I wouldn’t put it on a prime signal, but given that Knox has no current based rock format at the moment (aside from WVLZ’s basically non existent translator), I think it could fill a niche hole. If they could acquire a decent 250w translator & feed it with an HD2 signal like Summit does in Greenville SC with X98.5, it could be a good move. They already dominate the 18-34 demos in the market with Star, Hot, & to some extent, The Wolf. An Alt station with little overhead cost could be a nice add on to sell with their other stations to cover all aspects of the younger demographics.
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Bobby Bones to Q100.3?
- Thread starter gr8oldies
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I wouldn’t put it on a prime signal, but given that Knox has no current based rock format at the moment (aside from WVLZ’s basically non existent translator), I think it could fill a niche hole. If they could acquire a decent 250w translator & feed it with an HD2 signal like Summit does in Greenville SC with X98.5, it could be a good move. They already dominate the 18-34 demos in the market with Star, Hot, & to some extent, The Wolf. An Alt station with little overhead cost could be a nice add on to sell with their other stations to cover all aspects of the younger demographics.
I love WUTK & non-com stations, but they’re certainly more eclectic than a mainstream commercial alternative would be.
As far as personal wishes go, I’d love to see a good Triple A format myself too (I know we have WFIV, but they do a horrible job with that format & are way too obscure).
VlZ does do pretty good getting signal into areas that 101.5 gets overtaken with 97.1. People seem to like the station too. It is mainstream rock though, so Summit finding a way to launch and Alternative on a translator would be great. I wish 97.5 were utilizing that 107.3 translator better or would just let summit lease it off them. That thing gets out. I have picked it up all the way almost to Athens till a low power on that channel starts interfering. I know they use that as a Sevier County signal, but it covers a large portion of the market well.
So you are saying bring back The River on 100.3? (By the way, there is, to me, a case for the value of the WOKI call letters being properly used and formatted on "FM 100."* That being said, county is still the money maker vs. CHR or any type of current based-rock, so I am not suggesting specifically, a format flip, but you do have to have something somewhat historic to compete against WIVK. Every .10 matters.
*I know that I a PPM world, call letters don't matter, but when 30% of the current audience refers to 100.3 as WOKI, you better be listen to your listeners. They are telling you something.
The brand does matter, and if the station uses or has until recently used the calls as a brand, that is how listeners will think of the station when they might return for another listening occasion.
It makes no sense to totally abandon a brand that is ingrained in listeners' minds unless the image of that brand is highly negative or the opposite of what the station stands for today.
Since PPM listening is made up of dozens of weekly incidents, generally short, knowing where to return "the next time" is important.
Definitely agree on the waste of that 107.3 translator by Midwest. (I’d say 107.3 & 99.7 are the two translators in Knox with the best coverage). I love alternative & Triple A, but personally don’t care for active rock or mainstream hard rock, so I rarely check out VLZ. As far as Summit goes, yeah, if they could get ahold of a decent translator & fire up some HD2 signals to feed them with, i’d love that. They do utilize HD2/3 signals & translators in their other markets. Also as far as alternative, they currently have a translator alt station in Greenville SC (“X98-5”). And since they’re already importing a morning show from Greenville for simulcasting on Hot 104.5, it would be easy to simply let whoever’s handling X98.5 in G’ville to do the playlist and imaging/voice tracking for a carbon copy alternative here in Knox if a translator was available.
No doubt, David. I am not sure when WOKI calls were dropped, but they returned on a Pirkle talk station with limited power and reach. For decades, WOKI was the hot Top 40 powerhouse in Knoxville. Great place to work in the 80's. No matter what you do, or where you go, if 100.3 comes up for discussion, people that have lived in the area for at least a dozen years automatically refer to the old call letters and/or format. Same is true for IVK and IMZ. Both are still going strong. I understand the desire to want to compete with IVK and get a hopeful 3-4 points, but I think a really aggressive approach has to be taken and missing key opps to gain loyalty can and do add up. (I would reference WKDF IN Nashville, as another example. There is still at least a weekly post on the old KDF on the "I Remember Nashville" Facebook page. I still believe KDF would be a brilliant rock station that would severely hurt three stations in the market, IF done right, but I do appreciate the fact that it has been a country station for many years and had it's ups and downs. Lately, it has been pretty strong. I still think that those heritage call letters mean something, regardless of format and there ae ways to recall the rock past and tell listeners country is "better." Not sure I would make a format change , either, but there is a strong and obvious positioning potential for a 5-7 share. I can't say revenues/sales would be better, which is what matters.
All Knoxvlle radio needs is to wear out one Ouija board, especially country radio.
