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The Biggest Oops in Connecticut Radio

W

wxctintern

Guest
Since all day today the E! TV network is running "The 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops" I thought I'd share with you what I thought were some of the "Biggest Oops" in Connecticut Radio. Feel free to disagree with me, but don't hate me. Here they are in no particular order:

In October 1998 CBS Radio decided to flip "Classic Hits 93.7" to "93-7 The Point". The problem with "93-7 The Point" was they were trying to steal listeners from four other Hartford radio stations - "Big D 103", "Radio 104", "105.9 HCN", and WCCC. That was my interpetation of what "The Point" was trying to do because they had the slogan "Rock & Roll from the Beginning to the Millenium". They flipped to Dancin' Oldies in May of 1999.

In December 1996 Mega Broadcasting bought WNEZ AM 910 and flipped it to a Spanish Romantica format. This was at a time when Central Connecticut had 5 other stations playing some type of Spanish music. They were "La Gigante 840", WPRX 1120, "Latino 1230", "LaBrava 1470", and WRDM 1550. 3 Months later "Romance 910" was dead and they became Urban Contemporary "JAMZ 910".

In 1999 The ADD Radio Group leased the entire broadcast day of WNTY AM 990 to El Principe Communications. This was barely a year after El Principe sold WMMW 1470 dirt cheap becayse they ran out of money. Big surprise that El Principe ran out of money again and stopped paying The Add Radio Group. After four months of cat and mouse games, the battle between El Principe and The ADD Radio Group played out in court. El Principe lost and control was WNTY was given back to The ADD Radio Group, though El Principe camee back and nearly destroyed the station. (I guess you can say they did destroy it as WNTY was unable to operate for nearly 3 weeks).

In the fall of 2004 Clear Channel missed the boat when they flipped WAVZ 1300 AM from FOX Sports Radio to Progressive Talk instead of flipping it to Spanish. There was a big gaping hole for the format in New Haven ever since "La X 1220" in Hamden was sold to Qunnipiac University in 1996. New Haven now remains the lagest Hispanic market in Connecticut without a Spanish Station. IMO CC missed the boat twice because they could've even flipped WAVZ back when they dumpped the Adult Standards in favor of FOX Sports Radio.<P ID="signature">______________
~Jay Clark~
</P>
 
i definately agree about wavz. clear difeinately missed the boat. altho, you do have wads that covers new haven but not at night

> Since all day today the E! TV network is running "The 101
> Biggest Celebrity Oops" I thought I'd share with you what I
> thought were some of the "Biggest Oops" in Connecticut
> Radio. Feel free to disagree with me, but don't hate me.
> Here they are in no particular order:
>
> In October 1998 CBS Radio decided to flip "Classic Hits
> 93.7" to "93-7 The Point". The problem with "93-7 The Point"
> was they were trying to steal listeners from four other
> Hartford radio stations - "Big D 103", "Radio 104", "105.9
> HCN", and WCCC. That was my interpetation of what "The
> Point" was trying to do because they had the slogan "Rock &
> Roll from the Beginning to the Millenium". They flipped to
> Dancin' Oldies in May of 1999.
>
> In December 1996 Mega Broadcasting bought WNEZ AM 910 and
> flipped it to a Spanish Romantica format. This was at a time
> when Central Connecticut had 5 other stations playing some
> type of Spanish music. They were "La Gigante 840", WPRX
> 1120, "Latino 1230", "LaBrava 1470", and WRDM 1550. 3 Months
> later "Romance 910" was dead and they became Urban
> Contemporary "JAMZ 910".
>
> In 1999 The ADD Radio Group leased the entire broadcast day
> of WNTY AM 990 to El Principe Communications. This was
> barely a year after El Principe sold WMMW 1470 dirt cheap
> becayse they ran out of money. Big surprise that El Principe
> ran out of money again and stopped paying The Add Radio
> Group. After four months of cat and mouse games, the battle
> between El Principe and The ADD Radio Group played out in
> court. El Principe lost and control was WNTY was given back
> to The ADD Radio Group, though El Principe camee back and
> nearly destroyed the station. (I guess you can say they did
> destroy it as WNTY was unable to operate for nearly 3
> weeks).
>
> In the fall of 2004 Clear Channel missed the boat when they
> flipped WAVZ 1300 AM from FOX Sports Radio to Progressive
> Talk instead of flipping it to Spanish. There was a big
> gaping hole for the format in New Haven ever since "La X
> 1220" in Hamden was sold to Qunnipiac University in 1996.
> New Haven now remains the lagest Hispanic market in
> Connecticut without a Spanish Station. IMO CC missed the
> boat twice because they could've even flipped WAVZ back when
> they dumpped the Adult Standards in favor of FOX Sports
> Radio.
>
 
