Birmingham Stations on their last legs

[yankeefan]

I have been out of the market for about a year now, but it seems like The Source and The X are both heading down the crapper. Is there buzz that either of these stations are looking to flip? And what about The Eagle/Point? Classic Hits has always seemed like an 18 month format o me.

It might make a lot of sense for Citadel to take Rock 99.5 and change it from a pure classic rock to something more along the lines of a heritge rock or an "everything that rocks" format. That would leave the 100.5 frequency to do something that would go head to head with Q or DJC.

As for 101.1 FM, español parece ser la respuesta. It would make the company tons of money...too bad Crawford would rather take an FCC fine than acknowledge there are more than just white people in the market.

 

[b5]

Whats the FCC fine about that you mentioned?

You'll never hear Spanish on 101.1 as long as it is owned by Crawford and there is no format flip upcoming. They seem to be very happy with their current format and revenue.

I doubt that Citadel or Cox will try Contemporary Christian either.

 

[yankeefan]

It was just an expression. I was trying to think of the worst possible thing in our industry. I wasn't trying to besmirch Crawford.

 

[the golden boy]

WNCB has been on its last legs since they came on the air. I don't know why Cox saw the need to put on another country station there, especially when they already own the heritage country in Birmingham.

 

[Tibbs4]

Sorry, but IMHO, Birmingham radio is one of the worst sounding markets in the US. Bright side of the situation, the rest of the
nation is catching up at amazing speed.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

I've heard markets worse then Birmingham.....

 

[yankeefan]

I have to agree with each of the last two posts. Birmingham is friggin' awful. I could not be happier to be out of there, but there are certainly worse sounding top 50s. Can you say "Charlotte"?

 

[clichemoth]

97.3 should have flipped a long time ago. WZZK's winning again and if 97.3 were flipped, its few listeners would go there since the two stations barely sound different anymore. There isn't a big enough audience for Spanish FM in Jefferson and Shelby counties. La Mexicana is the only AM game in town and they don't even register. They should simulcast WAGG. If it were on FM, it'd stomp WENN in the mud.

I still think that The Source will go brokered sooner rather than later. Matt and Lee may stay on, but they'll be paying for that privilege.

There isn't really anything to flip the X to at this point. If WZZK had flipped as once rumored, 100.5 would be country right now and probably doing rather well since that's the only format Citadel is particularly good at.

 

[yankeefan]

What about a mainstream rocker? Something like the "Everything That Rocks" format that Jacobs has pioneered? That is right up Birmingham's ally. If Cox were to turn on one of those stations, it would kill both the X and Rock 99.5.

 

[RFLA]

97.3 should have flipped a long time ago. WZZK's winning again and if 97.3 were flipped, its few listeners would go there since the two stations barely sound different anymore. There isn't a big enough audience for Spanish FM in Jefferson and Shelby counties. La Mexicana is the only AM game in town and they don't even register. They should simulcast WAGG. If it were on FM, it'd stomp WENN in the mud.

I still think that The Source will go brokered sooner rather than later. Matt and Lee may stay on, but they'll be paying for that privilege.

There isn't really anything to flip the X to at this point. If WZZK had flipped as once rumored, 100.5 would be country right now and probably doing rather well since that's the only format Citadel is particularly good at.

My question would be, why someone hadn't flipped one of the country stations (Like 97.3) to full time classic country instead of only on a HD2 Signal on the Bull?