I've been reading this thread with interest because I work for an ad agency (in Carmel/Noblesville) who frequently buy Columbus stations for our clients.
In spite of what was posted earlier, in the Fall Arbitron (2005) Q-Mix ran away with nearly ever demo, including 12+ males and females, and tons of other desirable demographics. If any White River Broadcasting stations managed to win ANY desirable demos, I don't know what they were and I have Maximizer/Tapscan in front of me.
In the more recent county-by-county, looks like Q-Mix put a whooping on every else again, and I believe this is the first ever County by County book in which WZRQ has dominated.
I'm not saying that WKKG's glory days are over, but it looks like WRZQ/Q-mix has hit a good combination of music and a great morning show with a high profile in Dawn Daugherty (who could easily be pullin' down six figures in nearly any market). But the real unsung hero of the cluster is Jimbo On The Radio.
He sounds as good as any talent in the state, and as an engineer has those stations sounding sweet and very reliable. The streaming audio is among the best in the business, they stream 64kbps stereo for all 3 of their stations. I know much of Jimbo's shift is pre-recorded, but it never sounds canned. He sounds live every time I turn it on and usually listen all the way home, because I love the 80's retro show at 5PM. He sounds like he genuinely loves the music, loves being on the radio and is jammin' right along with all of us. I only wish he talked a little more.
WKKG may return to the top in Bartholomew County, but it's going to take some work. Skipping the local fair was not the right step.
Then again, perhaps they just concede Columbus to WZRQ/Q-Mix and continue their strong pull in Jennings, Jackson, Johnson and Monroe... forgetting, also: Brown County, who seems to be hooked on KORN and Q-Mix.
Jimbo On The Radio Rulez, Dawn Daugherty is the Goddess of Columbus radio, who will be gone to bigger and better things within 6 more months.
They new mid-day girl sounds awful young on the air. She must be an intern as she sounds like she's only 16 or 17.
Finally: PTWORM was right, Dave Peach is GM at WREl-AM and 3WZ in Lexington Virginia. Pictures here:
www.wrel.com
I had lunch wiht Jim Skater a few weeks ago. He is out of radio (wishin' he was back in the biz making a huge salary). He is the Community Development Program Manager, and reports directly to the mayor of Columbus. Gene Wheeler (of Peach & Geno in the Morning on WINN) is now a lawyer in Indianapolis. Chuckie B is still doing overnights at WDJX on the great shores of the Ohio River in Louisville.
Paul Kenny remains PD at WHOT in Youngstown, in spite of rumors to the contrary (several post over the past few years have stated "Paul Kenny has left the building at WHOT"
The lovely Katrina has departed Radio One Louisville for greener pastures in the Summit City (Ft. Wayne). I don't remember the cluster, probably Federated Media.
Columbus Indiana (the city) is populated with about 60,000 people, the county is close to 100,000, and you can add in another 20,000 from northern Jackson, Southern Johnson and pretty much all of Brown County.
Did I say Jimbo Rulez? Not only is he a great air personality and a great engineer and Information Technology person, he is truly one of the nicest guys I have ever met in Radio in my past 40 years. I originally met him in 1974 in Central Florida when he was doing afternoons at WCKS 101.1 FM(now WJRR in Orlando). Never heard him say a bad word about anyone, except Jimmie Carter

I remain a fan of Jimbo-On-The-Radio
Phillip