CHR IN MOBILE, POST-WABB

[Poledo]

I hope K-Love doesn't take over in the Bay Area,

They only have 87.7 in San Jose

87.7? Are they a Pirate or is San Jose closer to Mexico than I thought?

Another interesting "brainstorm with other people's money" for Cumulus. Flip 100.7 back to Q-100 as a CHR/Top 40 targeting Pensacola (there are still a ton of Q-100 bumper stickers around Pensacola, the name isn't dead yet). Flip 104.1 to CHR/Rhythmic/Dance/etc. targeting Mobile. Both stations CHR but leaning in slightly different directions... Put a music morning show on one and a talk show on the other. Hell even trying a 100.7/104.1 CHR simulcast might work out best for Cumulus. See which station catches on then roll the dice on the under performing signal again in a year or two. Completely block Clear Channel from taking WABB listeners to 107.3.

Another idea for Cumulus. Forget CHR, pull a rabbit out of the hat and launch a Classic Rocker or AC station on one or both of those 100kw signals. Confuse the hell out of the competition. Force a complete shakeup of the Mobile/Pensacola dial and maybe everyone will win or loose in the end. I don't think Cumulus trying to add a 4th 100kw Country station to the dial will work, but all the other existing formats "could" be taken down.

One last idea, If K-Love goes does end up on 97.5 (as everyone of y'all in the industry believe) that might make Pensacola's K-Love 95.7 available for sale. I assume the FCC would allow Cumulus Pensacola to add one more C3 station to the existing 1AM 2FM cluster. 95.7 would be the perfect FM news/talk station to replace Cumulus' 1370 Pensacola and 1260 Fort Walton (horrible signal)... or Magic 106 could move to 95.7 adding Fort Walton coverage and giving them their first and only Urban outlet, then 106.1 could become WCOA FM news/talk for Pensacola adding news/talk coverage to south Baldwin County where none of the existing n/t AM's have decent coverage. Yet another way to shake up the whole dial.

 

[xmusicmatt]

One last idea, If K-Love goes does end up on 97.5 (as everyone of y'all in the industry believe) that might make Pensacola's K-Love 95.7 available for sale. I assume the FCC would allow Cumulus Pensacola to add one more C3 station to the existing 1AM 2FM cluster. 95.7 would be the perfect FM news/talk station to replace Cumulus' 1370 Pensacola and 1260 Fort Walton (horrible signal)... or Magic 106 could move to 95.7 adding Fort Walton coverage and giving them their first and only Urban outlet, then 106.1 could become WCOA FM news/talk for Pensacola adding news/talk coverage to south Baldwin County where none of the existing n/t AM's have decent coverage. Yet another way to shake up the whole dial.

EMF will not likely be selling the pensacola station.. In fact I do not believe they own WKFP at this point but are LMAing it. I am guessing WKFP will become an Air 1 station after the dust settles and 97.5's signal is flipped to KLove.

 

[macab4490]

I hope K-Love doesn't take over in the Bay Area,

They only have 87.7 in San Jose

87.7? Are they a Pirate or is San Jose closer to Mexico than I thought?

Another interesting "brainstorm with other people's money" for Cumulus. Flip 100.7 back to Q-100 as a CHR/Top 40 targeting Pensacola (there are still a ton of Q-100 bumper stickers around Pensacola, the name isn't dead yet). Flip 104.1 to CHR/Rhythmic/Dance/etc. targeting Mobile. Both stations CHR but leaning in slightly different directions... Put a music morning show on one and a talk show on the other. Hell even trying a 100.7/104.1 CHR simulcast might work out best for Cumulus. See which station catches on then roll the dice on the under performing signal again in a year or two. Completely block Clear Channel from taking WABB listeners to 107.3.

Another idea for Cumulus. Forget CHR, pull a rabbit out of the hat and launch a Classic Rocker or AC station on one or both of those 100kw signals. Confuse the hell out of the competition. Force a complete shakeup of the Mobile/Pensacola dial and maybe everyone will win or loose in the end. I don't think Cumulus trying to add a 4th 100kw Country station to the dial will work, but all the other existing formats "could" be taken down.

