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All-Access : WLFP (94.1 The Wolf)/Memphis To Move To 99.7, 'Sunsetting' Hot AC WMC (FM 100)

Interesting...I wonder if this is Audacy's way of trying to get a "Nashville" station from 300 miles away. Audacy is spending millions to build a studio in Nashville, and the company doesn't have a radio station there.

That was sometime in the '90s. She died in 2011.
 
Firepoint - times have changed, but this is similar to what happened to KDF, as you know. If KDF came back today, and did it historically right and proper, the Nashville ratings market would be vastly different. This really does sound like a decision made from afar based on numbers of a station that has not been properly formatted to maximize what it could be. This will be interesting.
You must be president of the "I want 'KDF back" club! Almost no one seems to miss them anymore. As I had said before, I moved to Nastyvegas in the '90s, and by then, it was over for 'KDF. I never got to experience their glory days in (apparently) the '70s. I was often told that Rock 106 was MUCH better!
 
KDF as a rock station has been gone for 23 years. The rock audience has only continued to splinter into various segments over that time.

Seems like the only rock stations that get big numbers are classic rock and those with heritage morning shows. Since 105.9 has the Nashville classic rock audience, what do you think Tibbs4 103.3 could do that would have any ratings impact?
 
Interesting...I wonder if this is Audacy's way of trying to get a "Nashville" station from 300 miles away. Audacy is spending millions to build a studio in Nashville, and the company doesn't have a radio station there.
Unless they bought the building (which they didn't) I doubt they are spending more than a couple of hundred grand to build a studio, decorate any office space and to equip it nicely. All it needs is an Internet connection, along with a basic studio of the same kind a morning show in Shreveport or Albuquerque or Las Vegas might have. Add a couple of cameras for video streams and that's it.

That's not even 30' by 30', and if you take out the entrance-way and a bathroom facility, you have a space smaller than my living room! I could equip it nicely right out of my BSW catalog for about what my new car cost, and the rest is furniture and decoration.
 
Unless they bought the building (which they didn't) I doubt they are spending more than a couple of hundred grand to build a studio, decorate any office space and to equip it nicely.

From what I hear, there have been big construction delays. The article I posted was from a year ago, and I'm told they still haven't moved in. That gets expensive after a while. They've been leasing space somewhere else while they continue to build. But as I said, the closest radio station they own is 300 miles away.
 
Memphis is 200 miles from Nashville.

Audacy also owns stations in Chattanooga, including country powerhouse WUSY, which is only 130 miles from Nashville.
 
I don't know, I'm just thinking a smaller market that they got from iHeart in trade for WBZ may not be as lucrative for them

Keep in mind, if the Chattanooga stations were traded for WBZ on paper, Audacy would inherit the basis of WBZ that CBS had on those stations. Given that it was one of the first radio stations Westinghouse owned, the tax liability for selling whichever stations that replaced it would be astronomical.

Avoiding capital gains taxes was the main reason the CBS Radio/Entercom deal was structured as a Reverse Morris Trust.
 
Keep in mind, if the Chattanooga stations were traded for WBZ on paper, Audacy would inherit the basis of WBZ that CBS had on those stations. Given that it was one of the first radio stations Westinghouse owned, the tax liability for selling whichever stations that replaced it would be astronomical.

Avoiding capital gains taxes was the main reason the CBS Radio/Entercom deal was structured as a Reverse Morris Trust.
I actually think it may be a few of the original Entercom markets that will be available, if what I have heard from a reliable source is true.
 
You must be president of the "I want 'KDF back" club! Almost no one seems to miss them anymore. As I had said before, I moved to Nastyvegas in the '90s, and by then, it was over for 'KDF. I never got to experience their glory days in (apparently) the '70s. I was often told that Rock 106 was MUCH better!
Rock106 was a shooting star. It was also a trainwreck and it was dismantled before it imploded. BUT, people remember the marketing and it did out rock KDF. In some ways it was better. It also was something new and exciting. And how long did it last? NADA. I have often said KDF was not THE greatest station. I had my times in high school and after that it flat out sucked. It was programmed by people who were great people, but out of touch with the trends. So it had its issues. It also maintained a large, loyal audience that tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. Look on FB and you will see two fairly large remember KDF groups.
In fact, those two have about 35,000 likes. Combined. Thats larger than FM100s page today. Is there a Memphis tribute page to your favorite station? All I am saying is, like I have said for years:

I look at it business wise:

1.) Huge and stupid mistake thats cost Cumulus millions. That signal on that stick should never be below a 5-6 12+.

2.) The Rock is about as exciting as KDF was at times. It is vulnerable as it gets. You have a few points from there, you have a point from the Buzz. You have a lot of points from Jack if you program KDF RIGHT and you have a point from Mix. That would give it a start at 6 and move up with a little shear from Country and nostalgia.

