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Cox Planning Jacksonville Shakeup

Only think I can think of is that they might launch an AC to compete with WEJZ, but would they flip Hot, Power…or 102.9?
 
My Guess would be Classic Rock or they put the Third Country Station on the Air to Compete with WQIK and WGNE.Both are great 25-54 Mass Appeal Formats.I Know I Know...Classic Rock gives them Exclusivity but I COX is not afraid to come in & force someone else out of a Format which is where I came up with Country.It does surprise me their UAC is not pulling better shares.
 
I don't think Cox will bring back classic rock. Remember, Cox blew up classic rock Rock 104.5 in 2013 in favor of a WOKV news-talk simulcast. The classic rock numbers were not there which is why WFYV was sacrificed over the other Cox 100 kw Jacksonville FM signals for a news talk simulcast with AM 690. Cox did the same in Orlando with classic rock WHTQ which is now News96 WDBO-FM. I'd be surprised if Cox brings back any form of classic rock.
 
My first thoughts were more along management changes and/or responsibility reassignments etc. Remember too, it's not just radio. Cox owns WJAX-TV/ CBS 47 as well as WFOX-TV Fox 30 and they are a "Me TV" affiliate with WFOX -DT. Cox probably spends a fortune on advertising and promoting their news divisions. If those expenditures are not delivering the desired results, I would think "shakeups" would involve their TV stations/news operation and not necessarily a radio format flip.

However, now I'm thinking there could be more to the story, perhaps involving both TV and radio. I was playing detective this morning and came upon this site:

http://www.coxmediagroup.com/jacksonville/

In a listing of all the Cox Jax properties, all, except one, included a hyperlink for "Contact Us," "Advertise with us," and "website." The one exception is HOT 106.5 WHJX-FM. Perhaps an oversight but I doubt it. Hot 106.5 could be involved in whatever change is coming. Anyway, we'll know soon enough.
 
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John, that is great detective work! The hyperlinks for Contact us, Advertise with us and Website are all gone.

I can only hope that we might see some sort of pop oldies on 106.5.


JohnJax said:
In a listing of all the Cox Jax properties, all, except one, included a hyperlink for "Contact Us," "Advertise with us," and "website." The one exception is HOT 106.5 WHJX-FM. Perhaps an oversight but I doubt it. Hot 106.5 could be involved in whatever change is coming. Anyway, we'll know soon enough.
Click to expand...
 
Yes. Per Radio Insight, Cox Media Urban AC “Hot 106.5” WHJX Ponte Vedra Beach/Jacksonville, FL is moving to 99.5 W258CN Jacksonville. Does this replace WSOS in St. Augustine? If not, would there be interference? I'm clueless about signals:)

A new format for 106.5 WHJX will launch on Thursday, October 8. Apparently, that format has already been announced in that same report the originator of this string pointed to for Premium Members Only. Apparently, there are people who know what is coming. I wish I did!

I'm not in the business of making predictions. However, a gold-based, easier on the ears AC makes a lot of strategic sense.
 
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JohnJax said:
Yes. Per Radio Insight, Cox Media Urban AC “Hot 106.5” WHJX Ponte Vedra Beach/Jacksonville, FL is moving to 99.5 W258CN Jacksonville. Does this replace WSOS in St. Augustine? If not, would there be interference? I'm clueless about signals:)
Click to expand...

Same frequency as translators in St. Augustine and St. Marys. Seems kinda close. Is W258CN on the air yet?
 
Could that mean a Very Soft AC? Similar to WFEZ Miami and WDUV Tampa (both owned by Cox)? I doubt you'd choose call letters that include E and Z if you were planning something else. WFEZ and WDUV do very well but both those stations are full signal. 106.3 is a Class A, 6000 watts at 328 feet. So how will it compete with 100,000 watt WEJZ?

How WHJX's ratings have changed over the years. At one time, it was usually #1 or #2 in the market. I suppose most of its potential audience was within that 6000 watt signal. Now it's #12 among listed stations.
 
