Cumulus strikes again!

[Poledo]

Here's an odd idea I dreamed up. Hale is leasing 100.3 down in FWB from the people that own WCSN, Sunny 105.7, over in Gulf Shores. Sunny does very well in south Baldwin county. Now what if Hale bought 93.5 down in Mexico Beach to trade to the Sunny owners for 100.3 in FWB? The market between Panama City and Apalachicola isn't too different from South Baldwin, it's just not as congested... but the 93.5 signal has a much greater coverage area to make up for that little problem. If anyone could make a serious run at making a micro-market down there...
But it seems that Hale has always wanted to run a Pensacola radio station. How does he get on the air in Pensacola? I see no way to do it unless he gets a translator to town and leases an HD sub channel from Clear Channel, and that's hardly something that can be considered a Pensacola radio station.

As for ESPN 1450 WBSR, this is the first time I've heard a suggestion that ADX is involved. If they are, it would explain why they didn't flip WNRP 1620 to sports when the station was young and the gettin was good and let the other three news/talk AMs fight it out for dominance. I do know that ESPN 1450 appears to be run out of the WBSR building on Pace Blvd and not the ADX building off I-10 and I've never seen the marked ESPN, News 1620 and Cat 98.7 vehicles together in the same place.

Lastly Rob, I've failed you. I had Robert Hill, owner of WRNE 980, on the phone last week and didn't even ask about the progress of his FM translator move... nothing. I haven't been putting any effort into collecting inside information for the board. ... but now that I've got WBQP TV back, in digital, I can watch him jam out on the WRNE studio cam on live OTA TV!

 

[Rob]

Well, thanks for the thought -I'd like to get some inside info on the 104.1/106.1 simulcast

Bring Rock 106 back? I actually liked that station

-Rob

 

[Poledo]

Bring Rock 106 back? I actually liked that station

Yeah, I like that Rock 106 idea too! But in the interest of variety I would not like a TK101 clone like we had before. Making 106.1 a very hard rocker or softer AAA leaning station would be my preference. Cumulus must see how well 92Zew, The Rock of Mobile, has done for the past 20 years. The most loyal, affluent, listener base in the area is tuned to WZEW.

... but, I can not see any reason for Cumulus to do anything with 106.1 except moving 1370 to FM. It's already a successful station and it makes more cents than any other idea anyone could come up with. The only downside to putting WCOA on 106.1 is that the 1370 AM frequency would become pretty much useless and wouldn't turn any profits for Cumulus without News/Talk. Sports would be great for 1370, but I don't consider that likely because Cumulus would not put in the effort to do it right, and they already know that.

 

[Rob]

What the hell is "The Sweat Hotel" anyway? Sounds like the guy is going crazy in an unusual way. Is this Cumulus's way of saying "we can get romantic and keep the R&B flava going"

I just wonder how many of 106's listeners are aware that DLT is now a 100KW blowtorch..

-Rob

 

[Poledo]

What the hell is "The Sweat Hotel" anyway? Sounds like the guy is going crazy in an unusual way. Is this Cumulus's way of saying "we can get romantic and keep the R&B flava going"

It's pointless for a redneck like me to try to interpret the goings on broadcast by urban radio personalities.

I just wonder how many of 106's listeners are aware that DLT is now a 100KW blowtorch..

About 95% of 'em. I was channel surfing the other day and noticed that 104.1 and 106.1 were playing the exact same commercials at the exact same time (around 3pm on a weekday).... and that commercial break must have lasted over 10 minutes, it never ended before I turned off the car.

 

[Rob]

Being from Ohio, redneck isn't in my vocab.

(and never Ass sume or the ass will shune you)

that's unreal, a 10 minute commercial break? for what? I do think the Urban demographic will probably tune into 92.9 and 104.1.. if they drive this way, they will lose 106.1 faster then you can say seabreeze..

-Rob

 

[tomservo]

What the hell is "The Sweat Hotel" anyway? Sounds like the guy is going crazy in an unusual way. Is this Cumulus's way of saying "we can get romantic and keep the R&B flava going"

I just wonder how many of 106's listeners are aware that DLT is now a 100KW blowtorch..

