Failed format flips

[Kurt Toy]

Other than Double Country, what other format changes in Pittsburgh radio have there been that have failed?

 

[SteelRocker]

Other than Double Country, what other format changes in Pittsburgh radio have there been that have failed?

Umm, I moved here in 1999 and there was no double country. I'd love to hear if someone can describe that format to me. I was here briefly for a month in about 1994 and there was a country station called The Rebel at 104.7. Is that the same station that was "double country"?

 

[Radio_Realist]

I'd love to hear if someone can describe that format to me.

"Double" country was just plain old country, played on station WWSW, which had long called itself "Double-Double". In other words, "Double" country wasn't a format, it was just a station nickname.

 

[SteelRocker]

I'd love to hear if someone can describe that format to me.

"Double" country was just plain old country, played on station WWSW, which had long called itself "Double-Double". In other words, "Double" country wasn't a format, it was just a station nickname.

Just to be clear, this is the same 3WS that plays oldies now? (Sorry, I don't listen to the station so I don't know if they're really WWSW and too lazy to go over to R&R to check.)

 

[Boss Radio]

"Double country" was WWSW-AM, 970.

WEEP-AM/FM tried talk in 1975-76 with ex-KDKA staffers Jack Wheeler and Mike Levine as their stars. They went back to country music after that.

WWSW-AM tried talk in the early '80s with WTKN. They were responsible for bringing Doug Hoerth to town from Florida.

The frequencies 96.1, 96.9 and 104.7 are virtual repositories of failed formats.

 

[slim]

Don't forget about 100.7 - WNUF, WWCL, WXXP(album and new rock versions),
WMXP(AC and churban versions), K-BEAR, all 70s the Point(which brought
about the WZPT calls). But I do think 104.7 still holds the record.

 

[toddjammin]

Don't forget about 100.7 - WNUF, WWCL, WXXP(album and new rock versions),
WMXP(AC and churban versions), K-BEAR, all 70s the Point(which brought
about the WZPT calls). But I do think 104.7 still holds the record.

Speaking of 100.7 Star is failing big time in the ratings and have gone down hill in the last 3 years. CBS will probably let the station drag out like this, because they are very slow to flip formats in the Pittsburgh area.

 

[Parttimer]

I'd love to hear if someone can describe that format to me.

"Double" country was just plain old country, played on station WWSW, which had long called itself "Double-Double". In other words, "Double" country wasn't a format, it was just a station nickname.

Just to be clear, this is the same 3WS that plays oldies now? (Sorry, I don't listen to the station so I don't know if they're really WWSW and too lazy to go over to R&R to check.)

Actually it was AM 970....

104.7 included WYDD as a jazz and free-form rock station, then it evolved into "Metro Music". Later it was Energy 105 (featuring Mike Fraser and the indescribably bad "Stereo Quad Suzie Wadd.") I think the Rebel was after that, then CC bought it and made it WJJJ, first as smooth jazz and later as Jammin' Oldies, and later yet as Urban AC. Then finally it became News/Talk 104.7.

YDD featured some great talent such as Steve Downes and Sean McDowell, and also at one point featured "Bumper Car Music with Barry Grant" in PM drive. Barry apparently couldn't cue up a record and faded everything in.

96.9 was WFFM FM97, one of the first "Soft Rock" stations in the country. After Benns Communications bought it, it became Y97, a hot AC format that leaned rock. At night, they tried both a jazz show and Classic Trax, one of the first attempts at playing what evolved into classic rock. The show was a big success but the GM wanted to be a soft AC which was Magic 97 (he liked Air supply, I'm not kidding). So it stayed a nighttime show for a while. This station also featured Don & Allan in the morning, quite possibly the worst morning show in the history of the market. Finally they decided to go all Classic Trax and brought Jimmy & Steve back from exile in Ft. Lauderdale. A new consultant pushed it from its original feel, more of the "Classic Hits" genre to a Led Zeppelin-Van Halen-AC/DC classic rocker, which eventually became 97 Rock. The Frischlings bought it, and gave Quinn a home in AM drive, until it finally faded away to become Bob-FM.

