• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Format holes in Columbia?

D

denio

Anyone have some thoughts on format holes in Columbia? Some thought starters: What about a Hot Hits CHR/Pop. Something like the Hot Hits of the 80's. Small playlist of 30-40 songs the top songs over and over...with new ads often. Jazz format? News/talk on FM? Contemp. Christian? Very soft AC? What do you think would work?

I would say a very soft AC, CHR/Pop or even a News/Talk.
 
I think a Top 40 would be a good move. WNOK is ripe for the picking. I'm not sure if saying that it is a 'shell of itself' is even fair anymore.
 
How about an all weather radio station playing tunes that match the forecast in between weather reports? Sunshine-Johathan Edwards, Riders on the Storm-Doors, Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again-Forturnes, Sand in My Shoes(Droughts)-Drifters and the list goes on. Maybe get Jim Gandy to program it......
 
I would also like to see a good CHR go up against WNOK, but that would take something that no radio company is willing to spend and that is money... While listening to NOK while visiting SC last week they sounded like The Beat out of Charlotte minus all the hip hop... The Nok I remember just up to 5 years ago is long gone and never will return. I would also like to see a good programmed HAC as well, but that will never happen since the two big gun companies own either a Bright AC or CHR and would never flip to anything that would hurt them... The said fact is the one station I really liked the most was not even a Columbia station yet it was in little ole' Sumter and that was Bad Dog 94.7... Although it was a little all over the road for my taste I found myself listening to it more than any other station. That said I think DoubleO or what ever their new name is could have done a good mainstream rock station that would have done better than Flashback will ever do... CC1
 
Too bad WCAM doesn't have a better signal. Actually, I'm only guessing.

At leasst I still have a good country station where I live. In the car, that is.
 
Hey Chimp... WCAM is pretty much maxed out... 1K days and a whopping 27 watts at night... Just enough umph to get it almost across the street to McDonald's... CC1
 
Nah I did not get to hardly go anywhere this time... I was solo this time and was at my parents house this trip... Heck I did not even get to visit my old stomping ground WPUB/WCAM this time... BTW if Robyn is reading the forums can you email me your addy so I can get your promo goodies back to ya...... CC1
 
I agree, a CHR (real CHR) would be great, it's just not going to happen, the cost of running one of these would be a a fortune. Bad dog was good! The Eagle out of Augusta is great. Flashback, is just awful. Liners and promos over the songs and some of the songs they play can't be called Classic Hits.

What about an EZ listening, very soft AC playing some standards? Older demo, but folks like me (52 and older) have nothing to listen to anymore.
 
It's done CrazeeCarroll, check your mail.

As for format holes, I'd love to see WXRY move to a stronger signal with a full-time staff, but in this economy, that's about as likely as me hitting the Powerball jackpot.

Robyn
 
WNOK has a very good signal, so I think it would be hard to take on a heritage CHR like that, though it is being tried in LA and NYC... I think a CHR like Myrtle beaches Mix 97.7 or Charleston's B-92.5 might scare WNOK if they had the signal and money for it.. It seems WNOK has always leaned Adult, even in the early 90s.. Didnt 96.7 try to do a CHR-Dance or CHR Urban against WNOK once,,, As I recall it failed misserably. Is 101.3 still Urban, or is it Urban AC or something else now....????? I think 100.1 and 103.9 are still doing urban..right?????
 
Mid West Clubber said:
WNOK has a very good signal, so I think it would be hard to take on a heritage CHR like that, though it is being tried in LA and NYC... I think a CHR like Myrtle beaches Mix 97.7 or Charleston's B-92.5 might scare WNOK if they had the signal and money for it..
Click to expand...

WNOK has a good signal, true, but they're nothing special at the moment (Thank you Clear Channel for gutting the life out of the place!). At one time (back in the early 80s) their signal was much stronger, covering a good chunk of South Carolina. Over time, it has dropped to where the signal just covers slightly over the counties that Arbitron defines as part the Columbia market.

It seems WNOK has always leaned Adult, even in the early 90s..
Click to expand...

That was about the time when they realized that Yes 97 (more on them in a moment!) wasn't a threat. Back then, you could always count on WNOK being ranked third behind WCOS-FM and WWDM book after book. With the market lacking a Hot AC, it allowed WNOK to be Adult-leaning during the day and more CHR at night and on weekends.

