V
vadar
Guest
96.7 or 92.9, please fill a MAJOR hole in your market. CHR radio is calling you.....
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Gainesville-Ocala Wish List...
- Thread starter jmtillery
- Start date
96.7???? You mean the 10-watt translator WOCA just went on?
Ok.
How do you...
A.) Propose programming go on 96.7 since no one is broadcasting in HD (other than Entercom), one couldn't relay an HD-2 subchannel.
B.) If someone WERE to do such a thing, what on earth would it accomplish? Covering JUST Ocala in a 14 county market.
Ok.
How do you...
A.) Propose programming go on 96.7 since no one is broadcasting in HD (other than Entercom), one couldn't relay an HD-2 subchannel.
B.) If someone WERE to do such a thing, what on earth would it accomplish? Covering JUST Ocala in a 14 county market.
V
vadar
Guest
All I want for Christmas is a Hot Rockin, Flame Throwin CHR in Slocala. It's ok to dream.... :-\
I hear ya brother, I want one too.
WMFQ would make the most sense-- trouble is I don't think it'll happen.
WMFQ would make the most sense-- trouble is I don't think it'll happen.
WMFQ's ratings are marginal overall in the person's 12+ category, but does quite well in target demo Adults 25 - 54. For this reason I doubt any forthcoming format changes will take place with 92.9 since it "isn't broke" and makes money for parent Asterisk Communications, and a CHR format probably will not increase ratings and revenue anymore than it is currently billing. WTRS is the crown jewel in the Gainesville - Ocala five station Asterisk cluster, so 102.3 takes priority over WMFQ, WXJZ, WYGC and WBXY.
vadar said:
WMMZ - Z93 (Now WOGK) was the last CHR in Ocala, having re-formatted as K Country in 1994. Between September 1986 and March 1994, WMMZ was a dominate 100kw CHR in Ocala, adjusting to hot adult contemporary and back to CHR several times during its 7.5 year contemporary run. Long term WMMZ would have made it, but Dix Communications saw a market void with country which gave WMMZ a faster and greater ROI once WMMZ became WOGK. Ocala and Marion County is a country music market with news-talk and variations of adult conetemporary and classic rock falling relatively in distant second place.
Although I cannot take direct credit for WMMZ's initial launch, I can take indirect credit as that format on 93.7 was a direct result of a conversation I had with the newly hired GM while the station was still WFUZ. I basically laid out the CHR game plan during a job interview for program director in early 1986. I wasn't hired, but everything I told the GM, including the Z 93 moniker and imaging, ended up on the air on launch day in September 1986. I was later hired for on-air and sales after the Z 93 launch. At the time we were billing around $70k monthly or approximately $840,000 annually. It was producing much less than that as adult conetmparay WFUZ. However, it is producing close to $4 million annually now as the market's number one radio station.
To summarize, although I may be missing something relevant, I don't see another Ocala only CHR producing those kind of ratings and ad revenue right now, although we may see some form of hit music radio in Ocala in the not so distant future.
jmtillery said:
Well, Dix obviously made a good format choice, however, Z93 had a major competitor in I-100, both for listeners and for dollars. In 1985, I-100 was pulling $50k/mo out of Ocala/Gainesville with just one dedicated salesman in the market. That flow didn't dry up overnight when Z93 took to the air. If we project to today, with I-100 gone and no major CHR competitors, I'd bet the format potentially could do $200k/mo if the signal covered both Alachua and Marion counties.
M
MN Maniac
Guest
XL106.7 was also a competitor to Z93 in Ocala. The signal was/is plenty strong there, due to the tower being located NW of Orlando. It was even better then because you didn't have WKZY on the first adjacent channel.
Kmagrill said:
I will not rule that possibility completely out, but the real question is what station that covers both cities do you "blow up" to make room for a new CHR (I can think of at least one station)? And will the new ad revenue from the new CHR more than make up for the ad revenue loss from the station that was "blown up". And in what time frame does the new CHR become self sustaining and at what point does it become profitable? These are all questions a good GM and owner will ask before any such moves are considered.
There's no question in the early days that I 100 was on top of its game. WNFI was so innovative for its time, there was nothing else like it and it could not help but succeed by default. Before WMMZ, I 100s direct competition was AM except for WYKS Gainesville.
