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New ESPN frequency in Ft. Myers

The flip occurred at noon.

And Mark, that was on 92.5. It was called Real Rock.

I think WTLT jumped the gun on this format change. In fact, I thought their format was very good and would've had an up book. We will see.
 
HadYourPhil said:
The flip occurred at noon.

And Mark, that was on 92.5. It was called Real Rock.

I think WTLT jumped the gun on this format change. In fact, I thought their format was very good and would've had an up book. We will see.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification (re: 92.5).at Beasley).
 
Not Beasley. Meridian (now Sun).
 
HadYourPhil said:
Not Beasley. Meridian (now Sun).
Click to expand...

Oops...The "at Beasley)" was errant text.

You'd think a station called "The Link" would have one ready by now...how do they sound?

ellenparks said:
Obtuse1 your thinking of Power 93.5 back in about 1999
Click to expand...

Perhaps..It's been a long time since I lived in the Ft. Myers market.
 
Obtuse1 said:
You'd think a station called "The Link" would have one ready by now...how do they sound?
Click to expand...

The stream is available on TuneIn and iHeartRadio, but the stream is down as of this moment.
 
Here's a shot at two questions...

1) Why flip AC 93.7 WTLT? Because WINK-FM just moved to an AC format from Hot AC, crowding out WTLT. Fort Myers suddenly had two AC stations when most markets only have one. WINK-FM is the more powerful (100kw) and better-known station. And Fort Myers already has Soft AC WJPT and Easy Listening WAVV, the two top stations in the market. That more than covers the upper end AC demos. So WTLT was probably going to flip anyway.

2) Why flip to what they are calling New Rock? That's puzzling. By putting Active Rock on 96.1 and putting Sports on 99.3, Beasley already has the young male demo covered. Not sure why Sun Broadcasting would want to jump in, and do it now. Fort Myers goes from having one young male rock station, 99.3, to having two, 96.1 and 93.7, at a time when young male Rock stations are declining. There is none in NYC, none in Miami. But two in Fort Myers?

And I don't see this as a way to blunt the ratings of Beasley stations. It's not like 96.1 was going to shoot to #1 and Sun Broadcasting is trying to stop that to keep their own station at #1. Sun doesn't even subscribe to Arbitron and its stations aren't included in publicly available lists. They may secretly know where they rank. But they can't use Arbitron to sell airtime. So why play games?
 
Gregg said:
Here's a shot at two questions...

1) Why flip AC 93.7 WTLT? Because WINK-FM just moved to an AC format from Hot AC, crowding out WTLT. Fort Myers suddenly had two AC stations when most markets only have one. WINK-FM is the more powerful (100kw) and better-known station. And Fort Myers already has Soft AC WJPT and Easy Listening WAVV, the two top stations in the market. That more than covers the upper end AC demos. So WTLT was probably going to flip anyway.

2) Why flip to what they are calling New Rock? That's puzzling. By putting Active Rock on 96.1 and putting Sports on 99.3, Beasley already has the young male demo covered. Not sure why Sun Broadcasting would want to jump in, and do it now. Fort Myers goes from having one young male rock station, 99.3, to having two, 96.1 and 93.7, at a time when young male Rock stations are declining. There is none in NYC, none in Miami. But two in Fort Myers?

And I don't see this as a way to blunt the ratings of Beasley stations. It's not like 96.1 was going to shoot to #1 and Sun Broadcasting is trying to stop that to keep their own station at #1. Sun doesn't even subscribe to Arbitron and its stations aren't included in publicly available lists. They may secretly know where they rank. But they can't use Arbitron to sell airtime. So why play games?
Click to expand...

Now that the current rock audience has been even further diluted by Beasley's Alt. hybrid "The Link", I really don't see 93X setting the market on fire (especially given that 99X itself was on the down-swing when Beasley pulled the plug).
 
I am afraid that I too do not quit understand the format switch on 93.7 either. Personally I do not see the Ft. Myers/Naples market as a place that will support two rock stations given the age demographics of this area and also given the troubles that this format is having in other markets where the demos are a better fit than they are here. Also 96 K Rock has been the established 'rock" station here for many years now and I think it will be hard to take them on.

My one thought is that being that both 93.7 and WINK 96.9FM have the same owners (in reality not on paper) they may have felt that with the recent format tweets on WINK FM the two stations would end up competing against each other for the female listeners. Other than that I would have thought 93.7 would have been better left as the "at work" station.

All these changes the past week or so will be interesting to watch to see just where all this shakes out.
 
I too agree that it's about the cluster and there's probably some kind of "agreement" that those stations are working together. Moving Lite out of the format will give the new More-FM a boost. I also agree that there's not enough room in the market for all this rock. Not sure how long we'll see both the new "X" or even "Arrow" for that matter.
 
Believe me, there is no agreement...
 
JayR said:
Obtuse1 said:
You'd think a station called "The Link" would have one ready by now...how do they sound?
Click to expand...

The stream is available on TuneIn and iHeartRadio, but the stream is down as of this moment.
Click to expand...
For the links to "The Link" (sorry, couldn't resist!  ;)), see this thread: http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=236358.0

As for 99.3 FM and 770 AM:

Seems that Beasley has swapped call letters on the two frequencies - now they're WWCN-FM-99.3 and WJBX-AM-770.
Thus, there's been a change in streaming player links and streaming URL links. So, if you're bookmarking for WWCN-FM-99.3 ESPN:

player link via website: http://993espn.com/streamer/
player link via TuneIn:  http://tunein.com/radio/WWCN-993-s29770/
Direct streaming URL:  http://provisioning.streamtheworld.com/pls/WWCNFMAAC.pls (48 K, 44 kHz, stereo, AAC)
Direct streaming URL:  http://provisioning.streamtheworld.com/pls/WWCNFM.pls (48 K, 22 kHz, stereo, mp3)
Direct streaming URL:  http://provisioning.streamtheworld.com/asx/WWCNFM.asx (48 K, 22 kHz, stereo, mp3 for Windows Media Player)

WJBX 770 should get a new streaming player link and direct URL when they change to ESPN Deportes later this year.
Of course, there could be an eventual call letter change to go along with the format switch.
 
Thanks for the links...

On first listen, The Link sounds pretty much like a bog-standard "90's to now" AC station, with a bit of alternative/alt gold thrown in (and less Katy Perry). Not really the "groundbreaking new format" they have been touting, IMHO. Just another spin on Adult Contemporary. Not really worth the average listener dealing with four translators when most of the playlist can be heard on More or B103.9.

....and for those who were looking for alternative rock in Ft. Myers? You will be sorely disappointed once the Maroon 5 kicks in.

Also, strangely, The Link shows up on Beasley's site as "Active Rock" ???

Market: Fort Myers - Naples
Call Letters: THELINK
Frequency: 96.5, 98.1 , 101.5 , 105.1
Format: Active Rock
Address 20125 South Tamiami Trail
Estero, Florida 33928
Phone: 239-495-2100
Fax: 239-390-3503
Email: [email protected]
Website www.thelinkfm.com
Market Manager: Brad Beasley
General Sales Manager: Robert Hallman
Program Director: Chris Delozier
 
Listening to the Link--and it is an interesting format in that it's a 90s-now but nearly all alternative--sort of an AAA/AC hybrid I think. Groundbreaking, not exactly, but different--yes I think so
 
tjolsen said:
Listening to the Link--and it is an interesting format in that it's a 90s-now but nearly all alternative--sort of an AAA/AC hybrid I think. Groundbreaking, not exactly, but different--yes I think so
Click to expand...

It could be down to the times I sampled...I heard Don Henley, Maroon 5, and Bruno Mars (with a side of Imagine Dragons and fun.) None of which would be out of place on a standard AC.

It's a little different (as there are a few interesting alt. cuts, and there's a bit less pop/CHR content than the usual AC), but I'm not sure if it's different enough to bring in the listeners (who will also have to deal with the signal issues).
 
The station seems to be a female oriented spin on the modern alternative format, from music choices to fimaging. I personally feel like it has some potential. In many ways, it's an evolution on what the original WRXP wanted to be here in NY crossed with the Fresh format.
 
Obtuse1 said:
Also, strangely, The Link shows up on Beasley's site as "Active Rock" ???

Market: Fort Myers - Naples
Call Letters: THELINK
Frequency: 96.5, 98.1 , 101.5 , 105.1
Format: Active Rock
Address 20125 South Tamiami Trail
Estero, Florida 33928
Phone: 239-495-2100
Fax: 239-390-3503
Email: [email protected]
Website www.thelinkfm.com
Market Manager: Brad Beasley
General Sales Manager: Robert Hallman
Program Director: Chris Delozier
Click to expand...

I may be wrong, but it could be that the format name was attached to the old WJBX-FM "information", which has now been replaced with "The Link" info - but Beasley didn't change the format name as needed to what it actually is now.
 
As of today, WTLT is now WXNX. I'm surprised those call letters weren't assigned. They're pretty good!
 
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