Didnt 96.7 try to do a CHR-Dance or CHR Urban against WNOK once,,, As I recall it failed misserably.
Click to expand...

Yes they did! As mentioned, Yes 97 (WYYS) tried to go up against WNOK from 1988 to 1991, but they failed not just because of their signal, it was mis-management. They had a tendency to knee-jerk every time the ratings came out, rather than to make a serious attempt to build an audience. When they first hit the air, they were a more Dance-oriented CHR, but in late 1989, they went toward Mainstream. About a year later, they flipped again to Rock 40 for about 6 months before going back to Mainstream CHR only to go Country as Kicks 96 (WHKZ) a few months later. The highest that Yes got, IIRC, was about a 6-something share in 1989-90.

If the truth should be told, Yes 97's predecessor Z-96 (WZLD) actually BEAT WNOK in the ratings in 1983 when they were a well-programmed balls-to-the-wall high energy CHR and WNOK had drifted off-focus. WNOK rebounded in 1984, causing WZLD to slip to mid-pack. To add to the station's problems, WZLD was sold off to Bresson-Hafler Media, whiched tinkered with the format to where they bottomed out to a 1.0 at the end of 1987.

WZLD/WYYS wasn't the only station to go up against WNOK. 103.1 flipped to Rhythmic CHR in early 1986 as WMMC (C-103) At first, they did some serious damage to both WNOK and WZLD, but the station drifted to Mainstream at the end of 1986, causing them to drop. After spending a year with flat ratings WMMC was sold off to new owners, which flipped the calls to WPRH (Power 103). Power was a disaster lasting a little over a year before going AC-Gold (and later Oldies) as WOMG (Magic 103.1).

Is 101.3 still Urban, or is it Urban AC or something else now....????? I think 100.1 and 103.9 are still doing urban..right?????
Click to expand...

WWDM (101.3) is now Urban AC and the sister of WHXT (103.9) which is still Urban. WXBT (100.1) is Urban as well.

Robyn
 
So do you think in this day and AGE that a Hi MRG Dance CHR could scare WNOK at all, if it was done right??? Or has Colubia long lost interest in NON HIP HOP Rhythmic music.... Or what about a High Energy CHR like Mixx 97.7 at Myrtle.
 
In the old days of radio there was people with talant and foresight that made things happen and when they stuck to their vision of what radio should sound like often found that magic combination of hard work mixed with talent and determation. They often owned the station or managed it and were allowed to do what they new best and make things work in such a way that the general public felt at home listening to them and their station. Often the team of people they put together really had a great working conbination to make a station seem bigger than real life. I am afraid that today that the corp's just don't care about anything but money and the bottom line, not to say there are not good or talented people working for some of the companies but they either can not or are not allowed to do anything beyond what they are told to do. Yes there are other music formats Columbia could use and probly do well with but don't look for them that takes foresight and a willingness to take a risk.
 
Robyn Watts: Power was a disaster lasting a little over a year before going AC-Gold (and later Oldies) as WOMG (Magic 103.1).

Not to nit pick...o-k, maybe I am nit picking but when Power flipped, it was never to AC-Gold, it went staight to Oldies on April 15th 1989. Just, FYI.
 
CrazeeCarroll1 said:
Hey Chimp... WCAM is pretty much maxed out... 1K days and a whopping 27 watts at night... Just enough umph to get it almost across the street to McDonald's... CC1
Click to expand...
If they can't do it on 1590, maybe someone else is willing to let them have one of the frequencies that's not working.
 
Al Timiter said:
Robyn Watts: Power was a disaster lasting a little over a year before going AC-Gold (and later Oldies) as WOMG (Magic 103.1).

Not to nit pick...o-k, maybe I am nit picking but when Power flipped, it was never to AC-Gold, it went staight to Oldies on April 15th 1989. Just, FYI.
Click to expand...

You've have to nit-pick with Dudefan, then. He had a sales kit or brochure that mention Magic 103.1 as AC-Gold when it signed on and mentioned it on this board. The music was 50s-60s based, but they played quite a bit of 70s as well.

Robyn
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom