-
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
Former Top 40 Stations You Miss
- Thread starter XCountry285
- Start date
Z93 Dayton... now that Dayton is lacking an actual CHR-sounding station.
M
Mid West Clubber
Guest
LOL I saw someone mentioned Hot 100 WSEA in Myrtle Beach... That was quite possibly the boringest CHR I ever heard in my life,,, Bob and Sherry in the Mornings, and a conservative recurrent hot ac leaning playlist... However, When Hot 100 first started, and was actually Hot 93.9 at the time, they sounded really good with their Rhythmic-Dance lean around 1998-2000... Cumulous finally flipped Hot 100 back to Rhythmic as Power 100,,,,, Smart move since Myrtle didnt have an Urban or another local rhythmic to compete with, although Coast 97.3 Wilmington does put a pretty good signal into Myrtle. Hot 100 was being beaten by fringe stations 100 miles away, thats pretty bad.
BRH said:
Pretty good list there (though I chose the ones I remember). Other stations I want to add:
94TYX Jackson, MS
Z102 Tuscaloosa
Z98 Memphis
Z98 Baton Rouge
WLRW Champaign-Urbana (when they were CHR)
Bus FM Kankakee
Zoo 98 Little Rock
93QID Alexandria (still around as Q93, but they were one of my favorites in the 80s)
93Q Houston
Power 102 Jonesboro
WHYT "Power 96 FM" Detroit, MI
WKQI Detroit, MI - pre-Channel 955, as "Q95-5" in the late '90s... a very conservative Hot AC during the day but at night the fun and the energy came out with Dave Fuller (who later went to DRQ).
I'll give a third vote for DRQ - when that station was hot, it was hot, especially with the dance lean.
Anyone remember WKPK - 106.7 The Peak in northern Michigan? Quite possibly the hottest thing ever to emerge on the radio in Michigan north of the 45th Parallel. They sounded major-market and were fresh, exciting, and everything the Detroit stations in the mid-1990s weren't. How the mighty have fallen... it's a boring AC now with its ratings in the toilet.
WKQI Detroit, MI - pre-Channel 955, as "Q95-5" in the late '90s... a very conservative Hot AC during the day but at night the fun and the energy came out with Dave Fuller (who later went to DRQ).
I'll give a third vote for DRQ - when that station was hot, it was hot, especially with the dance lean.
Anyone remember WKPK - 106.7 The Peak in northern Michigan? Quite possibly the hottest thing ever to emerge on the radio in Michigan north of the 45th Parallel. They sounded major-market and were fresh, exciting, and everything the Detroit stations in the mid-1990s weren't. How the mighty have fallen... it's a boring AC now with its ratings in the toilet.
T
The Truthsayer
Guest
I miss Z102 (WZAT) Savannah and Hot 104 (WYOK) Mobile
They both could have forced their competitors out of format
They both could have forced their competitors out of format
Retro said:
Actually, Dallas Kincaid worked at WBBO from 1992 to 1993 when the call letters were assigned to a station licensed to Forest City, North Carolina. Some background: When the Greenville/Spartanburg, SC market lost WANS, the market's only CHR, in February, 1991. WBBO flipped from Smooth Jazz to CHR on Valentines Day in 1991, adopting the "Power 93" moniker.
WBBO-Greenville/Spartanburg lasted until January 1st, 1996 when the station's sell to Benchmark Communications was closed and the format was changed to Young Country as WNTQ.
Then, the WBBO call-sign went to New Jersey and the rest is history....
Robyn
And to add to my list of CHRs that I miss (that hasn't already been mentioned):
WKQB Q-107/Charleston, SC (station survived a direct strike against Hurricane Hugo, but could not withstand financial difficulties.)
WKSF 99.9 Kiss FM/Asheville, NC (especially during the 1984-1987 time period, deteriorated afterwards until going Country on April Fools Day, 1994.)
WKSI 98.7 Kiss FM/Greensboro, NC (from 1985 to 1994, then they've dropped CHR for Country when the market already had 3 other Country outlets.)
WMMC C-103/Columbia, SC (An early CHR/Urban hybrid when it came on the air in 1986. Sadly went Mainstream at the end of the year.)
WZZU 94-Z/Raleigh-Durham (Gave G-105 a run for their money, but they've fell apart by 1988.)
WRHT/WCBZ The Hot FM/Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville, NC (Was it's best throughout the 90s and early 2000s, then drifted away after it was sold to the point where the format was dumped on 2 smaller signals, then was mercifully killed off.)
WZNY Y-105/Augusta (Was great during the 1995-97 time period, then Cumulus took over and ran the station to the ground.)
