Classic Rock 94.1 WSOS

[BobDillehay]

Sunny 94.1 is now Classic Rock 94.1 WSOS

Give it a listen.

 

[TommyR]

I'm listening! Now if the lightning will let up around here... :

 

[JAWilson]

Tommy R....this has prob made your day....makes my day except can't listen in Lake City...we got that nice lovely 50kw 94.3 here.

To Bob....did you all think about returning the Arrow name to the market before deciding just to call it Classic Rock?

 

[upstate29651]

To Bob....did you all think about returning the Arrow name to the market before deciding just to call it Classic Rock?

Arrow? Dear God. : Why not call it W101 while we're at it?

941 S-O-S makes more sense & has more impact. Going Classic Rock was a smart move.

G

 

[nfladxer]

Puzzling formatic choice, unless Renda is using this for an excuse to bring back Lex and Terry - that might create some interest, since we know how Jacksonville likes the Same Old S**t! Classic Rock didn't serve them well on Arrow 100.7 in the past, so what's the point?! It seems 'SOS is going to be a hard sell no matter what they do - moving it from St. Augustine was an expensive mistake, there are too many technical issues with this signal, regarding full market coverage in a city this size. The Tampa and Savannah 100kw's on tall sticks have a bad habit of intruding on the WSOS signal, especially in the coming Spring time, when the atmosphere gets juicy here in North Florida. And even though the transmitter is closer to the center of Jax, 5500 watts instead of 25,000 may prove to be more problematic when this condition occurs. While I wish them well with their move, I'm not going to hold my breath. SHE's only Rock and Roll!

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

I thought I had scene a CP for WSOS to move further into town... was I imagining things?

 

[pocket-radio]

After a great run Cox dumps oldies because its dead. Then Renda runs with it and fumbles the ball.. over and over..and over with a pathetic oldies station.

But why stop their, the great wizards at Renda gave WSOS 94.1 no resources and to make matters worst formated their pathetic version of the Dove in Tampa.

So now we have Renda following in the footsteps of Cox again with Classic Rock 94.1. If the past is any predictor of the future I see fumbles and another flip in Renda's near future.

 

[TommyR]

About the branding, I was thinking the same thing--for about three seconds--but "Classic Rock 94.1" really does say it all. As Bobby Heenan would remind us all, keep it simple for the humanoids.

Love the imaging so far, addressing what's on everyone's mind around here. To paraphrase for those who haven't heard:

--We've heard you, and finally, it's time...
--Wonder where Candle In The Wind and Careless Whisper went? Floating down the friggin' St. Johns River!
--Want to know why we switched formats? Because we sucked.

So far the music is at least 75% 80's, but that's not a bad thing. Fans of Rock 105 from a few years ago (before they added the 90's tracks and seemingly tightened waaay up on everything else) will enjoy it, myself included.

This is NOT a rehash of the Arrow (either the classic hits version or the post-106.5 version), and it's certainly an improvement over Sunny. How much of an improvement, I guess we'll find out, since the format is more exclusive to the station than AC was.

 

[nfladxer]

To be fair, as regards the Arrow 100.7 and Classic Rock 94.1 comparison, there was a different management/programming team in place at Renda Jacksonville when Arrow and the failed Kool 100.7 formats were in place. But keep in mind, the guys at the wheel now were responsible for creating Sunny 94.1 WSOS, initially as a Dove clone, and then re-defined it as Continuous Sleazy Favorites. While I hope their Classic Rock format has "legs", I feel there are already too many "Rock" choices available versus decent AC in this market. I always felt "Sunny" should have had a brighter playlist, and still could have had a strong AC appeal. About a third of the Magic 107-3 playlist is what Sunny 94.1 was already playing. If you think about it, Renda missed the boat with an Oldies opportunity 2 times - both with Kool and Sunny - they could have become Jacksonville's Greatest Hits when they moved their transmitter closer to Jax last year - that was well before WJGH was born. But, obviously, current management doesn't believe that's where the dollars are.

 

[AnotherCat]

How many gold based stations can this market support. People have still been recording music since the year 2000 ya know...

