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Best moves or worst blunders in Georgia radio (outside Atlanta)

R

radionut987

What are the best moves or worst blunders in Georgia radio? Please don't include the Atlanta stations.

Best move:

Cumulus moving "The Fan" in Macon from 1500 AM to 105.5 FM.

Got anything to add?
 
From Augusta....

1. Switching WBBQ/F and WZNY/F formats in the early '90s without much advertising fanfare. WBBQ was the CHR in Augusta for DECADES, one of the highest-rated CHRs in the NATION for so much time, also with a news DEPARTMENT and hourly news, plus drivetime news presence and traffic/breaking news all day. WZNY was a mainstream A/C at the time, so WBBQ ownership, once they bought WZNY, flipped the formats, thinking the A/C format was a better fit with the news presence WBBQ was known for (which is correct). The problem is, listeners were lost for a LONG time, and WBBQ was ALSO well-known for it's place in local pop music history.

It took SEVERAL years for both stations to finally reach their potential. By then, George Weiss, longtime WBBQ (Savannah Valley Broadcasting) owner, was in deteriorating health, and thus, sold the stations to Cumulus, with proceeds benefitting the Medical College of Georgia's cancer research.


2. Clear Channel taking any LOCAL morning show presence off WZNY. That station never fared well under their tutilage, and they gave up on CHR in Augusta, Georgia, altogether, flipping the 100kw station to (yet another) country format in the market. It's one of three country signals in the market. So much for the '97 Telecom Act's "diversity in broadcasting" mantra, eh?

Now the 2nd largest market in the state has no CHR signal. This the same market that was once DOMINATED by WBBQ for decades, later to see a strong showing by WZNY when it had local ownership, live and local morning radio, street presence, a PD who knew the market from his many years in the area, and promotions that rewarded listeners locally instead of nationally.
 
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH, RON!!! I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE! :)

> From Augusta....
>
> 1. Switching WBBQ/F and WZNY/F formats in the early '90s
> without much advertising fanfare. WBBQ was the CHR in
> Augusta for DECADES, one of the highest-rated CHRs in the
> NATION for so much time, also with a news DEPARTMENT and
> hourly news, plus drivetime news presence and
> traffic/breaking news all day. WZNY was a mainstream A/C at
> the time, so WBBQ ownership, once they bought WZNY, flipped
> the formats, thinking the A/C format was a better fit with
> the news presence WBBQ was known for (which is correct).
> The problem is, listeners were lost for a LONG time, and
> WBBQ was ALSO well-known for it's place in local pop music
> history.
>
> It took SEVERAL years for both stations to finally reach
> their potential. By then, George Weiss, longtime WBBQ
> (Savannah Valley Broadcasting) owner, was in deteriorating
> health, and thus, sold the stations to Cumulus, with
> proceeds benefitting the Medical College of Georgia's cancer
> research.
>
>
> 2. Clear Channel taking any LOCAL morning show presence off
> WZNY. That station never fared well under their tutilage,
> and they gave up on CHR in Augusta, Georgia, altogether,
> flipping the 100kw station to (yet another) country format
> in the market. It's one of three country signals in the
> market. So much for the '97 Telecom Act's "diversity in
> broadcasting" mantra, eh?
>
> Now the 2nd largest market in the state has no CHR signal.
> This the same market that was once DOMINATED by WBBQ for
> decades, later to see a strong showing by WZNY when it had
> local ownership, live and local morning radio, street
> presence, a PD who knew the market from his many years in
> the area, and promotions that rewarded listeners locally
> instead of nationally.
>
 
> From Augusta....
>
> 1. Switching WBBQ/F and WZNY/F formats in the early '90s
> without much advertising fanfare. WBBQ was the CHR in
> Augusta for DECADES, one of the highest-rated CHRs in the
> NATION for so much time, also with a news DEPARTMENT and
> hourly news, plus drivetime news presence and
> traffic/breaking news all day. WZNY was a mainstream A/C at
> the time, so WBBQ ownership, once they bought WZNY, flipped
> the formats, thinking the A/C format was a better fit with
> the news presence WBBQ was known for (which is correct).
> The problem is, listeners were lost for a LONG time, and
> WBBQ was ALSO well-known for it's place in local pop music
> history.
>
> It took SEVERAL years for both stations to finally reach
> their potential. By then, George Weiss, longtime WBBQ
> (Savannah Valley Broadcasting) owner, was in deteriorating
> health, and thus, sold the stations to Cumulus, with
> proceeds benefitting the Medical College of Georgia's cancer
> research.
>
>
> 2. Clear Channel taking any LOCAL morning show presence off
> WZNY. That station never fared well under their tutilage,
> and they gave up on CHR in Augusta, Georgia, altogether,
> flipping the 100kw station to (yet another) country format
> in the market. It's one of three country signals in the
> market. So much for the '97 Telecom Act's "diversity in
> broadcasting" mantra, eh?
>
> Now the 2nd largest market in the state has no CHR signal.
> This the same market that was once DOMINATED by WBBQ for
> decades, later to see a strong showing by WZNY when it had
> local ownership, live and local morning radio, street
> presence, a PD who knew the market from his many years in
> the area, and promotions that rewarded listeners locally
> instead of nationally.
>
Well said Ron! How I miss the days when WBBQ was the one to listen to in the mornings with Mark Summers and his great sense of humor. I was fortunate enough to tape some airchecks and still enjoy them to this day. Especially funny were the days when Mark would push the envelope with his cast of characters prompting a warning from the news crew that "Bernie (GM) wants to see you!" Those were truly the great times!
 
