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WLNK Debuts Revamped Morning Mix with Matt Harris & Friends

Will be interesting how this new mix of personalities works out on 107.9, as the long time dynamics of this show has always been the pairing of Matt and Ramona for well over 20 years. They had a good run in the afternoons before replacing longtime legends Bob and Sheri in the mornings who moved to 104.7. But it seems a good promotion for Ramona Holloway who will be community affairs director for the entire Radio One cluster, including WBT. She has also been a local TV host on WCCB News Edge and fill in on the lifestyle talk shows on WCNC and WBTV.

And perhaps they could consider adding Brigida Mack to the mix, who has filled in previously for Ramona and was a popular news anchor on WSOC, WBTV, and most recently WJZY. Not sure why things never worked out for her long term at these TV stations, as she seemed to be a popular personality.
 
I still think it was a mistake letting Bob & Sheri go. WKQC has been stronger in mornings than WLNK since B&S made the switch. I personally think WLNK's ratings will decline with Matt and Ramona no longer paired. Happy that Ramona was promoted, but it will be hard to recreate that chemistry in the morning show.
 
tylerSC said:
She has also been a local TV host on WCCB News Edge and fill in on the lifestyle talk shows on WCNC and WBTV.
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Morgan Fogarty started out on WHQC and is now the anchor on WCCB. Co-anchor, but I get the impression that while the "senior" co-anchor is usually a man, she is the "senior" here. But then she has a face for TV.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Morgan Fogarty started out on WHQC and is now the anchor on WCCB. Co-anchor, but I get the impression that while the "senior" co-anchor is usually a man, she is the "senior" here. But then she has a face for TV.
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I miss Maureen O'Boyle on WBTV. She was good.
And Matt will have a void to fill without Ramona everyday, despite the addition of his new "friends."
 
Ramona told the Charlotte Observer feature story she was exhausted and unable to manage the transition from afternoons to morning show, and it was her request to leave the program after its move to mornings. Radio One honored her request and offered her the new position. And she stated it was never her idea to bump Bob and Sheri from their longtime legacy time slot in the morning on 107.9. Which was indeed a Radio One business decision as they retooled the station and modified the format. Apparently Bob and Sheri are now doing just fine on 104.7, leaving Matt Harris and Friends to maintain the morning show on 107.9, with Ramona making guest appearances on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
 
Don't normally catch much of the morning show, but overall the music mix seems to have improved in the past week or so.
 
Subjective, but more uptempo and more songs I like lately. I had heard they were making some adjustments on the music playlist based upon listener feedback.
 
vchimpanzee said:
I would think they'd go softer considering there are two CHRs and no other AC doing currents.
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I wonder about the long term strategy with WLNK. They do a good job with the AC format. But ratings have been fair to middlin in recent years. And they have lost legacy talent as Bob and Sheri departed, and Matt lost Ramona, except for guest appearances. I wonder if 107.9 could be better utilized as a stronger FM outlet for WBT, since AM radio is declining and more AM talkers are moving to FM nationwide. Such as WSB in Atlanta now on 95.5, and WORD in the Upstate now on blowtorch 98.9. Moving to 107.9 would give WBT a much stronger signal covering the total Charlotte market, and neighboring regions such as Greenville-Spartanburg and Greensboro. 99.3 only covers part of Charlotte, Gastonia, Shelby, and part of Spartanburg. Seems like 107.9 would be a much stronger fit for WBT. But the issue remains where would they move WLNK, or could the format be sacrificed? Remember, they no longer have Bob and Sheri or Matt and Ramona to support. Maybe Matt could move to a talk show on WBT or sports talk on WFNZ. Just a thought observing AM to FM trends nationwide. And remember originally, 107.9 was WBT-FM, although I think separate formats through the years.
 
vchimpanzee said:
But then Charlotte would be without an AC, unless K-104.7 started playing currents or at least songs from this century.
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Perhaps somebody would step up and fill the void, either K-104.7 or 102.9 the Lake. One could remain more variety hits while the other could move to more AC.

But if not 107.9, it would still be nice if WBT could find a stronger FM signal to cover more of the total market. That seems to be a national trend as AM is declining and possibly facing removal from certain vehicles.
 
No need WBT is doing just fine as is. Eliminating the current format on WLNK would also eliminate another format they can sell to advertisers and that's not going to happen.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
No need WBT is doing just fine as is. Eliminating the current format on WLNK would also eliminate another format they can sell to advertisers and that's not going to happen.
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WBT indeed seems to be doing well in recent ratings and demographics. And the morning show is apparently now top rated. But it would just be nice if they had a stronger FM signal that covered more of the total market, as 99.3 only reaches Gastonia, Shelby, and down to Spartanburg. This seems to be a recent national trend, such as with WSB Atlanta on 95.5 and WORD moving to 98.9 in the Upstate. But you have a good point regarding advertisers, but would WBT increase its advertising and billing with a stronger FM signal?
 
Someday in the not-too-distant future, all the highly-profitable AM powerhouses will need an FM simulcast. You can't allow these stations to miss potential listeners because most people under 50 never tune in AM radio. Even when WBT's ratings were so-so, it was still one of Charlotte's top billing stations, if not #1.

For now, I guess WBT is content with its Class A FM simulcast on 99.3, even though it misses more than half of the Charlotte market. Eventually, WBT will have to simulcast on 107.7 and WLNK will go on 99.3.
 
Gregg. said:
For now, I guess WBT is content with its Class A FM simulcast on 99.3, even though it misses more than half of the Charlotte market. Eventually, WBT will have to simulcast on 107.7 and WLNK will go on 99.3.
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107.9, and that sounds like the same thing that happened to AC in Greenville.
 
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