If what I'm hearing is "true," AM Lover will be a happy man. (He might even switch to FM.)
Is Adult/Variety Hits (e.g., Jack or Chuck) in the mix? Or is that too close to what TOC has become?The same source who told me about Melissa Carter is also telling me this will come to fruition tomorrow:
~Scott Shannon's TOC @ 98.9. (True Oldies has really shifted over the past few years to more of a Classic Pop/Rock network, instead of "Old-time" hits (even from the 50s.) This should resemble what Atlanta's Greatest Hits was doing before they were canned last year.
~Something also happening very soon at the 97.9 translator.
Some quick observations:
--This will mean Cumulus is programming three stations targeted towards an older-than-usual audience: All News, Rock 100.5, and now True Oldies.
--This closes up one of the last remaining format holes (Classic Pop/Rock Mix), but does so on a very weak signal that will have problems reaching the target audience, which largely lives OTP.
--They're not doing this on the 97.9 signal, which IMO would be better for Classic Hits.
989trueoldies.com currently redirects to trueoldieschannel.com
Heard the transition starts at 11am.
I'm hearing that it will be one hour of Cumulus' standard stunt loop- "the Wheel of Formats" at 11am, then True Oldies Channel beginning with a welcome from WPLJ's Scott Shannon- who'll host mid-days on 98.9.
If Cumulus wanted to use 97.9 as another venue to serve up their own dog food off the bird, here is what's on the menu:Well, at first, the thinking was that Variety Hits would go on 98.9 as The Walk's replacement. Then, Cumulus wanted to find a way to make TOC available in Atlanta; which is appealing for ad-buyers. (They're also focusing on national networks at the moment- none of which exist for Adult/Variety Hits.)
I have yet to really be told what might happen at 97.9, but I know for a fact that [email protected] isn't long for this world. Consider this an invitation for people to post ideas for format possibilities at 97.9 other than Oldies.