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Chicago gets another alt rock outlet -- Q101.com goes to WJJG 1530

F

FightingIrish

Not one, but TWO Alternative Rock radio stations launched almost simultaneously this evening. WJJG-AM flipped to a simulcast of the Q101.com Internet radio station after 6:00pm. About one hour later, WKQX-LP started up its new station Q87.7 five hours early and it is now all Alt-Rock.

WJJG-AM, which had been airing syndicated talk shows, with Mancow in the morning & afternoon and Michael Savage in the middays, along with "Best Of" bits from Steve Dahl's Dahlcast. For the foreseeable future, the suburban AM station will now be an alternative rocker, using the classic Q101 branding & imaging. General Manger Matt Dubiel tells CRM: "I figure...If news is on FM... Chicago's Alternative Q101 can play Everything Alternative on AM."

http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/2477-two-alternative-rock-radio-stations-launch-wjjg-a-wkqx
 
FightingIrish said:
WJJG-AM flipped to a simulcast of the Q101.com Internet radio station after 6:00pm. About one hour later, WKQX-LP started up its new station Q87.7 five hours early and it is now all Alt-Rock...
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Seems Merlin will react to an AM station, no matter how many watts the signal is sporting...
 
DToTheJ said:
FightingIrish said:
WJJG-AM flipped to a simulcast of the Q101.com Internet radio station after 6:00pm. About one hour later, WKQX-LP started up its new station Q87.7 five hours early and it is now all Alt-Rock...
Click to expand...

Seems Merlin will react to an AM station, no matter how many watts the signal is sporting...
Click to expand...

Though I'm wondering who's reacting to who. JJG could have flipped to pseudo-Q101 a while ago. The guy who controls the intellectual property of the old Q also programs JJG. I'm thinking Dubiel is trying to protect his turf with this new flip. I also think he spent foolishly to buy Q101's memories from Emmis.

My guess is that Merlin resurrected the Q for one big reason: Lollapalooza. It is, by far, the biggest alt-rock festival of the year, and it's currently located in Chicago. With such a huge event, makes sense to be seen as the 'official station' of the show. And it will certainly bring Merlin some attention.
 
FightingIrish said:
My guess is that Merlin resurrected the Q for one big reason: Lollapalooza. It is, by far, the biggest alt-rock festival of the year, and it's currently located in Chicago. With such a huge event, makes sense to be seen as the 'official station' of the show. And it will certainly bring Merlin some attention.
Click to expand...

WXRT already did that last year; essentially, they took cues from how sister station KROQ owns Coachella, and owned Lollapalooza the same way. Q87.7 can certainly have a presence there, but WXRT will be better positioned with more experience and more resources.
 
If the new Q was smart they'd just copy a format that is a mix between WLUM and WRFF. Listen to either online.

any idea when they're getting a fully functional website and an email address? I don't do the facebook "I just took a #2 at 10:54" or "I am headed to Target to get some toothpaste" broadcasts that most people could care less about.
 
radioaircheck said:
Now the question is...Would Joe Gentile approve if he were still alive?
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I think a more important question would be, can Matt make any money doing this? Frankly, I admire the guy for trying.
 
I kind of lol at the idea of hearing the Alt. format on AM. It sounds wierd due to the reduced fidelity and the fact most of the songs are newer (new music on AM is a concept that hasn't been tried for years).
 
Who owns the station since Joe died?

If Matt owns it, he can do as he wants, if he does not, did he do this on his own, or consult with the owners.

I can't hear the station now on the air, are mancow and savage gone?

This is confusing me. I think this would have been a cool idea when there was no alternitive station in Chicago, I'm not so sure if people with listen if an FM station has the same music.
 
Going back to Nashville said:
Who owns the station since Joe died?

If Matt owns it, he can do as he wants, if he does not, did he do this on his own, or consult with the owners.

I can't hear the station now on the air, are mancow and savage gone?

This is confusing me. I think this would have been a cool idea when there was no alternitive station in Chicago, I'm not so sure if people with listen if an FM station has the same music.
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That's the thing, it doesn't make sense that they would do this when there is an FM station doing it. Especially WJJG on flea power.
 
850 pound elephant in the room:

Alt Rock on an AM daytimer. is it possible to have negative cume?
 
amos said:
850 pound elephant in the room:

Alt Rock on an AM daytimer. is it possible to have negative cume?
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Z-Rock, SMN's heavy metal format, was on plenty of AM stations... but granted, that was 20+ years ago. I'm wondering if WJJG is just being used as a vehicle to bring listeners to the Q101 website. Another question I would have is how many people are selling spots, and who's buying? What, if anything, was WJJG billing with the talk format?
 
stereolane said:
What, if anything, was WJJG billing with the talk format?
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My guess is that Joe made more selling one new Chrysler than he did in a month of running WJJG.
 
cyberdad said:
stereolane said:
What, if anything, was WJJG billing with the talk format?
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My guess is that Joe made more selling one new Chrysler than he did in a month of running WJJG.
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Agreed. On my many many visits to Chicago, most of what I heard on WJJG was unlistenable crapola.
 
radioman148 said:
cyberdad said:
stereolane said:
What, if anything, was WJJG billing with the talk format?
Click to expand...

My guess is that Joe made more selling one new Chrysler than he did in a month of running WJJG.
Click to expand...

LOL--You're probably right.
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Well, I mean seriously....

Joe was a hoot to listen to (assuming you could actually get WJJG, and not WSAI/WCKY blowing his doors off).
He poured out his heart every morning. Like him or not, what you got was sincere and genuine. He believed in what he was doing. But my guess is that most of the "business" you heard on the station was barter if not gratis. Possibly with the exception of some brokered stuff.
 
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