The biggest "Oops!" in Connecticut radio of recent memory? To Clear Channel for flipping 104.1 FM from modern rock to urban contemporary. I think Spanish would have been a better choice (provided many of the existing AM stations became some other format first).
 
> The biggest "Oops!" in Connecticut radio of recent memory?
> To Clear Channel for flipping 104.1 FM from modern rock to
> urban contemporary. I think Spanish would have been a better
> choice (provided many of the existing AM stations became
> some other format first).
>
Me thinks this would be a bit OT, but the biggest Oops in NYC Radio--was what just happened to 101.1 FM. Sure the "ratings" can say otherwise--though I trust them like I trust flash polls the talking head cable nets put out--NEVER!
 
> The biggest "Oops!" in Connecticut radio of recent memory?
> To Clear Channel for flipping 104.1 FM from modern rock to
> urban contemporary. I think Spanish would have been a better
> choice (provided many of the existing AM stations became
> some other format first).
>

As much as I like the modern rock format, I'm resigned to the fact that it seems to be a dying format in many markets (NYC, K-Rock, Philly, Y-100). But, I am suprised that 104.1 did not go Spanish.
 
> > The biggest "Oops!" in Connecticut radio of recent memory?
>
> > To Clear Channel for flipping 104.1 FM from modern rock to
>
> > urban contemporary. I think Spanish would have been a
> better
> > choice (provided many of the existing AM stations became
> > some other format first).
> >
>
> But, I am suprised that 104.1
> did not go Spanish.
>

At the time of 104.1's flip, the Spanish initiative had not yet been announced. So, one could not have expected them to become a format that was not yet being utilized. But perhaps CC will combine the rap and Spanish into a Hurban at 104.1, eventually?

Also, as "Jay Clark" had mentioned Spanish on 1300. In their Spanish initiative, Clear Channel has not launched any Spanish stations on the AM dial other than a La Preciosa affiliate in California. CC sees the future of Spanish radio to be full power FM signals, not crummy AM rimshot signals.
 
Here's one some of you may had forgotten about.

WTIC 96.5 FM, once a powerhouse CHR station that was Rhythmic leaning (Dance, Hip Hop, and Pop), now a crummy Hot AC. Sure it may bill very well, but why try to fix something that was not broken, just because they wanted to drop the Rap music (then all the Dance music) from their playlist.
 
> Here's one some of you may had forgotten about.
>
> WTIC 96.5 FM, once a powerhouse CHR station that was
> Rhythmic leaning (Dance, Hip Hop, and Pop), now a crummy Hot
> AC. Sure it may bill very well, but why try to fix
> something that was not broken, just because they wanted to
> drop the Rap music (then all the Dance music) from their
> playlist.
>

I could be wrong, but I think the reason they dropped CHR, is because Kiss started to whoop them & Kiss was doing very well & even did better once TIC flipped, obviously that all changed once ZMX signed on & whipped the tar outta Kiss
 
TIC did stumble as a CHR about 15 years ago, but has capitalized on its earlier years as a CHR powerhouse by growing up with that audience in a way DRC-FM did with oldies. I would hardly call a station with a heritage morning show, Neil Jackson, Gina J., Damon Scott, Mike Kelly and company a "crummy hot AC." If it bills well, it's no "oops" in CT radio.
 
