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Radio And Records.com: Alex "Triple X" Newman Leaves WLRS; Format Change Coming??

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
Today's (April 13th) "Street Talk" column on Radio and Records.com reports that WLRS-105.1 morning man Alex "Triple X" Newman has left the station after failing to come to terms on a new contract.

The item also reports that Radio and Records.com has heard rumors that WLRS owner Radio One may be about to change the station's format. Given that WLRS is one of the very few Radio One-owned stations that does not target black listeners, it's certainly a possibility. Remember that a while back, Radio One "blew-up" a relatively-successful alternative rock station in Philadelphia and replaced it with an urban station whose programming is closer to Radio One's corporate mission.

If Radio One does decide to change WLRS' format, I see Black Gospel as one possibility. The only Black Gospel station at the moment in the Louisville area is on the AM dial, and Radio One has launched several Black Gospel FM stations in the last few years, with at least a couple having become successful. This would complement the company's existing urban contemporary and urban AC formats in that market.
 
R&R are not always the most reliable source for these things. If it said that Alex Newman was the Morning Man, they got that wrong. He was the midday host. If there is any station in the market getting ready for a flip it would be WTFX. Clear Channel have already taken the station from near 50k to 6k with their simulcast signal,and in March they brought them down to 2k and a single signal as the more powerful of the two signals has been taken over by a Regional Mexican format. Things are not looking good there. It looks like it's only a matter of time before The Fox is history.

It would not make any sense that Radio One would invest another signal with WLRS, spend tons of $$$ promoting the station and then flip it in one book. Given the state of rock radio in that market I would not expect to see WLRS go away anytime in the near future.




> Today's (April 13th) "Street Talk" column on Radio and
> Records.com reports that WLRS-105.1 morning man Alex "Triple
> X" Newman has left the station after failing to come to
> terms on a new contract.
>
> The item also reports that Radio and Records.com has heard
> rumors that WLRS owner Radio One may be about to change the
> station's format. Given that WLRS is one of the very few
> Radio One-owned stations that does not target black
> listeners, it's certainly a possibility. Remember that a
> while back, Radio One "blew-up" a relatively-successful
> alternative rock station in Philadelphia and replaced it
> with an urban station whose programming is closer to Radio
> One's corporate mission.
>
> If Radio One does decide to change WLRS' format, I see Black
> Gospel as one possibility. The only Black Gospel station at
> the moment in the Louisville area is on the AM dial, and
> Radio One has launched several Black Gospel FM stations in
> the last few years, with at least a couple having become
> successful. This would complement the company's existing
> urban contemporary and urban AC formats in that market.
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Eat2TheBeat on 04/13/06 11:15 PM.</FONT></P>
 
WLRS

If you look at www.radio-locator.com (comparing 93.1 to 101.7), you'll see WTFX has a superior Louisville signal to the spanish station (from the standpoint of covering the most dense of population areas of the market).

Do your homework.

> Clear Channel have already taken the station from
> near 50k to 6k with their simulcast signal,and in March they
> brought them down to 2k and a single signal as the more
> powerful of the two signals has been taken over by a
> Regional Mexican format.
>
>
>
>
> > Today's (April 13th) "Street Talk" column on Radio and
> > Records.com reports that WLRS-105.1 morning man Alex
> "Triple
> > X" Newman has left the station after failing to come to
> > terms on a new contract.
> >
> > The item also reports that Radio and Records.com has heard
>
> > rumors that WLRS owner Radio One may be about to change
> the
> > station's format. Given that WLRS is one of the very few
> > Radio One-owned stations that does not target black
> > listeners, it's certainly a possibility. Remember that a
> > while back, Radio One "blew-up" a relatively-successful
> > alternative rock station in Philadelphia and replaced it
> > with an urban station whose programming is closer to Radio
>
> > One's corporate mission.
> >
> > If Radio One does decide to change WLRS' format, I see
> Black
> > Gospel as one possibility. The only Black Gospel station
> at
> > the moment in the Louisville area is on the AM dial, and
> > Radio One has launched several Black Gospel FM stations in
>
> > the last few years, with at least a couple having become
> > successful. This would complement the company's existing
> > urban contemporary and urban AC formats in that market.
> >
>
 
> R&R are not always the most reliable source for these
> things. If it said that Alex Newman was the Morning Man,
> they got that wrong. He was the midday host. If there is
> any station in the market getting ready for a flip it would
> be WTFX. Clear Channel have already taken the station from
> near 50k to 6k with their simulcast signal,and in March they
> brought them down to 2k and a single signal as the more
> powerful of the two signals has been taken over by a
> Regional Mexican format. Things are not looking good there.
> It looks like it's only a matter of time before The Fox is
> history.
>
> It would not make any sense that Radio One would invest
> another signal with WLRS, spend tons of $$$ promoting the
> station and then flip it in one book. Given the state of
> rock radio in that market I would not expect to see WLRS go
> away anytime in the near future.
>
>
>
> Several sources are stating that Radio One is considering selling some of their stations. most like the non-urbans since Radio One is labeling itself as an "urban business." Here is one article on the subject.

http://billboardradiomonitor.com/ra...e_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002273792&imw=Y
 
Re: WLRS

If R1 sells WLRS (or anything in their Louisville cluster for that matter) they won't be able to replace it later on, since they are over the ownership cap for the market. If any moves are made, we'd probably see something like this:

96.5 WGZB
99.7 WDJX
101.3 WLRS
102.3 WMJM
104.3/105.1 WXMA<P ID="signature">______________
chargeradioweb.jpg
</P>
 
Re: WLRS

> In today's (April 14th) "Street Talk" column, WLRS program
> director Annrae Fitzgerald is quoted as saying that her
> station is not about to change formats.
>
> But after it was pointed out in this thread that Radio One
> might sell-off stations that do not serve it's "core"
> mission of broadcasting to the African-American community,
> could the station be put-up for sale??
>

That's a possibility. At this point, the only markets that fit that criteria are Louisville and Dayton. I'm confused, though. Was it the entire cluster they were talking about or was it specific stations?
 
