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BREAKING: MY 102.5 FLIPS

C

carolinaradio

"FRESH" new sound of MY 102.5! Hot AC.

70s seem to be gone, 80s have been cut way back and other changes have been made. A lot of newer music, some stuff this market has been missing out on.

FINALLY....a HOT AC! I am shocked and never saw this coming! They just had a good book in the winter. I wonder why they changed? They are one of those stations you always expected to stay the same. I like it and wish them success.

It's hard to believe Magic 98.9 is the only AC now. New imaging and jingles, also. http://www.wmyi.com
 
I see Bill Love is out, as well as the afternoon voicetracker - the morning show is listed as "MY In The Morning", and only lists Marne Mason, at least for now. Liz Ryals is still with them. Dave Kent is listed for afternoons, who is on WKSL in Raleigh.

Sample:

Cee Lo Green - Forget You
Kid Rock - All Summer Long
Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent
Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
Don Henley - Boys of Summer
P!nk - Just Like a Pill
The Band Perry - If I Die Young
Elton John - Your Song (likely an automation error, no way does that fit)
Lady Gaga - Just Dance
Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten

after that was Adele, Alanis Morrissette, Evanascence, Hinder.....I really like this! Older than B93.7, but younger than Magic. Should be some interesting competition! This is a surprising change - was the old My doing that badly? They obviously are wanting younger demographics....I heard a liner that said "not your parents station"
 
Clear Channel did almost the same thing with WNIC in Detroit, same logo even. They were a heritage mainstream AC. I don't think their numbers have changed much either way since the switch. I think it'll settle around a 5 or so. I knew WMYI's numbers were not great most of the time, but I never thought they were considered bad enough to overhaul the whole station!

Overall, I like it. It's the best thing I've heard anybody around here come up with in recent years. Who else plays Lisa Loeb, Deep Blue Something, Gin Blossoms, or Dave Matthews Band? Heck, I even heard INXS and AC/DC. They're taking direct stabs at Magic - I wonder how this will affect them? CC should go ahead and slap Premium Choice classic hits on 96.7....they don't have 102.5 to worry about anymore. The only thing I don't care for is that 70s song every other hour - Boogie Shoes has no place on this station.
 
I appreciate that you like it, and that the songs sound "fresh" because you don't hear them anywhere else. I like a lot of the songs as well. But, there's a reason you don't hear them anywhere else. The "fresh" wears off fast. Look for 98.9 to beat 102.5 consistently now.
 
MarkSC said:
I appreciate that you like it, and that the songs sound "fresh" because you don't hear them anywhere else. I like a lot of the songs as well. But, there's a reason you don't hear them anywhere else. The "fresh" wears off fast. Look for 98.9 to beat 102.5 consistently now.
Click to expand...
I was thinking earlier that they will probably do this for a while, then tighten up the 90s material (which seems to be where most of the 'oh wow' stuff is coming from) and be even more current based. Hopefully they'll drop the occasional 70s song which doesn't fit. There are quite a few Hot AC currents that they are ignoring. Never would have thought 98.9 would be the only AC. They struggled for years until they finally gained some ground in the past few years.
 
Well,...I might be just one of the few, but I'm not the least bit surprised at their aggression. A hungry dog will eat anything! I also said it two years ago: Both the AC's in this market sound Awww-ful, and struggle to make budget. One of them will eventually snap!
What they are doing is well on track for the start of the Fall book.
Collectively, it is a very positive business decission. I applaud it!
Both Entercom's Magic 98 & B-93 are like two one-legged ducks...swimming in a circle...Bang! Bang! They should have made the move first, but since their celebrating Rock 101's 20th anniversay, and the damn thing will 24 in December,...what can one expect?
 
agree with carolinaradio and scooter on this one and disagree with marksc. leaders take chances and as the traditional ac format struggles 102.5 has done an excellent job of positioning 98.9 as your grandmas oldsmobile. it will be interesting to see if 98.9 reacts. i looked back an 102.5 won last winter and 98.9 won the three previous books before that in their target demo i will probably be a former listener because i liked the 70 music but i know that i am not their demo. younger females will probably like this station. i can see it being a top station with women. not a 12 plus ratings monster but much better than 106.3 womens talk or whatever that was
 
They could turn off the transmitter and do better than that female talk debacle on 106.3. But, I'm telling you, I'd much rather be the Mainstream AC than the Hot AC in this market (or most others, for that matter). CC just cleared a wide path for Entercom. It's a decision spearheaded by country guys running an AC station. I won't be surprised by a decent "oh wow" book or two, but check back in a year...and two years....and beyond. WSPA will be the consistent AC leader, and it wasn't that way a few years back.
 
Entercom has positioned Magic as the more cutting edge/modern/uptempo of the (then) two ACs for quite some time. Now they have no direct competition. If anything, I think WSPA should be tweaked just a little bit older and less aggressive to try to pick up WMYI listeners that may be turned off by the new format, especially given that there is no station in the market playing classic hits. With WFBC in the building, and the stations sharing the same PD, I doubt they are going to go more modern to compete as that could cut in to the more adult audience of WFBC - which they might already lose to the Hot AC format at WMYI. I think the new WMYI poses a small threat to the upper end of WFBC's target as well, as they have been rather friendly to adult CHR tracks. I may be misinterpreting, but I've noticed some references to B in My's new imaging, also.

I think the new WMYI is 5-share material. Yeah, Magic will clean up and My probably won't do as well as they one time did. I think we just need to watch and see how all of this plays out. Since this is just the first day, we'll probably see some tweaks at WMYI with them, like I said earlier, tightening the older stuff up, etc. There are some Hot AC currents that they are not playing, for some reason (they're playing Hot AC recurrents like 4-5 times a day). I'm still shocked they flipped. That came from nowhere. Are they pitching the music up? It sure sounds like it.
 