What about the Christian station in Perry (99.9 WCOP) going from their 20+ year format to FM talk on a whim (Now WQSA)?

I hear things have gone seriously downhill since.
 
> What about the Christian station in Perry (99.9 WCOP) going
> from their 20+ year format to FM talk on a whim (Now WQSA)?
>
> I hear things have gone seriously downhill since.
>

What's up with that? Why throw away a format that's been a fixture in the area for years?
 
Z-102/Savannah hands down!!!

Pardon me while I get on my soapbox here and rant:

One upon a time (back in the 80's/early 90's), Z-102 was a pretty damn good Top 40 station. Then in the spring of 1993, they abandoned the format for Album rock. Yes, they had some good years as a Album rocker, but IMHO that was the start of the downfall of Z-102. The station was sold in 1997 Cumulus bought WZAT from Gulf/Atlantic Media. Since they had already owned I-95/WIXV and the fact that, with the exception of 103.9's very brief stint as a CHR-Rhythmic in 1996 (anyone remember that!), nobody had tried the bring back CHR to Savannah. So Cumulus flipped Z-102 back to CHR. Good move on their part, but then Z got very lazy and drifted in a void somewhere between Hot AC and CHR for a few years until WAEV flipped to CHR and started to kick Z-102's ass. What does Z-102 do in response.....nothing! And now here it is several years later and they can't figure out if they want to be a Hot AC or CHR!!! I'm convinced that Cumulus/Savannah doesn't have a clue on how to program that station. And it's not just Z-102, it's just about all of their properties in Savannah.

OK, off the soapbox I go.

Robyn

<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm not exactly in the mood for Mozart and all that kinda goings on"...Information Society-"Peace and Love Incorporated"</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by RobynWatts on 07/18/05 09:44 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> Well said Ron! How I miss the days when WBBQ was the one to
> listen to in the mornings with Mark Summers and his great
> sense of humor. I was fortunate enough to tape some
> airchecks and still enjoy them to this day. Especially funny
> were the days when Mark would push the envelope with his
> cast of characters prompting a warning from the news crew
> that "Bernie (GM) wants to see you!" Those were truly the
> great times!
>

How true. In an era of "Morning Zoos", Mark Summers' act stood out, kinda like Augusta's answer to KFRC's Dr. Don Rose.

Robyn
<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm not exactly in the mood for Mozart and all that kinda goings on"...Information Society-"Peace and Love Incorporated"</P>
 
> From Augusta....
>
> 1. Switching WBBQ/F and WZNY/F formats in the early '90s
> without much advertising fanfare. WBBQ was the CHR in
> Augusta for DECADES, one of the highest-rated CHRs in the
> NATION for so much time, also with a news DEPARTMENT and
> hourly news, plus drivetime news presence and
> traffic/breaking news all day. WZNY was a mainstream A/C at
> the time, so WBBQ ownership, once they bought WZNY, flipped
> the formats, thinking the A/C format was a better fit with
> the news presence WBBQ was known for (which is correct).
> The problem is, listeners were lost for a LONG time, and
> WBBQ was ALSO well-known for it's place in local pop music
> history.
>
> It took SEVERAL years for both stations to finally reach
> their potential. By then, George Weiss, longtime WBBQ
> (Savannah Valley Broadcasting) owner, was in deteriorating
> health, and thus, sold the stations to Cumulus, with
> proceeds benefitting the Medical College of Georgia's cancer
> research.
>
>
> 2. Clear Channel taking any LOCAL morning show presence off
> WZNY. That station never fared well under their tutilage,
> and they gave up on CHR in Augusta, Georgia, altogether,
> flipping the 100kw station to (yet another) country format
> in the market. It's one of three country signals in the
> market. So much for the '97 Telecom Act's "diversity in
> broadcasting" mantra, eh?
>
> Now the 2nd largest market in the state has no CHR signal.
> This the same market that was once DOMINATED by WBBQ for
> decades, later to see a strong showing by WZNY when it had
> local ownership, live and local morning radio, street
> presence, a PD who knew the market from his many years in
> the area, and promotions that rewarded listeners locally
> instead of nationally.
>
Well Said, the days of Bob Bolton, Buddy Carr, Mike Randell, Handsome Harley, Rob Collins--TIGER RADIO--the great, produced by Harley, PAMS jingles....the creative and fun contests are all to be remembered....thanks for the flashback...also as a fun reminder...Buddy used to love those quick "FLASHBACK" stingers he would insert after those hard Cold ending tunes...there was an old soul station, not WRDW, that had the SOUL version of "FLASHBACK"...heavy on the SOUL, that conviently made its way to the BBQ control room into the rack with the remaining jingles...of course the label was authenticated to look like the other "FLASHBACK" label. It aired via Buddy and you can still here Buddy's fist hitting the Collins console table to this day.....................
 
> What are the best moves or worst blunders in Georgia radio?
> Please don't include the Atlanta stations.
>
Worst: Putting syndicated Moby in the Morning on WNGC in Athens.
 
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