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The Breeze Blows Out of Town

I think "80s plus," classic rock, rock, country, news/talk, Hot AC and a Spanish language format of some kind are all possibilities.

It will be interesting to see if the move at 106.1 (whatever it turns out to be) changes Audacy's strategy with 96.5 at all.

I don't see News/Talk personally, unless Premiere attempts to pull their syndicated hosts away from WPHT. But this was attempted on FM once before (remember IQ106.9?), and it didn't move the needle at all.
 
Wild card thought... Classic Rock? Go after WMMR and WMGK's monster male numbers and attempt to peel off a slice of that?

My view is any rock option cannibalizes 104.5, which they can't afford to do now. Just as any urban option is bad.

The fact that they're stunting with Q might indicate Hot AC with Brooke & Jeffrey in mornings.
 
I guess nothing should totally surprise me, but I'd have to think GQP talk is low on the list. Country? Meh, you get the national show in a new market. That matters. By the same token, bringing the classic hit format with Martha Quinn middays to the market makes either seemingly possible.

Rock is interesting, but if you're going to be going up against an incumbent, is some combination of WMMR/WMGK the right battle? Maybe it is. But I'd still put more money on country if I were gambling someone else's money.

Right now, I suppose I'm more curious how long it takes to be done.
 
I am of course interested to see what format lands on 106.1 but what I can't understand is why they didn't just fire the jocks and keep playing "relaxing favorites" until they were ready to flip. What's the point of simulcasting Q102?
 
I am of course interested to see what format lands on 106.1 but what I can't understand is why they didn't just fire the jocks and keep playing "relaxing favorites" until they were ready to flip. What's the point of simulcasting Q102?
Same argument with what's going on in Seattle and KUBE sort of simulcasting KBKS. Just doesn't make sense, and KUBE has been doing it for a couple of weeks now.
 
I don't think any type of rock would cannibalize 104.5 at all. That station plays girlie music, and if anything, is designed to complement Q102. Go classic rock and cannibalization risk would be virtually nil.

I am inclined to agree with BigA on another point, though. My gut tells me (another) female friendly format will be placed on 106.1. That points to Country, Hot AC, or maybe 80s plus.

That way, Q102, 106.1 and 104.5 can be sold more effectively as a package. A pseudo "wall of women" of sorts.

BigA, did you mean to say Jubal in the morning? Brooke & Jeffrey are based at KQMV. Jubal is based at KBKS in Seattle (iHM owned). I agree that a syndicated morning show (after a possible 30 to 60 day break in period for the station) is likely.
 
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Wow. I thought The Breeze would evolve in to a mainstream AC format a la WBEB to improve the demos, but I didn’t think iHeart would bail that fast completely from trying to take a piece of the B101 pie.

106.1 is one of those large market frequencies that struggles to find success or consistency, sort of like 95.5 in Chicago and 106.7 and 98.7 in Detroit.

“80s Plus” is just a brand iHeart uses in San Francisco, it’s not a format. It’s an 80s centric classic hits station very similar to WOGL and close to Ben FM. I think that area is well enough covered.
 
Right now, my bets are on either Country or some kind of Classic Rock.

In the case of country, Shelly Easton, longtime PD of WXTU, was hired by iHeart to program a station down in NC, it’s possible they’ll have her pull double duty to try and steal part of the country pie. They also get the market clear for Bobby Bones as BigA mentioned.

On the other hand, some kind of classic rock is plausible too. Either a direct competitor to WMGK, or something that straddles both WMGK and WMMR to throw some competition there. Beasley has a good strategy going with MGK/MMR/Ben FM, I can see iHeart trying to disrupt that.

And now, a completely out of left field theory: this is the second station iHeart has stunting with a simulcast of a pop station in their cluster. Could it be possible iHeart is working on a new national brand that they plan to launch on both KUBE and WISX?
 
