> Hi Neil,
>
> > I thought that when a station flipped formats, that they
> go
> > commercial free. 96.7 still airs commercials, and live
> > weather remotes.
>
> Not necessarly. Thanks to automation, weather forecasts (as
> well as traffic and news reports) can be dropped into the
> format's automation. The commecials? I'm pretty sure they're
> group buys or leftovers from the previous format.
>
>
> > Is this a stunt or is "Steve" here to stay?
>
> I've had a hunch at first if Steve was a stunt to throw off
> Inner City and Citadel's marketing plans, but I'm now pretty
> sure that this is for real. I was surprised that Lite was
> the station that would flip. Prehaps Clear Channel heard
> rumors that Citadel was planning to flip Oldies 103 over to
> Variety Hits and wanted to beat them to the punch (which
> would make sense why the station leaned Classic Hits during
> the first several hours, they had to hurry up and get the
> new format on the air).
>
> (note) As I'm typing this, they've just segued from Vanilla
> Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby" to Wang Chung's "Dance Hall Days".
> Prehaps I was too early on judging them.
>
> Nowadays it doesn't take much effort to change a music
> format on a station that's automated since most of the
> format's music and programming elements are already loaded
> on hard drive and one just has to swap it out.
>
> > By the way, I'm glad to see something new come to
> Columbia!
>
> Yep, I thought that Columbia would be the last market in the
> US to get it's own Variety Hits outlet. Only time will tell
> if it (as well as the format itself) will last.
>
> Robyn
>
It didn't take long for the Jack licensor to slap Clear Channel with a lawsuit for trademark infringement based on "Playing what we want" and other similar variations. The litigation will likely be lengthy and expensive unless theres an injunction issued.
Overall, the Steve format has a real lack of focus vis-a-vis "Jack" or "Bob" stations which, while jumping from era to era, have a thread of continuity. It does make you wonder whether Clear Channel even bothered to put a consultant on the project. Either that, or there is no sound-coding in Selector. The balance of the station wobbles between all classic hits to 70's AC.
From what I have heard, Citadel didn't have any plans in the works to flip WOMG. The station is a strong, consistent biller and did well in the last book.