Hello to everyone on Radio Discussions. I was formerly "Otharadioman" on Radio Discussions but I had to re-register under a new name because I was unable to sign in under my old name. However, I would like to make a comment in regards to Cox Radio moving Urban AC WHJX "Hot 106.5" to the FM translator W258CN 99.5 FM. IMO, this is a very dumb move for Cox to move this station, the only Urban AC station in Jacksonville, to a translator that doesn't cover the Northside of Jacksonville adequately where the majority of African-Americans live in Jacksonville, the primary target audience of Urban AC stations. In fact, the signal is so bad on that side of town that the other translator from St. Mary's, GA sometimes overpowers W258CN. If you look at the coverage area of W258CN, you will notice the translator uses a directional antenna pattern that contains significant nulls to the northwest, which is towards the mostly African-American section of Jacksonville, and southeast of the transmitter site located on the Southside of Hogan Rd. The nulls in the coverage pattern were necessary to ensure W258CN doesn't cause prohibited interference with co-channel translators in St. Mary's, GA and St. Augustine, FL. How does Cox expect to make money with the new "Hot 99.5" when the majority of the target audience is unable to receive a reliable signal in these crucial areas? If they move the station to this translator, "Hot 99.5" won't be on the air for very long in Jacksonville.
 
Well it seems to me Cox has given themselves away to what lies ahead. Easy 106.5 is likely what it will be with that call sign. Also about time someone went after WEJZ which I know is no longer "Lite."
 
Also this could be a start for Cox to launch an AC here before really shuffling the cluster around...because if the staton turns out to be Easy and wins over listeners that could send WOKV packing off 104.5...which that still baffles me to this day they did that. The ratings haven't improved much since that move two years ago.
 
Cox's Atlanta AC (WSB-FM "B98.5") has morphed from what we would call a traditional AC sound into as-close-to-CHR-as-possible-without-reporting-as-CHR. However, Cox Atlanta doesn't have a true CHR in the cluster. B98.5's move toward Top 40 was more reactionary with three strong pop stations already in the market and eating up the younger female demos (Cumulus's WWWQ, iHeart's WKLS and Entercom's WSTR).

My thought is that the new 106.5 will be more traditional so as not to cannibalize WAPE and to focus more on siphoning off some of WEJZ's upper-end (for WAPE and WOKV's benefit). It will be interesting to see how the new competition will affect WEJZ's Christmas programming also...Will they go all-holiday and leave AC to 106.5?

And what if 106.5 starts printing money? Does Cox swap 104.5 and 106.5?

This could get really interesting!
 
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It's interesting how the AM-FM Talk Radio thing has played out. At one time, big owners were saying to themselves, we better put our Talk stations on FM because if we leave them on AM, their audience will dwindle. It turned out putting Talk on FM really didn't help much. iHeart, Cumulus, etc. have given up AM-FM simulcasts for Talk Radio, realizing the Talk audience is older and shrinking, even if you put the format on FM. They've decided in Pittsburgh, San Diego, Tuscon, and other markets that putting music back on the FM will be more profitable. CBS just ended its AM-FM Talk simulcast in Las Vegas, leaving Talk on the AM but putting an Urban format on the FM.

Cox is the exception. Cox has FM simulcasts for all its Talk Radio stations not just in Jacksonville, but in Atlanta, Tulsa and Dayton. And in Orlando, they also have Talk on a 100,000 watt FM station, although WDBO-AM is now doing sports so it's no longer a simulcast.

So if Easy AC is going to be launched on 106.5, that's where it will likely stay. With WEJZ scoring an 11.9 in the most recent ratings, and Urban AC underperforming on 106.5, it makes sense for Cox to try to take some of that WEJZ audience who would like something a little softer but have nowhere else to go, for now.
 
In Atlanta, News/Talk WSB's FM simulcast was created from their discontinuing CHR/Urban WBTS 95.5-The Beat, but that simulcast has been successful...At least, more so than WOKV-AM-FM.
 
Sounds exactly like WFEZ Miami & WDUV Tampa. Same website design. No DJs listed so far but the station is launching a month-long "Listen at work and win $500, four times each weekday" contest.

According to the website here's what was played in the 1pm hour today, Sept. 29...

Earth, Wind & Fire--Fantasy
Huey Lewis & The News--Stuck with You
Tracy Chapman--Give Me One Reason
Christopher Cross--Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Gerry Rafferty--Right Down The Line
Peter Cetera--Glory of Love
Michael Jackson--Billie Jean
Donna Summer--On The Radio
The Beatles--We Can Work It Out
Toto--Africa
Sarah MacLachlin--Angel
George Benson--Turn Your Love Around
 
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