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PENSACOLA CHR OVERLOAD

R

Rob

Ok, we are in CHR overload here. How's about flipping a station or two to another format such as TALK RADIO or classic rock...

Let's take a look at what we have so far:

92.9
96.5 (yes, their signal does blanket pensacola)
97.5
100.7
107.3

I would like to see either 100.7 or 107.3 make the switch to an oldies format, TALK FORMAT (hint, hint..) or bring 100.7 back to it's former glory. Having so many same stations of the same genre makes Pensacola kinda BLAH

I do listen to 100.1 "real radio for real women" when I can. I love the format and I think that will be a success here. (I like the variety of music)

Why does Panama have such a wide variety of formats and we don't?

Just my rant, I hope you PD's and GMs will listen to me as I do listen to radio from time to time now.

-Rob
 
92.9 is WBLX which is not CHR, not even rhythmic, it's URBAN.
 
Yes, I agree Rob. But 92.9 is URBAN. They have a full-time urban/hip hop experience on weeknights. During the day, yes, they seem to lean more rhythmatic/urbanish. It's not like a full blown HIP/HOP URBAN unit 24/7. It once was, it's not anymore.

I do not know what lead to this downfall.

When talking about 97.5, 100.7, and 107.3...there are only two stations that we need in the market: 97.5 and 107.3

One, is that 97.5 is indeed a heritage CHR. I question a lot regarding the direction they want to take due to the high list of competitors. I think they should lean more CHR and less rhythmatic..Take WKZL-107.5 in NC. (yes.com SEARCH WKZL) and see the list they play. It's very solid...Actually, it's also a heritage CHR station. I used to live there and listen to them a lot and I thought they were top notch. Now, they have a Clear Channel CHR competitor, 105.7 NOW)

This is where 107.3 should come in. 107.3 is a CHR/Rhythmatic and owned by Clear Channel. The name 'The Groove" does not sound like it at all. I wish they could change their name. I hope it's not the name for them. That would be really sad. I don't think Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown represents the 'groovy" side...But maybe, I am wrong. In the Atlanta market, they have had the same experience. It was once the "Groove" but changed the name to "WiLD". It just might be a matter of time until Clear Channel officially decides to change the name in our own maket of Mobile/Pensacola.

YES, the Mobile/Pensacola market is not big enough like the Winston-Salem/Greensboro market (top 50 market) is and that is completely understandable. Meaning, that there might not be enough demand to make big changes in our own market (Mobile/Pensacola). But yet again, 107.3 should be the main competitor for 97.5 WABB. Not 100.7. If I had the power, I would do that but I can't speak for the market demand and it's wants.

Clear Channel (in my humble opinion) will make 107.3 successful. Sure, it will take time. I notice they are putting more dj's on air. Some local and some not...Which I think is good. Clear Channel has very good CHR's. That's why I listen to iHeartRadio.

Briefly, let's talk about 100.7: I think 100.7 should flip to another station. It's too syndicated sounding and I HATE Cumulus CHR's. Well, KRBE is not that bad but it's more localized. They are the only exception. The 'i" stations like "i100" are not. I wish they could just go back to HOT-AC. But I can't speak for the Mobile/Pensacola market. I wish I could know the specifics regarding demographics of the listening area.

But Rob, why do we need a Talk format? There is 106.5. Are they not doing well? I can't tell due to their lack of updated ratings. Unlike bigger markets such as Birmingham. You also mentioned URBAN-AC? We have 98.3. And apparently, they are one of the top if not the top station in the market. And they are also owned by Cumulus so I don't they would want to make another URBAN AC station. That would be dumb and/or could lead to the demise of 98.3. Again, our market is not big enough for huge competitors.

92.9 WBLX is another heritage. Also, owned by Cumulus. However, in my opinion, They should lean more URBAN/Hip Hop. Leave them where they are, meaning, Cumulus does (or should NOT) not need to flip them. That would be a huge loss and make big news, as well as WABB.

I hope this helps.
 
Because us here on highway 98 do not have a reliable talk station and I feel kinda left out as the rest of FL has at least a "WFLA" format. The WFLF jammer on 94.5, when I emailed them, are aware of the situation and they are working on it. (I hope he wasn't talking about the CP, but a full powered FM station)

I can't seem to listen to coast to coast am as 96.1-2 craps out during heavy tropo openings.

Don't forget 96.5. Their signal blankets pensacola: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WZNS&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

100.7 would make a great oldies station. Jammin 100 the best mix of the 60s to 90s.. (with Tom Kent in the evenings)
I've emailed them to put WCOA on their HD station as their HD signal is a solid lock here.

