Countdown to WFMX Flip

[MJB]

I had the honor to serve as VP/GM of WFMX from 1990 thru 1996 during the ownership of Adventure Communications. This station served a whole lot more than just Statesville. That 100,000 watt signal covered parts of 3 states, NC, VA and SC. When we bought the station we set out not to cover the Charlotte or Triad markets, but to cover the "in between" areas..Statesville, Hickory, Taylorsville, Mocksville, Salisbury, Mooresville, Wilksboro, etc......an area that contained over 700,000 people. We offered country and NASCAR programming aimed to those listeners and advertisers. And it worked. We subscribed to the Arbitron county report and it consistently showed the station with nearly 300,000 cume. Our billing exceeded 3 million dollars and the profits were strong. Our annual Country Homecoming concert at the Van Hoy Family Campgrounds drew between 20,000-40,000 every September. Our NASCAR programming went way beyond the standard MRN/PRN stuff. The point is this: radio stations can not only survive outside of metro areas, they can win big. WFMX did. When consolidation came along we tried very hard to acquire 2 other fm's in the area. When those effort failed we sold the station. WFMX had an amazing history....the first fulltime FM country station and the first station to provide regular broadcasts of stock car races. It will be missed, especially by those listeners in all the small towns who thought of 105.7 as there home town country station. Often times big companies cannot see the special, unique qualities that make a station like WFMX succesful. They want it to fit their mold, not realizing what it is that makes the station successful. To Edd Robinson, Mark Rose, Tim Sherrill and all the quality radio pros I had the honor to work with...good luck. To Billy Buck, another great guy I had the honor to work with, I wish you much success with WSIC. Statesville deserves an outstanding local station and I know you'll bust your butt to give it one. And to Clear Channel and all the other companies like them who fail to have the vision necessary to operate stations like WFMX, you just don't get it.

 

[audiomusiclover]

Re: A "Kiss" Loop

Format change is about the only opportunity a ClearChannel programming person has to be creative .

;D

They've been at it all night with "Kiss" themed songs. I'm trying to think of what they would gain from a 105.7 Kiss FM?

Yeah, I predicted this (weak signal) on the WFMX tower thread.WFMX was the stronger country outlet in Winston-Salem and its western suburbs. WTQR doesn't have the signal you would expect in Winston-Salem and it is stronger. WTQR also isn't as strong as they need to be in Burlington (a very fast growing *cheap sprawl* Triad city). I think another reason behind this may involve 105.3 WAGI? I've long questioned if CC would find a way to move it in (to Charlotte) by downgrading and moving WFMX.

I still have great memories of 98.7 Kiss FM! I have an old 1986 aircheck of WKSI on my website.

Great point about WAGI W-S. Is that the reason for the lower ERP in Stokes Cty, protection of 105.3 with it's potential move to Cht market? I have trouble understanding the lower ERP for 105.7 otherwise at its new site.

 

[XTalker]

The reason behind the move was because the station put them over the allowed number in the Charlotte market. They had to move it or sell it. A sale would not have been good for CC. Now that the COL is Clemmons, it is officially pay of the Greensboro market and no longer applies to the numbers in Charlotte.

 

[Mr Winston-Salem]

There are ways around ownership caps and CC is known for using them. For CC, if they can buy and move-in WAGI to Charlotte and move WFMX to the Triad market, they can gain in both markets. Of course listeners don't gain much from this. I know CC wants a spanish FM in Charlotte. It makes more sense to go with the originally proposed Walnut Cove tower than the WTQR Saurtown Mountain tower. It looks like they are preparing for facility changes elsewhere.

MJB,
That was back when I was in the Triad, living in Winston-Salem. WFMX had a long list of listeners in the Triad who wouldn't listen to anything else and for a good reason. It was radio done right! WFMX was preset in my radio. Even after the sale, it was still good. It's too hard for anyone over 1,000 miles away to run a strong local business of any type. They have to make a franchise out of it with it's own brands. That's how we get the Beat, Kiss, Lite, etc. Different markets, but still exactly the same. A franchise with it's own brands. Any word on where Mark will go?

No, I wouldn't count on anything during stunting or the first week or two after. COX had a plan to force changes at a competitor in the (South Carolina) Upstate. They flipped talk radio "98.1 The Peak" in Greenville to an AC leaning CHR for about a week. That was their stunting and it fooled a lot of people. ;D After B 93.7 prepared for a Adult leaning CHR competitor, COX flipped it again to Hot 98-1, the Carolina's New #1 for Hip Hop and R&B.

 

[radioguy801]

Believe it or not, unless they change their minds, it IS supposed to be Kiss 105.7. I won't say what the format is because it's not what you think! I am currently in Roanoke-Lynchburg and too am a WFMX alum. I drove all the way to the triad last night just to hear the flip. Like everyone has said, a sad day indeed.

To give you an update, I don't want to name names but pretty much everyone has somewhere to go. The only exceptions were a few of the uppers. BTW, as of 11:13 this morning, the WFMX website is redirected to wkktfm.com (96-9 The Kat in Charlotte). I'm sure CC Charlotte wanted a piece of those listeners too!

