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Energy 106.9

L

lovejamminoldies

Looks like Big Buck Country made the flip to Rhythmic CHR, Energy 106.9. 10,069 songs in a row with excellent imaging and a nice uptempo music selection. Listening now and sounding good. Wonder how it will do going against TWO competitors in the market, WXSS (rhythmic-leaning) and WRNW (mainstream). I always love the Saga CHR's so good luck Energy!
 
Well, at this rate, Saga may have a winner, not to mention a chance to take advantage of chipping away at R&B/Hip-Hop rival WKKV's younger demos.
 
only1moore said:
Well, at this rate, Saga may have a winner, not to mention a chance to take advantage of chipping away at R&B/Hip-Hop rival WKKV's younger demos.
Click to expand...

As long as they're stuck with that terrible signal though, the move will be negligible at best. North of Port Washington and west of Waukesha where the current population shifts are going, they have no signal (and here in Sheboygan, WOOD-FM in Muskegon turns it into mincemeat). They'll be fine in Milwaukee, but they definitely need a good advertising campaign since nobody except the old and religious has tuned past 106.1 in quite a few years (107.7 being WVCY).
 
I wouldn't be surprised if WRNW, WXSS and WKKV retaliates. At this point WZBK seems to have the advantage with the imaging and the playlist.

I also agree that they need a good advertising campaign, but word of mouth doesn't hurt either.
 
I have to agree about the horrible signal. I don't know whose idea it was to move 106.9 from Menomonee Falls, to 54th and McKinley, but they made a huge mistake. In Men. Falls, it was a non-directional signal, with a much wider coverage area. To qualify for the move, it had to be turned into a directional signal, to protect 106.7 in Des Plaines Illinois. With that move, they lost most of their signal south of Milwaukee, just in case they wanted any of that. From what I have read, it also screwed with their northern reach. Major screw-up. Their intention was to super-serve their local (Milwaukee) listeners with a better signal (screw all those other listeners). Talk about narrow casting...

Addressing the comment about "no bubble-gum pop," give me a break, all this Top 40 crap is bubble-gum pop. What a stupid statement. If you aren't in the radio industry, where the radio formats are sliced and diced until there isn't anything more to slice, you can barely tell the difference between this station, KISS FM, and WRNW. I'm sure this one will be on auto-pilot too.

I've got a suggestion for the next format, a deeper cuts version of WKLH. Next time, put that on the wheel when you give it a spin.
 
Can this station ever reach the audience outside Milwaukee proper?

The suburbs are spread out, a lot more widely than when I left Wisconsin 20 years ago.. A Class A station in any location is going to miss a big part of the suburban audience. Either it misses Ozaukee County, or it misses the suburbs along the Waukesha/Jefferson County line, or it misses northern Racine County, or it misses the East Side, or...

But you *can* cover Milwaukee. So why not pick a site where you do that well, and then pick a format that appeals to the people within that area?

What I don't understand is why they tried country, and why they stuck with it for so long. It strikes me as absolutely the wrong signal for country, regardless of where you put the transmitter.
 
only1moore said:
Well, here's how they turned on the "Energy" (courtesy of Garth Brooks)...

http://formatchange.com/big-buck-country-gets-energy/
Click to expand...

I wonder how many bills Saga will get for radios damaged for that high pitched tone/listeners who threw their radios towards the nearest wall during the static? :D That was truly the most annoying switch I've ever heard, like one of those YouTube videos designed to ruin your computer speakers.

I still remember when they were "The Point" in 1998 (a format still deeply missed by me) and sent them an email asking for a better signal where I was (this was before I knew more about co-channel interference, the trop effect and directional patterns), and the staff then said they were trying, but they were restricted by what they could do.

Maybe they should consider a swap with WVCY and get the better 107.7 signal. Might be a deck-chair swap, but with VCY willing to plant a translator anywhere to get their coverage where they need it (and still looking to pay for the digital switch of Channel 30), it's definitely a viable option.
 
mrschimpf said:
Maybe they should consider a swap with WVCY and get the better 107.7 signal. Might be a deck-chair swap, but with VCY willing to plant a translator anywhere to get their coverage where they need it (and still looking to pay for the digital switch of Channel 30), it's definitely a viable option.
Click to expand...

I like that idea. But the real question is Vic Eliason ready to give up a 43Kw signal that he has owned since 1973 for one at 4.4Kw.
 
This station could create a HUGE niche format if done correctly. Be more rhythmic than Radio Now, more dance leaning that Kiss and take away the default listeners who listen to V 100 cause they don't like Top 40 after Hot 102 left, and create some of the magic that has been left as a void by Hot 102, they could do very well. This is exciting news!!!!!
 
only1moore said:
mrschimpf said:
I like that idea. But the real question is Vic Eliason ready to give up a 43Kw signal that he has owned since 1973 for one at 4.4Kw.
Click to expand...

The answer is no.. Vic will never give up either of his stations. Remember back in 94, CBS tried to by Ch. 30 when they were looking for a new home after Ch.6 flipped to FOX, and Vic turned them down.
Click to expand...
 
only1moore said:
Meanwhile, they're sporting the new call letters WNRG-FM to match the "Energy" handle.
Click to expand...

As of 1pm 9-12, they are still IDing as WZBK-FM.
 
Atoz said:
only1moore said:
Meanwhile, they're sporting the new call letters WNRG-FM to match the "Energy" handle.
Click to expand...

As of 1pm 9-12, they are still IDing as WZBK-FM.
Click to expand...

The new call letters are on their Facebook page. Plus there's a LPFM with those call letters in Florida, so they might have to give them up soon.
 
"SAGA COMMUNICATIONS OF MILWAUKEE, LLC" filed a request for the WNRG-FM calls last Friday. They have not been officially assigned yet, the station remains WZBK-FM.

This request won't affect the LPFM. WNRG-LP and WNRG-FM are two different callsigns and can be legally held by two different entities. It will also not affect the AM station in Virginia which holds WNRG. (no suffix)

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/callsign/mainch.pl
 
w9wi said:
"SAGA COMMUNICATIONS OF MILWAUKEE, LLC" filed a request for the WNRG-FM calls last Friday. They have not been officially assigned yet, the station remains WZBK-FM.

This request won't affect the LPFM. WNRG-LP and WNRG-FM are two different callsigns and can be legally held by two different entities. It will also not affect the AM station in Virginia which holds WNRG. (no suffix)

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/callsign/mainch.pl
Click to expand...

They started using the WNRG-FM top of the hour IDs as of September 14, 2012, so it looks like the FCC has approved the call letter change.
 
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