Update 8/1: 92.7 made the flip to Classic Rock at 12am as 92.7 WKZF.
The WKZF calls are in place legally, as the new station takes on Cumulus’ 93.5 WTPA for the Classic Rock audience in Central Pennsylvania.
The first hour of WKZF consisted of:
Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
Heart – Magic Man
John Cougar Mellencamp – Crumblin’ Down
Kiss – Rock And Roll All Nite
The Rolling Stones – Paint It Black
Billy Joel – Only The Good Die Young
Wings – Live And Let Die
Led Zeppelin – All My Love
Alice Cooper – I’m Eighteen
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Phil Collins – I Missed Again
The Edgar Winter Group – Free Ride
Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing
Van Halen – Feel Your Love Tonight
Original Report 7/29: Hall Communications “Smooth Jazz 92.7” WSJW Starview/Harrisburg, PA has dropped its format and is currently stunting.
The stunt consists of covers of “Stairway To Heaven” interspersed with comedy bits from cartoons such as Space Ghost Coast To Coast.
The station’s website features the following farewell message:
The decision to end Smooth Jazz 92.7 was not an easy one to make. Many factors contributed to the change, including the fact that listenership never reached predicted levels and revenues coming in were not enough to support the station and keep it on the air. We thank you for being a loyal listener and for your support of the station. A new format will begin shortly.
As far as what’s next. Hall Communications registered 927KZF.com and 927WKZF.com on July 8. A request for the WKZF calls were made the same day. With the stunt consisting of covers of Stairway to Heaven, its not really a stretch to expect a form of Rock presumably Classic Rock coming to 92.7 on Monday.
It surprises me that radio station owners don’t use more stealth with URL acquisition prior to a format flip. A good URL detective can sniff out a flip sometimes before it even happens.
Part of why I report on these domains is to educate the industry. There’s no reason why any of these domains should be discovered ahead of time.
Would be curious to see if this becomes a Classic Rock and how it competes with WYCR 98.5 and WRFY 102.5
Wow, another classic R&R station in central PA. How innovative! I wonder if listenership with competition will be an improvement over listenership without.
Been listening to 92.7 WKZF and must say it’s pretty good. I like the fact there is no mindless chit-chat in the mornings like other stations. They wisely adopted a morning format similar to the “River”. It’s classic rock but it has an edge and I like that.
I can’t stand any radio station that has mindless chatter in the morning, whether it is 93.5 or 101.3 or any station. Don’t they realize to compete with Satellite Radio they need to play more music!
Great job 92.7 keep up the good work. At Christmas time I hope they go to an all Christmas programming format from the week before Thanksgiving to the New Year.