Also, if you want to complain, call 704-872-6349 and get the phone number off the answering service.

 

[radioguy801]

BTW, WFMX is now only 34,000 watts at the new site, not 100,000 anymore.

OJ

 

[radioguy801]

OK now when you go to wfmx.com you get this:

105.7 WFMX wants to thank all of our loyal Country Music listeners in the Statesville area who have been faithful to us for almost five decades.

Your devotion and friendship made you a part of our family, and meant the world to everyone associated with WFMX over the years.

You should be proud to have been a part of one of the great radio stations in America.

 

[eacalhoun1]

You know, it seems like there are so many of "us" on this board...but we're a very small fraction of the many regular listeners who were totally shocked by what they heard(or if far enough away, didn't hear) when they turned on their radios this morning. Or, were relying on WFMX on their clock radios--I wonder how many out of range of the new signal overslept? There's only a small number of us WFMX listeners who knew this was coming. Many may have missed or may not have even correctly interrupted Edd Robinson's "goodbye" at around 4:50pm yesterday--as reported in an earlier post. It sounded like it may have been somewhat vague, and may have only sounded to listeners that Edd, himself, was leaving--not heralding the end of WFMX. Yep, the Statesville newspaper ran a story yesterday, but unless you specifically read the paper online or live within its circulation area--an area much smaller than WFMX's huge footprint--then most listeners were shocked more than us who've been preparing for this dreadful day.

 

[sportsradio12]

As part of the "team" that is now running WSIC, we've been FLOODED with calls today. With the way the WFMX website has changed around, I imagine CC Greensboro is getting flooded with calls as well.

By the way, the Merle Haggard "Are the good times really over for good" was not just a coincidence.

 

[johnv]

I had the honor to serve as VP/GM of WFMX from 1990 thru 1996 during the ownership of Adventure Communications. This station served a whole lot more than just Statesville. That 100,000 watt signal covered parts of 3 states, NC, VA and SC. When we bought the station we set out not to cover the Charlotte or Triad markets, but to cover the "in between" areas..Statesville, Hickory, Taylorsville, Mocksville, Salisbury, Mooresville, Wilksboro, etc......an area that contained over 700,000 people. We offered country and NASCAR programming aimed to those listeners and advertisers. And it worked. We subscribed to the Arbitron county report and it consistently showed the station with nearly 300,000 cume. Our billing exceeded 3 million dollars and the profits were strong. Our annual Country Homecoming concert at the Van Hoy Family Campgrounds drew between 20,000-40,000 every September. Our NASCAR programming went way beyond the standard MRN/PRN stuff. The point is this: radio stations can not only survive outside of metro areas, they can win big. WFMX did. When consolidation came along we tried very hard to acquire 2 other fm's in the area. When those effort failed we sold the station. WFMX had an amazing history....the first fulltime FM country station and the first station to provide regular broadcasts of stock car races. It will be missed, especially by those listeners in all the small towns who thought of 105.7 as there home town country station. Often times big companies cannot see the special, unique qualities that make a station like WFMX succesful. They want it to fit their mold, not realizing what it is that makes the station successful. To Edd Robinson, Mark Rose, Tim Sherrill and all the quality radio pros I had the honor to work with...good luck. To Billy Buck, another great guy I had the honor to work with, I wish you much success with WSIC. Statesville deserves an outstanding local station and I know you'll bust your butt to give it one. And to Clear Channel and all the other companies like them who fail to have the vision necessary to operate stations like WFMX, you just don't get it.

 

[johnv]

To MRB,
My wife & I published a Nascar racing newspaper in Mooresville, NC from 1994 to 1998, (Track Talk) which featured race teams that had shops in the Mooresville area. Don't know if you remember us, but we both remember you and respected all the great work you did while "the boss" at FMX.
We, like the others on this board, were confused at first at the "kiss" loop that was playing on the station this morning, but in the back of my mind, I knew something was up and it probably was bad news for country music & racing listeners in the entire region of western NC.
We were right. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out the logic it takes to justify messing up such a great idea as WMFX-105.7.
A loyal listenership, great advertisers, great DJs, great music, and of course, the BEST racing coverage I have seen across the country.
And the pinheads that run CC have the nerve to just say thanks for listening for 5 decades, you made FMX one of the best radio stations in the country? It was, so why change it? The question boggles my mind!
I've had the "pleasure" of meeting many people in my life, 20 and 30 somethings that thought they knew everything, and unfortunately were in charge of companies. The expression, "don't fix it if it ain't broke", comes to mind here. I can only imagine who the CC pinhead is, that made this incredibly dumb decision to dump the WFMX station. Probably a 20 or 30 something know-it-all. Never listens to country music or racing, so no one else must be. Probably drives a BMW or Lexus and can't understand fast cars, pickup trucks or motorhomes. Sounds like a politician. bad ideas and who cares about the little guy that listens and patronizes the advertisers.
WFMX, you will be sorely missed.
BTW, I have seen that Billy Buck went to WSIC, but where are the others going, such as Edd, etc.???