I wasn't here at the time, but as I recall WOKI dropped top 40 sometime in the 80s for Country, then the station was leased out to a variety of owners. Dick Broadcasting, which sold to Citadel, was one of the lessee's and they went News-Talk, moving their format and calls from 990 AM (WNOX). Part of the agreement was for Citadel to warehouse the WOKI calls, which they did on 98.7, which at least as of the time I moved here, was running the True Oldies Channel. The LMA blew up in the Citadel bankruptcy, Pirke ran a competing talk station on 100.3 while Citadel shuttled their talk format to the weaker 98.7 ("moved to our own house" as Hallerin Hill promoted it), and would not give Citadel the WNOX calls, so WOKI stayed on 98.7. When E.W. Scripps bought 100.3, they promptly moved the WCYQ calls from 93.1 and moved the WNOX calls to their new Classic Hits on 93.1. If Summit wanted WOKI, they'd have to make arrangements with Cumulus.
WOKI went Country during the CHR doldrums of the early '90s. As for Alternative, you won't see it again anytime soon given the low ratings 94Z had. As for translators, I don't think any good frequencies are left. We've already got crowded frequencies like 105.7 which have three signals fighting with each other.
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Another thing I noticed that took place today related to Summit, Hot 104point5 is now calling themselves Hot 104five and has started referring to themselves as #1 for Hip-Hop. Are they possibly evolving away from rhythmic top 40? I noticed Star has been more rhythmic and less adult sounding lately and I'm sure doing that would avoid a lot of overlap.
The way I remember it, WOKI went country in the early 90's while the CHR format got shoved off to 94.3. That didn't last long, though, because 93.1 had also taken on the CHR format and performed much better. I also seem to remember the plan was originally that the CHR format would land on 94.3 immediately, but it got held up several months because of some issues with the sale. So, most of the listeners who would've gone to 94.3 had already found 93.1.
I do seem to remember on this very board that at the time the Citadel LMA of 100.3 was imploding, I was assured that Pirkle was taking it country, and was going to spend all kinds of money on top talent, promotions and facilities and would have WIVK on its knees within one book. Hmmm...... Instead it was a high-powered, second tier talk station with a lot of technical glitches to the end.
This story was in yesterday's Country Aircheck:
Summit VP/Programming Beverlee Brannigan tells Country Aircheck the hunt is on for a PD for the recently rebranded WCYQ (The Wolf)/Knoxville following Loyd Ford's departure earlier this month. "We value creativity in our leader of the pack," says Brannigan. "Fierce in a fight, a supporter of talent with a hunger to learn and grow in Tennessee's beautiful Smoky Mountains. Are you that kind of PD? If your pedigree is Country, I'd love to know more about you."
Summit VP/Programming Beverlee Brannigan tells Country Aircheck the hunt is on for a PD for the recently rebranded WCYQ (The Wolf)/Knoxville following Loyd Ford's departure earlier this month. "We value creativity in our leader of the pack," says Brannigan. "Fierce in a fight, a supporter of talent with a hunger to learn and grow in Tennessee's beautiful Smoky Mountains. Are you that kind of PD? If your pedigree is Country, I'd love to know more about you."
I worked at WOKI during the change. I believe it was late 1991 or early 92. I was part time while a student at UT. I had no idea what was going on but I was just a part-timer on a need-to-know basis. I got back from class one day and my answering machine had a ton of messages asking about "The Hitkicker" and why I didn't tell anyone it was changing to country. I told them it was all news to me and I knew nothing. The CHR format flipped to WWZZ 93.1 as did most of the air talent, including Flyin' Brian for a short time before he went "back upstairs" to 100.3. I got a call from Brother Clay later that day and he asked me if I was ready to put on a cowboy hat. I said "not really but I guess I'll try". He laughed and told me not to worry, that I was going with him to 93.1. Near the end of 93.1 (Journal??) was taking over and I was afraid I would be jobless so I talked with Bill Hughes and Ray Edwards about coming on part time at WOKI. They assured me I had a home there and was welcome to come aboard. They were always good to me so I decided to go with what I knew. The last day of WWZZ was a Sunday. I was the last live jock that evening. Larry Trotter came in, introduced himself and offered me a part time job on Star 93.1 and I politely declined and told him I already agreed to go back to 100.3. Again, I felt a sense of loyalty to them but looking back I am thinking I should've taken him up on his offer.
I stayed at WOKI until I graduated and nothing full time came available so I left the market. Less than a month later Ray called and said they had a full time slot that just came up and would I be interested. I said "yeah, a few weeks ago I would've been but I've already moved and it would be a huge hassle to come back". I lost track of things after that but I think shortly after that they changed to a classic rock/classic hits station The Eagle.
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