Down the hall from Bob, but at the extreme other end of the scale, is WLTJ, which has been a soft-rock/soft-AC outlet since the 80's. Their morning show, Gary Love and Beth Bershok, has been on the air together for almost 20 years now, by far the longest running morning show in the market, and virtually no one realizes it.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

104.7 included WYDD as a jazz and free-form rock station, then it evolved into "Metro Music". Later it was Energy 105 (featuring Mike Fraser and the indescribably bad "Stereo Quad Suzie Wadd.") I think the Rebel was after that, then CC bought it and made it WJJJ, first as smooth jazz and later as Jammin' Oldies, and later yet as Urban AC. Then finally it became News/Talk 104.7.

You left out the Revolution (between Rebel & the CC buyout). That wouldn't count as a "failed" format flip though, as the main reason CC bought it was because the Revolution was kicking the X's butt big time. More like a "forced to protect our crap" format flip.

I still remember when Jimmy & Steve came back and went to 96.9. It was the topic of huge discussion in my dorm.

 

[toddjammin]

104.7 included WYDD as a jazz and free-form rock station, then it evolved into "Metro Music". Later it was Energy 105 (featuring Mike Fraser and the indescribably bad "Stereo Quad Suzie Wadd.") I think the Rebel was after that, then CC bought it and made it WJJJ, first as smooth jazz and later as Jammin' Oldies, and later yet as Urban AC. Then finally it became News/Talk 104.7.

You left out the Revolution (between Rebel & the CC buyout). That wouldn't count as a "failed" format flip though, as the main reason CC bought it was because the Revolution was kicking the X's butt big time. More like a "forced to protect our crap" format flip.

I still remember when Jimmy & Steve came back and went to 96.9. It was the topic of huge discussion in my dorm.

In my opinion, I liked the music on the revolution much better than the X. It played a lot of the great classic alternative bands the x doesn't play. It kind of reminded me back to my days at 1510am X 15.

This will never happen, but I would love nothing more than a classic alternative station to replace the fallen Star 100.7. I guess I will have to stick to sirius to get my classic alternative tunes. lol.

 

[Sahisko]

For awhile there 96.1 was flipping every 10 months. One moment it was Variety 96, The River, Mix 96.1 (Remember that?!?!) then what it is now, 961 Kiss. Of course it switched well before its Variety 96 days but I don't remember much before that.

But yeah 104.7 seems to be in the lead for most format flips.

 

[kenhawk1160]

For awhile there 96.1 was flipping every 10 months. One moment it was Variety 96, The River, Mix 96.1 (Remember that?!?!) then what it is now, 961 Kiss. Of course it switched well before its Variety 96 days but I don't remember much before that.

But yeah 104.7 seems to be in the lead for most format flips.

I'd say 100.7 is a close second.

 

[slim]

Add two other formats at 104.7 not mentioned that existed between
Energy 105 and the Rebel. In early 1990, they became WEZE to fill
the void created when WSHH morphed from easy listening to soft AC.
After that, they were WORD before it moved to 101.5 replacing WPIT.

 

[SteelRocker]

104.7 included WYDD as a jazz and free-form rock station, then it evolved into "Metro Music". Later it was Energy 105 (featuring Mike Fraser and the indescribably bad "Stereo Quad Suzie Wadd.") I think the Rebel was after that, then CC bought it and made it WJJJ, first as smooth jazz and later as Jammin' Oldies, and later yet as Urban AC. Then finally it became News/Talk 104.7.

You left out the Revolution (between Rebel & the CC buyout). That wouldn't count as a "failed" format flip though, as the main reason CC bought it was because the Revolution was kicking the X's butt big time. More like a "forced to protect our crap" format flip.

I still remember when Jimmy & Steve came back and went to 96.9. It was the topic of huge discussion in my dorm.

