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Treasure Coast Marc Radio

John FL

John FL

In another string, it was mentioned that Mark Radio (Media) was acquiring radio stations owned by Treasure & Space Coast Radio. I'd like to correct a comment I made there in that I wasn't familiar with Mark Radio, but actually I am. Looking back, I commented occasionally on these boards about some of their stations. One of their stations is in nearby Brevard County and that would be WSBH-FM. This is a variety-based classic hits format branded as 98.5 The Beach.

I've heard that station in both my travels and with posting about various radio stations on this board. I think they do a very decent job with it. It's a nice mix of music. I guess the question at hand is what will happen to the formats, if anything, that are currently owned by Treasure & Space Coast Radio?

From what I can tell in looking at the markets Mark Radio serves, they don't offer an AC format. If there's one station that could get the most attention right away is Soft AC WOSN. It's an interesting situation. WOSN has what I believe are very loyal sponsors. I've been hearing the same ones for over 7 years living on The Treasure Coast. Maybe just some tweaking is in order. Chasing away sponsors may not be prudent if there's a radical change in format. I'm just not sure.

I do like a lot of WSBH's playlist and personality. But there's already a variety music classic hits station firmly entrenched on The Treasure Coast. Anyway, they'll probably be a lot of questions answered in due time. So, there's now a marker on the board to comment further!
 
John FL said:
In another string, it was mentioned that Mark Radio (Media) was acquiring radio stations owned by Treasure & Space Coast Radio. I'd like to correct a comment I made there in that I wasn't familiar with Mark Radio, but actually I am. Looking back, I commented occasionally on these boards about some of their stations. One of their stations is in nearby Brevard County and that would be WSBH-FM. This is a variety-based classic hits format branded as 98.5 The Beach.

I've heard that station in both my travels and with posting about various radio stations on this board. I think they do a very decent job with it. It's a nice mix of music. I guess the question at hand is what will happen to the formats, if anything, that are currently owned by Treasure & Space Coast Radio?

From what I can tell in looking at the markets Mark Radio serves, they don't offer an AC format. If there's one station that could get the most attention right away is Soft AC WOSN. It's an interesting situation. WOSN has what I believe are very loyal sponsors. I've been hearing the same ones for over 7 years living on The Treasure Coast. Maybe just some tweaking is in order. Chasing away sponsors may not be prudent if there's a radical change in format. I'm just not sure.

I do like a lot of WSBH's playlist and personality. But there's already a variety music classic hits station firmly entrenched on The Treasure Coast. Anyway, they'll probably be a lot of questions answered in due time. So, there's now a marker on the board to comment further!
Click to expand...
Just a tiny nitpick...its MARC not MARK. I'm not in the area, and WOSN doesn't stream, which may be an indication of not making very much money. There is no indication of the station's playlist on the website.I don't if you're familiar with WAVV, and whether or not their music is similar to the Soft AC that is played on WOSN. If it is, WAVV continued on after it was sold to ownership with better financial resources, and has plenty of advertisers. My point is that I wouldn't assume any changes at WOSN, maybe some cost cutting moves as far as air staff. Being located in a heavy retirement area is a plus, so I imagine they must have a large numer of listeners. They don't subscribe to Nielsen, so that's another question mark.

By the end of the year, we'll know
 
KilowattKat said:
Just a tiny nitpick...its MARC not MARK. I'm not in the area, and WOSN doesn't stream, which may be an indication of not making very much money. There is no indication of the station's playlist on the website.I don't if you're familiar with WAVV, and whether or not their music is similar to the Soft AC that is played on WOSN. If it is, WAVV continued on after it was sold to ownership with better financial resources, and has plenty of advertisers. My point is that I wouldn't assume any changes at WOSN, maybe some cost cutting moves as far as air staff. Being located in a heavy retirement area is a plus, so I imagine they must have a large numer of listeners. They don't subscribe to Nielsen, so that's another question mark.

By the end of the year, we'll know
Click to expand...