One last idea, If K-Love goes does end up on 97.5 (as everyone of y'all in the industry believe) that might make Pensacola's K-Love 95.7 available for sale. I assume the FCC would allow Cumulus Pensacola to add one more C3 station to the existing 1AM 2FM cluster. 95.7 would be the perfect FM news/talk station to replace Cumulus' 1370 Pensacola and 1260 Fort Walton (horrible signal)... or Magic 106 could move to 95.7 adding Fort Walton coverage and giving them their first and only Urban outlet, then 106.1 could become WCOA FM news/talk for Pensacola adding news/talk coverage to south Baldwin County where none of the existing n/t AM's have decent coverage. Yet another way to shake up the whole dial.

Sorry, poledo - none of that is going to happen. Q100 is based out of Atlanta. And it should be that way. If they did somehow, someway bring back that name to the Gulf- it would be Hot AC. All we need is 1. Adult CHR ( open to 94.1/100.7/104.1), 2. Mainstream CHR (107.3 HMN) and an Urban Hip/Hop Station (93 BLX).

We need to have Variety, not the same stuff. I think here, the most crucial thing about replacing WABB is winning back it's listeners and see where they go from there. I just don't know if they are going to enjoy listening to what they were used to. I mean, they had 31+K on Facebook. That says a lot. For them, it's going to be frustrating to adapt to the change. Gosh, just three more days and WABB is out. Boom! GONE! Wow, it's going to be a tough and an emotional last three days for the station and the city of Mobile who grew up with WABB. Enjoy it, y'all!

And why does Pamal have to sell 94.1. It's a Cumulus station?

 

[Groove1670]

One last idea, If K-Love goes does end up on 97.5 (as everyone of y'all in the industry believe) that might make Pensacola's K-Love 95.7 available for sale. I assume the FCC would allow Cumulus Pensacola to add one more C3 station to the existing 1AM 2FM cluster.

I doubt Cumulus (or CC for that matter) will make any purchases in 100+ markets anymore. The last time that happened was? well.. I can't remember (unless a station was part of a large cluster sale.)

Some of the medium and smaller markets don't generate the cash flow that investors are looking for. I don't think you will see any expansion in this market.

 

[rubberchicken]

And why does Pamal have to sell 94.1. It's a Cumulus station?

No, it is not a Cumulus-owned station. It is a Pamal-owned station.
"WMEZ FL PENSACOLA USA
Licensee: 6 JOHNSON ROAD LICENSES, INC."

6 Johnson Road is in Albany, NY. Pamal's headquarters.

 

[macab4490]

Well, that is interesting. I guess you can forgot about Pamal debuting a CHR station on that dial. And when you come to think about it, it's a good Soft AC station. More variety (in my opinion) than Lite Mix 99.9. However, still don't know why both station's air Delilah on both stations. I think it is probably because the station is based is Pace, FL and Lite Mix is based in Mobile. However, Soft Rock can be well heard in the Mobile area. So...

 

[MarioMania]

Anyone going to do Airchecks before the station switch to K-Love?

 

[NWFLRadio10yrs]

Well, that is interesting. I guess you can forgot about Pamal debuting a CHR station on that dial. And when you come to think about it, it's a good Soft AC station. More variety (in my opinion) than Lite Mix 99.9. However, still don't know why both station's air Delilah on both stations. I think it is probably because the station is based is Pace, FL and Lite Mix is based in Mobile. However, Soft Rock can be well heard in the Mobile area. So...

I think the reason both stations air Delilah is because when WMEZ launched as "Soft Rock 94.1" in 1997, they were the first station in the area to air Delilah. It became a staple for them. When 99.9 switched from "Mix" to "Lite Mix", they started airing Delilah because (from what I understand) CC has a contract that all their AC stations must carry her. WMEZ didn't drop her because they were airing her first, and Lite Mix 99.9 didn't drop her because they are obligated. I know it doesn't make too much sense as a listener, but welcome to the world of radio.

 

[Poledo]

Well, Can we all agree that at least one other Dual Market Mobile/Pensacola radio station will be flipping in the next week? Most likely a Cumulus station.

 

[macab4490]

Well, Can we all agree that at least one other Dual Market Mobile/Pensacola radio station will be flipping in the next week? Most likely a Cumulus station.