In my opinion, I liked the music on the revolution much better than the X. It played a lot of the great classic alternative bands the x doesn't play. It kind of reminded me back to my days at 1510am X 15.

This will never happen, but I would love nothing more than a classic alternative station to replace the fallen Star 100.7. I guess I will have to stick to sirius to get my classic alternative tunes. lol.

Oh man, I'd love to hear a format like that again. I wasn't here for The Revolution of course, but I bet I'd have been its biggest fan. I was living in San Francisco area and we had Live 105 and KOME. It was probably a similar format.

 

[fromtheinsideout]

In my opinion, I liked the music on the revolution much better than the X. It played a lot of the great classic alternative bands the x doesn't play. It kind of reminded me back to my days at 1510am X 15.

This will never happen, but I would love nothing more than a classic alternative station to replace the fallen Star 100.7. I guess I will have to stick to sirius to get my classic alternative tunes. lol.
[/quote]


I would like that too, but given they failed with that format when the music wasn't classic, from roughly 86-89 if even that long, I doubt they would bring it back now, as much as I would like the original "Double X" back on the dial someplace. I think I still have a casette case laying around somewhere with half a dozen of their bumper stickers on it as they had ones with just the logo and ones with the logo on half and an artist on the other half. I think I ended up with Billy Idol and Psychadelic Furs bumper stickers. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[SteelRocker]

I love listening to "Prehistoric X" on Sunday mornings, they play some excellent alternative tunes from the past. The "X" always seem to have 90s X weekends too, they seem to be very popular. Maybe a Revolution-type station would be an excellent format for Pittsburgh.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Add two other formats at 104.7 not mentioned that existed between
Energy 105 and the Rebel. In early 1990, they became WEZE to fill
the void created when WSHH morphed from easy listening to soft AC.
After that, they were WORD before it moved to 101.5 replacing WPIT.

As one of the ill-fated WEZE jocks, I say thank you very much for remembering. It was a great time that we had...Joe Fenn mornings, Erik Selby middays (later Bill Knight), Leah Klocko afternoons, Ed Price at night, and then me, Harry Crytzer and Ed Shafer overnights. It lasted only 20 months, but still a great run.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

I love listening to "Prehistoric X" on Sunday mornings, they play some excellent alternative tunes from the past. The "X" always seem to have 90s X weekends too, they seem to be very popular. Maybe a Revolution-type station would be an excellent format for Pittsburgh.

I like the Prehistoric show (though the title isn't my fave, LOL) better when they stick to the 80s. There's so much good music from then that never gets played anywhere, except MAYBE on WYEP. The 90s weekends, not so much - it seems like the same 90s tunes they play during the week.

Maybe WXXP v. 2/The Re-Revolution could succeed this time around as everyone who would listen to it now is grown up and has jobs, houses and money! ;D (Well, some of us do, hee hee.)

 

[toddjammin]

I love listening to "Prehistoric X" on Sunday mornings, they play some excellent alternative tunes from the past. The "X" always seem to have 90s X weekends too, they seem to be very popular. Maybe a Revolution-type station would be an excellent format for Pittsburgh.

I like the Prehistoric show (though the title isn't my fave, LOL) better when they stick to the 80s. There's so much good music from then that never gets played anywhere, except MAYBE on WYEP. The 90s weekends, not so much - it seems like the same 90s tunes they play during the week.

Maybe WXXP v. 2/The Re-Revolution could succeed this time around as everyone who would listen to it now is grown up and has jobs, houses and money! ;D (Well, some of us do, hee hee.)

Some of the great progressive rock bands we played on X 15 were the Pooh sticks, Black 47, The candy skins, and Cell. I'm not sure if they play any of these bands on prehistoric X on 105.9. I'm guessing if any station, like you said, maybe WYEP is the only station that plays the bands I mentioned?

 

[corporateradiosucks]

I think I've heard the Pooh Sticks a couple times but that's it. X 15 was definitely farther out than the X/Crap Channel will ever get.