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97.5 The Hawk is dead!

S

steveg

Came across this on the Philly board: Glad smooth Jazz is coming back but say it ain't so on The Hawk!

GREATER MEDIA BRINGS SMOOTH JAZZ BACK TO PHILADELPHIA Press Release

Bala Cynwyd, PA: Greater Media, Inc. announces it will be bringing Smooth Jazz back to the Philadelphia airwaves on 97.5 FM with the heritage call letters WJJZ. The new format is expected to begin airing in November.

"We are very excited about bringing smooth jazz back to the Philadelphia market," said John Fullam, Greater Media Philadelphia's Vice President and Market Manager. "We sensed a lot of disappointment among listeners and advertisers when WJJZ changed its format last August. It's gratifying to be able to relaunch a station with such a loyal following and that has been successful for so long in Philadelphia."

Greater Media announced its agreement to acquire 97.5 FM from Nassau Broadcasting Partners last July. The acquisition is expected to close in November. Greater Media's other Philadelphia stations include 93.3 WMMR-FM, 95.7 BEN-FM, Classic Rock 102.9 / WMGK-FM and Sports Talk 950 / WPEN-AM.

Greater Media Philadelphia is a division of Greater Media, Inc., a family-owned business and the ultimate parent company of 19 AM and FM radio stations (not including WJJZ) in the Boston, Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia markets. It also owns a modern printing plant and a group of weekly newspapers in central New Jersey as well as several telecommunications towers located throughout the United States.
 
This doesn't affect FB&HW that much, but I hope Jim Spector lands on his feet and Nassau has something planned for him. I know Randi Ellis bounced to a PD job in PA...
 
For over 25 years Nassau has used a Trenton/Philadelphia ID on 97.5, first with WPST and now with The Hawk. That never worked because Philly people prefer their CHR and classic rock to come from Philly.

You would have thought Nassau would have made The Hawk more of a New Jersey station at 97.5. Changing the community of license to Burlington showed that would not be so. Also, New Jersey listeners don't take well to a station that's mostly voice-tracked.
 
chuckydoll said:
For over 25 years Nassau has used a Trenton/Philadelphia ID on 97.5, first with WPST and now with The Hawk. That never worked because Philly people prefer their CHR and classic rock to come from Philly.

You would have thought Nassau would have made The Hawk more of a New Jersey station at 97.5. Changing the community of license to Burlington showed that would not be so. Also, New Jersey listeners don't take well to a station that's mostly voice-tracked.
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That would have made sense, for both The Hawk and PST. After all, "not New York, not Philadelphia" seems to work pretty well for NJ101.5. And Press, originally, and now Millennium have trained agencies to see New Jersey as its own ad market (cutting across the standard Arbitron boundaries). Now they are just another Philly station.
 
Is 97.5 The Hawk going to be doing something special knowing that the end is near? Maybe do some type of "Bitterfest" promotion like back when WDRE died? They should at least go out with a bang.
 
I wish 105.7 The Hawk (WCHR) would fly away as well. It's the most bland, generic Classic Rock format one could possibly concoct. At least the former owners of 99.7 WBHX had an interesting take on the format, with deep selections - with The Hawk, it's "Freebird", "Stairway To Heaven", and lots of cheesy '70s corporate rock and cheesier '80s big hair rock.

Some station that covers all of Monmouth/Ocean needs to be blown up for Active Rock. The demand is there for this format but no one is providing an outlet for it - surely Greater Media and Press are out (too similar to stations that they run, in their eyes at least) so Millennium is our only hope unless some other company moves in. Highly improbable, given The Hawk's sporadically strong ratings (with a weak book every 3 ratings periods or so). WRAT would be wise to tinker with their MOR Rock format as a potential cure for their ratings woes, but Greater Media will prevent the station from having an identity of its own and breaking away from the machine. Guaranteed that they would be Active Rock if anyone other than Greater Media or Clear Channel were running it, and they would be prospering.
 
Although never say never is a saying that is very true in radio, the day Millennium programs an active-rock station is the day I'll pull a "Wild Things" with Scarlett Johanson and Angelina Jolie.
 
