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Changes coming to 103.9 in Louisville?
- Thread starter Kyle1016
- Start date
Just for some historical perspective, it was last July that 103.9 switched to The Hawk. They registered the domain name hawklouisville.com in MARCH of that year... nearly four months beforehand.
So this change may not necessarily be coming as quickly as we think. Honestly, I'm not even sure they are prepared to make the change. It isn't like the other changes they've done where they can just reshuffle staffing within their own office to make it work. Right now they've got four stations, where almost everybody working at one of their stations can easily be transitioned over to one (or two or even all) of their other stations and still know what they're doing. Behind the scenes, they already are all working hand-in-hand with each other. Hip hop is not even remotely related to anything that they have on their other stations. I suppose they could just throw some satellite fed "just add water" format or something on there, but that doesn't seem to be the way that Summit does things. They need somebody there who knows what they are doing to get them started.
Basically, it could come this week... but I could just as easily see it coming in a few weeks or months, like on Labor Day for example.
So this change may not necessarily be coming as quickly as we think. Honestly, I'm not even sure they are prepared to make the change. It isn't like the other changes they've done where they can just reshuffle staffing within their own office to make it work. Right now they've got four stations, where almost everybody working at one of their stations can easily be transitioned over to one (or two or even all) of their other stations and still know what they're doing. Behind the scenes, they already are all working hand-in-hand with each other. Hip hop is not even remotely related to anything that they have on their other stations. I suppose they could just throw some satellite fed "just add water" format or something on there, but that doesn't seem to be the way that Summit does things. They need somebody there who knows what they are doing to get them started.
Basically, it could come this week... but I could just as easily see it coming in a few weeks or months, like on Labor Day for example.
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Excellent points. They aren't exactly "urban specialist's".
I agree with your points but the only reason I could see a change coming sooner rather than later is the fact there are no dj's currently on 103.9 so there is nobody to replace. However they did bring Jessica Lee on board as a fill in to get back in the swing of things to eventually run the show at 103.9.
I was thinking today about all of the changes on 103.9 since 1990 so I thought that I would list them here.
WXLN (Christian)
WZKS "Kiss104" (CHR)
WZKS "Hot Country 103.9"
WHKW "The Hawk" (Country)
WQLL "Cool 103.9" ('70's)
WSJW "Smooth Jazz 103.9"
WMHX "Mix 103.9" (Hot A/C)
WPTI "The Point" ('80's)
WPTI "New Country 103.9"
WRKA "Country Legends"
WRKA "The Hawk" (Real Country)
Personally I liked "Cool 103.9" and "Mix 103.9" the best.
WXLN (Christian)
WZKS "Kiss104" (CHR)
WZKS "Hot Country 103.9"
WHKW "The Hawk" (Country)
WQLL "Cool 103.9" ('70's)
WSJW "Smooth Jazz 103.9"
WMHX "Mix 103.9" (Hot A/C)
WPTI "The Point" ('80's)
WPTI "New Country 103.9"
WRKA "Country Legends"
WRKA "The Hawk" (Real Country)
Personally I liked "Cool 103.9" and "Mix 103.9" the best.
They tried a 70s format in the 90s, an 80s format in the 00s... so logically (aside from that fact that both of those formats didn't work) how about a 90s format in the 10s?
Honestly, we don't know for sure this whole Jamz thing is happening... probably is, but they could just be registering domains to throw people off too. Remember back in 2012 when Main Line registered...
cbssportsradio1051.com
1051allsports.com
cbssports1051.com
1051cbssportsradio.com
Of course, what they ultimately did with 105.1 was... Easy Rock. So we never know. It'll probably be this "Jamz." But for all we know, they could do anything.
Honestly, we don't know for sure this whole Jamz thing is happening... probably is, but they could just be registering domains to throw people off too. Remember back in 2012 when Main Line registered...
cbssportsradio1051.com
1051allsports.com
cbssports1051.com
1051cbssportsradio.com
Of course, what they ultimately did with 105.1 was... Easy Rock. So we never know. It'll probably be this "Jamz." But for all we know, they could do anything.
They really haven't given us any hints that a flip is coming except for the domain registration. Which like has been said before could be to get people talking.
I think the change is coming... it is just a matter of when, and I think THAT is a wide open question. Labor Day weekend seems like a really good candidate. And whenever it does change, I doubt that whatever they do with it lasts. As mentioned here, this would be the 12th format change in a little over 20 years. I don't think any other station has had that much instability around here.
I agree that it will probably happen Labor Day weekend.More people will notice the change and listeners of The Hawk can complain on Facebook or whatever for 3 (or 4) days straight! I'm sure that a change like this will cause quite a backlash and the publicity will only help the new format.
On another note,I looked up the Wikipedia page for WRKA and it has the detailed and interesting history of 103.9 FM.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRKA
It's been nearly 30 years since I lived in Louisville, but one of the things that I always noticed about 103.9 was the weakness of the signal. Granted, it's a Class A signal, but that never seemed to be a hindrance to LRS-102 or WRKA when it was on 103.1. (Notice I didn't mention WJYL when it was on 101.7; it was impossible to pick up clearly west of I-65). Granted, at that time there were only eight commercial FM's in the market and both WHAS and WAVG were viable options for music. Is the problem with 103.9 programming, marketing, or a pea-shooter signal? Or is it all of the above?
Today is the last day for The Russ Parr Morning Show on B96.5. Maybe 103.9 will pick it up.
That's interesting... and it seems like perfect timing. What is replacing his show on B96? Rickey Smiley? Or are they trying something local?
Which show is "bigger" so to speak? Russ Parr or Rickey Smiley? I was noticing that while Summit has three "Jamz" stations, only two of them are actually hip hop. The third one is actually an urban adult contemporary. Of the two hip hop Jamz they have, both are within a short distance from each other in Alabama, but one has Smiley and the other has Parr. So Summit doesn't seem to be fixed on one or the other, but this timing would suggest Parr for 103.9... assuming (and I do assume it) Jamz is really happening.
Here in Lexington, we love ICONS. Maybe they will call it 103.9 Jamz Iconz.
Haha. I'm putting my money on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show. I expect Alpha to catch a lot of heat over this just like when they dropped Tom Joyner for Steve Harvey.
Except for Gary Clark though, when has 103.9 ever had jocks on the air? If they do go "Jamz" they might go jockless like they seem to always do.
Just out of curiosity, I wonder if Tim Gerard and Mark Gunn too far "out of their prime" to do a hip hop station these days. Both of them did a lot to make B96 and Magic 101.3 what they are today and they could do wonders. I'm pretty sure Mark Gunn is still around Louisville but what is Tim Gerard doing? I mean, I doubt they would be part of any plans, but one (or both) of them could be a nice boost for Jamz.
It's interesting to see Mark Gunn's LinkedIn profile... where he describes himself as "... retired from radio (but can possibly be lured back for the right price)" That was as of 2013.
It's interesting to see Mark Gunn's LinkedIn profile... where he describes himself as "... retired from radio (but can possibly be lured back for the right price)" That was as of 2013.
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