Rock 99 - The Buzzard

[DIZ Guy]

I am curious. I lived in Harrison , AR for awhile in the summer of 95'. Almost all of the Springfield stations came in which was a major relief for a rocker like me (not a lot on the local Harrison dial). I used to listen to US 97, Channel Z 1047, and Rock 99.

I always wondered what the hell happenned to rock 99. When I first heard that station, they were a pretty good Active rock station, that sounded like that it had been around for years. By the summer of 95, they had switched to a pretty damn good classic rock format, and seemed to play EVERYTHING that had ever graced the rock airplay charts from the late 70's thru the late 80's, mixed in with your tradtional classic rock artists...( I remember hearing "Allentown" from Billy Joel, going into "Kashmir", and then hearing "China Girl" from Bowie...pretty good programming).

The station kept that format for a couple of years, then the last time that I checked , the station is now all sports talk.

Does anybody have any info on this great station???????....It had a really powerful signal (I recall picking it up in Eureka Springs, AR)...

How long was it on the air???????

Somebody post and clear this up for me....

 

[Kent]

I am curious. I lived in Harrison , AR for awhile in the summer of 95'. Almost all of the Springfield stations came in which was a major relief for a rocker like me (not a lot on the local Harrison dial). I used to listen to US 97, Channel Z 1047, and Rock 99.

I lived in Fayetteville at about the same time, and I could get 94.7, 96.5, 97.3, 98.7, and 101.3 from Springfield. Once 92.9 signed on, I could get it, too, but I didn't care for that Branson Network country format.

I always wondered what the hell happenned to rock 99.

Simply put, it never caught on. It was always one of the lowest rated stations in the market, and it was lucky to even get a 2 share. It struggled from one owner on the verge of bankruptcy who operated it from the transmitter site at one point to another owner who didn't know much about rock or how to sell it.

The station kept that format for a couple of years, then the last time that I checked , the station is now all sports talk.

Correct. What helped it limp along for quite some time was that Meyer Communications doesn't sell the numbers. However, that's also what killed it. Meyer's sales staff can sell sports like there's no tomorrow, and it's the easiest format to sell without Arbitron. The incredible load of sports programming was keeping the company profitable, and Mrs. Meyer recognized the company could make a lot more off of sports. In that sense, it's worked very well. Jock 98.7 is now the biggest moneymaker in the company by a considerable margin.

How long was it on the air???????

98.7 The Heart became Rock 99 in either late January or February 1994. It flipped to sports in, I believe, October 2000.

 

[Les Stock]

IIRC, KWTO-FM was a CHR (99 Hit FM or something) in the mid-80s...Dr. Don, now at WYCD in Detroit was doing mornings and getting huge numbers. Woody Snow may have preceded Dr. Don in the early 80s. In the '70s, it used syndicated TM Stereo Rock programming, in the first incarnation of "Rock 99."

 

[foreverchanges1975]

I remember listening to KWTO-FM in the mid 80's in Fayetteville, AR. I remember them being CHR, but still calling themselves Rock 99. Are my memories confused?

 

[wxman76]

I remember listening to KWTO-FM in the mid 80's in Fayetteville, AR. I remember them being CHR, but still calling themselves Rock 99. Are my memories confused?

I remember KWTO was Rock 99 in the mid 80s. I didn't listen to them enough to distinguish if it was CHR or AOR, but I remember them playing Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer", so it could have been either or a rock 40. 99 Hit FM was more of a true CHR in the late 80s/early 90s. Then they switched to Adult CHR (or Hot AC if you prefer) as 98.7 The Heart (seems like either '91 or '92).

 

[js6592]

I actually worked the overnight slot when it was KKHT/The Heart 98-7FM. They switched the format back to Rock 99 in late 1993 while I was still working there.

 

[Jim Morgan]

I am curious. I lived in Harrison , AR for awhile in the summer of 95'. Almost all of the Springfield stations came in which was a major relief for a rocker like me (not a lot on the local Harrison dial). I used to listen to US 97, Channel Z 1047, and Rock 99.

I always wondered what the hell happenned to rock 99. When I first heard that station, they were a pretty good Active rock station, that sounded like that it had been around for years. By the summer of 95, they had switched to a pretty damn good classic rock format, and seemed to play EVERYTHING that had ever graced the rock airplay charts from the late 70's thru the late 80's, mixed in with your tradtional classic rock artists...( I remember hearing "Allentown" from Billy Joel, going into "Kashmir", and then hearing "China Girl" from Bowie...pretty good programming).

The station kept that format for a couple of years, then the last time that I checked , the station is now all sports talk.

Does anybody have any info on this great station???????....It had a really powerful signal (I recall picking it up in Eureka Springs, AR)...

How long was it on the air???????

Somebody post and clear this up for me....

I used to work on rock 99 in 1983. Jim Morgan n Motion...i see if i can find some data...