You sound a bit hopeful for all the strategies you mentioned in this highly "speculative" thread. But we can do that all day but there has to be committed people who want to act on it. And poledo, don't get me wrong- a lot of what you mentioned seems smart, but probably not to the eyes of the management teams of CC and/or Cumulus. That says a lot that you mentioned a dual market to launch a CHR station by "next week." hmm? It's possible but in reality, that soon? However, it will be interesting to see what 107.3 Hit Music Now does to attract and lure the longtime and devoted WABB listeners in. My hope is that Clear Channel gets into this, and gives the dj's at WABB an opportunity to work at 107.3! I keep saying it, folks...people do not want to listen to 5 hours of local programming every day. It's not fair to the listeners who has highly gave their time to knowing what's going on and around the Gulf Coast. WABB surely did that. I just don't know of 107.3 Hit Music Now will fill that void. Or else, ratings are not going to be good. I guarantee it. The Music is one thing, but presenting yourself locally is another thing. Broadcasting live at Clubs, concerts and other such locally sponsored events are crucial for ratings. Perfect example: WABB will be broadcasting LIVE downtown Mobile to give there last hoorah. They are not doing it to benefit for themselves but to its listeners. Thats how you do well. WABB did that. Can 107.3? Let the challenge, begin because it won't be that easy for them.

 

[Poledo]

I would think that Cumulus would be very capable of launching a new CHR with 3 weeks notice... just start by copying Atlanta or Huntsville and morph from that. They could also dig out the old file for Q100 Pensacola and morph from that as needed.
And as you said, all Clear Channel has to do is drift closer to the WABB product and hire a couple of recognizable voices to beef up 107.3. But they still have that horrible signal to deal with. Why haven't they paid off the stations blocking an upgrade of 107.3 to maximum C1 or C0 strength?

How many local DJs did WABB have? Who's now looking for a new local job because it costs quite a bit to pack up and move? Both Cumulus and Clear Channel have studios in Mobile and Pensacola, so the DJ's for any new CHR station could continue to work in their own towns.

Way out of time, signing off until dark.

 

[tomservo]

I was under the impression that Delilah could be on both stations because one is technically a Mobile market station and one is a Pensacola market station. Sort of like how a talk show host can be on FM Talk 106.5 in the Mobile market and 1330 or 1370 in Pensacola but they both overlap much of Baldwin County.

 

[xmusicmatt]

Guns and Roses on WABB ? (Just tuned in) .. WOW what a train wreck for a CHR going out the door

The last song before "KLove" should be MercyMe's "I can only imagine" ... Fitting song for the format flip and it had some CHR/AC success when it came out many years ago

 

[Mario500]

^I have enjoyed some of the older songs broadcast by WABB-FM today. I was never a regular listener of the station, as I'm not very interested in contemporary hit radio, but I loved studying the history of WABB AM and FM before and after the sale of the FM station was announced.

 

[xmusicmatt]

^I have enjoyed some of the older songs broadcast by WABB-FM today. I was never a regular listener of the station, as I'm not very interested in contemporary hit radio, but I loved studying the history of WABB AM and FM before and after the sale of the FM station was announced.

It was interesting to hear them talk this afternoon on air with one of their former Chief Engineers.. AS a radio guy loved hearing the old stories -- such as the one about the studio move in the late 60s that they played a long record at the old studio and then quickly drove to the new one to fire up the next song with the STL Switch!! GREAT STUFF! The guy on air (current dj) I can't remember his name as I am a distant listener.. was like "In case you didn't know now days we run everything off a computer.. in fact overnights it just runs without anyone really here"

Looks like the WABB crew is having fun on the way out --- Shame radio isn't this enjoyable everyday!!!

 

[MarioMania]

Guns and Roses on WABB ? (Just tuned in) .. WOW what a train wreck for a CHR going out the door

The last song before "KLove" should be MercyMe's "I can only imagine" ... Fitting song for the format flip and it had some CHR/AC success when it came out many years ago

There just playing music from there past...

 

[Poledo]

There just playing music from there past...

So WABB is stunting with a "Jack" like format before God takes over the steering wheel. Right now God is just WABB's Co-Pilot. ;D

 

[MarioMania]

lol - that's a joke right?

I'm streaming WABB right now..

 

[macab4490]

So, what will be WABB's LAST SONG? Billy Joel's Movin' Out single? God Bless America? NYSNC's Bye Bye Bye?
Hmm, tune in @ 11:59pm folks.

 

[xmusicmatt]

So, what will be WABB's LAST SONG? Billy Joel's Movin' Out single? God Bless America? NYSNC's Bye Bye Bye?
Hmm, tune in @ 11:59pm folks.

My guess a song from the 70s... likely the one they signed on with when they went Top 40...

The dj on air today said they would start in the morning playing songs from 2012 working their way back thru to the 70s.