3.) Make it a contender, not a flanker and it will be solid. Plus, the local ad dollars will re-appear and agency bucks aren’t going to go away or down more than it is now.

4.) Its a business decision that hurts WSIX at the e x p e n s e of WSM-FM. I get the concept. But the concept is outdated. That’s a lazy company doing what lazy companies do. Justifying mediocrity.

As for WSM-AM’s flip consideration. “It” was a quick flash-in-the-pan headline and attempt at testing the waters and one last attempt to make that station viable. Look when all that talk happened and who was involved. Today, it’s a dead duck. I admit, I am surprised by how bad it is. The AM dial is toast as it is in Nashville. For good, probably.

By the way, there is research out there and it’s pretty compelling about this exact flip and how it would and could shake up the market. And if it wasn’t 103.3 that went that style of classic rock/hits, what another frequency would garner with that format. And lets just say, Midwest wouldn’t do it. Why?
 
1.) Huge and stupid mistake thats cost Cumulus millions. That signal on that stick should never be below a 5-6 12+.

Tibbs, rock doesn't make money anymore. Cumulus needs a current country station in Nashville to compete with WSIX. If Audacy could buy or trade for a station in Nashville, it would be the third country station. Or if they could buy 103.3, they would keep the format and ditch the syndicated hosts. Cumulus got its behind kicked when it tried to revive the legendary KFOG in San Francisco. It's now a sports station.

Nashville has several rock stations, including The Rock, Lightning 100, the Buzz, and the one you & I often talk about, which is WNXP. Plus there's Hippie Radio, which may be the real favorite. Eric Church wrote a song about it on his last album.

In answer to your question, Midwest wouldn't do it because they make WAY too much money with the formats they have.
 
Flinn, for once, did something smart and has returned WHBQ in Memphis to its Q107.5 roots with an Adult CHR format.

They stand to gain big time from FM100's impending demise.

Huge and stupid mistake thats cost Cumulus millions. That signal on that stick should never be below a 5-6 12+.

Cumulus didn't own 103.3 when it was flipped to Country. For quite a while in the late 00s and 2010s, WKDF and WSIX were neck-and-neck in the ratings. KDF was victorious at times. The soft ratings in more recent years are due to a combination of Cumulus programming miscues coupled with (a) improvements iHM made at WSIX and (b) success Cumulus has seen with clustermate 95.5.

There are already multiple FM signals in Nashville that skew heavily male, and Cumulus already owns two such stations (The Zone and SuperTalk 99.7). Adding a third would be a big mistake, in my opinion. They need to be able to reach female listeners.

If 103.3 were to abandon Country, an Adult Contemporary format of some kind would probably make the most sense. That said, I don't think 103.3 should abandon Country. It and 95.5 probably work well together.
 
I’m sure this has been mentioned, but any chance Audacy could change their mind about killing FM100 at the last minute? I get the EMF move to 94.1 is set in stone. But maybe this is all a big bluff to get other stations to make some potentially unnecessary format moves.
 
Flinn, for once, did something smart and has returned WHBQ in Memphis to its Q107.5 roots with an Adult CHR format.

They stand to gain big time from FM100's impending demise.



Cumulus didn't own 103.3 when it was flipped to Country. For quite a while in the late 00s and 2010s, WKDF and WSIX were neck-and-neck in the ratings. KDF was victorious at times. The soft ratings in more recent years are due to a combination of Cumulus programming miscues coupled with (a) improvements iHM made at WSIX and (b) success Cumulus has seen with clustermate 95.5.

There are already multiple FM signals in Nashville that skew heavily male, and Cumulus already owns two such stations (The Zone and SuperTalk 99.7). Adding a third would be a big mistake, in my opinion. They need to be able to reach female listeners.

If 103.3 were to abandon Country, an Adult Contemporary format of some kind would probably make the most sense. That said, I don't think 103.3 should abandon Country. It and 95.5 probably work well together.
Mark - I appreciate your take. April 1, 1999 was when Dick Broadcasting changed KDF to rock. There was nothing positive about the change financially EVER. The reason KDF changed was for a variety of weak/short term plans and projections based up the shoulders of one persona who had no way to hold up the plan and succeed. What is wrong with another male driven station in the wheelhouse of Cumulus? It fits perfectly with WGFX and WWTN and WSM-FM? It makes them more user friendly. In fact, it would ma
 
I’m sure this has been mentioned, but any chance Audacy could change their mind about killing FM100 at the last minute? I get the EMF move to 94.1 is set in stone. But maybe this is all a big bluff to get other stations to make some potentially unnecessary format moves.
I think this has to do with costs and the fact that The Wolf is a mirror of WUSY in Chattanooga and doesn't have any local talent at all. I think they think they can attract FM100's listeners to the River. I also think if they could have worked a swap with Cumulus for WKIM 98.9 for another station in another market, we would have seen Wolf move to 98.9.
 
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