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89X To Return?

U

umfan

radioinsight.com

Domain Insight 8/21: Is 89X About To Return To Windsor/Detroit?

Almost five years after flipping heritage Alternative brand "89X" 88.7 CIMX-FM Windsor ON/Detroit to Country as “Pure Country 89", Bell Media may be preparing to return the brand to the market.
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

89X, the once well known Windsor (ON) station that also served the Detroit market, changed formats several years ago from Alternative to Country with its ratings in continual malaise territory once their highly rated morning show, Dave and Chuck, decamped to WRIF is rumored to be returning to the air. I've suspected that the country station that replaced it has held down WYCDs performance but there isn't Detroit ratings information for the new format available.

WDZH (98.7FM) flipped from SoftAC to Alternative basically the moment 89X was no more. To the surprise of many, the station has maintained a near 3 share with little effort into staffing or programming the station. Perhaps the owners of CIMX see opportunity there.
 
Whether they got wind of something coming soon or are jumping out in front of a future development... the inevitable seems obvious: WWJ on 98.7, probably sooner than later.
 
Station has sacked Bobby Bones and is now running stunting liners in Spanish between every song. Country music is playing as usual.

I'm not convinced this will lead to a return of 89X, but we shall soon know!

I'll listen via FM on occasion today and will report back if I hear anything new.
 
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MarkW said:
Station has sacked Bobby Bones and is now running stunting liners in Spanish between every song. Country music is playing as usual.

I'm not convinced this will lead to a return of 89X, but we shall soon know!
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I feel that it is.

Spanish-language radio, outside of a full-timer in Toronto and blocks on multicultural stations, doesn’t exist on Canadian terrestrial radio. Not to mention the overall lack of CanCon for it (even if the Windsor levels are lower).

In addition, the intro to “Stop” from Jane’s Addiction features a woman speaking in Spanish, so it’s a likely tie-in.

Outside of maybe “Bounce”, I personally can’t see any other viable format on that frequency other than alternative. CHR is being done next door, hip hop isn’t largely viable full-time outside of Toronto (and would step on Virgin’s toes a bit), country was a dud, and…I feel like I’m something’s missing, but I just can’t see them trying something different.
 
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I agree completely a flip to Spanish language programming absolutely won't be occurring.

I think a reboot of country is a possibility, a return of 89X is a possibility, and a completely different format (variety hits?) is a possibility.

Phenomenal point regarding the intro to "Stop!" by Jane's Addiction! 89X launched to that song in 1991 and was laid to rest by that same song in 2020.
 
ksradiogeek said:
Spanish-language radio, outside of a full-timer in Toronto and blocks on multicultural stations, doesn’t exist on Canadian terrestrial radio. Not to mention the overall lack of CanCon for it (even if the Windsor levels are lower).
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The Spanish promos are obviously not an indication of that language as a future format, that's why it's called a "stunt". Especially given that many of them are hinting at the return of something familiar on Thursday at 8:08am.
 
Huff said:
The Spanish promos are obviously not an indication of that language as a future format, that's why it's called a "stunt". Especially given that many of them are hinting at the return of something familiar on Thursday at 8:08am.
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Oh I know, Huff.

I’ve heard many a’stunts in my time. 🙂 But there are some that read into stunts a little too deep - myself partially included, lol.
 
Thanks. I thought I heard "ocho de ocho" but perhaps it was "ocho y ocho."

("de" is pronounced the same as "day" in English.)

I assume "ocho de ocho" would mean eight minutes before eight o'clock.
 
I just turned on the radio again and quickly heard the liner in question. The liner does say "ocho y ocho."

So, 8:08a it is!

Sorry for the earlier confusion.
 
89x is going to be on air as on Thursday morning and I think it will run without on air until after Canadian Thanksgiving (October) before introducing hosts. I heard the original plan was to go commercial free until Tuesday next week and then go from there. But not sure about that one yet
 
This will remove a Country-formatted signal and Bobby Bones clearance from the market. Could iHeart flip its low-ranked rock station WLLZ to County in order to clear Bobby Bones in Market #14 and take on Audacy's Top-5 ranked WYCD?
 
Theater of My Mind said:
This will remove a Country-formatted signal and Bobby Bones clearance from the market. Could iHeart flip its low-ranked rock station WLLZ to County in order to clear Bobby Bones in Market #14 and take on Audacy's Top-5 ranked WYCD?
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WLLZ just launched a new, local morning show. While market dynamics changing could lead to something, its doubtful iHeart does it that quickly. IF they wanted Bones on a US signal, they could've made that happen at any point in the past five years.
 
lanceventa said:
WLLZ just launched a new, local morning show. While market dynamics changing could lead to something, its doubtful iHeart does it that quickly. IF they wanted Bones on a US signal, they could've made that happen at any point in the past five years.
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That's true, but Detroit also has longtime heritage rocker WRIF and classic rocker WCSX competing in the rock formats, both with consistently solid numbers for decades. While WLLZ is also a heritage brand, it doesn't occupy its original frequency and is a bit of an also-ran in the ratings. I wish no ill will on the new WLLZ morning show, but Country is iHeart's biggest format and the company puts such a high priority on its national hosts, it's an obvious question.
 
I suspect carriage of the show on CIMX was not considered a Detroit market clearance. All advertising was geared to Canadian listeners.

I think if iHM wanted to try country again on 106.7, they likely would've made the switch following the demise of New Country 93.1.

As a country station, I don't believe 93.1 ever reached $4 million in annual billing. I'm still surprised the country format lasted a decade there.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
This will remove a Country-formatted signal and Bobby Bones clearance from the market. Could iHeart flip its low-ranked rock station WLLZ to County in order to clear Bobby Bones in Market #14 and take on Audacy's Top-5 ranked WYCD?
Click to expand...

I’m convinced that iHeart doesn’t care about clearances for Bobby Bones ever since they dropped the show in Chicago when they flipped their low-rated country station and turned it into a low-rated rock station.
 


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