I can't add to my above post, but if CC wants to try to hang on to even some of the audience that may be turned off by 102.5's new format, they really should consider putting classic hits on 96.7! It can be done cheaply. They don't have to have some full airstaff. It wouldn't hurt any of the other stations and may do something for them. It makes more sense now than ever!
 
i agree that 102.5 is a nice formatic wedge between 93.7 and 98.9 mainstream ac is dead their audience is planning funerals.
 
It's hard to believe it's 24 years, almost to the day, since WMYI hit Greenville as a move-in from Hendersonville, NC. I was part of the original airstaff, starting with the days we ran it out of the transmitter building for the debut with "41,000 songs in a row," and am feeling a little nostalgia at seeing the original format (more or less) survive 24 years before this change.

When WMYI was set up to take a dive for its new country sister station, I figured it was over. When Clear Channel gutted it further, I figured it was over again. It finally happened coming off a decent book. I guess, in this day and age, lasting 24 years in a format is an eternity.

They're certainly pitching up at least some of the music. I just heard REM's "Losing My Religion,' and Michael Stipe sounded like Alvin. And a few minutes ago I heard Rupert Holmes "Escape!" Fresh? Yikes.
 
Couple of points I have no argument with: Yes, Entercom is absolutely capable of dropping the ball. And, yes, there are some goofy old song choices on "the fresh new sound" of My 102.5. Plus, by further gutting the airstaff, there's nobody listeners care about on the air. WMYI was regularly in the top three as recently as 2006, even #1 on occasion. Those days are gone. I don't agree that Mainstream AC is dead. It still outperforms Hot AC most everywhere in the Southeast.
 
I heard "Bennie and the Jets" earlier....huh? I'll hope that's to help transition off of the old format and will be gone soon! No connection with the rest of the station.
The AC format performs best in the southeast. I don't know why. Hot AC works better in larger cities (Atlanta, Memphis, Orlando, etc). I think that a lot of them benefit from the fact that the classic hits format is also not as prevalent in the southeast, so the older music that a lot of AC's play attracts a larger audience. I always thought two AC's were a little too close for comfort.
 
Personally i will be quite surprised if the hot AC format is still thriving on MY 102.5 this time next year. Personally not my style.
 
As I said before, No! I don't agree with letting Bill Love go. However, there is a poor understanding of just what a "Hot AC" format is. It is all about...like tempo...inside the sound fence. It does not mean current songs alone. This format tagets age 18 & up! It will neatly place in the Adults 25-54 Arb breakout, and skews high female. Older songs like "Bennie & The Jets" are just part of the mix...because it's inside the fence. Whoever is picking the playlist is right on track,...
for now! As a zoo keeper once said: "Sometimes,...you just gotta see what the monkey will do!".
 
I'll definitely be listening to the NEW MY 102.5 at least 3-to-1 over Magic 98.9.
It's got the right variety (finally a real Hot AC) and definitely reminds me of what was the only HOT AC station I can hear
from my home in Gaffney and VERY WEAK on the dial, 97.3 WKBC.
It's also got the same station announcer as the old 97.5 WPST in Trenton NJ (from the late 1990s)
and the current same as 107.5 WKZL in the Triad. I already like it alot and I just threw it on for the 1st time
and it's only been 1 hour. ;D

I can say this is a definite good move, and puts alot of pressure on 98.9,
but it's also gonna compete towards 96.5 WOXL in Asheville, and draw lots of listeners away from 93.7 & 98.9.
I haven't listened to much Upstate SC radio since 106.3 Charlie FM went away a few years ago. Occaisionaly 93.7 or 98.9,
but most of my choices have really been Charlotte FMs, 107.9 or 97.3 as they're the only ones that play lots of 90s hits,
I'd listen to 102.9 more often if they didn't play the huge amount of 70s/80s they throw in, same with 102.5 before the switch.
Let 90s to Now get the majority. I also own a personal USB FM transmitter with over 1000 songs on shuffle,
mostly 90s Hot AC & 90s dance, I'll throw that on if I'm having trouble finding something else on the radio,
and there have been lots of those times, and I'm smackdab between the Charlotte & Greenville FMs...
98.9, 93.3, 93.7, 95.1, 96.1 & 107.9 all come in with about the same strong signal strength.
102.5 & 102.9 are a little weaker but also have about the same good signal strength

Here's the last songs I've heard on their new sounding station:

Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call
The Script - For The 1st Time
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
Madonna - Get Into The Groove
Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
Matchbox 20 - 3 AM
Nickelback - How You Remind Me
Michael Jackson - Rock With You
Plain White T's - Rhythm Of Love
Avril Lavigne - My Happy Ending
Pink - So What
Alanis Morissette - You Oughtta Know

All great songs and I wouldn't even touch the dial and could listen all day to a playlist like this. ;D

I also noticed that the online stream is exactly 9 seconds ahead of the OTA signal,
I remember even recently there was at least a 30 second delay with most online streams vs the live signal.
 
Also while we're on the topic of My 102.5, I see there is a CP to move 102.5 to the same tower as 92.5 WESC
while lowering HAAT from the current 1811 ft to 1365 ft, while increasing in power to 44kw, up from the current 19kw.
(Still Class C1). So it may lose some coverage in Western NC, perhaps once you go north of Hendersonville,
but upstate SC looks to be almost the same coverage +/- 5 miles.

I believe 92.5 has a few weak spots even in Asheville and they have a full 100kw,
102.5 at it's current location has a better signal in Asheville,
but if WMYI moves to 92.5's tower they're sure to suffer more in Asheville,
especially with a lower power & HAAT than WESC.

So whats the status on this CP?
 
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