WYAV Wave 104/Myrtle Beach. SC (Was very good during it's battle with Power 98/WBPR in the 1990-91 time period, then gave up and went Hot AC. Went back to CHR in 1992, but dropped it for Classic Rock by the end of 1993.)
Robyn
WKQB Q-107/Charleston, SC (station survived a direct strike against Hurricane Hugo, but could not withstand financial difficulties.)
WKSF 99.9 Kiss FM/Asheville, NC (especially during the 1984-1987 time period, deteriorated afterwards until going Country on April Fools Day, 1994.)
WKSI 98.7 Kiss FM/Greensboro, NC (from 1985 to 1994, then they've dropped CHR for Country when the market already had 3 other Country outlets.)
WMMC C-103/Columbia, SC (An early CHR/Urban hybrid when it came on the air in 1986. Sadly went Mainstream at the end of the year.)
WZZU 94-Z/Raleigh-Durham (Gave G-105 a run for their money, but they've fell apart by 1988.)
WRHT/WCBZ The Hot FM/Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville, NC (Was it's best throughout the 90s and early 2000s, then drifted away after it was sold to the point where the format was dumped on 2 smaller signals, then was mercifully killed off.)
WZNY Y-105/Augusta (Was great during the 1995-97 time period, then Cumulus took over and ran the station to the ground.)
WYAV Wave 104/Myrtle Beach. SC (Was very good during it's battle with Power 98/WBPR in the 1990-91 time period, then gave up and went Hot AC. Went back to CHR in 1992, but dropped it for Classic Rock by the end of 1993.)
Robyn
Here's another: WSPT Steven's Point, WI
M
Mid West Clubber
Guest
Thats pretty accurate except your 3 years off.. Not to be Disrespectful in any way,, I actually like Robyn Watts, I just have to adjust this as I live in the area at the time. WBBO Signed on in FEB Valentines day 1991 as Power 93,,, This info is correct, but WBBO flipped in Jully of 1993, first to an Alternative-CHR format, calling itself The Alternative, but with plenty of Rhythmic POP still in rotation,,,, During a brief move back to Indiana, I cant recall what happened between August of 93 and June of 94, but by June of 1994 they, as well as WKSF Asheville were both Country Formats,,, But I was relieved to find out that former AC 93.7 had then Flipped to B-93.7 and had a CHR format just like the old Power 93.3, even had some of the former Power 93 jocks and an almost identical coverage area and only a few notches down the dial from 93.3... IN 1995 the Country format was still on 93.3, but I dont know what happened between then, but by 1999 the 93.3 was Active-Alternative Rock as The Planet and still is to this day... Im not sure if 93.3 kept the WBBO Calls until 1996, thats what im saying and admitting, but I know the CHR format and Power 93.3 Moniker left in in Jully of 1993,,, Maybe August at the latest IDK.... But No Disrespect to Robyn, just trying to pin down my memories cause i lived there then, Or at least in the fringe DX Listening Area,,,, Actuallly Tenn, But 93.3 still puts a signal into South East Tenn.....RobynWattsV2.0 said:
Not a problem Mid West Clubber, I've meant to type January 1st, 1995 on the date of WBBO's flip , but it was late and I've failed to proofread before hitting "post".
Anyway, for those interest, here's the time line of WBBO as I remember it (corrections are welcome):
February 14th, 1991: After a few weeks without a CHR in the market, WBBO drops Smooth Jazz for CHR adopting the "Power 93" handle. Station was programmed by Bill Catcher, the former PD of WANS when it flipped from CHR to AC. The station's logo was the same as WFLZ/Tampa's (sans "The Power Pig" name) with purple graphics on a pink background. Jingles were from JAM (KIIS 90) and sweepers were voiced in-house (later replaced with some pre-produced stuff done outside of station (it didn't sound too bad, but it wasn't done by any of the "hot" CHR VO people at the time like Mark Driscoll, Bumper Morgan, Mitch Craig, and the like).
BTW: Funny story, but true. I've asked Bill Catcher once on the request line why he didn't go with someone like Mitch Craig for the sweepers and he said he didn't want to use "that overpriced m*****f*****".
Ratings were strong at first, but slipped after the initial debut. Station was still broadcasting from Forest City, but maintained a sales office in Greenville. Within a year, the station was move to a golden-tinted window office building off of I-385 and Pleasantburg Dr. in Greenville (I think the building was called Piedmont Park). TV spots were limited (I've only saw the tail end of it, only once!) using Snap's "The Power" when the logo was displayed at the end of it (the "I've got the power" part of the song.). Also the station was the subject of a "Billboard" magazine about stations jumping into CHR at a time when the format was on a downturn. The other stations featured in the article were 95 Double-Q WAQQ/Charlotte, X-100 WLFX/Lexington, KY, B-103.7 (now B-103.9) WXKB/Ft. Myers, FL, and Magic 93.1 KZMG/Great Falls, ID. Out of the stations featured in the article, WXKB and KZMG are still with us.
