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B103.9/Fort Myers

S

ScottBurns

Major, in a post awhile back, I think you brought up B103.9 in Fort Myers. Having spent the last week there, I have some thoughts on the station.

Besides a few decent jocks, I'd have to vote the "Killer Bee" as the worst CHR in all of Florida. The playlist is so tight and repetitive that most of the same songs are played hourly or bi-hourly. For example, the aging song, "Fergalicious" can be heard at least once every ninety minutes. To top it off, there are many CHR staples that the station has not added. This includes Gwen Stefani's "Sweetest Escape," which is currently in heavy rotation on Y100.

Remembering from when I was growing up in the late 80s and early 90s, when I could occasionally pick up B103.9 from my house in Lake Worth, the station tilted somewhat AC-ish. Now it leans full-service CHR, but it has to have one of the tightest playlists I have ever heard on a CHR station.

A couple of other thoughts: Did anyone notice that Power 96 brought back "Beat the Bomb"? It's a step in the right direction. Also, does anyone know from where Wild's Kobe is voicetracked? He is supposedly doing a live remote from City Place next week...

Thanks,
Scott
 
Hey Scott - Good to hear from you again !

I don't get to travel up and down the Florida West Coast too often - perhaps maybe once every few years or so. Last October I did, and I briefly tuned-in to it (B-103.9). I wasn't impressed with what I heard, so I flipped over to Tampa's 93.3-FLZ which carries its blowtorch of a signal clear down I-75 to Naples and even halfway into the Everglades at times. From what I remember B-103.9 played way too many recurrents and not enough new material. From what you posted and from what I just saw on their current playlist that's posted at Mediabase they seem to be stuck in a 2004 to 2006 time-warp.

My thoughts on Y-100: It's a complete turnaround from last year. They sound so much better now. Less repetition. More variety (including rock). Plenty of new material. They sound fresh. They sound good. 'Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo' is 'must-listen-to' radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10.

Regarding WILD's Kobe he is the PD / MD / afternoon drive-time dude there, and he came to WILD from B-92.5 in Charleston South Carolina late last year. I don't know if he voicetracks for any other Clear Channel stations.

THE MAJOR
 
Hey Major, thanks for the response! Trust me, you aren't missing much with B103.9. But next time you are on I-595 west of the Turnpike (if you ever venture that far west), try tuning it in - you should be able to pick it up. I'd be curious to hear your opinion.

A couple of things about WFLZ: As I have written, it is one of my all-time favorite CHR stations (along with Mobile's WABB). However, I can't be more saddened by what is going on there. Not only are afternoons voicetracked from Washington, D.C., but I think nights are also voicetracked from Philadelphia. WFLZ's night jocks, "Rat Boy" and "Stay Puff," have been fixtures on Philly's Q102 for years. This is all from a station that once boasted MJ and BJ in the morning, Jeff Thomas in the afternoons, and Bubba at night.

Major, I have to disagree with you about Y100. While I like the frequent Top 20 Countdowns, I find the playlist too tight and repetitive - not as bad as the aforementioned B103.9, but not as good a variety as Wild in West Palm. In addition, the syndicated-morning-show-from-New-York doesn't do anything for me....

Thanks for the info on Kobe. For some reason I thought he was voicetracked from out of town...
 
Y-100

ScottBurns said:
Major, I have to disagree with you about Y100. While I like the frequent Top 20 Countdowns, I find the playlist too tight and repetitive - not as bad as the aforementioned B103.9, but not as good a variety as Wild in West Palm. In addition, the syndicated-morning-show-from-New-York doesn't do anything for me....
Click to expand...

I stated that Y-100 'sound(s) so much better now' with 'less repetition', and 'more variety (including rock)'. 'They sound fresh', and 'they sound good'.

Do they sound as good as they did back during much of the late-1990s ? NO - Not even close - but they sound better than they did in 2006. Last year they were playing several of their biggest hits up to 19 times per day (130+ spins per week). They are now down to about 13 to 14 times per day for their biggest hits. That's a nice (noticeable) move in the right direction. They have also added quite a few rock songs to their active and heavy playlist. I like that. TOP 40 radio is about all of the various genres of hit music - not just urban contemporary. I'm giving Y-100 credit for sounding so much better now than they did last year.

I'm personally a big fan of not playing any given hit - no matter how MASSIVE it is right now - more than once every 3 hours (or 8 times per day for a total of about 55 to 60 spins per week). That doesn't work at most big-market TOP 40 radio stations in the 21ST Century. 107.1-WA1A does it just fine up in the Melbourne area. I don't expect Y-100 to ever come close to no repetition every 3 hours.

As far as the New York / Miami syndicated morning show is concerned I like it a lot. They do an excellent job with it, and they have gone out of their way to incorporate equal parts of New York / New Jersey and equal parts of Miami / Ft. Lauderdale into their morning show. Most syndicated morning shows do nothing of the sort. Love them or hate them syndicated morning shows are the new wave of the radio. I have no problem with that. It's just like every daily talk show on television today - syndicated from New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles.

