Category: Broadcaster's Lounge
Here in the Westchester area, 106.3 WFAF (witch used to translate 103.9 WFAS an Adult Contemporary station) has no switched formats. After running 15-minute loops of movies clips, and calling themselves "Flix106" and having a website at: http://www.Flix106.com they are a rocker. They now translate 101.5 WPBH out of upstate NY. I have the stunt, and flip over which occured at 5:30 AM on monday. Jocks make funny stabs at the company at the start of the show, and makes cracks on the stunt of Flix106. Now a question, has anyone caught the fomrat switch over in LA? I hear there wreer three of them at the same time on AM. Whsat are the new formats and what was the formats before? Any pradictions? John
Wow! Haven't heard about thsi ... there's one station ehre that used to be Today's Hit Music, then it turned to liek thsi really random, unpopular music that no one has heard of and then it was Country and I think it still is?
Well, I haven't heard of these format changes, but on the general subject, I do enjoy some of the stunts stations will pull when switching formats. I know one station in San Jose, CA, back around 1991, was a top 40 format and when they shifted to a classic rock format, they played all kinds of versions of "Louie Louie" for the whole weekend. I've also heard a countdown by a synthesized voice in some cases. Others would play a sequence of production pieces interspersed with ocean waves or a heartbeat or something like that.
The heartbeat heard on I think it wwas the former 96.5 WWDB when they went all talk to the 80's format as 96.5 The Point, later changing calls to WPTP, and now they are Rhythmic CHR and calling themselves "Wired 96.5" WRDW-FM. Or was it just before 94.5 went to oldies as WNJO calling themselves "New Jersey's Oldiess station?
Format changes are evil. Last year, Wlir, my favorite alternative rock station who'd been trying out dance music for a while, sudenly switched over to Spanish music without telling anyone. There is a new lir but it's way out east on Long Island and you can't get it unless you're out there or driving through Connecticut. They don't even broadcast online anymlore. I miss them and I wish I would've at least known about the format change.
Have any of you heard those strange count downs that go on just before a format change? The first tiem I heared one I thought it ws from, like, outer space? lol! i got up extra early to hear it rech one and turned out it was a format change.
LIR was crap... I didn't know it changed but Dad used to tape it when it was DRE with Tommy Nappy (good dj) apparently it was DJs all day or something, then it became LIR and it was crap. Well at least I think so...
James
Dance music is dead in north america. WPYM 93.1 miami switched from party93.1 to a rock station, the name escapes me. party105 long island isgoing more an more urban, barely playing any new dance material.
not to mention kdl dalis tx switching earlier this year...
We only got WKTU New york, KNGY San Fransisco, KNRJ Phoenix, and a few rythmic dance stations like wqsx boston and WDVA? New Orleens.
O and KNHC seattle
It's really to bad. It's Clear Channel I tell ya! Then there's Z103.5 Toronto Ontario Canada. This station is going to suffer a death in the next few years. They rely on the groove coverage euro sound wayyyyyy to much...
if you know me from off zone, you know I heavily supported z103.5 in the past, but they seem to be leening to just playing what they know will do well. I still think there the best model for a north american chr, however.
92.7 WLIR was interesting. They flirted with dance/alturnative/Modern AC formats, interesting. I have the first day John DeBella 8/1982 6:15 AM. He was ripping LP's and 45's apart, it was interesting. I got it from Garry Pfyfer. I loved Energy 92-7&5 WKIE/Alarington Hights. I loved Q102 WIOQ/Philadelphia, up to when it became Mainstream CHR. I liked the Dance/CHR lean, even though they play cuts that were quite obscure. This lasted til Nov 1998. I think John Moody has some airchecks of Party 93 during the lasst weeks of its Dance format. I love "The New Hot 106.3" WKOE Atlantic City, NJ. They were also a good stdance station. I happen to hav one aircheck recorded just 14 days before the change over to what was then a mono simocast of WKXW/Trenton. I've always been interestted in Z103 airchecks, Maybe I can get my buddy Adam Greenburg to record some for me on Cassette. I always heard that Party 95.3 in Orlando was a good dance station. WKTU is not a dance station, they are Rhythmic Oldies/maybe classic dance maybe, but so far to date, the most pure dance station I have heard was Energy 92-7&5. Got those from Jeramey Andrews. Alturnative is going away too, WHFS in DC/Baltimore went away at 99.3 I think was the freq? They rearected the calls at 105.7-FM, but to date they are talk weekdays, and alturnative during the night. WPLY/Philadelphia also went off, when Radio1 moved the 103.9 WPHI Urban calls to 100.3. They dropped Y100 and put Gosbel on 103.9. You can check out Y100rocks.com to try to bring alturnative back to the Philly airwaves. Staff from Y100 broadcast over the internet, they've gotten some news coverage, some protests have been made, even band protests as well as listener protests.They have a little blirby about WHFS in DC/Baltimore and how listener outcries put the rocker back on the poorly rated 105.7, at least in Baltimore. DC has a hard time picking that up though... . WPLY is hopeing to get the kind of responce that DC/Baltimore got with HFS. John
Hello folks. I haven't poasted in a while. But we had something very interesting in Idaho back in 1994. There was a new station that aired in Eastern Idaho. It was called Target 101.5. It was a classic rock station. It was similar to the Aero. Anyhow, they had oOcean waves, and the person doing the voice overs would say, "There's something new daybewing to this frequency. Listen to the all new 101.5." Well, I beleive around 200, they got baught by a Salt Lake Company called Simions, and changed to Kbar. There is also a Kbar here in Salt Lake.