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The Hot Fm will flip to country
- Thread starter GregBrady
- Start date
another person who thinks they can win with the format of the moment. there is probably a heritage country that they're trying to topple or something. i don't know any of that for sure, but at first glace, that's what i think.
so if my guess is correct, give them a year or two and they'll find another niche
so if my guess is correct, give them a year or two and they'll find another niche
Possibly.
The Hot Fm has been Top 40 for many, many years. One of the Carolinas Heritage Top 40's that lost it's edge in the late 90's.
The idiots who bought the stations (after Gene Gray owned them), had no clue how to keep them young and cutting edge. They thought by giving commercials away and working the jocks into the ground by doing every free event imaginable from the chicken festival to the watermelon fest was the way to win. They thought by not paying the jocks for remotes or paying them the worst talent fees in the market would satisfy the clients but it didn't matter that the jocks were slowly burning.
The last thing that mattered to those owners was what was coming out of the speakers. The morning show was expected to win with no $$$ support, the other jocks were so busy doing commercials and free events, they didn't have time to focus on their shows.
I look at it like this. No mater how many hands you shake, babies you kiss, free events you do, clients asses you kiss...if what's coming out of those speakers doesn't grab the attention of who's listening....what's the point? Emphasis should of been on creating the best Top 40 with the best music and best content coming out of those speakers. You can't do that with burnt out jocks and sales people, sales managers and Add agencies calling the shots when it comes to programing. Or better yet, consultants out of NY.
Now that it's locally owned once again and by someone who knows what they are doing...A new fresh country format in Eastern Carolina may be what those signals need. I know other stations have tried to go up against WRNS but these are two 100,000 watt signals. It could work!
We know they won't beat WRNS right away but they could chip away at those numbers and make some good money doing it.
The Hot Fm has been Top 40 for many, many years. One of the Carolinas Heritage Top 40's that lost it's edge in the late 90's.
The idiots who bought the stations (after Gene Gray owned them), had no clue how to keep them young and cutting edge. They thought by giving commercials away and working the jocks into the ground by doing every free event imaginable from the chicken festival to the watermelon fest was the way to win. They thought by not paying the jocks for remotes or paying them the worst talent fees in the market would satisfy the clients but it didn't matter that the jocks were slowly burning.
The last thing that mattered to those owners was what was coming out of the speakers. The morning show was expected to win with no $$$ support, the other jocks were so busy doing commercials and free events, they didn't have time to focus on their shows.
I look at it like this. No mater how many hands you shake, babies you kiss, free events you do, clients asses you kiss...if what's coming out of those speakers doesn't grab the attention of who's listening....what's the point? Emphasis should of been on creating the best Top 40 with the best music and best content coming out of those speakers. You can't do that with burnt out jocks and sales people, sales managers and Add agencies calling the shots when it comes to programing. Or better yet, consultants out of NY.
Now that it's locally owned once again and by someone who knows what they are doing...A new fresh country format in Eastern Carolina may be what those signals need. I know other stations have tried to go up against WRNS but these are two 100,000 watt signals. It could work!
We know they won't beat WRNS right away but they could chip away at those numbers and make some good money doing it.
It should be interesting at least for a couple of books. Several have tried and failed for a variety of reasons. Remember 99.5 was once "Thunder Country" in 99.Dualcasting is usually a nightmare. This may be a little more interesting because of Don Curtis & his country success in Raleigh. The stations will use Rusty Walker just like WQDR and with several former QDR staffers on board it should at least get some curiousty numbers. The question is how are they going to come out of the box.. They have to be balls to the wall in terms of live,local good promotions,giving away 103 dollars an hour.All the dayparts have got to be live. You can't come out of the gate half hearted. It's got to be different musically than WRNS. A hybrid between WRNS & The Bear would get some attention and it needs to be heavily male skewed musically.Music is the cheapest and most effective way to make a statement. If they do it right they have got a shot.If they do it wrong they are doomed from the start.Imaging is almost as important. Again gotta be live,live live and let the listener know that you are live. WRNS has some weakness that can be taken advantage of just like all stations. We all know Don's got the money & Henry is a sharp businessman. Henry is not a country fan at all but he knows how to make a dollar and is well
connected in the industry.Hopefully this group will learn from mistakes that others have made trying to do this same thing. WRNS has been on top for a long time for alot of reasons but mostly because Wayne is a very smart PD.We'll know within a week of the new station being on the air if WRNS has anything to worry about. Again you sign on with Guns A Blazin' or not at all. There are lots of little things you can do to set yourself apart. Two years from now will we look back on this as another failed attempt to knock off the top Dog or will this be the one to do it??? Only time will tell.. Should be fun to watch. I wish them luck!!!
connected in the industry.Hopefully this group will learn from mistakes that others have made trying to do this same thing. WRNS has been on top for a long time for alot of reasons but mostly because Wayne is a very smart PD.We'll know within a week of the new station being on the air if WRNS has anything to worry about. Again you sign on with Guns A Blazin' or not at all. There are lots of little things you can do to set yourself apart. Two years from now will we look back on this as another failed attempt to knock off the top Dog or will this be the one to do it??? Only time will tell.. Should be fun to watch. I wish them luck!!!
I think it would be a mistake. You know, if you go by what Curtis puts on his stations, you'd think he'd start a news/talk FM. And Henry, his latest format is.... news/talk. ENC is doubled and tripled up like no other market. Two nearly identical rock stations. Two top 40s. Three country stations. Two urbans up until recently, a lukewarm AC, and NO commercial N/T that covers even half of the market. Rush has shown that he'll jump ship on a station if he can get better coverage. I'm sure all the big names would be easy to get.
