Grin And "Bear" It: Bob & Tom Moving To WBYR

[DToTheJ]

As 92.3 The Fort prepares to turn into a simulcast of 1190 WOWO, Federated Media announced that in the process, they would be pawning off its morning show, Indianapolis-based "Bob & Tom," to sister station 98.9 The Bear.
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/989-fm-to-air-the-bob-tom-show

 

[Juan Bodley]

I love the fact that there's a "groundswell" of people mad (at least if you read the comments on the WANE article they seem mad) at the loss of the TNT show, and Drew Cage, and Jerrdog...
But they don't understand the business of radio. So they'll be mad, they'll change stations, FedMed will see it in ad dollars (MAYBE) and we'll still have, at the end of the day, Bob and Tom on the Bear. I don't see anything wrong with it myself.

 

[kwlz993]

I don't know man... Replacing LOCAL talent for syndication? Once again, we wonder why radio is becoming what it is. Maybe there was a contract issue, and this was how it was resolved. It's just too bad that a local morning show is now off the air, and two others now without a job. I guess that's where I see a problem. But that's the name of the radio game. It happened to me, and it will happen to others.

 

[jo-nathan]

This is an extremely stupid move.

I wonder how mad people in Fort Wayne will be when the Bear goes bye-bye. This is a good way to kill it.

 

[Juan Bodley]

This is an extremely stupid move.

I wonder how mad people in Fort Wayne will be when the Bear goes bye-bye. This is a good way to kill it.

I guess we'll find out.
I'll be mad if they do...it's a great hard rock format.
But I do know there's enough of a following that they'll let management know when they've crossed the line.
"Occupy Production Road"...I can see it now.

 

[Ann Tenna]

This seems like a good financial move for the fedmed people. bob & tom still get ratings and draw advertisers in Ft. Wayne, the real hard rock/metal audience is not sellable, and by moving more to classic rock and adding bob and tom, it seems like they can solve both their problems. despite the core audience they have, there's no money in the current format

 

[Juan Bodley]

This seems like a good financial move for the fedmed people. bob & tom still get ratings and draw advertisers in Ft. Wayne, the real hard rock/metal audience is not sellable, and by moving more to classic rock and adding bob and tom, it seems like they can solve both their problems. despite the core audience they have, there's no money in the current format

ARE they going to drop the harder rock for classic rock??? I haven't seen any indication from the front office that the metal's out the door.

 

[umfan]

Bob & Tom were going to find a home in Ft. Wayne, it's that simple.

I see as a good move for The Bear as it will draw new people to that station.

 

[kwlz993]

@ Ann- That statement makes no sense. Why would FedMed blow up their classic rock station to simulcast WOWO if classic rock was working so well? And then take the Bear and make it classic rock, or even a classic rock lean? That does not compute.

If you've read any of the articles done on this, they are keeping the music format as it is.With Drew gone, Bear Metal on Saturday nights may be history, but the rest of the music is staying as is. I was listening to The Bear on the way to work today, and kicked it off because the stop set was so long. They certainly have listeners, and they most certainly have advertisers on the air. Trust me. That station is billing.

 

[Juan Bodley]

I was told that the Fort was outselling (locally) WMEE. WHY NOT DITCH WMEE??? Or does management have a "fondness" for their first station in town (that and 1380 AM.) I don't see MEE doing ANYTHING spectacular; why not make them talk radio and keep the two rock formats?? That's what I would have done. I just don't see WMEE selling with what they're doing...WAJI has their number.

 

[Hoosierky]

I was told that the Fort was outselling (locally) WMEE. WHY NOT DITCH WMEE??? Or does management have a "fondness" for their first station in town (that and 1380 AM.) I don't see MEE doing ANYTHING spectacular; why not make them talk radio and keep the two rock formats?? That's what I would have done. I just don't see WMEE selling with what they're doing...WAJI has their number.

Wasn't WMEE WOWO's FM counterpart when FM was a mere baby? Talking about almost going full circle.

 

[Juan Bodley]

I can't recall one.
When 1380 came on in 1947 it was in with WKJG-TV 33. Then it was sold in 1971 to Federated Media. The only connection to WOWO was that WKJG-AM picked up NBC Radio when WOWO went live local in the early 50s. WOWO-FMs were on 103.1 and 102.9; 102.9 is part of Summit Radio (or whatever the group is called now.) I can't find a connection to ownership of either 1380 or 97.3 and WOWO.

 

[Scott Howard]

I can't recall one.
When 1380 came on in 1947 it was in with WKJG-TV 33. Then it was sold in 1971 to Federated Media. The only connection to WOWO was that WKJG-AM picked up NBC Radio when WOWO went live local in the early 50s. WOWO-FMs were on 103.1 and 102.9; 102.9 is part of Summit Radio (or whatever the group is called now.) I can't find a connection to ownership of either 1380 or 97.3 and WOWO.

WOWO was a stand alone in Fort Wayne for Westinghouse for many years.

WMEE 1380 was the Magic Mee/Top 40 and WMEF 97.3 was Beautiful Music

When I worked on the air at WMEE, WMEE had taken over the 97.3 FM slot and WQHK, The Hawk was on 1380. (Rick Hughes migrated from WMEE to the Hawk and then K-105).

Yes WOWO had a couple runs as an FM simulcast but as a music station, not talk.

WFWI was the last Commercial FM Station licensed to Fort Wayne, put on the air by Russ Oasis.

The return of ROCK 104 at 103.9 (WXKE) has slowly been contributing to the decline of listenership of the Fort 92.3. There was a big drop the last few years after Bob & Tom signed off the air and ROCK 104 became the dominate Classic Rock music station.

I speculated a few years ago that Bob & Tom would be an excellent anchor for a Talk Station, but that never happened.

 

[fybush]

WOWO's original FM was on 95.9 back in the late 1940s; Westinghouse decided early on that FM wasn't going to amount to anything and returned its FM licenses.

97.3 has always been partnered with 1380 going back to the early days of WKJG. 1380 came first, in 1947; WKJG-TV followed in 1953 and then the FM came along a few years later. It was only in 1995, when Federated bought WOWO, that WOWO was partnered up with 1380 and 97.3.