It could definitely still serve a purpose on an HD2 or HD3. Plus, as far as we know, the remaining Breezes (San Francisco, Sacramento, Mansfield, OH) are doing pretty well ratings wise (but again, that doesn't necessarily translate to $$)
Surprisingly, the Breeze in San Francisco has great 25-54 and 18-49 numbers. And I think David Eduardo has stated KISQ being among the Top 5 or 6 in billing. (I'm not sure about the Breezes in Sacramento or Mansfield, OH in terms of demo numbers or billing.) However, what worked in San Francisco may not work for Philly.

I guess it's not easy for Clear Channel / iHeart to take on WBEB, either with Sunny or the Breeze. And it's even more difficult with WOGL being a sister station of WBEB.
 
On the other hand, some kind of classic rock is plausible too. Either a direct competitor to WMGK, or something that straddles both WMGK and WMMR to throw some competition there. Beasley has a good strategy going with MGK/MMR/Ben FM, I can see iHeart trying to disrupt that.
Perhaps the slow growth of WCHI in Chicago could provide guidance for 106.1 should they become a rock format?
 
Same argument with what's going on in Seattle and KUBE sort of simulcasting KBKS. Just doesn't make sense, and KUBE has been doing it for a couple of weeks now.

At least in theory, KBKS would benefit the most from KUBE's demise. So, trying to make sure KUBE's listeners go to KBKS makes some degree of sense.

Only reason I see for simulcasting Q102 on 106.1 is that the demo-friendly audience 106.1 was getting is also in Q102's target audience. Assuming that's the logic, 106.1 isn't going to a female-friendly format.
 
At least in theory, KBKS would benefit the most from KUBE's demise. So, trying to make sure KUBE's listeners go to KBKS makes some degree of sense.

Only reason I see for simulcasting Q102 on 106.1 is that the demo-friendly audience 106.1 was getting is also in Q102's target audience. Assuming that's the logic, 106.1 isn't going to a female-friendly format.
Theoretically, it could be the case, though the formats may not be as adjacent as one would think though they are female-friendly. The recent iteration of KUBE isn't pop-leaning (and KBKS isn't a particularly Rhythmic-heavy CHR); WISX's reliance on 80s/90s ballads contrasts with recent music trends being showcased on WIOQ.
 
The fact that they let VK go makes me think anything they could have segued her to is a no-go- so no hot AC or 80’s.

Bobby Bones is their golden child, with Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, and another yet-to-be-named TV project he’s a part of. I could see them wanting a major market clearance for him here.

Conservative talk is out, as was said- all their premiere Premiere content is tied up with WPHT, and they’re not blowing up a major market FM station for their third-string conservative talkers.

I would be truly surprised if they went any sort of rock route. Then again, who was the last to try to compete with MMR/MGK- YSP? The Hawk? And how long have they been dead?

In Seattle, the rumor mill believes they’re putting their sports talker on FM. Could we finally see The Gambler end up with their ultimate signal? I doubt it. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take 2+ weeks for us to find out!
 
This is honestly really surprising. From how it looked to me, 106.1 had good ratings. Gonna keep my tape deck rolling on to catch its flip to...whatever it flips to...

As long as JJZ stays on HD2, I'll be happy. Since we're guessing formats, I've narrowed my ideas down to just three real feasible formats. I think the most possible idea is some sort of Hot AC/CHR, then honestly rock/classic rock with a harder edge, some middle ground between MMR and MGK. And finally, sports, probably the Gambler, and sell off 1480.

But those last two I have little confidence in. Even though Hot AC seems most likely, it also makes no sense. They tried that with Mix 106 and it failed, replaced by what we all thought was a very successful Breeze format. They'd have to be pretty damn stupid to try Mix again! So idk, this is all really fascinating though.
 
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In theory, they could have just not wanted Valerie for any new station. I don't take that to mean yet another AC flavor is off the books, just that they're starting over with whatever...all music, syndication....
 
Well in Seattle, iHeart after 18 days of simulcasting KBKS finally moved Sports 950 KJR onto KUBE-FM.

We'll see how long iHeart simulcasts Q102 here in Philly
 
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