 

[mediawatch22]

To Bob....did you all think about returning the Arrow name to the market before deciding just to call it Classic Rock?

Arrow? Dear God. : Why not call it W101 while we're at it?

941 S-O-S makes more sense & has more impact. Going Classic Rock was a smart move.

G

Going mainstream classic rock is a good idea. It fills a void. It can go deeper into the music than Eagle (which has become so stale) and maintain familiarity.

As far as calling it Arrow, forget it! I'm sure that wasn't even a consideration. That was a piss-poor classic rock station that played tons of very unfamiliar titles and was very unlistenable. It's no wonder that they never did anything in the ratings. I'm surprised that even Renda let that station exist as long as they did. Of course, the transformation to oldies was one of the worst format flips in the history of broadcasting! Taking a successful station like WKQL (96.9) and trying to duplicate it.....well, we all remember how bad it was!

Good move for Renda. I'm sure it'll do better than WSOS did.

 

[pocket-radio]

To be fair, as regards the Arrow 100.7 and Classic Rock 94.1 comparison, there was a different management/programming team in place at Renda Jacksonville when Arrow and the failed Kool 100.7 formats were in place. But keep in mind, the guys at the wheel now were responsible for creating Sunny 94.1 WSOS, initially as a Dove clone, and then re-defined it as Continuous Sleazy Favorites. While I hope their Classic Rock format has "legs", I feel there are already too many "Rock" choices available versus decent AC in this market. I always felt "Sunny" should have had a brighter playlist, and still could have had a strong AC appeal. About a third of the Magic 107-3 playlist is what Sunny 94.1 was already playing. If you think about it, Renda missed the boat with an Oldies opportunity 2 times - both with Kool and Sunny - they could have become Jacksonville's Greatest Hits when they moved their transmitter closer to Jax last year - that was well before WJGH was born. But, obviously, current management doesn't believe that's where the dollars are.

Renda failed with oldies twice first with Arrow then Kool. Shortly after that Movin took center stage for 2 more years and that failed. Then they returned to oldies again, with Classic Country.
Fumbles really dislikes oldies, but for some unknown reason they just keeping bringing them back from the dead.

Sunny was designed to protect WEJZ by blocking another AC from entering the marketplace. It's beyond me but somehow Fumbles left the field wide open for Magic's game changing strategy.
Considering Sunny's boat was about to sink management dusted off an old life raft called WSOS Classic Rock 94.1.

 

[TommyR]

To be fair, as regards the Arrow 100.7 and Classic Rock 94.1 comparison, there was a different management/programming team in place at Renda Jacksonville when Arrow and the failed Kool 100.7 formats were in place. But keep in mind, the guys at the wheel now were responsible for creating Sunny 94.1 WSOS, initially as a Dove clone, and then re-defined it as Continuous Sleazy Favorites. While I hope their Classic Rock format has "legs", I feel there are already too many "Rock" choices available versus decent AC in this market. I always felt "Sunny" should have had a brighter playlist, and still could have had a strong AC appeal. About a third of the Magic 107-3 playlist is what Sunny 94.1 was already playing. If you think about it, Renda missed the boat with an Oldies opportunity 2 times - both with Kool and Sunny - they could have become Jacksonville's Greatest Hits when they moved their transmitter closer to Jax last year - that was well before WJGH was born. But, obviously, current management doesn't believe that's where the dollars are.

Renda failed with oldies twice first with Arrow then Kool. Shortly after that Movin took center stage for 2 more years and that failed. Then they returned to oldies again, with Classic Country.
Fumbles really dislikes oldies, but for some unknown reason they just keeping bringing them back from the dead.

Sunny was designed to protect WEJZ by blocking another AC from entering the marketplace. It's beyond me but somehow Fumbles left the field wide open for Magic's game changing strategy.
Considering Sunny's boat was about to sink management dusted off an old life raft called WSOS Classic Rock 94.1.

Well, what would YOU do with the station? (Signing it off or moving it away doesn't count.)