Evan said:
i definately agree about wavz. clear difeinately missed the boat. altho, you do have wads that covers new haven but not at night

> Since all day today the E! TV network is running "The 101
> Biggest Celebrity Oops" I thought I'd share with you what I
> thought were some of the "Biggest Oops" in Connecticut
> Radio. Feel free to disagree with me, but don't hate me.
> Here they are in no particular order:
>
> In October 1998 CBS Radio decided to flip "Classic Hits
> 93.7" to "93-7 The Point". The problem with "93-7 The Point"
> was they were trying to steal listeners from four other
> Hartford radio stations - "Big D 103", "Radio 104", "105.9
> HCN", and WCCC. That was my interpetation of what "The
> Point" was trying to do because they had the slogan "Rock &
> Roll from the Beginning to the Millenium". They flipped to
> Dancin' Oldies in May of 1999.
>
> In December 1996 Mega Broadcasting bought WNEZ AM 910 and
> flipped it to a Spanish Romantica format. This was at a time
> when Central Connecticut had 5 other stations playing some
> type of Spanish music. They were "La Gigante 840", WPRX
> 1120, "Latino 1230", "LaBrava 1470", and WRDM 1550. 3 Months
> later "Romance 910" was dead and they became Urban
> Contemporary "JAMZ 910".
>
> In 1999 The ADD Radio Group leased the entire broadcast day
> of WNTY AM 990 to El Principe Communications. This was
> barely a year after El Principe sold WMMW 1470 dirt cheap
> becayse they ran out of money. Big surprise that El Principe
> ran out of money again and stopped paying The Add Radio
> Group. After four months of cat and mouse games, the battle
> between El Principe and The ADD Radio Group played out in
> court. El Principe lost and control was WNTY was given back
> to The ADD Radio Group, though El Principe camee back and
> nearly destroyed the station. (I guess you can say they did
> destroy it as WNTY was unable to operate for nearly 3
> weeks).
>
> In the fall of 2004 Clear Channel missed the boat when they
> flipped WAVZ 1300 AM from FOX Sports Radio to Progressive
> Talk instead of flipping it to Spanish. There was a big
> gaping hole for the format in New Haven ever since "La X
> 1220" in Hamden was sold to Qunnipiac University in 1996.
> New Haven now remains the lagest Hispanic market in
> Connecticut without a Spanish Station. IMO CC missed the
> boat twice because they could've even flipped WAVZ back when
> they dumpped the Adult Standards in favor of FOX Sports
> Radio.
>
Click to expand...

The biggest corporate OOOOPS or aka corporate clusterf@ck was when Cheap Channel
bought KCI/AVZ and in an effort to drive the adult demo over to WELI decided to
pipe in the Z-ROCK format out of San Antonio, Texas......That went over like a fart
at wake. What a programming nightmare! The corporate big wigs like Mark Mays actually thought 13Z Rock was going to chip away ay PLR's audience. What kinda acid were these guys dropping?????? Format vanished 1 year later. ROTFLMFBO
 
wxctintern said:
Since all day today the E! TV network is running "The 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops" I thought I'd share with you what I thought were some of the "Biggest Oops" in Connecticut Radio. Feel free to disagree with me, but don't hate me. Here they are in no particular order:

In October 1998 CBS Radio decided to flip "Classic Hits 93.7" to "93-7 The Point". The problem with "93-7 The Point" was they were trying to steal listeners from four other Hartford radio stations - "Big D 103", "Radio 104", "105.9 HCN", and WCCC. That was my interpetation of what "The Point" was trying to do because they had the slogan "Rock & Roll from the Beginning to the Millenium". They flipped to Dancin' Oldies in May of 1999.

