Rock leaning Classic Hits “107.3 The Eagle” WXGL and iHeartMedia Active Rock “98 Rock” 97.9 WXTB. WXGL ranked second in the Tampa market with a 6.6 share in the November 2018 Nielsen Audio ratings, while WXTB was thirteenth with a 3.7 share. WPBB’s AC format was 18th with a 2.5 share.
Beasley Media Group has officially launched WPBB-FM/98.7FM The Shark-Tampa Bay’s Next Generation of Classic Rock. The station kicked off the new format on the air at midnight on Wednesday, December 26th with AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”.
98.7FM The Shark will feature a new generation of classic rock songs geared towards the 80’s and 90’s, with songs ranging from AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and Ozzy Osborne’s “Crazy Train” to Pearl Jam’s “Alive” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.
Through the month of January, the station will be commercial-free each day after airing the company’s Detroit-based WRIF-FM Dave & Chuck the Freak Morning Show. The show will begin simulcasting weekday mornings from 5:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. on January 7th 2019.
Known for their unique style of humor and banter, along with heavy social media interaction with fans, Dave and Chuck will provide wicked laughs and entertainment weekday mornings for Tampa Bay listeners. The show can also be heard on WRXK-FM/96 k-rock in Ft. Myers, Florida and WBOS-FM in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dave Hunter and Charles Urquhart, along with show member Lisa Way, began working together in April of 2001 on Windsor, Canada’s 89X (CIMX 88.7 FM) until November of 2012. The show officially debuted on the WRIF-FM airwaves in May of 2013. Since then, they’ve added Cohost Andy Green, Producer James Campbell and Video Editor Jason Watson.
“We are thrilled to bring Classic Rock radio back to Tampa Bay with 98.7 The Shark,” said Beasley Media Group Tampa Interim Market Manager Steve Triplett. “With a hand-picked mix of Rock hits from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and the Dave and Chuck the Freak Morning Show, we’re excited to give listeners something new and truly unique!”
“It’s been many years since Tampa Bay had a true Classic Rock station on a full signal and we’re excited to offer the next generation of Classic Rock to such a great Rock market,” said Executive Vice President of Programming Justin Chase. “Plus, we’re including our successful morning show Dave & Chuck the Freak which is a perfect complement to the music position.”
“There is a large group of Rock fans that do not have a radio station right now,” said Beasley Media Group Tampa Operations Manager Travis Daily. “Tampa Bay has always been one of the best Rock markets in America. Our goal is to give the music fans exactly what they have been asking for which is a highly entertaining morning show with Dave and Chuck the Freak with Classic Rock for the Next Generation the rest of the day!”
“After spending many years on Tampa Bay Rock Radio, it’s exciting to be part of a station with real bite,” said Station Program Director Ted Kamikaze.
