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The future of Citadel stations in Birmingham

whit979

whit979

Now that the Cumulus takeover of Citadel is complete, what might be coming for the stations it now owns in Birmingham? Several of its stations find themselves at the bottom of the ratings barrel in Birmingham, save for JOX and Hot 107. Staff cuts have also begun in Atlanta as at least one former Citadel station there appears prepped for a format change.

On the music side of things, Cumulus has been making a big push all over the country with its '80s and '90s "Journey" stations, a format which has already launched in Huntsville and Mobile and would have no true competitor in Birmingham (since Magic and Eagle are both skewing toward classic hits at the moment).

Thoughts?
 
How about a talk "99.5-WAPI" to compete more effectively with WERC? Cumulus could even keep the name "100 WAPI" since 99.5 is close to "100", also. ;)

As far as "Hot" and "Jox" are concerned, they ain't going away any time soon. :)
 
My bet's on the WAPI-AM/FM almost-simulcast. Something will be done about those three live hosts (Dixon, Murphy and Leland) who cost money and take up space. I hate that, because I really enjoy Richard Dixon's show, but I predict the simulcast will become 100% with all or almost all syndicated programming because it's cheaper.

Journey 99.5 also has a certain ring to it.
 
Magic could easily shift to battle a "Jouney" station and protect their soccer moms.

WZRR needs a good morning show and some marketing. Seriously, the only thing that separates them from 106.9 (besides ratings) is the fact that Cox puts money behind their products. They play the same music and actually have the heritage, but I can't remember the last time I saw a billboard or commercial for WZRR. Cumulus owns a lot of Rock stations that win, maybe they should fix WZRR instead of starting over with the flavor of the month.

WAPI will be lucky to keep 3 live hosts. I like listening to all 3, but I would guess big syndication names are coming back to WAPI.

JOX will depend on what happens with Finebaum.
 
Oxnard, when you say Cumulus owns a lot of winning rock stations, you mean straight up rock or classic rock or alt, or…?

I could see WZRR going after the Vulcan translator. That might make things interesting for five minutes. Maybe with new management in there won't be this clinging to "heritage" on the 99.5 frequency and they'll go in a different direction.
 
Looking at the ratings of some of the markets they're in, Cumulus has Classic Rock and Rock (whatever that might be) stations near the top. My point is that Cumulus must have a recipe to win, so why not apply that to WZRR? Going head to head with the Vulcan isn't the answer, but they should make up their minds if they want to be classic hits or classic rock or mainstream rock. Playing Fleetwood Mac into Nirvana isn't working, so make the adjustments and run with it. Maybe it's becuase I've been a listener of WZRR for a long time, and I still like the music they play, but I think throwing away a 20 year brand for a 2 year format is a bad move. JMO.
 
I think Cumulus bought most of their rockers/classic rockers with the format already in place. They were just smart or lazy enough to leave well enough alone on those stations.
 
Cumulus has already paid for jingles touting a 'Journey 100', so there's that.

But based upon what everyone else has guessed or speculated: Jack FM or Journey on 99.5--no later than New Year's. (Journey, obviously, to go after the women at work. Jack, to see how serious Cox is toward someday switching The Eagle and The Zone.)
 
Nate Wesley said:
Cumulus has already paid for jingles touting a 'Journey 100', so there's that.

But based upon what everyone else has guessed or speculated: Jack FM or Journey on 99.5--no later than New Year's. (Journey, obviously, to go after the women at work. Jack, to see how serious Cox is toward someday switching The Eagle and The Zone.)
Click to expand...

Is this a new package or could it be from WJLQ in Pensacola? I was tipped off that it was flipping to Journey from CHR i100 by the jingles package showing up on some rights database.

Journey 100 more than likely would be… WAPI-FM. Since it's at 100.5 and all. ;)
 
Zach said:
Is this a new package or could it be from WJLQ in Pensacola? I was tipped off that it was flipping to Journey from CHR i100 by the jingles package showing up on some rights database.

Journey 100 more than likely would be… WAPI-FM. Since it's at 100.5 and all. ;)
Click to expand...

You guessed it...Frank Stallone. ;)
 
WZRR has an ad for Morning Host.

Bring in a fresh sound. Fine tune the music mix...and PROMOTE.

I'm not familiar with Birmingham, would a hard ass Classic Rock work. This station have a heritage for success, or it's just been around long enough to be considered heritage?
 
WZRR is considered heritage because they've been the only classic rock station in town for what seems like eons. The Eagle brands themselves more as 'classic hits' and doesn't get so hard rocking as Guns and Roses and the like, from what I remember. That could've changed, though. I was a regular Eagle listener in the early days because WZRR's harder and more modern cuts drove me away.

What exactly do you mean by "hard ass classic rock", Jimc? Like straight up no filler 70s/80s rock, or (what I consider true classic rock) 60s/70s classics? Or are you talking about adding Ozzie and stuff like that? I'm curious. Birmingham has always come off as a harder rocking town that never had a station to embrace in that format since the 95 Rock days.
 
Ozzie or stuff like that?

Hard ass is an attitude. Biker face. Don't be a jerk but don't give a crap. Music rocks....kicks ass....album bits...but not way off the normal path. Wider playlist....

and Ozzie. You have a problem with Ozzie?
 
Jimc said:
Ozzie or stuff like that?

Hard ass is an attitude. Biker face. Don't be a jerk but don't give a crap. Music rocks....kicks ass....album bits...but not way off the normal path. Wider playlist....

and Ozzie. You have a problem with Ozzie?
Click to expand...

Well he's not one of my go-to artists but him 'n Sabbath don't seem to get much airplay any more. The harder rocking stuff seems to be more 80s tilted these days. At least it is on our Clear Channel rocker where I live.
 
Jimc said:
WZRR has an ad for Morning Host.
Click to expand...

The job post on AllAccess.com reads:
"WZRR ROCK 99 / Birmingham’s heritage classic rocker has an opening for Morning Drive Personality. Experience in rock and classic rock is preferred."

...Which seems to be an affirmation by Cumulus of the rock format on 99.5. If they were to flip something to a Journey, it looks like it'll be something else.
 
You guys are all in fantassyland. Just watch how bad it's about to get. Birmingham radio, a market that couldn't sound worse according to so many, will get worse.
 
Hey, there's always a doom machine in these forums.

Anyway I've been listening to Rockk 99 lately, online. Listening now to (?) Blazeman. He must be vtracked, but why does it sound like his last words, into the commercial breaks, are being clipped?
 
Depending on the automation system used, the very last part of a jock's words can get clipped because the commercial actually starts a second or less before the jock finishes his out. This is common in AudioVault as a popular configuration is to make the voicetrack automatically ramp unless the jock adds a "sec tone." Normally, you put the sec tone where you want the next track to start, and, when you voicetrack, you push the "Sec" button as you're saying the last syllable of your break.
 
Sounds sloppy.

Hey, so they have nobody sitting in the Morning Chair currently?

Strange.
 
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