Yes, everything above is true. The truth is that Rock104's ratings had sagged over the years and, while still acceptable for a class A in Gainesville, probably weren't up to the expectations of a C1 that should be covering the whole market. There could be a lot of reasons for the errosion of the numbers: People's changing tastes & more competition being chief among them. The fact that Marion County has grown faster than Alachua county is also a contributer as 2/3 of the total population now lives in a fringe coverage area for WRUF, compared to about 1/3 twenty-five years ago. 15 years ago, there was no competition from WNDD or WHHZ, so one could argue that WRUF actually held its own quite well in the face of the market changes. Aside from wondering if the idea to switch formats might have been a bit hasty, the thing that shocked so many readers of this board was the choice of a replacement format. It doesn't seem like the informed decision of someone familiar with the peculiarities of this market or of WRUF-FM's coverage. That said, I'd be delighted, if a bit confused, to discover that WRUF-FM actually does well in the next year. Either that, or some other decision will be made and the format will flip again in the next couple of years.
