Lite 96.9 becomes...

[passtheword]

Mix 96.9. Here's the story about it on RadioInsight.com and an aircheck of the name change. The recording mentions that WRSA has only changed names twice in its history, although that's slightly incorrect. WRSA began as "Beautiful 97" before becoming "Lite 97" around the year 2000, when it morphed to vocal easy listening/soft adult contemporary. The name was later modified to "Lite 96.9" to reflect the actual frequency and the station's move to more of a mainstream AC format.

http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/91585/lite-96-9-huntsville-gets-mixed/

 

[RollTide]

They're using the slogan "The best variety of the 80's 90's and more," which sounds to me like their main focus is on 80's and 90's music which is not necessarily true so I don't like that, and their new jingle package sounds TERRIBLE. I don't understand why they are running jockless for a couple of weeks when the format hasn't changed & all the same airstaff will return afterwards. I would think it would be smarter to have the jocks on air promoting the new identity heavily.

 

[whit979]

I'm no expert on the Huntsville market, but in my personal opinion this is indicative of the issues that a lot of home-owned stations have. The folks in the building get bored with the music, they think the rotation is too tight and not fun, they see a slight dip in the ratings (even though they're still #3 in the market), and they think that's all the evidence they need to make a change and get things unsettled. Sometimes it works. Often, it doesn't.

Station management explained to AL.com that they thought the name "Lite" came with connotations of being "music their mother or grandmother would listen to." Maybe so, but there are plenty of markets where stations named "Lite" are #1 across the board, New York being the biggest example that comes to mind. So, to remedy the perceived issue, they detonated the station's name and imaging and expanded the playlist...into the '70s? Keep in mind that people who were teenagers in the 1970s are now approaching 60 years old or older. Playing older music to attract younger listeners...I dunno.

Granted, their new imaging may be saving them a lot of money. Continuously-updated jingle packages from ReelWorld, like the one they were using, cost thousands of dollars per year. The new Mix package doesn't sound as polished, but it's probably much cheaper. However, you also have to factor in the cost of losing name recognition with every single listener you had. The cost of rebuilding that brand familiarity has to be considered. This is especially true after they spent the past few years paying listeners who memorized the Lite name and slogan. Needless to say, they've got an uphill battle ahead.

Speaking of familiarity, this is the little secret to the success of iHeartMedia/Cumulus/CBS that home-owned stations don't like to accept. The big-box stations thrive off of familiarity. Call it bland if you want to; they just call it another win in the ratings and another check they can deposit. They research their programming decisions into the ground because listeners thrive off familiarity, too. So your jocks are bored with playing Sarah McLachlan ballads every day? That's probably because their job is to listen to the same radio station for 40 hours a week. It doesn't mean your listeners want change. To do something like this, you've gotta focus-group the daylights out of it before you pull the trigger. Maybe they did, who knows.

 

[Kent]

While a lot of what you're saying makes sense, I don't think Lite 96.9's change was the result of the operator getting bored with the music mix. AC's have been struggling for several years with what to do as they find their core audience aging, and the new music to attract the younger side of the 25-54 age group doesn't gel with the older tunes they've been playing (which the younger audience can't stand anyway). Also, especially in PPM markets, advertisers are valuing the older part of the 25-54 demo less and less. The result has been AC getting hotter to get the growing, and ever more important, younger audience. When it first started around 1990, I thought Hot AC was a terrible concept that was doomed to fail in a few years. Now, it's looking like the future of AC. Yes, Hot AC may still go away, but, now, it's looking like it will be because AC took it over and slapped its brand name on top of it.

WRSA dropped beautiful music because it was skewing too old to make money, and management probably saw the same thing happening with "Lite 96.9."

 

[RollTide]

Whit, I haven't listened to them much since the change but I don't think they added any 70s back in. From what I've heard they have actually added a bit more up tempo & 2000s music than they used to play, but not much. Like I said I haven't listened much so I can't really say for sure. I completely agree with what you said about name recognition though. This station is consistently top 3 in the market and more importantly, they always beat their main competition Star 99. The name "Lite" works just fine in many markets INCLUDING this one, so I'm still a little baffled by this change. I don't think any change is due to the owners/staff being bored, but I'm still unclear as to the true reasoning behind a rebranding of a top 3 station

Kent, I had the same thought about trying to adjust to the ever changing AC demo with younger audience preferences being so different, but we must keep this in mind. Lite 96.9 (now Mix) is consistently BEATING Star 99, which is a younger leaning AC station. When you compare the two you can tell an obvious difference as to which end of the AC audience spectrum each station is targeting the most. Even Star 99's jocks are younger. It should be noted that Star 99's numbers have been on the rebound lately & they are sounding better than they were so maybe "Mix" is trying to stay ahead of the trend by finding a happy medium with drawing in a bit more younger listeners while still retaining their loyal older ones. Who knows really. I still think it was completely unnecessary.

Another interesting side note of info. This is actually the second time the name "Mix" has been used in Huntsville. Many years ago when Athens broadcasting still owned 93.3, they tried an 80s & 90s based AC format for a while after changing from country "The Possum" and they branded it as Mix 93.3. Also, WRSA has now finally added RDS to its signal. The display says "Mix means variety"

 

[Kent]

Kent, I had the same thought about trying to adjust to the ever changing AC demo with younger audience preferences being so different, but we must keep this in mind. Lite 96.9 (now Mix) is consistently BEATING Star 99, which is a younger leaning AC station. When you compare the two you can tell an obvious difference as to which end of the AC audience spectrum each station is targeting the most. Even Star 99's jocks are younger. It should be noted that Star 99's numbers have been on the rebound lately & they are sounding better than they were so maybe "Mix" is trying to stay ahead of the trend by finding a happy medium with drawing in a bit more younger listeners while still retaining their loyal older ones. Who knows really. I still think it was completely unnecessary.

I don't have access to the numbers like I used to as I haven't cracked a mic in six years as of last week, but I suspect the 25-54 numbers of Lite and Star were a lot more competitive. As you note, Star has been rising. Lite 96.9, on the other hand, had been on a slow but steady decline. A change may not have been needed yet, but the future didn't look good for Lite.

Another interesting side note of info. This is actually the second time the name "Mix" has been used in Huntsville. Many years ago when Athens broadcasting still owned 93.3, they tried an 80s & 90s based AC format for a while after changing from country "The Possum" and they branded it as Mix 93.3. Also, WRSA has now finally added RDS to its signal. The display says "Mix means variety"

I remember WXMR "Mix 93.3." I spent a few months in Nashville and Chattanooga in '01, and I really enjoyed that station. I could get it on my home stereo at the apartment where I was staying near Brentwood and in the car in that area. I was a little disappointed I'd lose that station so quickly around Signal Mountain. A translator for 97.3 stomped all over in Chattanooga proper.

 

[RollTide]

Oh yes I remember before 93.3 moved its facilities into Huntsville it put a massive signal into Tennessee. I understand the move but I hated to see all that signal lost in the process. The old tower still stands up there across the state line. I don't believe its being utilized by anything at this time though.