 

[pocket-radio]

Would Steven Jobs throw together half baked ideas with no resources or marketing? NO!

After Cox killed oldies believing it was toast, was it a wise decision for fumbles to bring oldies back? Some believe it was an error of judgment that oldies time passed.
That being said fumbles believed in the future of the format.

Fumbles could have called all the format something new, anything! The Shark 1007. Wally 1007. Pod 1007 Anything thats sounds new, different and innovative..

New imaging, new brand, new voices that sound fun and have energy.. Second marketing, billboards TV mail
Music.. With a new brand you have the freedom to program more than Elvis and Beach Boys..

fumbles ego aside, the execution was poor on all points. And continues in that direction..

 

[John FL]

Hey Pocket-Radio, your messages are received loud and clear but I suggest you take a chill pill. Look, there’s a lot of decisions and things that happened in this market in the past we may not all agree on, but we can’t change any of it.

For what it’s worth, I believe effort will be made to make this work but listeners will ultimately be the final judge. The way I see it, the Jax market offers a heck of a lot more in formats and sub formats than it ever has. If you like new music, there are Top 40 choices, an alternative new rock choice, there are urban choices, country choices and even new music on AC. If you like old stuff you can go from rock to pop to old school to even fluff.

In the end, listeners win and I believe it makes the radio market even stronger. Funny thing about radio is one format change often results in something else changing. WJGH is already like a hybrid AC in some respects like WOLL. I’d like to see them expand their playlist to be more like WOLL. Then we have Cox Radio. Don’t think for a moment, they are just going to sit back and do nothing. I’d bet the farm they have already had strategy sessions regarding all the new changes in the market. Radio may be lots of things today but I really love seeing change come when you least expect it.

 

[TommyR]

I thought I had scene a CP for WSOS to move further into town... was I imagining things?

Sorry I missed this post. Yes, they've already made that move, to the former 92.7 site in St. Johns/Switzerland, about a 12 mile north move (net, not driving).

 

[mediawatch22]

Would Steven Jobs throw together half baked ideas with no resources or marketing? NO!

After Cox killed oldies believing it was toast, was it a wise decision for fumbles to bring oldies back? Some believe it was an error of judgment that oldies time passed.
That being said fumbles believed in the future of the format.

Fumbles could have called all the format something new, anything! The Shark 1007. Wally 1007. Pod 1007 Anything thats sounds new, different and innovative..

New imaging, new brand, new voices that sound fun and have energy.. Second marketing, billboards TV mail
Music.. With a new brand you have the freedom to program more than Elvis and Beach Boys..

fumbles ego aside, the execution was poor on all points. And continues in that direction..

Fumbles? Where did that come from and what exactly does it mean?

 

[pocket-radio]

John I admire your romantic love of radio and positive thinking. You're right Jax suffers from over-radio with formats galore to satisfy anyone's hearts desire. Then you have to agree that throwing a format
together and just hoping, or praying for listeners isn't sound thinking. We see high business failures on mains street from this same flawed business plan. You agree radio is a business? With the right marketing and imaging Sunny could have been something instead it goes down in history as fumbles failure. So we'll wait to see what happens with Renda's Classic Rock and John maybe you're right fumbles will get lucky. Methinks they're running out of commercially viable format choices.

Flips are fun and romantic, they're also very costly, not only do stations blow off listeners they've accumulated their advertisers go away too. Getting listeners and advertisers to return ain't easy.

Hey Pocket-Radio, your messages are received loud and clear but I suggest you take a chill pill. Look, there’s a lot of decisions and things that happened in this market in the past we may not all agree on, but we can’t change any of it.

For what it’s worth, I believe effort will be made to make this work but listeners will ultimately be the final judge. The way I see it, the Jax market offers a heck of a lot more in formats and sub formats than it ever has. If you like new music, there are Top 40 choices, an alternative new rock choice, there are urban choices, country choices and even new music on AC. If you like old stuff you can go from rock to pop to old school to even fluff.

