Memorable format changes

[74WIXYGrad]

I have been entertained by the recent 107.3 threads. Brings to mind a time that a station that branded itself as "Z-Rock" changed to a softer format in the late 80's. What frequency was that station located? That's right, 107.3. I've been thinking about the coming change, picturing Dr. Johnny Fever dragging the needle across the record and going into the hard rocking sounds of WKRP.

In 2011-2012, there won't be too much of a backlash, except on a few discussion boards. But when Z-Rock became the Wave(eventually), there were folks wanting to hang management from the highest building. I was told by one of my friends who was a Z-Rock listener that they were coming back because people were signing petitions at all of the record stores. I replied with. "uh-huh".

I now wonder anybody can remember any great backlash from a format change?

 

[johnbasalla]

Usually the reason a station changes formats is because the current one isn't working. A lot of the "isn't working" revolves around not having enough listeners. Therefore your pool of people who might "take-up-arms", so to speak, is minimal.

 

[Buckeyes2001]

I have been entertained by the recent 107.3 threads. Brings to mind a time that a station that branded itself as "Z-Rock" changed to a softer format in the late 80's. What frequency was that station located? That's right, 107.3. I've been thinking about the coming change, picturing Dr. Johnny Fever dragging the needle across the record and going into the hard rocking sounds of WKRP.

In 2011-2012, there won't be too much of a backlash, except on a few discussion boards. But when Z-Rock became the Wave(eventually), there were folks wanting to hang management from the highest building. I was told by one of my friends who was a Z-Rock listener that they were coming back because people were signing petitions at all of the record stores. I replied with. "uh-huh".

I now wonder anybody can remember any great backlash from a format change?

As a child, I remember 107.3 as WBEA B107. Was it changed to Z-Rock after B107? I just remember B107 and then later 'The Wave'

 

[Rusty Muck]

I don't know if anything really can top both Jam'n 92 and 107.9 The End getting snuffed out four weeks apart of each other in the spring of 1999.

Both flips happened for different reasons. "Jam'n" was actually a very successful station (especially given 92.3's marginal signal) that was killed off for the 'flavor of the week' format in "Jammin' Oldies." Meanwhile, The End struggled in ratings, but had a deeply loyal following, and was the victim of a spinoff from the Jacor-CC merger... Radio One had no intentions of keeping a modern rocker alive.

Those two switches were a watershed in Cleveland radio.

 

[Rusty Muck]

I have been entertained by the recent 107.3 threads. Brings to mind a time that a station that branded itself as "Z-Rock" changed to a softer format in the late 80's. What frequency was that station located? That's right, 107.3. I've been thinking about the coming change, picturing Dr. Johnny Fever dragging the needle across the record and going into the hard rocking sounds of WKRP.

In 2011-2012, there won't be too much of a backlash, except on a few discussion boards. But when Z-Rock became the Wave(eventually), there were folks wanting to hang management from the highest building. I was told by one of my friends who was a Z-Rock listener that they were coming back because people were signing petitions at all of the record stores. I replied with. "uh-huh".

I now wonder anybody can remember any great backlash from a format change?

As a child, I remember 107.3 as WBEA B107. Was it changed to Z-Rock after B107? I just remember B107 and then later 'The Wave'

Yes. B107 flipped to WCZR "Z-Rock" on January 1, 1987, taking the national format of the same name from the Satellite Music Network. Might've had a local host or two for drive-time purposes, but that was it. Someone from ELBC had to have looked at 107.3's signal and finally thought, "Hey! We could market ALL of Greater Cleveland instead of JUST Lorain County with this thing!" (which is what B107 was... a full-market Cleveland station only targeting Lorain County)

"Z-Rock" then was killed off eleven months later, picking up Metromedia's 24/7 "Wave" SJ/NAC satellite service that originated from KTWV in Los Angeles (and even utilizing KTWV's logo in early adverts). That lasted until 1991, when WNWV went with an all-local lineup.