I'd like to see Highway 98 flip formats, too. Having them lose their Pensacola audience on the TICKET was awful. They launched an AM station but I'm sure at night, the signal is plastered. RIP, Ticket. (at least you guys can hear ESPN radio 590 during the day)

I don't know why one song on H98 is in stereo and the other is in mono. This area can use some variety.

-Rob
 
If you take the combined population of Mobile/Pensacola markets, it's close to a top 50 mkt. Just saying.

The Groove won't change their name anytime soon. That signal has had an identity crisis since it bailed on AC. They don't want to confuse listeners any more than they have. Too many changes in a short amount of time already. They know this.
 
107.3 would make a great talk station as their signal won't need to be in stereo and it would cover almost all to Destin. WCOA-FM 107.3

I'm sorry, but this is effing stupid.

Look how well people are JACKing. They are doing well. 104.1 went from country to jack and it never sounded better.
Let's make it hot, guys. Listen to your listeners.


-Rob
 
Well, lets see....

107.3 can't use WCOA because 107.3 is CC and Cumulus already owns the call letters. There are already 3 talk stations (granted AM) in Pensacola that have the rights all the semi-decent talk content available.

There's a reason why there's so many stations targeting the young demo now. Because there were too many stations trying to serve the older demo. So there's 4...only FOUR that are truly targeting 18-34. How many are targeting some form of the over 30 crowd? Only all the others.

You might think it's a great idea. The reality of the landscape says differently.
 
OK, try it now. usarob42 (at) gmail (dot) com.. and the one in my bio will fwd to that too.
 
Pensacola actually has 4 AM News/Talk stations: 790 WPNN, 1330 WEBY, 1370 WCOA, and 1620 WNRP. Add WWL to that list and we've got just about every talk show I know of except Leo Leporte. As long as you don't leave the Pensacola metro there's plenty of daytime talk radio... and only WEBY disappears at night.

As for 107.3 The Groove, I have a theory that they may be using the "Groove" name so that their long time advertisers might think they are still an oldies station. When oldies 107.3 made the baby step to classic hits "My 107.3" many people didn't notice... When I see "The Groove" it makes me think "Groovy"... which implies oldies, not urban/chr/rhythmic/top25/songs I never want to hear again... If they plan to keep top 40 on 107.3 I agree that a new name would help... but their new signal sucks. Panama City stations stop the seek on my radios but I don't think 107.3 has stopped the scan since they moved to Baldwin county. 107.3's current signal seems like it was engineered to be a mono talk station.

I agree with all of y'all when it comes to WJLQ, they should drop i-100 and flip back to their old Arrow 100.7 classic rock format. Is 104.1 still Jack? Just one step away from their old Star 80's format... it's about time for them to flip again. What other boring formats are available for them?

The problem with FM radio in Pensacola is that our signals are Class C or C1s targeting the Mobile market. The only FM's that I hear targeting Pensacola are Country 98.7 & 102.7 and A/C 94.1.
Fort Walton radio seems better because all their FMs only target the local market and don't have to try to milk an extra advertiser dollar out of a Mobile business.
Mobile radio seems better because they have every format covered locally and you can also choose to listen to Pensacola or Biloxi stations if they're playing better songs.
Pensacola's just stuck in the middle. I'm really surprised that none of the FWB signals target Pensacola as their primary market.
 
Here's a twofer--

Louis_009, 1370/WCOA(AM) is in Pensacola.

Poledo, the difference between a "city-grade" FM signal (70 dBu, IIRC) and an "interference-free" FM signal (60 dBu--what we used to call a One Millivolt) is significant. In order to truly be competitive, a station ordinarily needs to provide a targeted community with a city-grade--a signal strong enough to penetrate office buildings. But a 60 dBu signal is usually quite acceptable on an average car radio, and often at home--especially if you're out in The Burbs. Problem for all of the FWB stations is that they generally hit the 60 dBu mark in Pcola, but fall short of the city-grade level. And, in a nutshell, that's why even the best of them knock down only a share or two in The City of Five Flags. So unless they're willing to drop a $million* or so to move their stick closer to move much closer to Pensacola, trying to market themselves there would be like taking a match to a bunch of money.

* Okay, under the right circumstances it could be done for just a few hundred grand. Still...
 
and on a side note, 107.3's signal now sucks down here since the move to the new tower. they used to blanket ft walton but they lost the audience.