They do subscribe to Nielsen. I've always found that interesting as it's an expense that I wonder if it's worth it. If they didn't subscribe, I also wonder if Nielsen would even bother rating The The Treasure Coast. There's not much else except the Palm Beach stations that make the book.

On some occasions, WOSN is the #1 station in the market in the beauty contest numbers but just about always top-tier.

radioinsight.com

Fort Pierce/Stuart/Vero Beach

radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
 
One thing I like about Marc is that it streams the vast majority of its stations online. I hope this applies to the Vero Beach area stations it is purchasing as well.
 
John FL said:
They do subscribe to Nielsen. I've always found that interesting as it's an expense that I wonder if it's worth it. If they didn't subscribe, I also wonder if Nielsen would even bother rating The The Treasure Coast. There's not much else except the Palm Beach stations that make the book.

On some occasions, WOSN is the #1 station in the market in the beauty contest numbers but just about always top-tier.

radioinsight.com

Fort Pierce/Stuart/Vero Beach

radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
Click to expand...
WOSN seems to be in a similar situation as WAVV in Ft. Meyers. WAVV is an older skewing Soft AC that is always #1 in that market. They were sold to new owners, a company with an established cluster in that market, a few years back. The format was kept, live streaming on the website was added. However, the entire local air staff was let go, except for the morning show host.

WOSN still might have a future, based on that.
 
John FL said:
They do subscribe to Nielsen. I've always found that interesting as it's an expense that I wonder if it's worth it. If they didn't subscribe, I also wonder if Nielsen would even bother rating The The Treasure Coast. There's not much else except the Palm Beach stations that make the book.
Click to expand...

Nielsen officially calls it the Ft. Pierce-Stuart-Vero Beach market. And any stations that show up in the "free" numbers released by Nielsen are paid subscribers, as Nielsen excludes non-paying stations from those lists.
 
Marc Radio has no doubt done its homework researching the Treasure Coast area. It's a growth market for sure which I'll explain here. Per the above poster response regarding what Nielsen officially calls the market, Ft. Pierce, Stuart, and Vero Beach are all cities representing each of the three counties that comprise the area.

As far as what becomes of this format or that format in the current cluster will probably reflect more on reflecting the community than what is assumed. Yes, there's a lot of seniors who live in the area and that grows during the winter "snowbird" season as well. But there is a lot of growth happening all over that includes younger families.

A new I-95 interchange is being built at Oslo Road which is close to the Indian River/St. Lucie county line south of Vero Beach and north of Ft. Pierce. I've seen reports that an additional 40,000+ new homes will be built along with commercial properties in an area that's mostly desolate. Right where I live, just to my west, a tree farm is giving way to a 375 home community. And that's just it...both tree and dairy farms are going away and new communities are springing up seemingly overnight.

There's Vero Beach airport which has seen a significant increase in passengers via Breeze Airlines. There's another carrier or two that will add Vero Beach to their flight destinations. The airport has plans to expand. There's a restaurant we dine at in lunch time. It literally overlooks the runway and passengers getting their bags. Just based on observation, there's more younger-looking folks arriving here than older. Perhaps some are visiting elderly parents. Perhaps some are considering moving to the area and are looking around. Eventually, they'll be firm stats on all of if this on top of what we already know.

Port. St. Lucie is now bigger in population than West Palm Beach. Our local news talks a great deal about the need to build more schools. That means young families are growing in the area. We already know that many are coming from Miami and Ft. Lauderdale as the housing costs, along with property insurance and property taxes down state are a lot higher than The Treasure Coast.

No doubt, this is a growth area. I'm certain Marc Radio sees that and sees opportunity in operating radio stations and offering formats that reflect demo changes, including the rise in the Hispanic population. That's a whole other discussion point as well.
 
The other day I heard WOSN play Bread's "Baby I'm-A Want You." In fact they feature a number of hits by Bread and David Gates as a solo artist. I wanted to bring this item subject in another post in the discussion of playlists so I'll do that here instead.

While I don't know much about Marc Radio, I suspect they will follow a lot of the conventional thinking that helps determine what songs/artists are featured and which don't - even though it may involve the same general sound. There are apparently still some softer music stations around as in the case of WOSN. So yes, they feature Bread but not The Carpenters. If even very little changes when new ownership takes over, it's highly probable that we'll see the same "radio rules."

Going back to oldies formats and even earlier classic hits formats, especially the CBS Radio ones, there would be those occasional spins from Bread, but not The Carpenters. What I also noticed was the "up north" classic hits stations would occasionally feature some Manilow tunes, especially if there was a music specialty happening such as playing songs in an A-Z type countdown or special Saturday night programming where "Copacabana" would fly. In one of those situations I just don't understand, you'd think with all the transplants from the northeast to Florida, that we would have seen more of those artists in Florida.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, WOSN was once a Standards format. Even though the station still features a lot of old, mostly soft music, there has to be some kind of differentiation at play where Bread passes muster and The Carpenters don't. The early 70s had a lot of mellow hits, especially in the Motown/soul arena with artists such as The Stylistics, another group I've never heard on WOSN. As that commercial guy says, "and a lot more."

Anyway, I'm trying to make sense of it all. I'm assuming Marc Radio will move forward and not backward in time and not at all considering some of the artists mentioned above. Still, I would love to hear the apparent reasoning at play that favored Bread over The Carpenters for a long period of time.
 
They will run whatever format and whatever music gets them advertiser dollars.

This is the business. What you or I think doesn't matter. The guy who owns the radio stations in New Mexico that I consult (one of which I directly program for him) has a mantra which is 100% true:

The most important ratings are not from the listeners. They are from the local businesses who advertise.

The reason that he is correct is because businesses only advertise if they like what they hear on your station. Their mindset is that "if I like this station, other people who like this station would be good customers for my business." If playing Bread but not the Carpenters gets WOSN ad buys, they will keep doing it ... because taht is what works for them. It doesn't need to "make sense" to you.

I will give you a real world example. The station I directly program in Albuquerque runs an 80s-focused Classic Hits format (the name of which, I bet you can guess). A couple of weeks ago, the owner was paying a call on a potential advertiser and he brought up the station stream page on his phone to play it for the business owner. Said business owner's reaction was "93.7? That's the station I listen to!" He got the buy.

My suggestion to you is to stop trying to understand the "radio rules", as you put it. They obviously do not apply the way you think they do.
 
John FL said:
The other day I heard WOSN play Bread's "Baby I'm-A Want You." In fact they feature a number of hits by Bread and David Gates as a solo artist. I wanted to bring this item subject in another post in the discussion of playlists so I'll do that here instead.

While I don't know much about Marc Radio, I suspect they will follow a lot of the conventional thinking that helps determine what songs/artists are featured and which don't - even though it may involve the same general sound. There are apparently still some softer music stations around as in the case of WOSN. So yes, they feature Bread but not The Carpenters. If even very little changes when new ownership takes over, it's highly probable that we'll see the same "radio rules."

Going back to oldies formats and even earlier classic hits formats, especially the CBS Radio ones, there would be those occasional spins from Bread, but not The Carpenters. What I also noticed was the "up north" classic hits stations would occasionally feature some Manilow tunes, especially if there was a music specialty happening such as playing songs in an A-Z type countdown or special Saturday night programming where "Copacabana" would fly. In one of those situations I just don't understand, you'd think with all the transplants from the northeast to Florida, that we would have seen more of those artists in Florida.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, WOSN was once a Standards format. Even though the station still features a lot of old, mostly soft music, there has to be some kind of differentiation at play where Bread passes muster and The Carpenters don't. The early 70s had a lot of mellow hits, especially in the Motown/soul arena with artists such as The Stylistics, another group I've never heard on WOSN. As that commercial guy says, "and a lot more."