-Rob

Keith Sweat is the host. I think he's from the Steve Harvey / Michael Baisden line of multifaceted black talents. As in, actor/writer/singer, etc., with a radio show. I guess he plays what I call "love makin' music" — romantic R&B. Several stations call this block "The Quiet Storm". More downbeat than the party blues and old school type formats some other shows/stations have.

 

[Groove1670]

Sweat has been around since the 80's. He also has several top 40 hits too.

 

[Rob]

Here's an interesting idea (but naa..)

Why not keep Keith Sweat on 104.1, put COA on 106.1 and rebrand 100.7. It's been dead air for most of today (Sunday)

Is Cumulus not aware of the dead air?? I can see this happening on FreeDumb 94.3 but not a full powered FM station.

-Rob

 

[Poledo]

Being from Ohio, redneck isn't in my vocab.
-Rob

It's strange that the term is "redneck" because it's our right arms that are red from driving around with the drivers side window open. Most of us wear hats outside... they keep our faces and necks from getting sunburned, not to mention bald spots. We aren't as dumb as Yankees think. Down south we have a saying we use when Yankees tick us off, "You have to be a genius to act ignorant." The emphasis is on the word "act", the Yankees aren't acting ignorant, they are ignorant. Southerners are just "slow" because we're sick of dealing with Yankees that don't understand us and don't care to understand us, yet they bring their Yankee asses down here anyway. Is the north running out of land? The north must just be a horrible place to live if so many Yankees are willing to deal with us "rednecks."

I can't believe how many times Yankees have gotten snooty with my for saying, "yes ma'am" and even "yes sir." If I didn't call a lady "ma'am" my momma would slap me silly, it doesn't really matter if the woman is a lady... and yes, I am a grown man, not a punk kid that deserves to be slapped.


Back on topic, considering past ratings for 93 WBLX in Pensacola and Fort Walton, the area would be served well by WDLT 104.1. Cumulus has their hands full in the Pensacola and Mobile markets right now. If I was running the show 106.1 would be simulcasting WCOA 1370 until a decision was made for it's future... but I guess the guy in charge is going to leave it alone until the new format materializes. I just hope 106.1 doesn't become a WGOK simulcast. That would be horrible. 1370 joining up with WGOK wouldn't bother me at all. Rock 106 would be cooler than News Talk 106.1. But I really believe News Talk 106.1 is going to be the outcome, unless they try to use 106.1 to siphon ratings away from a Clear Channel station.... Classic Country 106.1 paired up with WXBM 102.7 to take on Cat 98.7 on the cheap? Cumulus doesn't need live DJs for Classic Country, pair that with staff reductions at the old Pamal stations and it seems plausible. Christmas isn't too far away.

 

[Tibbs4]

CCENG - I think we outta (yep, Southern) take some gin down towards P-cola for these good boys that know manners and also care about radio. Specially since AMFMXYZ whatever used to be known as REDNECKRIVIERA before he screwed up and became an ice jockey. Hmmm was he kinned to Geraldo?

I am not sure, but it seems to me that the tourists that came to da beach and then moved back down to same da beach have kind of diminished the percentage of real panhandle rednecks. I can't speak for %'s down there, especially round Lisenby in PC.

I do know I thought a lot about the BLX numbers down in Destin/FWB back in 1995/1996 when thinking about format potentials when I was thinking about buying K 92. If I recall, BLX was number 3 or 4. I don't remember the 25-54, but 12 plus was strong. I still couldn't equate those numbers into actual profit and success in formatting vs. sales. Urban is often a tough sell, even if it's well rated. Wonder how FLY or whatever it is this week is doing in actual sales ... And repeats.

Cold up here, CCENG. Thinking brown goods tonight. May have to put the gin up for a week. Wait, I already did that...

 

[Groove1670]

Classic Country 106.1

Classic country demos are older. CC tried this a few years back (In Mobile), and it did not do well.

Unless sales start falling. You won't see a change at 106.1.

 

[NWFLRadio10yrs]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't 105.1 out of Century try Classic Country as well? It's been a couple years since I have been in the Pensacola / Mobile area, but when I was down there in late 2010 I think I remember scanning the dial and hearing classic country on 105.1. It also seems like 1620 was Classic Country for a while as well if my memory serves me correctly.

Am I correct on that or could I have been picking up another station from somewhere else?

 

[tomservo]

1620 was indeed classic country before they went news talk, and 105.1 still does it today, but they have a weak signal in Pensacola. It's more of a Atmore/Century station, I think.