If they decide to go back to 100KW, pulling the groove would be a wise decision. It's one crappy sounding station. Telling people to switch to 99.9 in this area was like saying "F.U."

They would have one kick ass signal blanketing three cities and their ratings would shoot up.

WCOA - pensaCOlA and WFTW ForT Walton beach.

This area seriously needs a talk station, and a classic rock station. (despite 102.1 comes damn close)


-Rob
 
Louis_009 said:
Is WCOA is in Ocala Florida on AM-1370 right?
Click to expand...

WCOA-AM 1370 is licensed to Pensacola, Florida; while the Ocala, Florida station you gave reference is WOCA-AM, also operating on co-channel frequency 1370 kHz. The call letters are very similar, and the fact both stations operate on the same frequency, both have the same news-talk format, and both carry Rush and Hannity, can be confusing at times in distinguishing which station is where.
 
yeah Redneck, I know that technically none of the FWB FMs City Grade Pensacola... but with the constant tropo down here you might HAVE to listen to FWB or Panama City stations instead of Baldwin county stations... tonight is a good example, in Pensacola zip 30501 we have bad interference on every Pensacola station except 106.1. Fort Walton's coming in fine. Panama City is about equal to the Mobile/Pensacola FMs.

Fort Walton's problem would appear to be the short towers. I doubt anyone could get anything taller than a cell tower past the zoning board for Garcon Point, but that would be the perfect place for the FWB FM's. I would think that 96.5 or 98.1 could move to the WUWF(FM)/WPAN(TV) tower area in Midway... Even if they had to cut power down to a C2, that should put a city grade from Destin to the Alabama state line. I assume that a tall tower would have already been built north of Eglin in Santa Rosa county if the Air Force would allow it? I haven't even begun to wonder what could be done with frequency changes or moving stations already north of the Alabama state line out of the way.

It's just that Mobile has upwards of 20 radio stations, FWB has about 12 and Pensacola has all of 4. Rob's getting cheated out of local AM radio out in the sticks, but Pensacola's getting shafted on the FM dial, downtown. Yeah, the dial is full... but nothing local... No FM's to advertise to the Pensacola community on without putting most of the signal into Alabama. I really wish it had all worked out differently and Pensacola had a bunch of 6kw-50kw stations with towers in Florida instead of pumping everything to 100kw up on the tall TV towers in Baldwin county.

If WUWF can pull off the coverage they have on a non-com frequency from the Zoo site, 96.5, 98.1, 99.5, 93.3, or 104.7 should be able to put out an even better signal, even if they have to cut power... maybe they could even grease the right palm to get a taller tower built behind the Zoo.

The pro's and owners have certainly already thought about all of this, I just wonder why it can't be done or hasn't been done. I thought something might happen when Cumulus bought out Holladay, but alas Cumulus seems happy with owning the FWB radio dial.
 
Although I wasn't around for WCOA's launch 85 years ago, my understanding is that the calls are an approximation of "Coast." Frankly, I'm kind of surprised that Cumulus hasn't used WCOA-FM for one of their coastal FM sticks, since they own 'em. No imagination, I guess...

Poledo, you hit the nail on the proverbial head regarding FWB's short towers. Unless the feds decide to close down Eglin & Hurlburt, we're never likely to see a 1500-foot tower in Okaloosa. WUWF's 600-footer at Tiger Point is probably as tall as the FAA will allow that close to the runways. My hunch is that radio tech issues--shortspacing, cluster caps & the like--factor in somewhere, as well, preventing Cumulus (for instance) from moving more stations into Pcola.

Then again, if the ones they already have in Pensacola aren't exactly rolling in cash, why go to the trouble of moving more statons into the market? Especially if those stations are competitive and profitable where they already are?

Remember, these guys are doing this radio thing for recreation.
 
Poledo -the WFTW post above was priceless and well needed today! Thank you for making me great laugh so hard. I guess I am buying you gins as well, as my idol (jenny woo and her man) and maybe even RNR if he will come scum it along the coast in the near future...
 
I appreciate everyone's input. I think if we just lost one station for a new format I think that would bring more competition to the area.

I wonder how many people JACK @ 104.1 now that was KICKS FM (what a lame name) WYOK has a beautiful signal down here. I'm surprised it's not #1 in the ratings.

If 107.3 went back to 100KW on their current tower, and do a format change, they would be heard all the way to 30-A and then some.

(NW florida and SW alabama and then some as a certain station on 104.7 says)

Rob
 
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