Anyway, I'm trying to make sense of it all. I'm assuming Marc Radio will move forward and not backward in time and not at all considering some of the artists mentioned above. Still, I would love to hear the apparent reasoning at play that favored Bread over The Carpenters for a long period of time.
Click to expand...
There hasn't really been anyone programming that station for years. It's pretty random 70s AM Gold and some 80s thrown in. There's nothing to make sense of. There's no way they are doing research or even looking at Mediabase lists. It's not even like you hear weird stuff because they have a huge library. It's like 400-500 soft cuts from the 70s and early 80s from someone's ITunes, and 5 or 6 sweepers that repeat. It's really weird, someone should run tape on it the next couple of weeks because there's no way the new company will keep it like that.

I agree with KM RIchards, but I don't think Ocean is choosing the songs because that's what their advertisers want. It's too weird of a mix.
 
ron772 said:
There hasn't really been anyone programming that station for years. It's pretty random 70s AM Gold and some 80s thrown in. There's nothing to make sense of. There's no way they are doing research or even looking at Mediabase lists. It's not even like you hear weird stuff because they have a huge library. It's like 400-500 soft cuts from the 70s and early 80s from someone's ITunes, and 5 or 6 sweepers that repeat. It's really weird, someone should run tape on it the next couple of weeks because there's no way the new company will keep it like that.

I agree with KM RIchards, but I don't think Ocean is choosing the songs because that's what their advertisers want. It's too weird of a mix.
Click to expand...
Your reply reminded me of the popularity of taping radio stations that once existed. In many ways, we were ahead of the technology power curve. It's like we created our own platform with our favorite songs, jingles and virtually always omitting the commercials. Many of the portable radios of the past had that taping feature. I must have had over 100 tapes but tragically most of my radio memorabilia was lost in one of my moves.

I wasn't holding my breath that a "tape" would have been made of WOSN given there are so few of us on The Treasure Coast and WOSN doesn't stream. I'm so behind the technology curve that I don't have a clue how to even do it digitally. I do have one of those hand held digital recorders many use for meetings etc.

What's obviously true is Soft AC WOSN cannot remain as it is. AC remains a great fit for this market. New imaging and jingles and certainly a refreshed playlist would be the way to go IMO.

The bottom line is Marc Radio is getting a nice cluster of stations. While speculation is normal when a new owner comes along, I do have to wonder if Jack FM will continue. This is WJKD 99.7 Jack FM. (50,000 watts, Class C2). A word of caution. I come to the table with a lot of bias. I don't like the Jack- FM brand and never did. Some time ago, I was in a store where the station was playing in the background and I heard the usual "attitude" sweeper. I thought...nothing changes.

I didn't notice Marc Radio having a Jack-FM or the Adult Hits format in any of their markets. What I did notice were there are rock formats. I don't know what kind of rock this is but as a reminder, West Palm's WKGR 98.7 The Gator is an extremely popular station on The Treasure Coast. It also has a monster signal that comes in like a local even in the N. Treasure Coast.

I would think the company would go with one of their own rock-oriented products than pay for syndicated programming. There's a number of Adult Hits formats that I've encountered that are done well. There's a mom & pop operation in the St. Augustine/Palm Coast area known as Flagler Radio. Their "Beach" brands of Adult Hits, I believe, are more interesting and creative than Jack-FM.

As I recall the programming being described, their "Beach" presents itself like Classic Hits but there's also Hot AC elements to it. I haven't heard them in years until today since I no longer live in the area. So, y'all be the judge. They stream and list their songs played. I just have to wonder if an Adult Hits format like what Flagler Radio does would be something Marc would consider. It's not exactly the markets' Classic Hits WQOL or certainly Palm Beach's WKGR. One other fact, Flagler has a news/talk format and they do broadcast news reports on their music stations. Treasure/Space Coast Radio also has a news/talk format...possibilities.

flaglerbroadcasting.com

Beach 105.5 | Our Stations | Flagler Radio

Diverse and unique as the ancient city itself with an eclectic mix of pop and rock hits from the 80s to now plus songs and artists from genres like indie, folk, alternative and more.
flaglerbroadcasting.com flaglerbroadcasting.com
 
Here's two hours of Ocean this morning. I don't even think you can call this Soft AC. It's closer to Yacht Rock/AM Gold/Oldies/70s. There's a heavy slant on songs from 45-50 years ago specifically, and the songs from the 80s are mostly from artists that were big in the 70s or sound like they are 70s songs. About 15 minutes of spots an hour in AM Drive. 3 breaks from the host each hour (the only hosted daypart I believe). I can't imagine this quirky mix survives the new owners, so enjoy while you can...