 

[Groove1670]

105.1 still does it today

105.1 does a great job serving century and surrounding towns, but not because of the music. They have a local morning show, swap shop, local high school football.

 

[NWFLRadio10yrs]

I think keeping it local is the key to a successful station, not just the music. That's why I still think Cumulus made a bad move in terminating the two jocks we originally talked about in this thread.

I'm glad to hear 105.1 is doing well as a classic country station. I remember when they were Star 105 back in the late 90's. It seems like they were oldies at one time also, but I barely remember that. I do agree that having the local morning show and the fact they air high school football is probably more important than the music. (When you have small towns like Century, Atmore, Crestview, and places like that, high school football is the the town's outlet on Friday nights for everyone.)

 

[Poledo]

... and Crestview High School football is carried by the 100,000 watt powerhouse WAAZ 104.7.

WPFL 105.1 saw the light and gave up on being a Pensacola radio station over 5 years ago. They have no signal south of I-10 now but they have a much better signal in South Alabama by adding Monroeville and Evergreen to their coverage area. They are mostly satellite fed (or automated), but do have local content. It's kinda strange that Escambia County Alabama has 3 local country music stations all very close on the dial: 105.1 Century/Flomaton, 105.9 Atmore/Bay Minette, and 106.3 Brewton. WPPG 101.1 from Repton also puts a quality signal over most of the county as do the Pensacola and Mobile 100kw Country's (and Crestview's WAAZ). Escambia County Alabama is now a Country music radio lover's wet dream, I count 8 strong FM Country signals covering most of the county.

 

[amfmxm]

CCENG - I think we outta (yep, Southern) take some gin down towards P-cola for these good boys that know manners and also care about radio. Specially since AMFMXYZ whatever used to be known as REDNECKRIVIERA before he screwed up and became an ice jockey. Hmmm was he kinned to Geraldo?

I am not sure, but it seems to me that the tourists that came to da beach and then moved back down to same da beach have kind of diminished the percentage of real panhandle rednecks.

Cold up here, CCENG.

Tibbs, I used RNR as a tribute to that wonderful region where if you happen to arrive without carrying a six-pack of Old Milwaukee Light, they hand you one. But, yeah, Geraldo is a 13th cousin.

Twenty years ago I heard a presentation at the CRS up there in Nashtown by a marketing whiz named John Parikhal (sp?) who said that the problem with Classic Country was that older Country listeners were perfectly satisfied with current tunes, and weren't nostalgic for the older stuff. But he predicted that "someday" it would be a viable format. Houston's KTHT broke through 6 or 8 years ago with Joel Raab's "Country Legends" format, and gave KILT fits for a few years before settling back into the pack. As with pop Oldies formats, the tricky part is that you can grab all the 55+ easily enough, but you've gotta hit them 45-54's (to score in 25-54) in order to eat.

Us 55-plussers don't count. No matter how much gin we can afford!

 

[Groove1670]

WPFL 105.1 saw the light and gave up on being a Pensacola radio station over 5 years ago.

About 15 years ago, the company I worked for looked at buying WPFL. At the time, it was off the air. We called the seller to look at it. He said to call when we got into town and he would turn it on. The studio was in a gift shop in was a small console and a CD player on a nightstand. ;D

It is good to see if found a owner that is making it a success. It is always good to see a small market station successful.

 

[Poledo]

What year was the WPFL tower moved north into Alabama? I remember something about the new, Alabama, tower falling down when it was less than a month old. Anyone remember that story well enough to tell it again?

At one time, back circa 1990, WPFL offices and studios were in a strip mall on 9 Mile Rd. in Ensley. I don't think they were a country station then... but since the signal still didn't really cover Pensacola I don't recall much about it.

Who was the "Genius" that wanted a radio station licensed to Century, FL?

That town is so poor it's a disgrace to the state of Florida. It's so bad, Alabama doesn't even want the residents to travel north into Flomaton. Century ran out of cash a long time ago, had to shut down the police department (along with most all government services). Now Century's sister city, Flomaton, AL, has gone through 3 police chiefs in a little over a year and has one officer in jail for "kidnapping?" (the officer crossed the state line into Century while chasing a car, arrested the guy while in Florida and drove him back to jail in Alabama without any jurisdiction). That is one F'd up area.