In the end, listeners win and I believe it makes the radio market even stronger. Funny thing about radio is one format change often results in something else changing. WJGH is already like a hybrid AC in some respects like WOLL. I’d like to see them expand their playlist to be more like WOLL. Then we have Cox Radio. Don’t think for a moment, they are just going to sit back and do nothing. I’d bet the farm they have already had strategy sessions regarding all the new changes in the market. Radio may be lots of things today but I really love seeing change come when you least expect it.

 

[John FL]

Pocket-Radio, I very much appreciate your response. Personal attacks don’t contribute to anything. I will give you my take and I will try to not make it personal or go the Renda Broadcasting bashing route.

As for the former Sunny 94.1, yes I agree, the potential was there for the station to perform better. I have long believed ‘SOS was held back by design. Consider first the popularity of the Soft AC format across the country. Take a look to the south and look at how Cox Radio literally shook up the market with WFEZ. I don’t believe Jax is so different that Soft AC could not have made inroads here too.

Soft AC does not have to be dull. In fact it’s not and I actually like a lot of the music featured. In the past I frequently referred to Sunny 94.1 as creeping death. The ratings (now in fractional shares) validated what I had said long ago. I believe people may have even found it and perhaps after the third song or so just moved on without looking back. A heck of a way to do business if you ask me.

Had WSOS caught on, this probably could have impacted cash-cow WEJZ negatively. The thinking was probably to get some local Augustine advertising, act as buffer, piggy-back off big sister for some of the national spots under the AC umbrella, keep expenses down etc. Still, it didn't have to be that way.

In numerous marketing releases the head of Renda Jax often mentions listeners who grew up listening to this or that as justification for a format flip. Jax has a very rich history in WAPE and has had great ratings for decades. Jax has solid roots in Top 40. To me, Jax has 3 main music buckets – Top 40, Rock and Country. However, I believe bias and perhaps even fear of not getting right prevented Retro Top 40 from being a part of the Jax radio landscape all these years.

If WSOS needed to maintain an AC designation, they could have gone a WOLL route. As Greatest Hits was growing in popularity across the country, Renda could have used that moniker on WSOS where they not only could have protected their AC but they could have prevented the bigger operators from running with another Classic Hits format. If it was feared a WOLL type WSOS would impact WEJZ too much, they could have gone more rock ‘n roll of the 60’s and 70’s 80’s similar to what WMXJ does in Miami along side their big sister AC, WLYF. By doing so, if they even impacted Eagle by a share, I believe it would have solidified WEJZ even further. Instead Eagle had a free ride all these years earning great numbers because they were only game in town.

Yeah, I have a lot of enthusiasm about radio. But beyond that, I’ve tried to make the case for common sense and for someone to fill one of the 3 main format buckets for a past generation who loved Top 40. That has now been done. As far as rock on 94.1 goes, this will have better success mainly because I believe the head of Renda Jax wanted this all along. The old KOOL was doomed because there was not belief in the viability of the format and perhaps even personal lack of taste for it. As far as rock on 94.1 goes, with a better signal and with all those rock button pushers out there, they have no place to go but up plus I believe there is personal vested interest to make it work.

Lastly, "oldies" as we knew it had to be reinvented to remain viable. We were just unfortunate that no one wanted to take the time and effort to see it become what it is today. At any rate, besides Soft AC and maybe an 80's/90's variety hits format, Jax radio is sounding pretty good to me - lots of formats are covered finally - and despite many in charge here.

 

[pocket-radio]

Hey John you make an interesting observation "SOS was held back by design" Which means the whole idea lacked clarity! When fumbles flipped to classic rock, Sunny listeners must have felt like they got single finger saluted. Classic hits might have been an easier transition, Renda could learn a few tricks from Magic.

I wouldn't read anything into Renda's press releases it's puffery just well crafted words with the aid of a word processor. There no moment of brilliance here, simply more of the same actions and words said about other markets.

It's like this, a man with a huge ego goes to a casino with a pot of cash and gambles hoping to make millions.

