What do you see for Birmingham and Tuscaloosa radio for the year 2008

[cyberrock]

In this crazy world we live in, radio stations can be here one day and gone the next. DO any of you think any changes will be made? Just so 101.1 WYDE is left alone, they can do what they will with the others.

 

[Nate Wesley]

I'm not sure I'll go with actual predictions like I did in a similar thread for Mobile. But I will pose a few questions:

**You'd have to think that Cox Radio would find something more interesting to do with WNCB 97.3. Is 'New Country' really needed now that WZZK has regained a solid lead over The Bull?

**How long will Citadel run any live shows on WSPZ 690? The now solo morning show (hosted by the boring Scott Griffin) can't be long for this world considering the ease of clearing ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike In the Morning" in its place. You could really get away with nothing but syndicated shows on 690, which is how I'd have done it in the first place. "ESPN 690", anyone?

 

[tomservo]

It'll continue to be a boring, sanitized and homogenized market? ;D

 

[passtheword]

It'll continue to be a boring, sanitized and homogenized market? ;D

Of all the predictions that's posted on this thread, that's the one most likely to come true. Broadcast radio (in Birmingham and elsewhere) has become a vast wasteland. Thank goodness for internet and satellite radio.


_________________________
Radio stations come and go.
Does anything last forever?
www.PassTheWord.net

 

[William_Yeager]

Glen Iris Baptist will continue to turn down all offers for WQEM.

 

[Nate Wesley]

Glen Iris Baptist will continue to turn down all offers for WQEM.

What kind of offers had they gotten lately? I still maintain that GIB and Crawford should swap 92.5 & 101.5 with each other. 91.9 & 101.5 still simulcast each other, right?

 

[Charles1]

91.9 & 101.5 still simulcast each other, right?
[quote/]

Yes they do.

 

[passtheword]

Glen Iris Baptist will continue to turn down all offers for WQEM.

What kind of offers had they gotten lately? I still maintain that GIB and Crawford should swap 92.5 & 101.5 with each other. 91.9 & 101.5 still simulcast each other, right?

That does sound like a really good idea for Glen Iris and Crawford to swap the 92.5 and 101.5 frequencies. Crawford could simulcast 101.1 with 101.5 and use WQEM to fill in areas south of Birmingham that the main WYDE signal doesn't penetrate too well. That would eliminate the need to simulcast WYDE-FM on AM 1260, too, since that was Crawford's reasoning behind the AM simulcast (to fill in coverage for areas south of Birmingham such as Shelby county). WGIB and WQEM's signals already overlap, so swapping 101.5 for 92.5 would result in less signal overlap, and give Glen Iris coverage to the northwest of Birmingham. Plus...both groups would have signals in close proximity to each other as far as dial position goes- WGIB could promote theirs as "92 FM" and WYDE as "101 FM".


_________________________
Radio stations come and go.
Does anything last forever?
www.PassTheWord.net

 

[tomservo]

That would eliminate the need to simulcast WYDE-FM on AM 1260, too, since that was Crawford's reasoning behind the AM simulcast (to fill in coverage for areas south of Birmingham such as Shelby county).

Now why would Crawford wanna dump a musical simulcast from 1260 when they have that wonderful new HD digital stuff going for them?

[insert maniacal laughter here]

 

[robbie roundhouse]

**You'd have to think that Cox Radio would find something more interesting to do with WNCB 97.3. Is 'New Country' really needed now that WZZK has regained a solid lead over The Bull?

**How long will Citadel run any live shows on WSPZ 690? The now solo morning show (hosted by the boring Scott Griffin) can't be long for this world considering the ease of clearing ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike In the Morning" in its place. You could really get away with nothing but syndicated shows on 690, which is how I'd have done it in the first place. "ESPN 690", anyone?

Two very good questions. I think enough people in Birmingham are familiar with various parts of the ESPN lineup that 690 can feel comfortable making the switch to all ESPN. I would bet though that the program director would have to think long and hard about what to do between 8 and 11 - ESPN Radio or the new Dan Patrick Show?

As for Cox - I wouldn't be surprised if two stations in that building undergo either a full flip or a programming tweak. The one thing to know/remember about the Beacon Parkway building is they totally pop a boner for competing with Clear Channel. So, while it might make sense to tweak the Eagle to staright ahead classic rock to compete with 99.5, it is more likely someone will decide 103.7 has to go down.

 

[whit979]

As for Cox - I wouldn't be surprised if two stations in that building undergo either a full flip or a programming tweak. The one thing to know/remember about the Beacon Parkway building is they totally pop a boner for competing with Clear Channel. So, while it might make sense to tweak the Eagle to staright ahead classic rock to compete with 99.5, it is more likely someone will decide 103.7 has to go down.

Rumors were circulating on message boards last year that they were gonna flip 97.3 to CHR. Do you think that's a real possibility?

 

[Nate Wesley]

That does sound like a really good idea for Glen Iris and Crawford to swap the 92.5 and 101.5 frequencies. Crawford could simulcast 101.1 with 101.5 and use WQEM to fill in areas south of Birmingham that the main WYDE signal doesn't penetrate too well. That would eliminate the need to simulcast WYDE-FM on AM 1260, too, since that was Crawford's reasoning behind the AM simulcast (to fill in coverage for areas south of Birmingham such as Shelby county). WGIB and WQEM's signals already overlap, so swapping 101.5 for 92.5 would result in less signal overlap, and give Glen Iris coverage to the northwest of Birmingham. Plus...both groups would have signals in close proximity to each other as far as dial position goes- WGIB could promote theirs as "92 FM" and WYDE as "101 FM".

You described my thinking exactly. It makes too much sense.

101.5 would make a nice commercial station targeting Shelby County, so I'm not surprised that GIB gets offers for it. While I recognize GIB's religious broadcasting mission, WQEM is really being wasted in their hands.

 

[robbie roundhouse]

Rumors were circulating on message boards last year that they were gonna flip 97.3 to CHR. Do you think that's a real possibility?

To be fair, that rumor seems to pop up every six or seven months since WODL moved to that frequency, but yeah. I would say it's a real possiblity unless Cox decides it might cut into Jamz.