There are other format out there. Bob had its best recent success as a modern AC. Hot Talk is pretty popular across the nation. Triple A can be done right as long as it's not clear channel doing it.
Or, Hot can clean up its act, and go for broke for the CHR crown. How hard can it be to beat Bob?
There are other format out there. Bob had its best recent success as a modern AC. Hot Talk is pretty popular across the nation. Triple A can be done right as long as it's not clear channel doing it.
Or, Hot can clean up its act, and go for broke for the CHR crown. How hard can it be to beat Bob?
I really respect Don Curtis as a radio guy. I've met him only briefly but he seems to get local radio and has done well. I've heard some interesting stories about his behavior in meetings but he seems tough but fair.I think coming into Eastern NC will be a new challenge for him.He requires someone to be in his stations at all times which I think is very smart...
Archway proved they could screw up a soup sandwich. There is still some talent over there.
Gina Gray is simply the best. If 94.1 & 94.3 go Hot AC as rumored they should build the station around her. Someone should write a book on Archway. It would be a comic tragedy with pictures in crayon. "WRNS is just a fly on our shoulder" quote from an Archway manager in October 2002 as Eagle launched as nothing and went down from there...
Gina Gray is simply the best. If 94.1 & 94.3 go Hot AC as rumored they should build the station around her. Someone should write a book on Archway. It would be a comic tragedy with pictures in crayon. "WRNS is just a fly on our shoulder" quote from an Archway manager in October 2002 as Eagle launched as nothing and went down from there...
I think WRHT (96.3) and WRHD (103.7) should under the new ownership of
"Inner Banks Media" consider a "News/Talk" format, i'm aware that Henry
Hinton is running WNCT "Talk 1070" at the moment, and now that they have
boosted their power to 50,000 watts during the day, he should cut his ties
with them, turn the station into a "all-sports" format, and move the talk
programming and ECU sports to those two FM signals, and in the process
add other talk shows that aren't airing in the Greenville/New Bern/Jacksonville
market like "Micheal Savage" and "Dr. Laura", if they choose to go country,
they won't be able to compete with WRNS, even with a combined 200,000
watts.
"Inner Banks Media" consider a "News/Talk" format, i'm aware that Henry
Hinton is running WNCT "Talk 1070" at the moment, and now that they have
boosted their power to 50,000 watts during the day, he should cut his ties
with them, turn the station into a "all-sports" format, and move the talk
programming and ECU sports to those two FM signals, and in the process
add other talk shows that aren't airing in the Greenville/New Bern/Jacksonville
market like "Micheal Savage" and "Dr. Laura", if they choose to go country,
they won't be able to compete with WRNS, even with a combined 200,000
watts.
M
Marathon Don
Guest
Going back a bit more, V103.3 used to be Z103 with a AOR format. They moved into that new building on Hwy 70 and then got sold shortly thereafter. My old PD from WGTM, Mac McKee, did afternoons at Z before he moved over to SFL to kick off their new rock format.
Ahhh, memories. Speaking of which, anyone recall Campbell Broadcasting's abortive attempt (mid 80's) at 103.7, WKKE? It was an AC they named "Key 103". Ughhh.
Ahhh, memories. Speaking of which, anyone recall Campbell Broadcasting's abortive attempt (mid 80's) at 103.7, WKKE? It was an AC they named "Key 103". Ughhh.
I remember key 103.7!!! It was almost as bad as "The Music Wave 103.7 that stunted with I'm Sorry by Brenda Lee for what seemed a year and then came on with great talent like Jeff Diamond but the Atlanta management was lost & it lasted from 4-1-94 till the end of 95. Some of the management must have been an inspiration for Archway. Another group that came in and was gonna show us hicks how to do radio and
faded into the anals of radio nothingness almost as fast as they came.
Allen
faded into the anals of radio nothingness almost as fast as they came.
Allen
w00t said:
I do believe that the ECU broadcast rights would be granted to the station and even though Beasley owns the station, the LMA would put the rights under the control of whomever controls the station. Most rights deals have a clause that says any significant change in the facility gives the grantor the right to change the deal.
Bottom line, the ECU rights belong to the station and if a station is sold or LMAd, the rights go with it as an asset.
You know, there's another twist in the whole deal. Centennial Broadcasting is run by guys with strong ties to Beasley and ENC and piedmont area stations. They just got a line from a financer to start buying up stations. They currently have three in Roanoke, VA, but are planning to get into bigger markets.
The CEO is also a VP for Beasley, has been since 1985. Since Henry is partnering on Hot, won't he drop the LMA for WNCT AM? I could see Centennial entering the ENC market with a purchase or two from Beasley.
The CEO is also a VP for Beasley, has been since 1985. Since Henry is partnering on Hot, won't he drop the LMA for WNCT AM? I could see Centennial entering the ENC market with a purchase or two from Beasley.
Re: The Hot Fm will flip to country - for real?
Is this actually happening???
I was just poking around on Bob & Sheri's site and the Hot FM is now listed as:
The HOT FM
96.3 FM WWHA
103.7 FM WWNK
Greenville, NC
http://bobandsheri.1079thelink.com/affiliates/index.cfm?affiliate=WWHA
It also still lists their website as 98.3 Mom, but still, that has a history. I don't see why the Link would've randomly picked up those call letters and put them on the website for no good reason...
Is this actually happening???
I was just poking around on Bob & Sheri's site and the Hot FM is now listed as:
The HOT FM
96.3 FM WWHA
103.7 FM WWNK
Greenville, NC
http://bobandsheri.1079thelink.com/affiliates/index.cfm?affiliate=WWHA
It also still lists their website as 98.3 Mom, but still, that has a history. I don't see why the Link would've randomly picked up those call letters and put them on the website for no good reason...
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