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All-Access : WLFP (94.1 The Wolf)/Memphis To Move To 99.7, 'Sunsetting' Hot AC WMC (FM 100)

I believe the plan is to go by 99.7 vs 100. Nothing like rebranding something to never have anyone local call it by its new name. This should be interesting.
 
I believe the plan is to go by 99.7 vs 100. Nothing like rebranding something to never have anyone local call it by its new name. This should be interesting.
Digital is the way to go now. I look for this to "take." Longtimers may take some time in adjusting to this, myself included, but I, of course, don't live there anymore.
 
If the commercial load is any indication, FM 100 is still selling spots like crazy. Can't imagine The Wolf will be able to do that.

Even 30 years ago as Scripps was in the process of selling it, I remember thinking that station had a ton of commercials.
 
If the commercial load is any indication, FM 100 is still selling spots like crazy. Can't imagine The Wolf will be able to do that.

Even 30 years ago as Scripps was in the process of selling it, I remember thinking that station had a ton of commercials.
Those spots certainly were sold well in advance, probably as part of long-term deals with the advertisers. Those ads wouldn't fall off a cliff before a format flip. I get that most of the posters here have fond memories of the CHR/AC WMC-FM of their last 50 or so years, and want the format change to fail and Audacy to fold and its executives to wind up in prison or homeless shelters, but attaching any significance to current levels of advertising on the current format is illogical.
 
Audacy has bigger problems to deal with than worrying about one format change in Memphis. The new Wolf will get a bounce in the ratings from curiosity alone, and then it will settle mid-pack where it always was.
 
Those spots certainly were sold well in advance, probably as part of long-term deals with the advertisers. Those ads wouldn't fall off a cliff before a format flip. I get that most of the posters here have fond memories of the CHR/AC WMC-FM of their last 50 or so years, and want the format change to fail and Audacy to fold and its executives to wind up in prison or homeless shelters, but attaching any significance to current levels of advertising on the current format is illogical.

My point is that FM 100 has always had a high commercial load. During my one semester I spent in Memphis in college roughly 30 years ago, I didn't listen to FM 100 very often. One of the reasons for that was the high commercial load on the station. Of course, the ads wouldn't fall off a cliff before a format flip. That was exactly my point. The current levels of advertising are what the current format has always gotten. No mystery how FM 100 became the top billing station in the cluster. I don't see that high commercial load being sustainable on The River or the Wolf, and I don't see either being able to raise rates to compensate for the loss of a competitor, especially when two stations are trying to replace it.

I spent a whopping four months in Memphis, and it was my third choice on the dial behind WEGR and Oldies 98.1. I set the alarm on my clock radio to The River, largely because the morning show on FM 100 was mostly talk and commercials. So, you could potentially argue it was my fourth choice. I have no real emotional attachment to the station. Being a radio guy, of course, I hate seeing heritage go away, but I understand it's a business and that heritage alone doesn't pay the bills. What we have here isn't a case of:

"Did you hear FM 100 is going away?"
"Yeah, isn't that terrible?"
"Yeah, it's a tragedy. When was the last time you listened to it?"
"I don't know. Maybe 15 or 20 years ago."
 
If the new country station on 99.7 is going to retain its "Wolf" imaging, it would have retained WLFP, right? Our two country "Wolves" here in Vermont are WXLF and WZLF, after all. So maybe transferring WMC-FM to the new format has a chance, unless Audacy thinks it's found a better (how?) set of wolf-ish call letters to use.

And as for WLFP going to Hartford, who knows? Maybe Audacy intends to flip 93.7 (WZMX) from its hip-hop monopoly to challenge iHeart's established -- 35 years! -- WWYZ (Country 92.5) with a "hotter" approach to country.
WLFF Myrtle Beach SC was The Wolf at first but it was too close to another Wolf. So they changed it to Coyote. Last I heard it was Nash.
 
Interesting tidbit from RadioInsight.com regarding the call letters:

Audacy will move the WLFP call letters to 99.7, with 94.1 becoming WMLE on June 16 when the sale closes. A previous FCC filing listed 93.7 WZMX Hartford CT as the destination of the WLFP call letters, but an Audacy representative notes that was a clerical error with the FCC database in handling three letter calls and will not be the case.
 
I have a recording of the whole 6 hours, probably will upload the full thing on archive.org eventually.
That's a lot. I might still enjoy it. Having little interest in Memphis radio specifically, I probably won't get much out of such a long recording. But the big switch is something I'd like to hear.
 
Interesting tidbit from RadioInsight.com regarding the call letters:

Audacy will move the WLFP call letters to 99.7, with 94.1 becoming WMLE on June 16 when the sale closes. A previous FCC filing listed 93.7 WZMX Hartford CT as the destination of the WLFP call letters, but an Audacy representative notes that was a clerical error with the FCC database in handling three letter calls and will not be the case.
So WMC-FM will disappear? Or does Audacy plan to park that call elsewhere?
 
The question we should be asking is will q107.5 benefit from FM 100 departure
Two Hot AC stations competing for one lost Hot AC signal. I am curious if Q107.5 will go back to CHR/Pop at this point. I figure between Kiss and Q it will all depend on the ratings over the next few books.
 
So WMC-FM will disappear? Or does Audacy plan to park that call elsewhere?
They'll probably disappear. If I had to guess, the rights to the call letters rest with WMC-TV and used by agreement negotiated when the AM/FM/TV combo was broken up. They really don't have much value going forward.
 
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