• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Best guesses for 107.3

How about Sportstalk!! :) Just kidding of course.

But seriously, any chance you think they go news talk, kind of an WNIR situation?? Something that hasn't been mentioned.
 
How about Spanish sportstalk nights, Korean alternative mornings, Chinese country afternoons, Modern European Dance music overnights?

:)
 
I don't see a simulcast of a WAKR or WQMX because they are so Akron-centric, especially WAKR. That is their whole appeal.

WONE might be a simulcast candidate, filling a hole in Cleveland for a general rock station which mixes all kinds of mainstream rock, old and new, nothing too radical.

I can't see 107.3 trying to challenge WMJI, WGAR, WDOK or WQAL because these stations would crush 107.3 with value add bonus spots with their other Cleveland cluster stations. Rubber City can't do that.

I suspect they will keep a variation of the present format, but bring in a legit programmer with a track record instead of who they have now.
 
I don't think there will be ANY simulcast because there is enough overlap in the FM signals that it would be a huge waste of resources.

I tend to agree that Rubber City will first attempt to tweak the AAA format to make it work, if the numbers don't improve...then they will seek other options.

What could happen, but I think unlikely, would be a "promotion" of WQMX from 94.9 to 107.3 then put the oldies music from 1590 on 94.9. Then 1590 could be all news, news/talk or follow Ray Horner with sports talk- Yahoo Sports or ESPN, if Bristol considers Akron far enough from WKNR.

This is an aggressive & somewhat risky move, because you're messing with your top biller here, but it could pay off if you've got the guts to try it.--- Again I don't expect it to happen.
 
zrl said:
I don't think there will be ANY simulcast because there is enough overlap in the FM signals that it would be a huge waste of resources.

I tend to agree that Rubber City will first attempt to tweak the AAA format to make it work, if the numbers don't improve...then they will seek other options.

What could happen, but I think unlikely, would be a "promotion" of WQMX from 94.9 to 107.3 then put the oldies music from 1590 on 94.9. Then 1590 could be all news, news/talk or follow Ray Horner with sports talk- Yahoo Sports or ESPN, if Bristol considers Akron far enough from WKNR.

This is an aggressive & somewhat risky move, because you're messing with your top biller here, but it could pay off if you've got the guts to try it.--- Again I don't expect it to happen.
Click to expand...

Some of it is plausible. No doubt that if the AAA format is retained, it will be borderline overhauled into a more typical AAA playlist like CIDR/93.9 "The River" in Detroit.

Promoting WQMX is interesting. I just don't think that it's possible. For one, while 94.9 no longer has the mammoth signal it had in the WDBN era, it should still cover Cleveland VERY easily. If the format moved lock, stock and barrel to 107.3, they would lose coverage in Akron and Canton.

If I had my druthers, WQMX would remain on 94.9, and be cross-marketed and cross-promoted as an Akron AND Cleveland station with 107.3. (Maybe build an auxiliary studio for WQMX with wherever WNWV winds up?) Technically, 107.3 doesn't have to be a stand-alone signal in the Cleveland market, and given RCRG, 107.3 will probably be heavily promoted/marketed in Akron as well. That's a solid win-win.

Re: ESPN - It was on WAKR in the mid-late 90s during 1590's second stint with a talk format, and on 1350 after that. Bristol didn't mind that overlap existed with WKNR back then. Not sure if it's worth blowing up WAKR's gold-based AC/oldies format over, but I could be wrong.
 
Messing with 94.9 would be a BAD MOVE. It is a powerhouse revenue/ratings wise.

107.3 won't be programmed out of Akron or target Akron. They're looking for a Cuyahoga County (presumably) home.

What happened here is that Thom Mandel peeled off some of the money he had left over from selling out of Lansing, and got himself a Cleveland market station at a bargain basement price.
 
A more apt "River" would be 92.5 WXRV in Boston. CIDR is leaning more in the direction of variety rock hits. Fair amount of Nickelback, Journey, etc. WXRV would be a more typical "AAA" playlist.
 
I'd suggest:

1) Classic News - another spoken word format. We find the best news stories of years past and re-read them! Great demos. Classic Rock, Classic Hits, and now Classic News!

or

2) Rhythmic CHR ala WKTU.
 
Classic news: news from the 80's, some 70's.

News Oldies: news from the 60's and 70's.

News Standards: middle of the road news items from the 50's and 60's.

News Country: current news of upcoming barn dances and drag races in Kentucky, West Virginia, and the US southeastern states.

Lite news: current, easy-going favorite news items (nothing heavy or serious).

I could go on all day.....
 
Nathan...You're right about WEMP. And, AAA stations are rare...and aren't usually big money-makers either.

So many nitch formats may reach passionate audiences...but they're either too few listeners or in demos that don't have enough income to be commercially viable (modern rock, alternative, AAA, etc.).

Since the business is so into "make money for me NOW"...and not worry about growing radio lovers for listening 10+ years from now...radio should be in an interesting position when today's 12-24's become the 25-34's and the current 18-34's become the 35-44's years from now.
 
AAA can make money IF IT IS DONE WELL. They are probably cash flowing about 700K to 1M now but that simply won't cut it as a stand alone in Cleveland. They need to make a bit more money than that.

One area that is a pure opening is a true Rhythmic CHR, however that won't make a lot of money either. KTU makes some bank, but they have a large minority population. Cleveland is still too blue collar for a KTU format to work well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them slide into some Rock oriented format. Mandel loves that format and so does N.Anthony.

Sue Wilson knows a TON about Adult Contemporary. With WDOK being the only player in the market with a true AC, and WMJI billing a bank vault just about everyday I wouldn't be too shocked if it evolves to a Modern AC or Adult Contemporary of sorts. Could it remain AAA, maybe but it has to undergo some huge changes and Mandel needs to make money...fast!
 
I think a Modern AC/AAA/Alternative lean is the most logical for the station. Maybe an AC focused on 70's-90's hits can work too. They can include the following airstaff:

Ravenna Miceli
Daune Robinson
Jay Hudson
Dan Deely
Scott Miller
Tresa Robinson (remember her from WDOK in the 90's?)
Those who used to be a part of the Wave who are still in town
Those who already work at WQMX-WONE-WAKR

If Sue Wilson was involved, she could get some of her former Fish staffers to be involved in some way (Rob Schuler, Steve Brown, Elizabeth Grattan). I think with Sue involved, 107.3 could be a big station.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom