Shine 96.7 brighens up the Upstate

[RickRose]

According to the internet feed I have playing right now, the New SHINE 96.7 debuted in the Greenville Spartanburg market this morning. It sounds like Christian CHR and I would love a station like this in Atlanta even if Salem would HD 104.7 and run 2 feeds. While I have not found out for sure, I read comments hinting that His Radio and Clear Channel is working together to make this new station a succuess. It does make sense also considering that His Radio programs Clear Channels AM 660 that His Radio would be working with Clear Channel on 96.7 as well. His Radio is a highly rated station in the Upstate and they already broadcast 3 FM music feeds on their HD side channels. I hope that His Radio can find a way to make Christian CHR work on the commercial band because it hasn't done it yet. Plus His Radio and Shine 96.7 has weather information provided by channel 4. I guess we will learn more soon.

 

[MarkL]

But why would "His Radio" team up with Clear Channel for 96.7? Wouldn't that be competition for the His Radio stations? Or is the music that much different?

 

[more kilowatts]

Wow! What a "180 degree" change for this station. I guess this means the end of the "thong-of-the-day" on the website!

 

[RickRose]

Its like saying that B 93.7 and Magic 98.9 are hurting each other though they have the same owner but the music is different. Shine is the B 93.7 of Christian music while His Radio is the Magic 98.9 of Christian music so it would actually attract younger listeners than His Radio does.

 

[CaroG]

Ya know ..... I just don't get it. Was the Buzzard getting it's butt kicked THAT badly by Rock 101 (which I haven't listened to in ages)????

Right now, I mostly have the MP3 player plugged in. If I have on the radio at all, I listen to 3 stations: Charlie (106.3) WCCP (104.9 sports radio), and 88.9 NPR/Jazz out of Rock Hill (when the signal is just right, the moon is in the 7th house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars).

Way to go, CC ..... you've driven yet ANOTHER consumer away from commercial radio. As soon as I can, I'm getting Sirius. I'm tired of the crud that Upstate radio has become.

Breaks my heart, too.

 

[jegrant]

At http://www.mediachatter.com/cgi-bin/csGuest/csGuest.cgi?command=view&gid=13154 -

With regret, I must inform you that WBZT, 96-7 The Buzzard will be put to rest on Friday at midnight. On Christmas Day at noon, Shine 96.7 will arrive. This is an inspirational Top 40, also known as a contemporary Christian format. We are launching Shine with the support of the Upstate churches and WLFJ-FM, so we expect it to have immediate exposure and excitement. And in mid-January we have a concert planned at the Brookwood Church in Simpsonville to address over 5,000 members!

I'll be interested to see how well this works out - but I appreciate the idea that they're trying a C-CHR rather than yet another Christian AC.

FWIW - Not currently, but in the past, I think that WLFJ-HD2 used to sound an awful lot like it was being programmed (at least in part) by Clear Channel's Format Lab "Hits On High" C-CHR station. Now, I gather that there is some sort of partnership where WLFJ-HD2 is programmed by Hangar Radio Z. I wonder if this new station will open up a path for Hangar Radio Z to go for a little harder rock or rap music?

I'll be interested to see what kind of morning show Shine 96.7 has, and whether they begin to grab pieces of "Hits On High" such as the clean comedy bits.

 

[upstate29651]

But why would "His Radio" team up with Clear Channel for 96.7? Wouldn't that be competition for the His Radio stations? Or is the music that much different?

Agreed. At the end of the day, it's not about ministry, it's about money. Why would WLFJ slit their own throats?

G

 

[Lhsh]

I do not see where WLFJ is slitting their throats at all. It is really smart and if you think about it, the audience that they are targeting are younger poepl and let's face it, those younger people are not necessarily going to listen to His Radio and the sound is quite fresh and if it works, then maybe it will spread to other markets like here in Columbia

 

[carolinaradio]

But here's my question....I know they all have their own 'take' on the format, but with signal qualities aside, in Greenville/Spartan we have 89.3, 91.1, 91.5, 94.5, 96.7, 106.9, 660, and countless other AMs and LPFMs scattered about playing some sort of religious programming. Is there REALLY enough room for all of those? I've found the Religious radio listeners are pretty loyal to their station of choice.

I know The Walk was more mellow, but it had lackluster ratings throughout its entire run. As another poster mentioned, the ratings on 106.3 were even worse. Entercom put a decent amount of effort in to it. Just seems to me they're trying to slice this pie too thin. Never listened to them in the past.....won't be listening in the forseeable future.

 

[freqdev]

Entercom put a decent amount of effort in to it.

Most in Upstate Radio would disagree.

 

[MarkL]

we have 89.3, 91.1, 91.5, 94.5, 96.7, 106.9, 660, and countless other AMs and LPFMs scattered about playing some sort of religious programming.

But aren't most of these stations non-commercial? Personally, I tend to avoid anything below 92 on the FM dial. So why can't a commercial Christian station work? I'm sure there's a segment of the audience (probably the younger listeners) who don't listen to much non-commercial radio and may be turned off by some of the preaching or "Focus on the Family" type segments.

Entercom put a decent amount of effort in to it.

I agree. Wasn't it Tom Durney who came up with it? They were really were dedicated to it, even to the point of ditching a popular oldies station to save it. Shortly after it came on the air, somebody told me they thought the station was just a way to cash in on the wave of patriotism during this time, and that it wouldn't last long. But it lasted much longer than I ever thought it would.

And they acutally had live personalites, instead of a computer running the station like they do now.

 

[oldiesfan2]

here is the news artcle in Todays Spartanburg Hearld Journal Newspaper about the New Format on 96.7 fm and here is the link to it from the Hearld Journal Website http://www.goupstate.com/article/20080104/NEWS/801040340/1026/NEWS07

 

[carolinaradio]

We just felt that the rock radio world was very crowded. There are three - depending on how you classify rock - or four in the market space, and we felt that we had the opportunity to be in a format that was unique to this market," McMartin explained.

Four? What would the fourth be? The only stations I'd consider rock are 93.3, 101.1, and the former 96.7..

 

[MarkSC]

The Shine

There is no fourth, unless you classify CHR as Rock, and I don't know anyone who would do that.

Seems to me that CC has just ensured that WROQ will be in the top two or three stations in the market, 25-54. Meantime, WBZT might improve from a 1.5 to a 2.0.

 

[km777]

The station has no ties to His Radio (WLFJ-FM). They are in direct competition and will go after ad dollars that His Radio can't capture - being non-com.

 

[ramsc]

It's been on 3 weeks now, and I'm NOT in the industry anymore just strictly a LISTENER, but this station has filled an empty spot that never existed on MY radio (except maybe Sirius 66). Best thing since the old WHYZ in the 70's in our opinions!! The WALK tried, but never really succeded as country or Christian as far as I'm concerned. The market is READY for this format.

 

[MarkL]

There's a Facebook group - "Shine 96.7=Amazing" with 150 members.

The description says "Shine 96.7 is a new clear channel radio station that has taken the place of 96.7 The Buzzard. It will now be playing the best and top Rock and contemporary christian songs constantly. It's a great station for those who want a little more rock instead of just straight contemporary that 89.3 offers! (Not saying that 89.3 isn't good, its just all soft!)"

 

[Lhsh]

I would love to see something like this here in Columbia and if we could blow up Steve FM and replace it with something like The Shine here iin Columbia and I really think you would have the listenership to support it as well because like Greenvilee, 89.7 is light and horribly repetitve.