Starscream said:
Although never say never is a saying that is very true in radio, the day Millennium programs an active-rock station is the day I'll pull a "Wild Things" with Scarlett Johanson and Angelina Jolie.
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I hear that. The media outlets in Monmouth/Ocean (all three of them - gee, thanks, 1996 Telecommunications Act!) are so white bread that it's ridiculous. You would think that at least someone would be willing to loosen up and try programming a somewhat edgy format, but not here in wholesome, goody-two-shoes Monmouth/Ocean. If I wanted a return to "Leave It To Beaver" values, I would turn on WYRS or one of the myriad other Christian radio stations in this market. For those of us that aren't "holier than thou", how about something that goes against the grain? Yeah, that will probably happen when hell freezes over - this is the Northeast's very own mini-Bible Belt, after all. Suffice to say, I won't be holding my breath.
 
I'd like to see Greater Media move the soon-to-be defunct Hawk from 97.5 to 105.5/WDHA in North Jersey. This move could help the failing WDHA and give us Northern New Jerseyans something great to listen to besides crappy NYC stations. I love The Hawk - bring it over to 105.5!
 
THIS could "Single-handedly" be one of the BIGGEST CLUSTER F__K moves of the year for ailing Greater Media! Not only do they have a "Mess" (for lack of a better description) with their Modern Rocker WDHA in North Jersey which is run by an incompetent BOOB, but now you take an hour + ride south into Philly and you get that "What the Hell Does Variety Mean" Bland Classic Rocker 'MGK. Please oh Please cut me a break already. They (GM) take a completely functioning and money making station such as "The Hawk" and completely throw it away for Jazz (which I have no problem with personally) and sacrifice one kick A$$ station to save a mediocre one at best...1029??? Where's the justice? Greater Media REALLY should clean up some of their "other messes" in neighboring markets that they have created, before they decide to take on "New Projects." Right here a couple posts down one can see exactly what kind of issues are running rampant at WDHA just as an example.

NJMike said:
I'd like to see Greater Media move the soon-to-be defunct Hawk from 97.5 to 105.5/WDHA in North Jersey. This move could help the failing WDHA and give us Northern New Jerseyans something great to listen to besides crappy NYC stations. I love The Hawk - bring it over to 105.5!
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I'm with NJMike: My CONDOLENCES To "The Hawk Staff" and also to "Free Beer & Hotwings" as they lose one Monster stick in Philly/Delaware/South, Central, and even Northern Jersey too. Why not bring THEM to WDHA in the morning since WRAT is too close to WCHR in Manahawkin??? Ahhh that might make too much sense which obviously means NOTHING in the "Radio World!"

RIP WTHK :'(
 
Radio411 said:
I'm with NJMike: My CONDOLENCES To "The Hawk Staff" and also to "Free Beer & Hotwings" as they lose one Monster stick in Philly/Delaware/South, Central, and even Northern Jersey too. Why not bring THEM to WDHA in the morning since WRAT is too close to WCHR in Manahawkin??? Ahhh that might make too much sense which obviously means NOTHING in the "Radio World!"

RIP WTHK :'(
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Seriously, it is very disapointing to see a great station like The Hawk bite the dust. While I live on the fridge of 97.5's current singal here in Essex County, I listen as much as I can because they are way better than Q104 or DHA. The Hawk has the cleanest and brightest presentation/imaging, best music selection, and awesome personalities. Trying to put aside my love for The Hawk, I believe that Greater Media should The Hawk to 105.5 for a couple of good business reasons:

- retain a strong brand and image that The Hawk established
- retain current listeners and gain new ones from Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex Counties and points north
- grab the attractive North Jersey market, which includes listeners with high levels of disposable income and who enjoy classic rock (Q104 ususally does well in the North Jersey)
- help the DHA's failing image, ratings, personalities, and poor music selection

The Hawk is a real winner...too bad it's flying away to Hawk heaven!
 
Just another rim shot going the urban way, wdre, wsnj, wply and now wthk, when will wjbr bite the dust, its make great sense to split the urban pie a million ways, what are they thinking.
 
Am I missing something here?

You folks are aware that "The Hawk" is nothing but a voice-tracked station with a syndicated morning show from GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, right!?!?!

Heritage? It's been around for what, 5 or 6 years tops, with a format tweak, a call letter change, and they moved dial position to boot.

The station is really no different than MGK, and Greater Media is moving the 97.5 stick into the Philly market. What did you think they would do? Kill MGK, which actually has an audience already built in and try to get them to find "The Hawk" instead???

You all shouldn't be mad at Greater Media. Your anger should be aimed at Nassau. It was Nassau's greed that lead to the death of you precious Hawk.

Ultimately, I guess I just don't see "The Hawk" as a great station. It's like every other terrestrial station these days. Bland and researched to death.
 
97.5 Deep Track UPDATE

2:04 PM

DOORS - Roadhouse Blues
SUPERTRAMP - Breakfast In America

(Both staples of WMGK and every other Classic Rock station in America)

Stand by.
 
Gift

Almost as though the station was reading this board knowing I was looking for song titles to illustrate how typical it is, the admittedly decent-sounding (but with nothing to say but liner card parroting) female jock (voicetracked?) just said to stay tuned because Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" would be coming up this hour.

Kyle is absolutely right. Why some of you people are blaming Greater Media (while absolving Nassau) for the demise of this triple-digit-market 300-overplayed-song-jukebox is completely mind-blowing.

Hey, it's 2:11, and here it is! "FREE BIRD, man!"

Maybe if I keep listening I'll hear "Jack & Diane"...

Don't misunderstand me-- I have nothing against The Hawk. What I don't understand is the cult following it seems to have developed on various message boards. WLIR/WDRE, 97x, WRNR, WLNG-- these are stations that I'd expect would (and did/do) have such followings. The Hawk is the textbook definition of "corporate rock". Nothing "wrong" with that; it's terrestrial radio, and the station in some ways "needs" to be tightly programmed... That's what the station is-- an okay-sounding, tightly formatted run-of-the-mill Classic Rock station that did well for its purpose for a few years. Now that the station is being moved into a major market, that purpose is over.
 
George Brusstar said:
Why some of you people are blaming Greater Media (while absolving Nassau) for the demise of this triple-digit-market 300-overplayed-song-jukebox is completely mind-blowing.
Click to expand...

I think you're missing my point. While I prefer The Hawk over other area classic rockers, I am not blaming anybody for its demise. In fact, the demise of The Hawk makes complete sense - why would Greater Media move The Hawk to 102.9 in Philly when there is already a well-established classic rock format there? The Hawk simply cannot be anymore. However, my suggestion was to move The Hawk to 105.5/WDHA to help that failing station, bring a viable format to the Northern NJ market, and retain the Hawk branding. Classic rock does well here in suburban northern NJ, so I think it would make sense. But, again, it's not what I think, or what Bob, Dick, and Harry think...
 
Mike... I wasn't addressing my comments at you specifically, as I am appreciative of your thoughtful reply... What you are saying actually does kind of make sense (to me, though I am admittedly rather unfamiliar with northern New Jersey radio these days)... I just don't understand the dozens of others all over this (and other ones) forum constantly drooling over The Hawk when it (like hundreds of other "Classic Rock" terrestrial stations in America) just plays the same 300-400 "safe" songs over and over that we've been hearing beaten to death for nearly 30 years (again, not saying that's doing anything wrong from a terrestrial radio programming perspective-- in fact, it's unfortunately necessary to some degree-- though it is nauseating for anyone with an ounce of enjoyment for music)...

I completely fail to see how the end of a run-of-the-mill, overall unimpressive (but decent sounding, in that it's tight and the voicetracked? jocks sound okay) small market station (that was only around for a few forgettable years) is generating all of this hubbub. I am also mind-boggled at the shortsightedness of radio geeks who for whatever reason are blaming Greater Media when it's NASSAU that is killing the station in the first place.

There are plenty of others, some right here on this thread, ripping Greater Media specifically and throwing out this silly notion that the company somehow would have been better off launching The Hawk in Philly than keeping the well-established and profitable (more than WTHK ever was, mainly due to it being a small market station) WMGK brand...

As for launching The Hawk on WDHA, it's my understanding "The Hawk" is an exclusive brand of Nassau's anyway... I suppose one company could always license the brand from another, but what's the point? Did 97.5 have a following up there in it's year as The Hawk that I'm unaware of?
 
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