MN Maniac said:
I don't recall when WXXL switched from being WHLY, but I don't recall them being a significant Ocala factor back in the '80s. I do recall seeing a book where I-100 had a 5.6 cume (12+) in Gainesville and a 3.2 in Jacksonville. I think that same book it was double digits in Ocala. Of course, CHR is more fractured now than it was back then. You have Urban, Dance, true CHR, Hot AC,and more as possible variants and possible competitors, so a wise choice can make all the difference. The presentation will make a difference, too. Automated gets one result while live and local gets another.
Kmagrill said:
WHLY became WXXL in 1989. In the late 70s, adult conetmporay/jazz WHLY "Y-106" was BIG in Ocala. Also, I remember those impressive WNFY/WNFI ratings back in the day. If I am not mistaken, it was Y-100/I-100 that caused Jacksonville's WIVY "Y-103" to flip from Top 40 to adult contemporary and re-brand itself as "103 WIVY". During this same time, Daytona's previous number one WDOQ "Q-102" became adult contemporary formated WCFI-FM "I-4 101.9" and later "Sunny 102", while Ocala's WWKE "Key Radio 1370" re-formatted as adult conetmporary "Ocala Radio" WOCA and former Ocala number one WTMC-AM 1290 dropped Top 40 in favor of big bands/adult standards as "Musical Memories" from Drake-Chenault. WNFY/WNFI made a major impact in several Florida radio markets and changed the radio landscape in many ways.
jmtillery said:
There was very bad blood between the I-100 owners and the WQXQ owners, stemming from some broken promises. The I-100 owners, Ron and Carl, quit and mortgaged both of their houses to buy WIYD-FM while it was still a sleepy little FM in Palatka. Within a couple of years, they had saved enough to build the tower in Bunnell. I'm told that the day they powered up the "New Y-100", they sent a black wreath to WQXQ with a note that simply read "RIP". Later that was followed up with a bouquet of dead roses and a note that read "For all you do, this bud's for you".
V
vadar
Guest
Lots of great CHR mentioned in great markets. Fragmented as it was, I-100 was a great station at the perfect time. But a market the size of Ocala (+ Gainesville) certainly warrants a dedicated CHR. It's always nice to have a local branded station with decent imaging and execution. Just sayin......
The market (if you're going to include Gainesville) DOES have a hyper local CHR.
Kiss 105.3
Kiss 105.3
V
vadar
Guest
Kiss 105.3 hardly serves Ocala. It barely covers Gainesville.
but it's in the market... that was my point, and yes it covers Gainesville just fine.
I think we've established WMFQ or WTRS would be best suited for CHR in Ocala-- but this will never happen.
I think we've established WMFQ or WTRS would be best suited for CHR in Ocala-- but this will never happen.
WMFQ would be considered for a format change long before WTRS is flipped. WTRS is the Asterisk rain maker, so unless, for some reason, the new Country 103.7 - The Gator "eats WTRS' lunch" both in ratings and revenue, don't expect anything different from 102.3 FM. The "Thunder" will continue to "roar" on WTRS for the foreseeable future.
However, if WMFQ were to flip to CHR, this would have little impact on WYKS as WMFQ covers Ocala and WYKS covers Gainesville. There is very little signal overlap with the two stations where it counts.
However, if WMFQ were to flip to CHR, this would have little impact on WYKS as WMFQ covers Ocala and WYKS covers Gainesville. There is very little signal overlap with the two stations where it counts.
Yup, this is true-- and you're right BIG would be gone long before THUNDER. My point is neither will flip anytime soon. If BIG were to flip to CHR-- they would have to do some heavy marketing (as with any new station) and promotion to get going the right way.
V
vadar
Guest
I'm confused. How can a CHR in Gainesville with a HORRIBLE signal actually be listed as "the lone CHR" in the Gainesville/Ocala market? We have determined WYKS covers Gainesville ok, but what CHR is truly serving the Ocala market? Is there not a GM who just doesn't see the glaring hole for this market? We have 3 country stations in the market all sufficiently covering both Ocala and Gainesville but only 1 CHR that doesn't cover Ocala? I'm confused.
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