(Like you Scott) I do have a problem with voicetracking deejays from out-of-town - especially when it's so noticeable on the radio either because the deejay doesn't know his or her geography of the local area that he or she is broadcasting to, or the various dreaded technical glitches such as hearing the same exact thing from the deejay several days apart or poor audio transmission quality.

THE MAJOR
 
Major, I completely agree with your very intelligent assessment. Regarding Y-100, I agree that it sounds better. But I cannot help but compare the station to when it sounded better, and I cannot help but compare it to CHR stations that are currently vastly superior.

I also agree with your assessment that big-market CHR stations have to have tighter playlists in order to be successful. But this is not always the case. Take WAPE in Jacksonville. They have a much broader playlist than Y, and arguably far better jocks. WFLZ also has a wider playlist. With that said, my favorite CHRs are the smaller-market ones that have wide-open playlists, incorporating everything from Alternative Rock to Hip-Hop. If you are ever in the Western Panhandle, check out WABB out of Mobile. They play an incredible variety and have a big-market sound, as well as live jocks!

I will grant you that the Y morning show tries to incorporate Miami into the program. However, why has Y dropped the mention of "Miami" from its liners? To me, it makes the station sound even more generic. For example, WFLZ constantly bills itself as "Tampa Bay's Hit Music Channel" and WLDI calls itself the "Palm Beaches Hit Music Station." In addition, on Y's legal ID, the voice-over guy, with his New York accent, makes the station sound even LESS local...
 
Beyond Y-100

This weekend I will be embarking on a 9-day / 1,600+ mile road-trip that will take me up the Turnpike from Homestead to Jupiter, over to I-95, up I-95 to the Jacksonville area, along I-10 to the Lake City area, and then up I-75 past Valdosta, Macon, and to the north side of Atlanta ! I will then drive down the extreme western portion of Georgia to Columbus / Phenix City, into southeastern Alabama through Dothan, and then down to the Panama City area before I return home to Homestead along I-10, I-75, and the Turnpike. WHEW !

I've pretty much got all of my planned radio stations to listen to between Homestead, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Panama City all set up, so it will be an excellent chance for me to compare Y-100 with all of the other hit music stations between here, there, and everywhere. I know that I will dearly miss 'Elvis Duran & The Morning Zoo' and pretty much everything on 91.7-CALL-FM while I am away, so I will probably look forward to returning home then just as much as I look forward to getting out there on the open road now !

Be sure to check out my full trip report on how Y-100 compares with all of the rest shortly after my return home to this South Florida subtropical paradise !

THE MAJOR
 
Major, I eagerly await your reports! I am curious to see what you think about recent changes at WAOA, as well as your thoughs on WAPE/Jacksonville. When you hit the Panama City area, be sure to check out Mobile's WABB. The signal will be very weak in Panama City, but all in all, the station has a monster signal that can reach all the way to New Orleans on its western side.
 
ScottBurns said:
However, why has Y dropped the mention of "Miami" from its liners? To me, it makes the station sound even more generic. For example, WFLZ constantly bills itself as "Tampa Bay's Hit Music Channel" and WLDI calls itself the "Palm Beaches Hit Music Station." In addition, on Y's legal ID, the voice-over guy, with his New York accent, makes the station sound even LESS local...
Click to expand...

Well you know how I feel about jingles, imaging, and booming over-the-top extended top-of-the-hour station identifications. I think that you and I and Josh C. spent a few days and weeks discussing that in here last year.

It's just my two-cents-worth here, but 91.7-CALL-FM has some of the best TOP 40 sounding imaging that I have heard in a radio station since perhaps the middle of the 1980s !

Having said that Y-100 needs its heritage identity back in the form of some powerful imaging. Play along now as I present to you my dream version of Y-100's top-of-the-hour I.D.:

THIS ... IS AMERICA'S MEGA STATION ! W-H-Y-I - MIAMI, FT. LAUDERDALE, THE PALM BEACHES, AND ALL POINTS IN-BETWEEN THIS TROPICAL PARADISE ... WE CALL SOUTH FLORIDA ! ALL THE HITS ! ALL THE TIME ! THIS ... IS AMERICA'S Y-100 !!!

THE MAJOR
 
Speaking of top-of-the-hour IDs, not to keep plugging WABB, but theirs mentions Pensacola, Mobile, Buloxi, and Gulfport. The best one I have heard lately is Hot 99.5/Washington, D.C., which claims that it serves, "4 states, 15 counties, and the White House."
 
Prime Real Estate

ScottBurns said:
The best one I have heard lately is Hot 99.5/Washington, D.C., which claims that it serves, "4 states, 15 counties, and the White House."
Click to expand...

Before I discovered South Florida 20 years ago I lived in the D.C. area for 16 years (from the age of 02 to the age of 18), so I can actually rattle off those 4 states and 15 counties, but who wants to see that on the Miami / Ft. Lauderdale radio board ? ::)

Bringing it back home again to South Florida those 4 states and 15 counties surrounding our nation's capitol cover just a mere fraction of the real estate that any 100,000 watt station here in Florida covers.

THE MAJOR
 
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