 

[johnbasalla]

I recall some "scuttlebutt" that the company took the Z-Rock format because the Z-Rock people wanted an in to Cleveland so bad that they gave them all the equipment free or at a low cost. There was an opinion floating around that the fix was in from the start. The goal was to change the format to something more marketable at some point down the road. That new format would be "Smooth Jazz". I don't remember any local hosts. The best they did was have one or two of the national personalities on live from the Elyria studio when they came to town, at least once. The indication to me that the owners of 107.3 were never serious about Z-Rock was when the GM was quoted in The Scene as saying a format like this doesn't need or want promotion. That would take away from the stations street cred. Then they ran the same 60 second PSAs over and over and over and... well you get the idea. Anyway, how could the sales staff combo sell Z-Rock and WEOL anyway?

 

[CleveFan]

The switch from Power 108 to 107.9 The End is tops for one reason: "It's The End of The World As We Know It" by R.E.M. for 24 hours straight in 1992.

Also memorable, when Lite Rock 106 1/2 (which by then was 106.5 WLTF) flipped to Mix 106.5 in 1997. The new Mix promos, imaging and playlist got me hooked for an entire weekend. Then in 2010 came the stunting between Christmas and New Year's with a wide playlist that had everyone talking before flipping to The Lake. To this day, I still listen to The Lake. Nice break from non-stop Christmas music.

The 2001 frequency swap was huge too with several stations changing on the same day or two. It resulted in the return of CHR on a full-power FM signal, Classical to stay in Cleveland, Christian music on a full-power FM signal for the first time ever, and WRMR (sort of) saved at the last hour.

 

[VODood]

I remember when Power 108 flipped to 107-9 The End. Power was a great station with some big name talent. Including John "Records" Landecker, Gina St. John (first E! anchor), Maria Farina, Jim Shea (also at Q92 and WMJI) and others. I remember getting a tour of the place by then Promo Director Marshall Goudy.

When Power flipped Landecker did fill-in/swing at WMJI. Did vacation fill for Lanigan and some weekends before heading back to Chicago. St. John did a few shows (and a few lap dances from what I'm told) then off to L.A.

An aside, when Ken Morgan was blown out of WDOK he landed at WMJI. Gorman (and Denny) were quick to pick up strong talent like Ken and Landecker (no brainer there) with big Q ratings in the market. Morgan was fantastic. Smooth, fun. Was a great fit. He went out to Arizona about '99 or so. Not sure if still in the business.

 

[VODood]

@CleveFan.... the WLTF to MIX flip was big as well. Had everyone in the business tuned in. The imaging, created by TR Resney (first launched was Dayton) was impressive to say the least. Especially using three promo voices. What a budget! Plus celebrities to promote what was Cleveland's introduction to "collective contesting". One of the station voices was John Pleisse who is the current promo voice for WEWS-TV. The female VO was Jennifer Vaughn. And the UK VO a guy named "Olli". Was fun to later get to produce those folks at MIX.

MIX to Lake, while not a surprise given MIX's ratings and revenue were off for so many years, was fun to speculate. In this era of internet boards the surprise of flips has been minimized.

I like LAKE. I'm in the target (30-45). I do think it a bit herky-jerky going from pop to rock every other record but on the whole I like it. My wife punches out as soon as a "rock" record comes on. She's 39 and a KISS P1. Formatically LAKE is a home run.


The Jammin' 92 flip was a BIG surprise. It had just posted it's best book, ever. My buddy Scott Free did AM drive. Tim Virgin PM drive. Virgin was just recently whacked at Q101/Chicago.

 

[static_cling]

I now wonder anybody can remember any great backlash from a format change?

The departure of "The End" definitely created some waves among the modern rock crowd. Can't say that such a format change would have the same impact today, given the rise of iPod, etc. I've been wrong before.

I can think of another flip that also lead to a backlash of sorts. When NextMedia dumped WHBC/1480's full-service format for news/talk in 2007, you could hear longtime listeners grumbling across the greater Canton area. A friend on the inside told me that the angry phone calls from the senior set went on for several weeks after the change. No doubt the aging demographics of the market played a role in the switch, though it's unclear to me if the change has netted the station significant numbers of preferred listeners. I seem to recall that ratings took a hit in the initial book, but regained some of the lost ground in the following year or two. I haven't seen any recent books, so I can't comment on the current situation.
Sister station WHBC/94.1 experienced some turmoil of its own after switching from AC to Hot AC a few years back. Still don't understand why the station flipped when it did, given that it apparently owned the local audience for the format. An overreaction to WHOF/101.7's entry to the market, perhaps?

 

[DrC]

I don't know if anything really can top both Jam'n 92 and 107.9 The End getting snuffed out four weeks apart of each other in the spring of 1999.

Both flips happened for different reasons. "Jam'n" was actually a very successful station (especially given 92.3's marginal signal) that was killed off for the 'flavor of the week' format in "Jammin' Oldies." Meanwhile, The End struggled in ratings, but had a deeply loyal following, and was the victim of a spinoff from the Jacor-CC merger... Radio One had no intentions of keeping a modern rocker alive.

Those two switches were a watershed in Cleveland radio.

Yeah...spring of '99 was pretty wild. Kiss 104.9 signed on at that time too (107.9, originally marketed as Kiss 107.9, had to change their name to Z pretty quickly after WAKS 104.9's sign-on).

As for Radio One, I believe they owned alt-rocker Y-100 in Philly for a number of years (at least since 1999- the station flipped to urban or urban AC in summer of '05). There really was an opening for a contemporary urban station in Cleveland at the time, especially after 92.3 flipped from hip-hop-heavy CHR to jammin' oldies. WZAK skewed a bit more modern at the time than they do now, but nothing like a WJLB in Detroit or Hot 97 in NYC.

The most memorable format flip of all time, for me, was 92.3's 2001 flip to Xtreme Radio. I remember reading rumblings about a format flip on 92.3 on one of the boards, and hadn't gotten around to checking the boards or 92.3 in a few days. I get home from work, flip on 92.3, and I hear "Just One Fix" by Ministry and realize what happened. To my 20-year-old mind, that was mindblowing. I remember running for like two hours with 92.3 in my headphones that day. I still have a 6-hour VHS tape from their first day on-air, which I've listened to since...can't say I have the same complete love for their nu-metal-heavy playlist now, but man, I loved that station to death back then.

 

[wonderboy77]

The Jammin' 92 flip was a BIG surprise. It had just posted it's best book, ever. My buddy Scott Free did AM drive. Tim Virgin PM drive. Virgin was just recently whacked at Q101/Chicago.
At the time of the flip Scott was already gone to WLTF - Tim Virgin was also long gone by the time the station flipped - At the time Big Dave & Lulu were in AM Drive (BTW - Big Dave is back in town and on the air alot lately on Q104) and Wild Wes was in PM Drive.

When the station flipped they had their best book in station history and poised for bigger things with N'Sync & Brittney just starting out and there were big sighs of relief in the offices of other radio stations including WMMS & WQAL

 

[hudson2003]

The worst was when WDMT Fm 108 became Power 108. Dean Rufus is one of the most progressive, best program directors in the history of Cleveland radio and his vision of cross-over Churban radio was completely derailed in favor of flavor of the month Top 40. I find it interesting that 107.9 returned to its urban roots in 1999 and is still there. It should have always stayed urban.

 

[rubberchicken]

At the time of the flip Scott was already gone to WLTF - Tim Virgin was also long gone by the time the station flipped - At the time Big Dave & Lulu were in AM Drive (BTW - Big Dave is back in town and on the air alot lately on Q104) and Wild Wes was in PM Drive

What happened to Wes? Virgin also did nights in the early 90's. That station went thru a TON of morning hosts. Scott Free, Johny D, Joe Mama, Big Dave. Big Dave spent most of his run in afternoon drive. I believe he went to Indiana to be a PD there and was let go recently. Action Jackson, of course now at WMJI, had nights for the final 4 or 5 years of the format. LeeAnn Sommers, I would say one of the best female personalities in the history of Cleveland radio, doing 10-3. I'm glad she's back on the air in Cleveland at WGAR.