In December 1996 Mega Broadcasting bought WNEZ AM 910 and flipped it to a Spanish Romantica format. This was at a time when Central Connecticut had 5 other stations playing some type of Spanish music. They were "La Gigante 840", WPRX 1120, "Latino 1230", "LaBrava 1470", and WRDM 1550. 3 Months later "Romance 910" was dead and they became Urban Contemporary "JAMZ 910".

In 1999 The ADD Radio Group leased the entire broadcast day of WNTY AM 990 to El Principe Communications. This was barely a year after El Principe sold WMMW 1470 dirt cheap becayse they ran out of money. Big surprise that El Principe ran out of money again and stopped paying The Add Radio Group. After four months of cat and mouse games, the battle between El Principe and The ADD Radio Group played out in court. El Principe lost and control was WNTY was given back to The ADD Radio Group, though El Principe camee back and nearly destroyed the station. (I guess you can say they did destroy it as WNTY was unable to operate for nearly 3 weeks).

In the fall of 2004 Clear Channel missed the boat when they flipped WAVZ 1300 AM from FOX Sports Radio to Progressive Talk instead of flipping it to Spanish. There was a big gaping hole for the format in New Haven ever since "La X 1220" in Hamden was sold to Qunnipiac University in 1996. New Haven now remains the lagest Hispanic market in Connecticut without a Spanish Station. IMO CC missed the boat twice because they could've even flipped WAVZ back when they dumpped the Adult Standards in favor of FOX Sports Radio.<P ID="signature">______________
~Jay Clark~
</P>
Click to expand...

There's always WADS the Umighty 690 adios amigos!
 
[[/quote]

The biggest corporate OOOOPS or aka corporate clusterf@ck was when Cheap Channel
bought KCI/AVZ and in an effort to drive the adult demo over to WELI decided to
pipe in the Z-ROCK format out of San Antonio, Texas......That went over like a fart
at wake. What a programming nightmare! The corporate big wigs like Mark Mays actually thought 13Z Rock was going to chip away ay PLR's audience. What kinda acid were these guys dropping?????? Format vanished 1 year later. ROTFLMFBO

[/quote]

When did this ill-conceived idea happen? They really tried putting a rock format on AM?
 
kms575 said:
[
Click to expand...

The biggest corporate OOOOPS or aka corporate clusterf@ck was when Cheap Channel
bought KCI/AVZ and in an effort to drive the adult demo over to WELI decided to
pipe in the Z-ROCK format out of San Antonio, Texas......That went over like a fart
at wake. What a programming nightmare! The corporate big wigs like Mark Mays actually thought 13Z Rock was going to chip away ay PLR's audience. What kinda acid were these guys dropping?????? Format vanished 1 year later. ROTFLMFBO

[/quote]

When did this ill-conceived idea happen? They really tried putting a rock format on AM?
[/quote]

It happened back in 1993. Right after Cheap Channel bought KCI/AVZ from Noble Broadcast Group. They wanted take any listeners AVZ had from Adult Standards
format and drive them over to ELI. That kinda backfired in their faces. They didn't even tell the morning guy or afternoon guy on AVZ about the format change. Both guys got fired with memos left in each mail box. Pretty sad! :eek: :(
 
videokilledtheradiostar said:
kms575 said:
[
Click to expand...

The biggest corporate OOOOPS or aka corporate clusterf@ck was when Cheap Channel
bought KCI/AVZ and in an effort to drive the adult demo over to WELI decided to
pipe in the Z-ROCK format out of San Antonio, Texas......That went over like a fart
at wake. What a programming nightmare! The corporate big wigs like Mark Mays actually thought 13Z Rock was going to chip away ay PLR's audience. What kinda acid were these guys dropping?????? Format vanished 1 year later. ROTFLMFBO
Click to expand...

When did this ill-conceived idea happen? They really tried putting a rock format on AM?
[/quote]

It happened back in 1993. Right after Cheap Channel bought KCI/AVZ from Noble Broadcast Group. They wanted take any listeners AVZ had from Adult Standards
format and drive them over to ELI. That kinda backfired in their faces. They didn't even tell the morning guy or afternoon guy on AVZ about the format change. Both guys got fired with memos left in each mail box. Pretty sad! :eek: :(
[/quote]


.... sign of things to come, I guess....
 
videokilledtheradiostar said:
There's always WADS the Unmighty 690 adios amigos!
Click to expand...
Don't get me started with that place. ;D

WADS: What A Damn Shame ;D
 
Well, if you asked ME, I would say it was not renewing Michael Bernz's contract with Red Wolf in '06. A 32 year veteran of the Eastern CT/South County, RI just disappeared from the airwaves after his show one day. Some people wonder if he's still alive. I am. Weekends at Citadel's Lite Rock 105 in Providence. Funny business, this.
 
Another classic oops was when WELI went from an adult format to News/Talk in the early 90's. That was a very successful full service AC station with round the clock personalities. They got great numbers with a good sales staff.
Ron Rohmer's morning, Chuck Kelly/Midday, Jay McCormick/Afternoons and Telephone Talk at night. But Russ Knight came in from Texas and ruined everything in matter of weeks. Huge OOPS!
 
CTRadio said:
TIC did stumble as a CHR about 15 years ago, but has capitalized on its earlier years as a CHR powerhouse by growing up with that audience in a way DRC-FM did with oldies. I would hardly call a station with a heritage morning show, Neil Jackson, Gina J., Damon Scott, Mike Kelly and company a "crummy hot AC." If it bills well, it's no "oops" in CT radio.
Click to expand...

They stumbled and the leadership at the time (Ze-nobody)chose to turn tail and run from the format. I think TIC-FM could have done a whole lot better sticking with CHR and forever shedding themselves of their 'heritage' morning show- what worked 20 years ago doesn't work now. Crummy AC is about right.
 
videokilledtheradiostar said:
Another classic oops was when WELI went from an adult format to News/Talk in the early 90's. That was a very successful full service AC station with round the clock personalities. They got great numbers with a good sales staff.
Ron Rohmer's morning, Chuck Kelly/Midday, Jay McCormick/Afternoons and Telephone Talk at night. But Russ Knight came in from Texas and ruined everything in matter of weeks. Huge OOPS!
Click to expand...
When WELI had RTP all to themselves, the Double R ran his show from one studio, Chuck Kelly ran his show from another studio, Jay McCormack ran his show from another studio and Telephone Talk ran from the main studio. All the news came from the studio now occupied by KC 101. The huge patch bay in the middle of Master Control made all that possible. As recently as the late 80's/early 90's, Telephone Talk from 6-9 PM - that's right, a live, local night time talk show - had 18 shares in the New Haven books 12+.
 
Gotta say, the biggest oops to my ears was the break-up of Mike Stevens and Beth Bradley doing mornings on WDRC-FM. I have to say it does not matter to me how that happened (nor do I hope to see any business about the 'why' in this post)...all that is simply stated here is that Mike & Beth had to be the hottest radio 'couple' on the dial in many years. They took me back to the days where I'd be driving down the road and bust a gut so hard that I'd almost kiss the jersey barrier.

In fact, if there were a true 'heyday' for CT Radio, it would be the WDRC-FM lineup from about 2001-2006. Maybe it wasn't the top banana, but they did well in the ARBs, and there was plenty of talk about what each one of them said, or did, or blurted, that made the day's attack of the funny bone.

Now, without question, THE biggest 'oops' facility-wise was the sale of WKCD-FM Mystic when it was Smooth Jazz with good guy Steve Bianchi at the helm back around 2003 (guessing, it's been some time). The combination of jazz, Mystic, clientele and the surroundings are (and still are) the perfect place for this format to thrive. But alas, no. I myself have tried to raise the funds and do some of the FCC homework to re-start a format similar to the SJ down here, and if I had the greenbacks, it would happen tomorrow. Wouldn't you know I was born handsome and that's about all. (And you know what they say about us radio folks having the 'perfect face for radio'?)

-Bill Alley
WINY's Juke Box Gold
Putnam CT
 
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