Fumbles: Son of a xxxxx We got our blank blank, kicked... god xxxxx you better god xxx fix it or you are fxxxxx
Con-sultant: Fxxxx!
Con-sultant: flip to classic rock, jax has a long history of rock in this market
Fumbles: Our Fort Myers classic rock station does great! let's copy that format, do we need jocks?
Con-sultant: Research shows listeners want more music with less talk.
Fumbles fxxxxxx jocks, all they do is bitch and take my god xxx money!
Consultants: Position 94.1 as more music with less talk Classic Rock 94.1
Fumbles: jax does have a long history of rock that listeners remember and grew up with just like Idaho
Con-sultant: same with Boston and Philadelphia,
Fumbles: We'll kick their god xxx axxxx with more music.
con-sultant: son xx x xxxx
Fumbles winning!
con-sutant: I'm winning

John all the well crafted puffery looks really interesting and smart but in the end it's a guess made by big egos using faulty research to justify emotional knee-jerk decisions.
Media gets involved, newspaper articles are published and cameras troll around studios. All the while fools believe whats inked about them that expanding egos need to survive.

the Emperor wears no clothes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes

Listeners judge, sooner or later fumbles will guess what jax listeners really like.

Pocket-Radio, I very much appreciate your response. Personal attacks don’t contribute to anything. I will give you my take and I will try to not make it personal or go the Renda Broadcasting bashing route.

As for the former Sunny 94.1, yes I agree, the potential was there for the station to perform better. I have long believed ‘SOS was held back by design. Consider first the popularity of the Soft AC format across the country. Take a look to the south and look at how Cox Radio literally shook up the market with WFEZ. I don’t believe Jax is so different that Soft AC could not have made inroads here too.

Soft AC does not have to be dull. In fact it’s not and I actually like a lot of the music featured. In the past I frequently referred to Sunny 94.1 as creeping death. The ratings (now in fractional shares) validated what I had said long ago. I believe people may have even found it and perhaps after the third song or so just moved on without looking back. A heck of a way to do business if you ask me.

Had WSOS caught on, this probably could have impacted cash-cow WEJZ negatively. The thinking was probably to get some local Augustine advertising, act as buffer, piggy-back off big sister for some of the national spots under the AC umbrella, keep expenses down etc. Still, it didn't have to be that way.

In numerous marketing releases the head of Renda Jax often mentions listeners who grew up listening to this or that as justification for a format flip. Jax has a very rich history in WAPE and has had great ratings for decades. Jax has solid roots in Top 40. To me, Jax has 3 main music buckets – Top 40, Rock and Country. However, I believe bias and perhaps even fear of not getting right prevented Retro Top 40 from being a part of the Jax radio landscape all these years.

If WSOS needed to maintain an AC designation, they could have gone a WOLL route. As Greatest Hits was growing in popularity across the country, Renda could have used that moniker on WSOS where they not only could have protected their AC but they could have prevented the bigger operators from running with another Classic Hits format. If it was feared a WOLL type WSOS would impact WEJZ too much, they could have gone more rock ‘n roll of the 60’s and 70’s 80’s similar to what WMXJ does in Miami along side their big sister AC, WLYF. By doing so, if they even impacted Eagle by a share, I believe it would have solidified WEJZ even further. Instead Eagle had a free ride all these years earning great numbers because they were only game in town.

Yeah, I have a lot of enthusiasm about radio. But beyond that, I’ve tried to make the case for common sense and for someone to fill one of the 3 main format buckets for a past generation who loved Top 40. That has now been done. As far as rock on 94.1 goes, this will have better success mainly because I believe the head of Renda Jax wanted this all along. The old KOOL was doomed because there was not belief in the viability of the format and perhaps even personal lack of taste for it. As far as rock on 94.1 goes, with a better signal and with all those rock button pushers out there, they have no place to go but up plus I believe there is personal vested interest to make it work.

Lastly, "oldies" as we knew it had to be reinvented to remain viable. We were just unfortunate that no one wanted to take the time and effort to see it become what it is today. At any rate, besides Soft AC and maybe an 80's/90's variety hits format, Jax radio is sounding pretty good to me - lots of formats are covered finally - and despite many in charge here.