Re: WLRS

First off, WTFX(the Fox)isn't going anywhere. This crap keeps coming up by the uninformed every 6 months or so. Forget it. The station isn't disappearing anytime soon. The 101.7 frequency was spun off to serve the Spanish language market. That has been in the works long before The Fox swapped signals. Just so happens the 101.7 frequency serves an area that has a large Spanish audience. Add that to the fact that most of the advertising budget for The Fox was given to get Louie off the ground and you've got a station working to get things rebuilt with a sub par signal.

As for WLRS, not sure about the sale rumors, but a flip may be coming. Two alternative rock stations in the Ville aren't going to cut it. Two classic rock stations, maybe, but not two alt signals. Nobody gets anything out of the deal.

Black gospel would work. It's done pretty well on the AM here for a long time-- but word is it's a tough sell, even in the South where it's home is. The sale rumor could be true if Radio One doesn't think they can get a decent amount of sales revenue from the station.

Something lost here: the WLRS calls. They've been run through the mud for several years now. Sure would be nice for someone to get those calls, put them back on 102.3 and make a great rock station.


> > In today's (April 14th) "Street Talk" column, WLRS program
>
> > director Annrae Fitzgerald is quoted as saying that her
> > station is not about to change formats.
> >
> > But after it was pointed out in this thread that Radio One
>
> > might sell-off stations that do not serve it's "core"
> > mission of broadcasting to the African-American community,
>
> > could the station be put-up for sale??
> >
>
> That's a possibility. At this point, the only markets that
> fit that criteria are Louisville and Dayton. I'm confused,
> though. Was it the entire cluster they were talking about
> or was it specific stations?
> <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by the_scoop on 04/15/06 04:50 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: WLRS

2 Alt signals? What is the other Alt station?

> First off, WTFX(the Fox)isn't going anywhere. This crap
> keeps coming up by the uninformed every 6 months or so.
> Forget it. The station isn't disappearing anytime soon. The
> 101.7 frequency was spun off to serve the Spanish language
> market. That has been in the works long before The Fox
> swapped signals. Just so happens the 101.7 frequency serves
> an area that has a large Spanish audience. Add that to the
> fact that most of the advertising budget for The Fox was
> given to get Louie off the ground and you've got a station
> working to get things rebuilt with a sub par signal.
>
> As for WLRS, not sure about the sale rumors, but a flip may
> be coming. Two alternative rock stations in the Ville aren't
> going to cut it. Two classic rock stations, maybe, but not
> two alt signals. Nobody gets anything out of the deal.
>
> Black gospel would work. It's done pretty well on the AM
> here for a long time-- but word is it's a tough sell, even
> in the South where it's home is. The sale rumor could be
> true if Radio One doesn't think they can get a decent amount
> of sales revenue from the station.
>
> Something lost here: the WLRS calls. They've been run
> through the mud for several years now. Sure would be nice
> for someone to get those calls, put them back on 102.3 and
> make a great rock station.
>
>
> > > In today's (April 14th) "Street Talk" column, WLRS
> program
> >
> > > director Annrae Fitzgerald is quoted as saying that her
> > > station is not about to change formats.
> > >
> > > But after it was pointed out in this thread that Radio
> One
> >
> > > might sell-off stations that do not serve it's "core"
> > > mission of broadcasting to the African-American
> community,
> >
> > > could the station be put-up for sale??
> > >
> >
> > That's a possibility. At this point, the only markets
> that
> > fit that criteria are Louisville and Dayton. I'm
> confused,
> > though. Was it the entire cluster they were talking about
>
> > or was it specific stations?
> >
>
 
Re: WLRS

> 2 Alt signals? What is the other Alt station?

TFX is Active Rock, not Alternative - not that there's much difference between the formats, as the two formats currently share 28 songs among the Top 50 according to R&R.
<P ID="signature">______________
chargeradioweb.jpg
</P>
 
Re: Radio And Records.com: Alex \

Joseph_Gallant said:
<A HREF="http://www.radioandrecords.com/NewsRoom/2006_04_13/Streettalk.asp">Today's (April 13th) "Street Talk" column on Radio and Records.com reports</A> that WLRS-105.1 morning man Alex "Triple X" Newman has left the station after failing to come to terms on a new contract.

The item also reports that Radio and Records.com has heard rumors that WLRS owner Radio One may be about to change the station's format. Given that WLRS is one of the very few Radio One-owned stations that does not target black listeners, it's certainly a possibility. Remember that a while back, Radio One "blew-up" a relatively-successful alternative rock station in Philadelphia and replaced it with an urban station whose programming is closer to Radio One's corporate mission.

If Radio One does decide to change WLRS' format, I see Black Gospel as one possibility. The only Black Gospel station at the moment in the Louisville area is on the AM dial, and Radio One has launched several Black Gospel FM stations in the last few years, with at least a couple having become successful. This would complement the company's existing urban contemporary and urban AC formats in that market.

If they decided to change the station's format it is because other people outside the listening area can't heat the station. Or am I wrong? If I'm wrong, then blame the schools near me who don't offer radio broadcasting courses to teach me these fundamentals.
 
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