WOSN – 97.1 FM – Ocean FM - Wednesday AM 10/29/2025:
08:00 I’ve Got The Music In Me – Kiki Dee Band (1974)
08:05 Thunder Island – Jay Ferguson (1977)
08:08 HOST: MORNING SHOW CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
08:10 Just Remember I Love You - Firefall (1977)
08:13 PROMO & SPOTS
08:18 Overjoyed – Stevie Wonder (1985)
08:22 Running On Empty – Jackson Browne (1978)
08:26 HOST: PSA LOCAL EVENT
08:27 When I Need You – Leo Sayer (1977)
08:31 Dancing Queen – ABBA (1976)
08:34 SPOTS
08:39 Hard To Say I’m Sorry – Chicago (1982)
08:42 Nightingale – Carole King (1975)
08:46 HOST: WEATHER (OVER INTRO)
08:46 Jack & Jill – Raydio (1978)
08:49 Movin’ Out – Billy Joel (1977)
08:53 SPOTS
08:58 Maneater – Hall & Oates (1981)
09:02 Sing A Song – Earth, Wind, And Fire (1975)
09:05 HOST: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS & LOCAL THEATRE PRODUCTION LINER
09:06 Southern Cross – Crosby, Stills, & Nash (1982)
09:10 PROMO & SPOTS
09:16 Key Largo – Bertie Higgins (1981)
09:19 Handy Man – James Taylor (1977)
09:22 HOST: HURRICANE MELISSA UPDATE
09:22 Fins – Jimmy Buffett (1979)
09:26 Little Lies – Fleetwood Mac (1987)
09:29 SPOTS
09:34 I’ll Be Around – The Spinners (1972)
09:37 Let Your Love Flow – Bellamy Brothers (1976)
09:40 HOST: SMOOTH JAZZ SUNDAY PROMO
09:40 In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins (1981)
09:45 Boulevard – Jackson Browne (1980)
09:48 SPOTS
09:53 Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealer’s Wheel (1973)
09:57 Who Loves You – The Four Seasons (1975)
10:00 Crazy Love – Poco (1979)
 
ron772 said:
Here's two hours of Ocean this morning. I don't even think you can call this Soft AC. It's closer to Yacht Rock/AM Gold/Oldies/70s. There's a heavy slant on songs from 45-50 years ago specifically, and the songs from the 80s are mostly from artists that were big in the 70s or sound like they are 70s songs. About 15 minutes of spots an hour in AM Drive. 3 breaks from the host each hour (the only hosted daypart I believe). I can't imagine this quirky mix survives the new owners, so enjoy while you can...

WOSN – 97.1 FM – Ocean FM - Wednesday AM 10/29/2025:
08:00 I’ve Got The Music In Me – Kiki Dee Band (1974)
08:05 Thunder Island – Jay Ferguson (1977)
08:08 HOST: MORNING SHOW CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
08:10 Just Remember I Love You - Firefall (1977)
08:13 PROMO & SPOTS
08:18 Overjoyed – Stevie Wonder (1985)
08:22 Running On Empty – Jackson Browne (1978)
08:26 HOST: PSA LOCAL EVENT
08:27 When I Need You – Leo Sayer (1977)
08:31 Dancing Queen – ABBA (1976)
08:34 SPOTS
08:39 Hard To Say I’m Sorry – Chicago (1982)
08:42 Nightingale – Carole King (1975)
08:46 HOST: WEATHER (OVER INTRO)
08:46 Jack & Jill – Raydio (1978)
08:49 Movin’ Out – Billy Joel (1977)
08:53 SPOTS
08:58 Maneater – Hall & Oates (1981)
09:02 Sing A Song – Earth, Wind, And Fire (1975)
09:05 HOST: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS & LOCAL THEATRE PRODUCTION LINER
09:06 Southern Cross – Crosby, Stills, & Nash (1982)
09:10 PROMO & SPOTS
09:16 Key Largo – Bertie Higgins (1981)
09:19 Handy Man – James Taylor (1977)
09:22 HOST: HURRICANE MELISSA UPDATE
09:22 Fins – Jimmy Buffett (1979)
09:26 Little Lies – Fleetwood Mac (1987)
09:29 SPOTS
09:34 I’ll Be Around – The Spinners (1972)
09:37 Let Your Love Flow – Bellamy Brothers (1976)
09:40 HOST: SMOOTH JAZZ SUNDAY PROMO
09:40 In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins (1981)
09:45 Boulevard – Jackson Browne (1980)
09:48 SPOTS
09:53 Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealer’s Wheel (1973)
09:57 Who Loves You – The Four Seasons (1975)
10:00 Crazy Love – Poco (1979)
Click to expand...
Very similar playlist compared to WAVV, which is still around and #1 in it's market. One reason WOSN might stick around as is: 15 minutes of spots per hour. The playlist isn't that old, mostly Late 70's/early 80's.
 
