What station will change format in 2024

[MarkW]

They had a solid 1.5, 1.6 in 2009 or so. The airstaff made it tolerable, Sherman & Tingle in particular. Calling Metallica "Alternative" just didn't sit well. People used to joke at how much Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers they would play.

87.7 averaged 2s. The first year or so when they shifted that format to 101.1 they were up in the mid 3s

FM News debuted July 2011.

I agree that Q101 at some point prior to that should've changed its positioning statement. Chicago's ROCK alternative would've been much more suitable than "Chicago's Alternative."

Underground Q at 87.7 MHz was a GREAT station.

 

[macattack]

WCHI seems to be getting its best ratings right now. I doubt there will be any changes any time soon.

I agree. There’s no way iHeart messes with WCHI this upcoming year unless the ratings go down. Perhaps if they see an opening to attempt a kill shot on WKQX/Q101 they might pivot the station into the KTBZ mold but I don’t think the opening is there and I don’t think iHeart would do it in the near future even if it did exist.

 

[101tm]

It's quite telling that even though Walter Flakus is the music director that the music is what it is - Flakus ran an extremely quirky WKQX in the mid-to-late 10's that, despite the debatable music quality, was certainly never boring and WKQX's ratings were a bit better than they are now. I can't even say this is PD James Howard's fault - he and Flakus are probably just trying to do the best they can with what iHeart is giving them. It's to Howard's credit that he and the staff have 95.5 running like a well-oiled machine despite the crap they have to work with. It's like a low-budget NASCAR team getting top-20 finishes on the regular despite not having the best equipment and sponsorships.

What’s interesting is WCHI seems to be what iHeart is basing their national premium choice mainstream rock format on, even down to the rotation patterns. However, WCHI seems to have a bit more variety and be a little harder.

Seems to be the approach iHeart thinks is best on a national basis as well. iHeart has no reason to play with WCHI very much, 95.5 hasn’t done this well in a very long time.

 

[moxxieradioperson]

Here is the complete deal. Good Karma acquires 100.3 from Hubbard. Good Karma sells AM 1000 to News Web. News Web moves WCPT to AM 1000. News Web moves WSBC to AM 820. News Web takes AM 1240 off air.

Maybe 1240 will Simulcast WCPY's PolskiFM and will be rebranded as PolskiFM and AM

 

[RockTheRadio]

Money, demographics, research, testing aside…(and it ain’t gonna happen) …I would love 100.3 to flip to 80’s New Wave Rock with some late 70’s/early 90’s. “100.3 The Wave”….It probably wouldn’t hurt their sister stations and it would be something different and fun. For some people anyway.
If I were to be realistic, I’d say one of the AM sports stations is a possibility ..whether in the city or one of the rimshots.

 

[101tm]

It’s not that 100.3 can’t do well. Hubbard doesn’t want it to do that well because they’re all about using it for 101.9’s advantage. If it does too well or too poorly, they always do an adjustment and change the name of the station to get it back in an acceptable range to them.

 

[TheBigA]

Hubbard doesn’t want it to do that well because they’re all about using it for 101.9’s advantage.

Depends on what you mean by "do well." As we always say, the goal isn't to get great 6+ratings, but to make money. This same Hubbard Broadcasting company is running a AAA station in Seattle that's getting at best a 1 share. But they have stuck by the station, and continue to hire local staff for it. We don't know why, but that's what they're doing.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

100.3 rarely goes too far from Adult Hits or AC. They flipped it to Rhythmic-leaning Soft AC at the end of 2004 and still wound up tweaking it back to Adult Hits after a run with Rhythmic Oldies. All under the same branding.