 

[Mr Winston-Salem]

I've heard it will go Urban (from a very good source) and it sounds like a good idea (though not from that tower location :), but I won't fully believe that until it happens. :-\

This (WFMX flip) was also printed in the local newspapers in the Triad's two largest cities a few weeks ago and was on the TV news around the time 94-5 flipped.

I'll have to check-out WSIC next time I'm up there! I'm sure it will sound great.

 

[eacalhoun1]

johnv, welcome to the board albeit under sad circumstances. I'm glad we've heard from a listener/advertiser about the flip...

johnv, Billy Buck has been doing mornings at WSIC for sometime now and he and a partner have purchased WSIC--pending FCC approval. You hit the nail on the head with your thoughts of Clear Channel. And, yes, the "warm-fuzzy-sorrow" they express on their website does come across as a sickening admission of killing a great radio station:

"You should be proud to have been a part of one of the great radio stations in America."

Ditto...if it was great, why did they kill it. However, I suppose there is an outside chance that a now-former WFMX staffer penned that blurb. Doubtful, but possible.

 

[radioguy801]

No, no one from WFMX wrote that blurp, it was done by CC Greensboro.

OJ

 

[wcirvin]

I'm glad to see MJB posting here. It was he that lead us as we transformed WFMX from a little station with a big stick into a great radio station. He was the best GM I had the honor to work with and one of the best I've ever seen in the industry.

Although I worked for ACI corporate and only lived in Statesville for 6 months in 1990 before being reassigned, I look back at my time at WSIC/WFMX time with a lot of nostaligia. Radio was fun then. Events like what happened this week make it a lot less fun.

Thanks also to EACalhoun1 for telling me about this thread.

 

[johnqdoe]

Where are all the Triad people that would rather listen to WFMX than TQR??? Since last spring, FMX has averaged a 1.7 in the market, TQR has averaged a 10. TQR has slipped of late...is CC simply trying to get back those 2 shares they've lost??? Guess we'll find out when the format wheel stops.

 

[XTalker]

Interesting thing about the country audience in the Triad. There will always be literally thousands of people who WILL NOT listen to WTQR (Nothing against TQR - you can say that about any station) but want to listen to country music.

TQR had an 8 in the Winter book. Other country signals in the market combined for 5.5 share. If that 5.5 belonged to one station, it would be good enough for 5th in the market! The cume number number for that share (assuming typical TSL) could be in the neighborhood of 100,000-125,000 people. There are lots of stations that would kill for that cume.

No one expects FMX to be country - which means there are 40,000 or 50,000 thousand folks in the Triad who will go somewhere. Some will go to TQR, but it is more likely they will go to WIST and WBRF. Some will disappear into the world of XM! Others will go back to their 8-tracks!

 

[johnqdoe]

Interesting thing about the country audience in the Triad. There will always be literally thousands of people who WILL NOT listen to WTQR (Nothing against TQR - you can say that about any station) but want to listen to country music.

TQR had an 8 in the Winter book. Other country signals in the market combined for 5.5 share. If that 5.5 belonged to one station, it would be good enough for 5th in the market! The cume number number for that share (assuming typical TSL) could be in the neighborhood of 100,000-125,000 people. There are lots of stations that would kill for that cume.

No one expects FMX to be country - which means there are 40,000 or 50,000 thousand folks in the Triad who will go somewhere. Some will go to TQR, but it is more likely they will go to WIST and WBRF. Some will disappear into the world of XM! Others will go back to their 8-tracks!

Ya know, I've never quiiiite understood why WTQR is held in SUCH high esteem in the country circlles. They have won a couple of CMAs and are nominated every other year...but why???? What sets them apart form all the others??? A man pretending to be a woman on the morning show??? And then the same top 40 country hits everyone else in the world is playing??? I'm not hating on TQR...just curious

 

[sportsradio12]

For those who didn't catch it, see the link for the WFMX switchover from last night...

http://www.4shared.com/file/2613814/559eefad/wfmx_kiss_conversion.html

There is a download and play button at the bottom.  It has the last song on WFMX and its transition to After Midnite, then cut to about 6 minutes later when they shut down the transmitter, THEN edited to an HOUR later when they finally turned on the new transmitter.  I drove to Boone today and started hitting the fringe of the new signal on the west side Wilkesboro, sad.  I also noticed it took them til this morning to start running the Legal ID in all that.  I was too young to pay attention to TQR when my Dad was there, but I listen to it now and wonder what the hype is all about.

Thanks to MJB and 'Dub' for chiming in, two people I haven't seen in a long time.

 

[CB]

I have read with interest all the entries to this thread and would like to add my own memories from WFMX. I was hired by MJB toward the end of 1995 and was so proud to be working at the station I grew up listening to. This station had all the elements that made radio really enjoyable and challenging; a wide variety of Country (including specialty programming of Bluegrass), Racing, Country Homecoming Concerts, Road Shows, Advertising Ideas truly customized to the individual businesses...and the list goes on and on. I worked at WFMX/WSIC for 8 years and gained valuable experience and wonderful friendships from exceptionally talented people. My time there was well spent. I would like to thank everyone that made that time in my career very special.

Best regards,
Cindy Baucom
www.kneedeepinbluegrass.com