Cincinnati! - mid-1980s!

[nocece]

Doo doo doo doo doo...Cincinnati! Pow!

This is from memory, people, so I know I missed a few stations:

AM

550 WKRC full-serv AC (like a full-serv gas station)
700 WLW full-serv AC
740 WNOP jazz
1050 WTSJ religious
1180 WMLX standards
1230 WDJO oldies
1320 WCLU top 40 (the best top 40 ever in Cincinnati)
1360 WWNK oldies (then became WSAI again, but remained oldies for a few years)
1480 WCIN R&B
1530 WCKY talk

FM

(The 88 to 92 stations were mostly the same formats then as they are now)

92.5 WWEZ easy lisnin'
93.3 WAKW religious
94.1 WWNK AC
94.9 WLLT AC
96.5 WSKS AOR (became country WBVE in 1986)
97.7 WOXY modern rock (Oxford)
98.5 WRRM AC
100.9 WIZF R&B (since about 1986)
101.9 WKRQ top 40
102.7 WEBN AOR
103.5 WBLZ R&B (almost rhythmic CHR)
105.1 WUBE country
105.9 WPFB switched from top 40 to religious in late '84/early '85 (Middletown)
107.1 WJOJ oldies-based AC

 

[gr8oldies]

On WPFB-FM, I remember "mellow 106" about 1983 and the current "Rebel" which was on by 1989. What formats were in between? You mentioned top 40 and religious.<P ID="signature">______________
Have a Happy New Year!
http://www.thebig8.net/have_a_happy_new_year_with_cklw.mp3</P>

 

[nocece]

> On WPFB-FM, I remember "mellow 106" about 1983 and the
> current "Rebel" which was on by 1989. What formats were in
> between? You mentioned top 40 and religious.

It definitely was top 40 through much of 1984 as "NewRock 106". I think it had a little bit bigger playlist than Q-102 did (since most top 40's at the time did). In late '84/early '85 it switched to religious, and around 1988 it switched to country. I don't remember any other formats in-between.

 

[Oldbones]

> 1320 WCLU top 40 (the best top 40 ever in Cincinnati)

At some point in the mid-ish 80s this station had an all-Elvis format. Got a bumper sticker to prove it. It did not appear to have been a stunt, as they did it for about a year. Visited the station during this format...I think the transmitter was in Kentucky & the studios were in a northern suburb. You could barely hear the station in it's parking lot.

How long were they Top 40? I don't recall hearing them in the late 70s when I lived in the area.

 

[nocece]

> At some point in the mid-ish 80s this station had an
> all-Elvis format. Got a bumper sticker to prove it. It did
> not appear to have been a stunt, as they did it for about a
> year. Visited the station during this format...I think the
> transmitter was in Kentucky & the studios were in a northern
> suburb. You could barely hear the station in it's parking
> lot.
>
> How long were they Top 40? I don't recall hearing them in
> the late 70s when I lived in the area.

WCLU used to be country, and they went top 40 in 1981 or so. They remained top 40 until April 1987. Then they got sold and became oldies WCVG. (WCVG tended to repeat the same songs in the same order day after day. I think this format was mostly just intended to be a cash flow machine for classified ads anyway.) When this (predictably) failed, WCVG went country, and then all-Elvis around August 1988 or so. I believe this lasted until August 1989.

When they were WCLU, the tower and studio were behind the Value City shopping center in Covington. I think the studio moved to Milford when they became WCVG, although the tower stayed in Covington. I think WCVG now uses the old Covington studio again.

Despite being such a decent top 40, I don't think WCLU ever showed up in the Arbitrons! Must have had less than a 0.1. They called it "Clu 132". It sounded all-vinyl (with records skipping and such). At the time they were a daytimer and had to sign off really early each day in December.