July, 1992: After several flat books, Bill Catcher was dismissed and Dallas Kincade was brought in. The station started to evolve to Dance around that time. save for occasion spins of Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under The Bridge", B-52's "Good Stuff" and The Cure's "Friday. I'm In Love" (all were big hits at the time).
August, 1992: The "Power 93" handle was dropped along with the sweepers and the station became "93.3 WBBO". New jingles from JAM were purchased (Turbo Z). Ratings remained for the most part unchanged during this period.
Forward one year later to August, 1993: Station shifts back to Mainstream CHR while maintaining a Dance lean. New jingles from JAM were purchased (Z World, with a few Christmas jingles from "A Touch Of Christmas").
April 1994: WBBO drops the "93.3 WBBO" name for "Q-93" and shift toward a more uptempo-ed CHR format.
August 1994: After a book with little change, Alternative tracks were added. Ratings finally start going up.
November 1994: Q-93, by this point, was almost a full-on Alternative. The station was billing itself as "Your New Rock Alternative", but was still playing a few Rock acts like Bon Jovi.
January 1st, 1995: After Benchmark Communications completes the sale of WBBO, the station dropped the Alternative-leaning CHR format for Hot Country as "93-Q Country" with the WNTQ call-letters added later. Benchmark had wanted a Hot Country sister to WESC, their traditional Country outlet. The idea was to use 93-Q Country as a flanker against SFX Broadcasting's younger-leaning Country giant, WSSL so that WESC could top them in the ratings (As many Carolina and Country radio observers would tell you, the WSSL-WESC Country battle during the late 80s/early 90s was one of the most watched in the country with both stations dominating at the top, or near the top, of the ratings during that time.
Ultimately this strategy failed as WSSL proved to be too dominant to do WESC any good and WNTQ proved to be a disaster in the ratings. How bad? They didn't show up in at least one ratings book 12+ (their average ratings as a Country outlet was a 1.0)! In September, 1996 the Country was dropped for Active Rock as "93.3 The Planet"
As for B93.7, the station signed on by the jocks reading names out of the Greenville telephone book on April Fools Day, 1995. This stunt, by most accounts was a disaster as people were calling the station about how the jocks had mispronounced their name or they didn't want their name and phone number read on the air! In addition, people were actually calling in and requesting their names be read on the radio again. Quickly, the stunt was dropped and the CHR format debuted.
99.9 Kiss FM (WKSF) Asheville dropped CHR for Country on April Fools Day, 1994. The midday jock (which was Dawn Creasman, IIRC) has said that she was receiving all kinds of calls from people wanting to hear Country music and had hinted that an announcement was planned at 12 noon. At noon, the station dropped CHR for Country becoming "99.9 Kiss Country".
I've forgot how 98.7 Kiss FM (WKSI) Greensboro dropped CHR for Country but I think they did a stunt as well before going into the Country format. Big mistake IMO as Greensboro was already saturated with Country outlets.
But anyway, that what I remember. Corrections are welcome.
Robyn
Anyway, for those interest, here's the time line of WBBO as I remember it (corrections are welcome):
February 14th, 1991: After a few weeks without a CHR in the market, WBBO drops Smooth Jazz for CHR adopting the "Power 93" handle. Station was programmed by Bill Catcher, the former PD of WANS when it flipped from CHR to AC. The station's logo was the same as WFLZ/Tampa's (sans "The Power Pig" name) with purple graphics on a pink background. Jingles were from JAM (KIIS 90) and sweepers were voiced in-house (later replaced with some pre-produced stuff done outside of station (it didn't sound too bad, but it wasn't done by any of the "hot" CHR VO people at the time like Mark Driscoll, Bumper Morgan, Mitch Craig, and the like).
BTW: Funny story, but true. I've asked Bill Catcher once on the request line why he didn't go with someone like Mitch Craig for the sweepers and he said he didn't want to use "that overpriced m*****f*****".
Ratings were strong at first, but slipped after the initial debut. Station was still broadcasting from Forest City, but maintained a sales office in Greenville. Within a year, the station was move to a golden-tinted window office building off of I-385 and Pleasantburg Dr. in Greenville (I think the building was called Piedmont Park). TV spots were limited (I've only saw the tail end of it, only once!) using Snap's "The Power" when the logo was displayed at the end of it (the "I've got the power" part of the song.). Also the station was the subject of a "Billboard" magazine about stations jumping into CHR at a time when the format was on a downturn. The other stations featured in the article were 95 Double-Q WAQQ/Charlotte, X-100 WLFX/Lexington, KY, B-103.7 (now B-103.9) WXKB/Ft. Myers, FL, and Magic 93.1 KZMG/Great Falls, ID. Out of the stations featured in the article, WXKB and KZMG are still with us.
