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103.9

T

TANK1

Guest
Humm....
Rumbles, rumbles. Could 103.9 be tumbling - format change forthcoming - sports? They'll need the luck.
 
TANK1 said:
Humm....
Rumbles, rumbles. Could 103.9 be tumbling - format change forthcoming - sports? They'll need the luck.
Click to expand...

Boy just what Columbus needs...3 sports stations on 4 frequencies! What could they possibly pick up for sports...24 hours of Mark the Shark? Fox Sports is on 1230 and ESPN is on 1460/97.1 with both stations picking up Reds, Indians, Blue Jackets, Ohio State, Ohio University, and Steelers (I think 1460/97.1 has them?), along with CD101 having Blue Jackets, WTVN having Bengals, and The Brew having Browns.
 
It seems to me that they keep barking up the wrong tree with that signal. They need to look for an obvious hole in the market. TED-FM was a good idea, but the music selection was horrible. We have umpteen rock, black, country and lite-rock stations.

There are three immediate holes I can think of:
1. A resurrection of the WCOL sound, but with live jocks and a better playlist ... like what WDJO AM 1480 in Cincinnati is doing ... Given how badly they screwed up the TED playlist, I'm not real confident they can pull this off, though ... heck, if they don't want to invest any money, just simulcast WDJO and see what happens.

http://www.oldies1160.com/page.php?page_id=9831

2. What about an upbeat, dance-leaning, CHR? I'm thinking like Wild 93.9 or the old WBTT in Dayton.In the same vein as above, make it THE teen station like WCOL used to be. Make it THE place to hear new music, get the high schools involved, local bands, etc. Given how badly they screwed up the TED playlist, I'm not real confident they can pull this off, either.

Remember this? A clip from the old Dance Party on Channel 4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMp40nb1O90

There's no shame in being the teen station. Many of you will say WNCI fills that role, but I don't think so. I consider them the secretary's station and they just don't have the sound or the interactivity.

3. Do the WLOH thing and make it a Westerville/New Albany/Gahanna/Southern Delaware-focussed station.
 
TED-FM (IMO) was a great idea, however their playlist seemed to be too small, and they didn't have any DJs. It was like some one picked about 80s of their favorite songs and then just put them on shuffle play via their iPod.

I'm sure the format was a winner, but they didn't have enough of it, and their were no personalities. If they corrected those two mistakes, and took another stab at it, I think they could pull it off.

What we don't need is another SPORTS RADIO format.

A 24 Hour News format would be a good format as well, but I think they would have to pull Mark and Kelly from AM 920 WMNI to do that and still grab some others to run up against WTVN.
 
V.Riley said:
TED-FM (IMO) was a great idea, however their playlist seemed to be too small, and they didn't have any DJs. It was like some one picked about 80s of their favorite songs and then just put them on shuffle play via their iPod.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY! Couldn't have said it any better myself! It was like they played what they wanted to play and there was no rhyme or reason to the music rotation, not to mention the fact that the music they chose was awful.

For them to overcome their signal problems, they have to give people something they can't get anywhere else. People will go out of their way to tune you in if you have something they like. Another idea would be an 80's-heavy rotation, mixed in with newer songs that have the same kind of sound (cadence, tempo, etc.). A sound like what WHKC had when it was doing its pre-Christian stunting. If you ever walk into the Staples store in Reynoldsburg, whatever they have blaring out over their PA system sounds a lot better than most of the radio stations around here.
 
inquisitor said:
For them to overcome their signal problems, they have to give people something they can't get anywhere else. People will go out of their way to tune you in if you have something they like.
Click to expand...

Well, the liberals have been relying on a website and/or podcasts since 1580 went Catholic.

http://www.ohiomajorityradio.com

The hosts in the clip below could fill in the 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. part of the schedule live.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32227528#32227528

Of course, 103.9 could always hire Sarah Palin. :D

Oh, by the way, Ed is now consistently beating Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room."
 
Well R-Info already has this as a rumor post.

Question,

What makes you think a format change is coming? I would LOVE a dance-friendly or rhythmic-leaning CHR. But would they do it? Why is there speculation?
 
Sean Gilbow said:
inquisitor said:
For them to overcome their signal problems, they have to give people something they can't get anywhere else. People will go out of their way to tune you in if you have something they like.
Click to expand...

Well, the liberals have been relying on a website and/or podcasts since 1580 went Catholic.

http://www.ohiomajorityradio.com

Oh, by the way, Ed is now consistently beating Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room."
Click to expand...

Why hasn't 103.9 gone progressive talk yet? You asked them to try progressive talk over eight months ago. Quoting
you from the December 20, 2009 Ohio Majority Radio Yahoo group:

Re: Practicalities

OK, here's the radio person talking again.

Our target now should be North American Broadcasting. It was NABCO
that quickly put a talk format together on 103.9 and flipped "Ted"
(one of their previous format failures) to accommodate the arrival of
Glenn Beck.

NABCO's plans for 103.9 from what I've read at Radio-Info:

--Mancow is replacing Bob and Tom, which is moving to 99.7.
--Dave Ramsey and Michael Savage (ugh!) are being brought in from WYTS

We should be moving just as quickly to get NABCO to grab the
progressive listener base. They know WVKO's Time Spent Listening, and
it's very hard to ignore. And, with a signal described by some as
crappy, they should be welcoming a loyal listener base that doesn't
care and not try to grab from the Clear Channel crowd. Otherwise,
NABCO will continue to flounder with the 103.9 frequency.

Here would be a possible schedule for 103.9:

6 to 9 a.m.--Mancow
9 a.m. to noon--Dan Patrick or Dennis Miller
Noon to 3 p.m.--Dennis Miller or Dan Patrick
3 p.m. to 4 p.m.--Dave Ramsey
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.--Mark the Shark on Sports
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.--Stephanie Miller
9 p.m. to midnight--Ed Schultz
Midnight to 6 a.m.--Fox Sports Radio

The decision-maker behind the format is Hal Fish, Director of
Programming and Operations. Hal has been in this business a long time
and with NABCO as long as I can remember, so we need to get our ducks
fully in a row.

Nothing against Thom Hartmann. He and Rachel Maddow would be the next
additions Hal might consider if he sees Momma and Big Eddie really
pick up the listeners (especially if Momma beats Hannity), and that
103.9 grabs larger numbers with a new block of progressive listeners
(and a new block of advertisers they do not have to canvass).

Ideally, the goal is to get Momma and Big Eddie back live. But if Hal
is willing to provide that progressive block from 6 to midnight with a
ready-made group of advertisers, and the station sees results, we
could get them back live.

The earliest I can get a hold of someone from NABCO is Tuesday, but I
need a sense of direction here.
 
lovejamminoldies said:
I would LOVE a dance-friendly or rhythmic-leaning CHR. But would they do it? Why is there speculation?
Click to expand...

Those guys are rock people, I don't think anybody over there has a good ear for pop. I think the TED debacle proves that. I don't think a "consulted" station would work there, either. I think you need to have a PD in place who has a good feel for that type of music. Wild 93.9 as of a couple of years ago (not now) used to sound great. I also remember driving through Dayton and really getting excited whenever I had the chance to hear WBTT. Spend some money on an old-school morning guy (listen to some of the old WKLO Louisville airchecks to see what I mean), do remotes like in the old days, and see what happens. Hot 105/107, if my memory serves correctly, used to get decent ratings with this formula. WDJO uses this very formula, but with oldies.

Like the local gourmet grocery store, give the people what the chains can't give them!
 
gabigley1 said:
Why hasn't 103.9 gone progressive talk yet? You asked them to try progressive talk over eight months ago. Quoting
you from the December 20, 2009 Ohio Majority Radio Yahoo group:
Click to expand...

Putting another boring sounding satellite format on a station with a bad signal, especially one proven to be a commercial failure in 2 previous attempts, is not going to help that station. They need live jocks, music noone else plays, and involvement with the listener (interactivity, live remotes, prize giveaways, call-in's - like the old days.)
 
My ideal station would sound like John Garabidian's "Open House Party", mostly pop with enough dance thrown in to give it a beat. No dayparts where you slow it down and make it sound awful, and go light on the black music (no pun intended) which is awful these days.
 
inquisitor said:
My ideal station would sound like John Garabidian's "Open House Party", mostly pop with enough dance thrown in to give it a beat. No dayparts where you slow it down and make it sound awful, and go light on the black music (no pun intended) which is awful these days.
Click to expand...

Well you didn't have to say "black music" - I agree on OHP but it's filled with rhythmic. So is the charts these days.

103-9 The Beat - or Wild or anything

Once again though, why the speculation out of nowhere of a format flip?
 
lovejamminoldies said:
inquisitor said:
My ideal station would sound like John Garabidian's "Open House Party", mostly pop with enough dance thrown in to give it a beat. No dayparts where you slow it down and make it sound awful, and go light on the black music (no pun intended) which is awful these days.
Click to expand...

Well you didn't have to say "black music" - I agree on OHP but it's filled with rhythmic. So is the charts these days.

103-9 The Beat - or Wild or anything

Once again though, why the speculation out of nowhere of a format flip?
Click to expand...

I used to be a huge fan of black music in the 1980's, not so much now. The kind of music I want to hear is the kind of music that would appeal to, say, ethnics living on the east coast. Kind of a dance/pop mix, not to heavy or obscure on the dance and very light on the black music. If you want to hear "urban", you have 102.9 or 107.5 ... this has to sound different.

You can have some of those elements, but not too many of them. I think you have to ignore the charts and worry about your own "charts" ... what resonates with your listeners. We have so many Youngstown and Cleveland expatriots living here these days, I'm sure something like this will do better than the many past failed iterations of 103.9.

I don't think the owners are up to the task, though. As I said, they are rock people. They don't have a clue about pop.
 
lovejamminoldies said:
107.5 is CHR/Rhythmic as is 1029 but they're leaning Urban lately. 1039 ain't goin CHR. I wish though.
Click to expand...
Who is? I haven't listened to 102.9 for a while (I couldn't handle all the ignorant George Bush bashing on the morning show so I took it off my preset), but music-wise they were far more listenable to my ears than 107.5. 107.5 seems more black, while 102.9 seems almost mainstream, but not quite. The old WBTT and Wild 93.9 didn't have such an annoying urban sound as either of those stations.

I agree it isn't coming back and even if they tried, they'd probably do it in an half-@ssed manner and screw it up. Those guys simply don't understand anything other than rock. And judging from the ratings, they don't understand that very well, either! I mean, to run a talk format on tape delay when you don't have to? That should be basic radio 101. Does anybody not understand the concept of immediacy and interactivity?
 
lovejamminoldies said:
Once again... more black?

Take a look at the yes.com's for WCKX 107.5 and WDHT 102.9

WCKX is much more "mainstream"
Click to expand...

I don't know, to my ears WDHT sounded like much more of a mainstream station than WCKX, which sounded, yes, black! What, you're not allowed to say black anymore?
 
They've transformed over the last year. Yes, it's fine to say black but the thing is, both WDHT and WCKX have a LARGE white audience. Quite a few white people enjoy Hip-Hop & R&B.
 
lovejamminoldies said:
They've transformed over the last year. Yes, it's fine to say black but the thing is, both WDHT and WCKX have a LARGE white audience. Quite a few white people enjoy Hip-Hop & R&B.
Click to expand...

Too old--Can't listen to that crap! I have to admit, whenever I'm in Cleveland or Pittsburgh, I do like what I hear on Radio Disney ... that's more my speed. Does that make me a teen?
 
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