Yeah...spring of '99 was pretty wild. Kiss 104.9 signed on at that time too

Jammin was killed off in late April. My memory is foggy but I want to say it was about a month later that 104.9 dropped CCM to become Kiss. WENZ became Urban in early May. A wild spring, no doubt!

When the station flipped they had their best book in station history and there were big sighs of relief in the offices of other radio stations including WMMS & WQAL

WQAL and WZJM were co-owned It was Chancellor Media at the time. WZJM was performing much better than WQAL. Q had several years when they really struggled. The Jammin CHR format should have moved to 104.1

Here's something to think about. Imagine if WMMS had actually become KISS 101 FM as was rumored in late 1998. How vastly different the market could possibly be today.

 

[vjm]

Here's something to think about. Imagine if WMMS had actually become KISS 101 FM as was rumored in late 1998. How vastly different the market could possibly be today.

Well...

96.5 would have stayed in Akron as WKDD, we would have no "man-cave" rock/talk format (thus no Rover or Cox), and the Browns would probably still be on WMJI as their FM flagship.

And the trickle down effect...how would the great 2001 frequency swap have gone down?

 

[VODood]

Scott free never worked at WLTF. He did mornings when Jammin 92 flipped to Jammin oldies. Then went to do swing at WDRQ/Detroit and then landed nights at MIX. I was there. My memory might be off in regards to Virgin ( although I don't believe so) but Free was there. LeeAnn Summers too I think.


Forgot to mention the PD at Power was Cat Thomas who after the flip eventually ended up at WAPE, legendary Top40. Cat just left there about two-three years ago.

Former End PD Dan Binder currently OM for Sunrise (Capitol) Broadcasting, Wilmington NC. Capitol a great independent company.

 

[VODood]

Johny D was at 92 for a cup of coffee before screwing the pooch (owners) and heading back to Toledo to do pm drive on WVKS.

 

[scottfree]

Hello All! This is Scott Free, my buddy Chuck told me about this thread and this is my first post so bare with me. To clear up some of the Jammin flip. For the most part this post was very close to the real deal. "Both flips happened for different reasons. "Jam'n" was actually a very successful station (especially given 92.3's marginal signal) that was killed off for the 'flavor of the week' format in "Jammin' Oldies."
I had heard that AM/FM looked at the books, saw ZAK was doing great, but those books actually had the money Jammin was making (It was doing well), on the ZAK's books. So AM/FM said... let's dump it.

I was and still am, very close with the Jammin staff. I had gone on to nights at Mix and some swing at DRQ in Detroit (mentioned in a later post). But still got all the scoop from the gang.
I was also mentioned in a post that Jammin had it's best book with Dave and Lulu. Although I don't recall the actual ratings as I think they were in AM following my departure. That was a very strong time for CHR. It was taking the format from a really bad place... back to what some now would call a new set of glory days. So very sad it left just when the wheels started to really move.
All that being said, I miss Jammin to this day, it really is some of my best radio memories! I would give anything if she could come back. Prior to 92.3, just flipping to sports (God bless their little harts with WTAM "having "All the Balls"). I was told CBS spent a minute thinking of taking it back CHR. But they have a love for sports and time will tell if that was a good move.
I have to say this real quick. Cleveland and all of you are great! I hope one day to come back and have the honor of being on air there again. My morning partner now is from North Ridgeville and we reference Cleveland all the time on our show here in Central NY. Happy Holiday's to all of you and my favorite city!!!!!

 

[CleveRadioInsider]

Wasn't there a young PD at 92.3 named JJ Quest at some point that the town was trumpeting as the next John Gorman? He was going to turn 92.3 into a ratings powerhouse LOL. Yeah he was there for about 2 cups of coffee if that.

 

[VODood]

To wonderboy77. I stand corrected as Scott had left WZJM AM's for nights at MIX. It was how long ago? My old age brain can't keep it all straight. Too many blows to the head playing linebacker.

Now Scott... put me on one of your stations you WWE lovin' bastard! :-*



*Johny D update. Now PM drive at CC Toledo country WCKY, a move in from Findlay.