When WFEZ (Easy 93.1) Miami launched on Dec. 26, 2010, it took the success that owner Cox had at WDUV Tampa and propelled Soft AC from an outlier into a format category. Soft AC always had its fans in the industry, but any sort of building boom seemed to sputter quickly. Typically, there would be one new station that never got traction, and one that did well enough, but whose owners gave up on trying to sell upper demos after a while.
Now, WFEZ is a decade old. Two years ago, Soft AC became not just a format category but a feeding frenzy after the successful launch of KISQ (The Breeze) San Francisco. Not every Soft AC saw the same sort of success; several are gone already. But both WFEZ and KISQ continue to prove that sustained success is possible. Since Christmas, Southern Broadcasting has launched the format on both WYDS Corinth, Miss. (with a music mix clearly influenced by the current WFEZ), and, earlier this week, on WTKI (Easy 105.3) Huntsville, Ala.
When I wrote about the building boom two years ago, I noted more than a half-dozen reasons that the format was finally taking hold. One of them was the erosion of 12-to-34-year-old radio usage, leaving all gold-based formats with a bigger share of the remaining listening. That’s only more true now. COVID-19’s disruptions to listening patterns have also proven to benefit a format that earns its TSL the traditional, pre-PPM way, by being listenable for long stretches.
In PPM over the last six months, KISQ has been in the 4.6-5.4 6-plus range while Mainstream AC rival KOIT has been between 3.7-4.4. (In December, Christmas music finally propelled KOIT ahead 6.3 to 5.0.) In Miami, WFEZ has been between 6.1-7.5. In December, it went 7.5-7.1 and led the market. Part of WFEZ’s success has been its strength with older men, which surprises some people, but it’s a station that began with lots of ‘60s oldies and Soft R&B, two things known to draw male numbers. (Soft R&B is certainly a major part of KISQ’s success.)
When WFEZ launched, Mainstream AC WLYF had just been through a period of trying to shed some of its images as one of the format’s older/softer stations. When WLYF settled, it was still more traditional than most similar stations around the country, even in 2010, and on the night that WFEZ launched, WLYF was planning two station anniversary concerts featuring Barry Manilow. That led to a moment in WFEZ’s first hour where both stations were playing Manilow at the same time, a rarity in 1990, much less 2010 And WFEZ’s hour also featured multiple similar Soft AC statement artists.
Here’s WFEZ in its first hour on Dec. 26, 2011:
- Whitney Houston, “The Greatest Love of All”
- Simon & Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
- Neil Diamond, “I Am, I Said”
- Journey, “Open Arms”
- Beach Boys, “California Girls”
- Stylistics, “You Make Me Feel Brand New”
- Classics IV, “Traces”
- Barry Manilow, “Weekend in New England” (WLYF was playing “Copacabana [At the Copa]”).
- Kenny Rogers, “Through the Years”
- Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle”
- Jay & the Americans, “This Magic Moment”
Here’s WFEZ a few weeks later at 9 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2011:
- Moody Blues, “Tuesday Afternoon”
- Michael Murphey, “Wildfire”
- Classics IV, “Traces”
- Carole King, “It’s Too Late”
- Casinos, “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye”
- Gloria Estefan, “Here We Are”
- Eagles, “Best of My Love”
- B.J. Thomas, “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”
- Climax Blues Band, “I Love You”
- Beach Boys, “Warmth of the Sun”
- Stylistics, “I’m Stone in Love With You”
- Gerry & the Pacemakers, “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying”
- Barry Manilow, “Somewhere in the Night”
- Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, “The Closer I Get to You”
- Rick Nelson, “Garden Party”
- Paul Simon, “Slip Sliding Away”
- Association, “Never My Love”
Here’s WLYF (Lite 101.5) during the same hour:
- Anita Baker, “Sweet Love”
- Bee Gees, “Jive Talkin’”
- Shania Twain, “You’re Still the One”
- Pointer Sisters, “Jump (For My Love)”
- Little River Band, “Reminiscing”
- Aerosmith, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
- Bruno Mars, “Just the Way You Are”
- REO Speedwagon, “Keep On Loving You”
- Chic, “Good Times”
- Laura Branigan, “Self Control”
- Elton John, “Daniel”
- Rick Astley, “Never Gonna Give You Up”
- All-4-1, “I Swear”
- Lifehouse, “You and Me”
- Grover Washington Jr. f/Bill Withers, “Just the Two of Us”
- Bryan Adams, “Heaven”
Part of the Soft AC playbook has often been to evolve as close to Mainstream AC as possible, preferably pushing the incumbent AC out of the way so you have more room to maneuver. Neither WFEZ nor KISQ have managed to eliminate their rivals. KISQ seemed to briefly attempt modernizing, then retrenched after a period where the numbers softened. But even with WLYF there, WFEZ has segued to a brighter, gold-based AC approach, positioned as “favorites from the ‘80s, ‘90s and more” but manages to tether it to the station of a decade ago because of the “Easy 93.1” name, and perhaps because of the different energy of South Florida itself.
WFEZ did nudge one of its other targets out of the market. SBS-owned WCMQ (Classica 92.3) Miami was a unique mix of Spanish- and English-language Oldies. In December, its successor, Tropical Latin “Zeta 92.3,” was third in the market, up 4.6-6.1. Meanwhile, it’s roughly true that WFEZ has moved into WLYF’s old position, but it’s really gone a little further than that, since WLYF was the type of AC station that was still not playing “Living on a Prayer” a decade ago; WFEZ does play it.
With the Soft AC boom of the late ‘10s came a second set of stations, led by WRME (Me-TV-FM) Chicago, that occupied a position more like the original WFEZ — ‘60s oldies and ‘70s soft AC. WRME has remained viable even after being shortspaced by iHeart’s WLIT (Lite 93.9), which returned to the Soft AC business two years ago. So has Ross On Radio reader favorite KDRI (The Drive) Tucson, Ariz. Both stations have signal issues; both stations have owners who see the mid-three share range as a franchise, not a niche.
WFEZ has thus far also managed to hold iHeart’s new all-‘90s WMIA (Totally 93.9) at (Biscayne) bay. WMIA’s big months have been in the high two-share-range. In December, with holiday music kicking in on WLYF, it was off 2.7-1.6. WMIA’s representation of New Kids on the Block has been “Step by Step,” a truly lost song until last year, but their biggest song that is actually from the ‘90s. This weekend, when I took a “Fresh Listen” to Easy 93.1, WFEZ was playing it too.
During the hour below, WFEZ twice reminded listeners that it played the Bee Gees, resurgent nationally because of their HBO documentary, but always local favorites. The Bee Gees were mentioned as a core artist in a music promo, but also in a “South Florida’s Home for the Bee Gees” liner that played when the act did. Another promo described the station as “your happy place,” with “more of the ‘80s that you grew up on, ‘90s that are memorable, and more of your favorites from today.” The station promises to surround “you with your greatest memories.”
Here’s WFEZ on its anniversary, at 1 p.m., December 26, 2020:
- Sting, “Fields of Gold”
- Brenda Russell, “Piano in the Dark”
- Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, “Shallow”
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, “Conga”
- Mariah Carey, “Dreamlover”
- New Kids on the Block, “Step by Step”
- Bee Gees, “Too Much Heaven”
- Johnny Hates Jazz, “Shattered Dreams”
- Alicia Keys, “If I Ain’t Got You”
- UB40, “Red Red Wine”
- Elton John, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”
- Bruce Hornsby & Range, “The Way It Is”
- K-Ci & Jojo, “All My Life”