Entercom has flipped CHR “103.3 Amp Radio” WODS Boston to Variety Hits “Big 103” at 10am. today.
Featuring a playlist focusing on the 80s through 2000s, the station is featuring core artists Guns N’ Roses, Prince, Journey, Madonna, Pearl Jam, The Notorious B.I.G., AC/DC, Britney Spears and Blink-182. Big 103 is positioning as Music Unleashed and featuring a 2 Minute Promise to keep stopsets to that length.
The station has applied to change call letters to WBGB.
WODS dropped to a 1.0 share in the April 2020 Nielsen Audio ratings, well behind iHeartMedia’s “Kiss 108” with a 7.3 share. The new format targets Beasley Media Classic Hits 105.7 WROR which currently holds a 6.8 share.
The first hour of Big 103 featured:
- Guns N Roses – Welcome To The Jungle
- Notorious BIG – Hypnotize
- Journey – Any Way You Want It
- Incubus – Drive
- Stevie Nicks – Edge Of Seventeen
- Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love
- Bryan Adams – Summer Of 69
- Beck – Loser
- Lynyrd Skynrd – Sweet Home Alabama
- Eminem – Lose Yourself
- Def Leppard – Photograph
- Heart – Never
- Foo Fighters – Learn To Fly
- Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Entercom, a leading media and entertainment company and one of the two largest radio broadcasters in the U.S. today announced the launch of Boston’s newest radio station – BIG 103, “Music Unleashed,” effective immediately. The variety hits station on 103.3 FM will boast a vast music library spanning multiple music genres from the 1980’s 1990’s and 2000’s and feature artists like Guns N’ Roses, Prince, Journey, Madonna, Pearl Jam, The Notorious B.I.G., AC/DC, Britney Spears and Blink-182, among others.
“As we continue living through one of the most challenging times in our country and the world, we are committed to providing comfort by delivering optimistic and entertaining content to our listeners,” said Mark Hannon, Regional President and Market Manager, Entercom Boston. “BIG 103 will be a straight-forward, no nonsense sanctuary for fans focused on great music and artists, accented with an irreverent tongue-in-cheek approach that reflects the spirit of our city.”
In addition to the expanded music library, BIG 103 will also feature limited interruptions during its on-air programming through the “2-Minute Promise,” which will not stop the music for more than two minutes at any given time. To further focus on the music, artists and attitude that will define the station, it will initially launch without DJs.
The former Amp website redirects to Mix’s. However, it looks like big103boston.com is being used to redirect to a basic section on Radio.com (including a station stream).
First impression is that there are already a lot of options in that market for 80s-90s (safe) rock-based hits. That they seem to throw in a little bit of 90s rap adds a little difference to the mix versus WROR or WZLX, but for the most part it seems like more of the same music for Boston.