July, 1992: After several flat books, Bill Catcher was dismissed and Dallas Kincade was brought in. The station started to evolve to Dance around that time. save for occasion spins of Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under The Bridge", B-52's "Good Stuff" and The Cure's "Friday. I'm In Love" (all were big hits at the time).
August, 1992: The "Power 93" handle was dropped along with the sweepers and the station became "93.3 WBBO". New jingles from JAM were purchased (Turbo Z). Ratings remained for the most part unchanged during this period.
Forward one year later to August, 1993: Station shifts back to Mainstream CHR while maintaining a Dance lean. New jingles from JAM were purchased (Z World, with a few Christmas jingles from "A Touch Of Christmas").
April 1994: WBBO drops the "93.3 WBBO" name for "Q-93" and shift toward a more uptempo-ed CHR format.
August 1994: After a book with little change, Alternative tracks were added. Ratings finally start going up.
November 1994: Q-93, by this point, was almost a full-on Alternative. The station was billing itself as "Your New Rock Alternative", but was still playing a few Rock acts like Bon Jovi.
January 1st, 1995: After Benchmark Communications completes the sale of WBBO, the station dropped the Alternative-leaning CHR format for Hot Country as "93-Q Country" with the WNTQ call-letters added later. Benchmark had wanted a Hot Country sister to WESC, their traditional Country outlet. The idea was to use 93-Q Country as a flanker against SFX Broadcasting's younger-leaning Country giant, WSSL so that WESC could top them in the ratings (As many Carolina and Country radio observers would tell you, the WSSL-WESC Country battle during the late 80s/early 90s was one of the most watched in the country with both stations dominating at the top, or near the top, of the ratings during that time.
Ultimately this strategy failed as WSSL proved to be too dominant to do WESC any good and WNTQ proved to be a disaster in the ratings. How bad? They didn't show up in at least one ratings book 12+ (their average ratings as a Country outlet was a 1.0)! In September, 1996 the Country was dropped for Active Rock as "93.3 The Planet"
As for B93.7, the station signed on by the jocks reading names out of the Greenville telephone book on April Fools Day, 1995. This stunt, by most accounts was a disaster as people were calling the station about how the jocks had mispronounced their name or they didn't want their name and phone number read on the air! In addition, people were actually calling in and requesting their names be read on the radio again. Quickly, the stunt was dropped and the CHR format debuted.
99.9 Kiss FM (WKSF) Asheville dropped CHR for Country on April Fools Day, 1994. The midday jock (which was Dawn Creasman, IIRC) has said that she was receiving all kinds of calls from people wanting to hear Country music and had hinted that an announcement was planned at 12 noon. At noon, the station dropped CHR for Country becoming "99.9 Kiss Country".
I've forgot how 98.7 Kiss FM (WKSI) Greensboro dropped CHR for Country but I think they did a stunt as well before going into the Country format. Big mistake IMO as Greensboro was already saturated with Country outlets.
But anyway, that what I remember. Corrections are welcome.
Robyn
A cuple I can think of
KZ-93 WKZW Peoria Illinois.
The old WDEK 92.5 in DeKalb Illiois
WBUS FM 99.9 in Kankakee Illionis
Where I lived growing up depending on how the weather was determined witch station I could recieuve, Usualy I listened to KZ 93 I grew up about forty five minutes north of Peoria so I picked them up the best.
KZ-93 WKZW Peoria Illinois.
The old WDEK 92.5 in DeKalb Illiois
WBUS FM 99.9 in Kankakee Illionis
Where I lived growing up depending on how the weather was determined witch station I could recieuve, Usualy I listened to KZ 93 I grew up about forty five minutes north of Peoria so I picked them up the best.
Retro said:
Yeah, the Peak was not a bad station at all, especially with their monster signal from Mt. Washington. I could pick them up as a local down on the NH Seacoast. Those were the days.
There was 94.5 WZOU, WWGT (G98, Portland), 102.9 WTHT Portland, WZPK, Kiss 108.
A lot of CHR choice!
I actually picked up WTHT just South of Downtown Boston one night, that was interesting!
During the early 90's, I could get stations out of Providence too!
92 Pro-FM
Kix 106
And oh, I could get both Fun 107 out of New Bedford and 96-3, The Rose out of Nantucket too!
They supplemented WZOU and Kiss 108 for me.
During the early 90's, I could get stations out of Providence too!
92 Pro-FM
Kix 106
And oh, I could get both Fun 107 out of New Bedford and 96-3, The Rose out of Nantucket too!
They supplemented WZOU and Kiss 108 for me.
- Status