KilowattKat said:
Very similar playlist compared to WAVV, which is still around and #1 in it's market. One reason WOSN might stick around as is: 15 minutes of spots per hour. The playlist isn't that old, mostly Late 70's/early 80's.
Click to expand...
It's interesting, but with no Mainstream AC in the market, it's hard to believe it wouldn't make sense to add some of the similarly textured records from the 80s and 90s, at a minimum. I don't think they'll blow up the Ocean brand, but it's unlikely that this very narrow era mix will survive a company that runs stations in multiple markets.
 
Ron, thank you for providing two hours of WOSN programing.

I'd like to go off topic for just a bit. A few posts ago you said, "Someone should run tape on it the next couple of weeks because there's no way the new company will keep it like that." I took that to mean recording the broadcast, and generating an audio file the readers can click on to hear a scoped version of the songs etc. At this point, I'm not sure if that was a correct assumption.

Over the years, I've found occasional misinterpretation of what I was trying to say, despite my attempts at trying to be as clear as possible.

I'd also like to know if there's an app or program you used to put that together. WOSN doesn't stream yet you have specific times and even "DJ" banter comments. I found that all quite useful for this discussion.

One of the taglines WOSN has used is "one of a kind radio station." What you captured isn't exactly what is broadcast regularly. Over a number of days I listened to the station I heard an arrangement of songs that didn't exactly mirror what you presented. It's been that way a long time and the average listener probably doesn't notice or even care.

Still, there is evidence, just by listening, that shows there's effort on rotations. Sometimes Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" will get frequent spins and then go away for a while. Perhaps we also notice certain songs because we may not be fond of them. Charlie Dore's "Pilot of the Airwaves" is one that has me off to somewhere else.

Lastly, it was interesting "I've Got The Music in Me" by the Kiki Dee Band was in the rotation. That's another song that isn't always played and doesn't exactly sound like the stuff of a Soft AC. Whenever I hear the station play that song, I can't help but wonder why that song passes muster and yet they don't feature any Whitney Houston tunes.

There's some good bones to the station. The Treasure Coast's demos are changing. It's not all old people who live here. And without beating a dead horse, I think Marc Radio will probably keep the Ocean brand while updating the music sweet spot and will develop a more even sound.
 
John FL said:
I'd also like to know if there's an app or program you used to put that together. WOSN doesn't stream yet you have specific times and even "DJ" banter comments. I found that all quite useful for this discussion.
Click to expand...

Actually, the app was me and (mostly) my buddy's ears and the program was Google Docs. We just made a shared file and kept up with what was being played at what time as we were both in the listening area. Imagine what you could do crowd-sourcing playlists like this online anywhere.
 
In the top of the hour ID (7AM) on WOSN, 97.1 Ocean FM, we heard " A Marc Radio Station". So it looks like the sale is official. And at this moment the typical programming and the usual morning drive host, Hamp Elliott, we're all in place.
 


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