Rock 104 Flipping?

[DJ Mo]

I saw on another website that says "The University of Florida registered Country1037.com, 1037TheGator.com, and Country1037TheGator.com on Friday." Gainesville Sun also reports that Lex & Terry's contract ends on Oct. 16th.

What new format could it be? Or could this be a stunt to introduce a new morning show or a new brand name but with the same Rock music?

I doubt that they'll flip to Country. They might go with "1037 The Gator" & stay put as a Rock format. What I think would be great is if they flipped it to a College/Variety format, but that might be what WUFT-FM 89.1 should really be for. Your thoughts?

Discuss.

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

according to whois... there is nothing to say UF registered these websites. godaddy is listed, comparing to rock104.com which clearly states UF.

Methinks someone is trying to stir trouble.

 

[vadar]

Good grief, is not anything sacred anymore? Country, CHR, whatever becomes of it, good luck. It's been a helluva nice run for Rock 104! ;D

 

[Kmagrill]

according to whois... there is nothing to say UF registered these websites. godaddy is listed, comparing to rock104.com which clearly states UF.

Methinks someone is trying to stir trouble.

A lot of registrars are using Godaddy.com to do the actual registration. My company domain is registered via another hosting company, but when you look it up in whois, godaddy.com is the registrar. According to godaddy's whois lookup, UF is the owner of the domain. The following was obtained:


University of Florida

2096 Weimer Hall, College of Jou and Com
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: COUNTRY1037.COM
Created on: 08-Oct-10
Expires on: 08-Oct-13
Last Updated on: 08-Oct-10

Administrative Contact:
Holt, Al [email protected]
University of Florida
2096 Weimer Hall, College of Jou and Com
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611
United States
(352) 273-1091 Fax -- (352) 392-3919



It looks legitimate to me.

 

[radiosanchez]

....and Country is a hole in the market (needing to be filled) how?

 

[icycool7227]

I hate this station. It has never streamed online so I haven't heard it or have a webcheck. Why doesn't Rock 104 stream? It's the only rock station in FL that doesn't.

 

[DJ Mo]

I got the info from Radio Insight...
They were wrong once when they said that 98.9 The Beach in SWFL was gonna flip to Top-40 & removed that post when they confirmed a rebranding in a totally different market.
However, Gainesville Sun picked it up, too, so something's lurking in the swamp. (Pun intended.)

 

[radiosanchez]

I hate this station.

You may hate the station, but accept the fact that many of the radio people you don't 'hate' got their start there (that is, if you listen to Florida Rock stations online). Just about every Rock station that is on the air or has been on the air in recent memory in Florida has at least one WRUF-FM alum, not to mention stations in other formats, and other states.

And yes, they did stream in the past.

 

[icycool7227]

Please tell me why does WRUF not stream?

 

[Kmagrill]

Cost. It makes no economic sense to stream. The biggest streams are usually no more than 1000 simultaneous listeners. Most are closer to 100. These numbers are small (actually insignificant) compared to the total radio audience of a station like WRUF-FM and the costs to reach each of those listeners is extreme. There are streaming fees and outrageous performance royalties to pay. Those numbers are enormous compared to the cost of reaching listeners via traditional radio.

 

[DJ Mo]

You may hate the station, but accept the fact that many of the radio people you don't 'hate' got their start there (that is, if you listen to Florida Rock stations online). Just about every Rock station that is on the air or has been on the air in recent memory in Florida has at least one WRUF-FM alum, not to mention stations in other formats, and other states.
[/quote]

I volunteered at Rock 104 back in 2002-ish doing Digital Audio Imaging while I was attending UF. 8)

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

My mistake... I just did a generic whois search, not one right off of godaddy. Incredible.

Or perhaps they're doing this to throw people off their scent.

 

[Kmagrill]

... perhaps they're doing this to throw people off their scent.

That's very possible. But are they feeling that competative and is registering a domain highly likely to get noticed? Granted, it obviously did get noticed.

Still, country seems a very unlikely format choice given the current makeup of the market.

I suppose we will have to all wait and see.....

 

[radiobum]

a university-run country station- in gainesville where 100 kw WOGK ALWAYS is #1 12 plus and country competitors can't get even near half their numbers ?!

 

[RickSchmidt]

http://news.ufl.edu/2010/10/11/rock-104/

Breaks my heart to see the station flip where I got my start. That being said, I can understand a flip but what I don't get is the format. I saw the BS that the multimedia guy put out....yes, country is a strong format nationally and locally. BUT, UF probably does not have the marketing dollars to battle KCountry, so at best, they will end up settling for a secondary buy on the format and in demo. If they wanted to switch, I would have suggested they use the semi-full market signal for a Hot AC or mainstream CHR, because of lack of competition. They have a whole college of research geeks...I wonder if anyone did a market study to gauge the viability of that choice?

Oh well, it is what it is.

 

[DJ Mo]

Wow. It's confirmed. Well, 93.7 K-Country does have a huge lead in the ratings.

Perhaps the ad money that 100.5 The Buzz took from them was the reason?
I expect that other Alternative station way low in ratings to gain plenty of listeners very shortly.

 

[icycool7227]

Can't anyone do a 90 min. aircheck of this station for me? I never got to hear it.

 

[gregg75]

I don't think Country is the way to go. My guess is it will play "young country" aimed at a younger audience. They'll probably get about the same ratings (which is why this is so puzzeling).

Somebody on TOP at the College Of Journalism and Communications must really be into country, is all I can make of this.

 

[amfmxm]

(This thing is acting up on me this morning. Please pardon the duplication of thoughts in this post and one below--I thought I had screwed up and lost it up in the ether).

They chose the toughest road. And even though they do have the time and the money needed to be competitive, they really don't have the signal necessary to ever knock off WOGK. Ever.

And it will be extremely rough financially over the next few years. When a challenger takes on an established #1 station in a 1-on-1 match, things can happen quickly. When a challenger has to start out as the third option--in any format, in any market--it's a lot more difficult. And they are going to start out as the #3 Country station. Remember, like any station that switches formats, they'll start out with zero listeners. Granted, UF football gives them a unique promotional launch pad, but the rock listeners will be gone... and the Country listeners will first have to reject two very familiar options. "Gator 103.7" will start out in a deep hole.

On the sales front, few advertisers buy two-deep in any format, in any market (compare WTRS billing to WOGK billing). They never buy three-deep. And they rarely buy a "pig in a poke," either. If this move is to ever pay off in sales, it is going to take years and years... and years. And years.

WOGK has a far superior signal to 103.7, and is pretty well programmed and promoted. Frankly, the 102.3/WTRS signal is roughly equivalent to 103.7 (strong in one city, weak in the other) and they don't sound half-bad. Both K-93 and TRS are long-established in the advertising sales market.

I wish my friends at UF the very best, but there were far better options available to them.

Unless this is a stunt. I guess it's not too late. We can hope.

 

[jmtillery]

Except all of you are overlooking the obvious regarding the recent announcement to flip WRUF-FM from Active Rock to Country. Think about it and let's see who comes up with the correct answer first. JMT -Signing Off.