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WOHF 92.1 "The Wolf" - Format Change

R

RF Man

WOHF 92.1 "The Wolf" Changed formats today. The Station owned by BAS Broadcasting is licensed to Bellevue and serves the Sandusky market. The new "Oldies" format replaces the Classic Rock format which had been on the air since BAS Broadcasting took over operations of the former WNRR owned by Bob Ladd. Bas Broadcasting is based in Fremont and owns stations in that market as well as Mount Vernon/Mansfield.
 
I think it sounds great...I'm happy to finally have Oldies back in the region...thoughts?
 
It was probably a good idea to change formats. You can find classic rock from several different stations, including Sandusky/Clyde, Cleveland and Toledo.
It doesn't really seem like a true Oldies format though...It almost seems like a mixture of oldies and Classic Hits.
It sounds ok though.
 
It was a great move. If im not mistaken, I had brought this up quite sometime ago to people at BAS and they said...Classic Rock is where its at. Alas, you see!
 
It was a smart move. Ironically they're now recieving the same oldies feed from Dallas(?) that WNCG(the old 100.9)subscribed to before it went "Mini Majic" around 8 years ago & that station had a lot of listenership. Schools, churches & lots of mom & pop businesses will advertise, as with AOR they won't. Only thing is they need to get a new jingle package, the one they're running says "Classic Rock...92 point one...The Wolf"...which they aren't Classic Rock & it sounds goofy with those jingles going into a 5th Dimension song. Plus at least they're not 2 notches down the dial from Cruisin' 100 like WNCG used to be. 93.5 & 105.7 are the only competition now.
 
I listened in again today...I really like it...70's based but playing some 80's and 60's...much like MJI at 105.7...the line they are using is Classic Rock and Roll
and Good Time Rock and Roll...web site says it as well...I think it's a great move...
LKR at 95.3 changed as well not long ago...to a AAA or maybe a Jack or Ted sounding format...
all great for the market and a good fit against a CPZ who has a terrible signal for a 50,000 watt station...
went onto Radiolocator.com the otherday and saw that nearly 50% of CPZ's signal is entertaining the fish in Lake Erie...the signal they do have barely covers Erie County...Go LKR...
 
Now would be the perfect time for 1450AM WLEC to make the move & go back to a 60's - present Oldies/AC format like it had in the early 90's & even have a Sunday night "American Music Classics" show similar to the one George Mayer had some years ago to keep the big band swingers somewhat happy. Erie County lost a news giant & when the bombarding of sports began it just added salt to the wound. Plus doing it now would make the public "think" that the new owners (Good Radio.TV) made the change in the community's favor. The morning show could still talk high school sports 'til their heads turn into soccer balls(like they did on the old music format anyway), but just not waste such a clear frequency on 24-7 talking about intramural ping pong, the Women's Football League & airing play by play girls high school softball. At least it would be profitable & listenable again & a little competition for WOLF.
 
I agree Carlos...LEC should go back to standards and news...at least they did that well...and the station was a well respected station...now..it's a joke...the content is pathetic...you have to wonder who oversees the formats ...cause if they are paying attention..they must hear something different then most people I talk too.
 
I didn't mean go back to the crooners & big bands, I meant go to "Light Easy Classics"...light Beatles, Lightfoot, America, light Buffet, James Taylor, Nicolette Larson, Crystal Gayle, John Mayer, etc, but still have the big band stuff as a feature one or 2 nights a week to keep the antique community foghorns from going off. I believe any light hit format on WLEC now would be a step in the profitable direction.
 
Theoretically, WLEC should have just segued into a basic news/talk format. That alone would not have decimated the news department (which now is only Steve Schnoffer, as Dave Wiedenheft's position was never filled...) Hell, it was at the time a CC station, so any of their shows (Rush, Beck, C2C, etc.) would have fit in. Even without any real problems from either WTAM to the east or WSPD to the west.

Approach it like WMAN in Mansfield does, where they are indeed a small town station, but isolated enough to support more local programming than most (7 hours or so every day, let alone the nightly sports PBP). Now, why did they never go with a talk format after years and years under CC control? Who knows?

- Nathan Obral
 
WLEC in Sandusky may even do well as a news/talk during the day & a light hits with a classic urban flavor at night to serve the black community of Sandusky. May sound like a shocker to some, but hey, if WLKR can go Goth WLEC could go Soul! Sandusky has a large middle age black community. Black Church programs have run for years on Sundays on LEC which means blacks are some of the few who have lasted and are actually advertising on that station anymore. The rest advertising sound like either an iota of regular advertisers, sponsored high school games(seasonal), or trade outs/package deals that came grandfathered from the FM's. Really though, they should've known from the start the only ones who would enjoy 1450 the way it is now is maybe 2% of the males in Erie County + the announcers themselves + relatives of children playing sports who can't make it to the games + one guy from Dayton. It's a shame but the masses just don't want to hear all sports in that area, especially when it's talk of high school fantasy leagues.
 
Carlos...I worked for WNCG. Why did so many people listen to that station as you claim? I'm not questioning you. I simply wonder because working for WNCG in Clyde, it was hard to gauge who exactly listened. Clyde wasn't really in any sizeable market.

What do you like about ABC SMN's oldies format that 92.1 FM is running now? What's good about it? My favorite jock is Ron Foster. That guy is hilarious. He is one person who makes the format fun to listen to.
 
Biz- The feed just has a fun flavor & since the 'NCG/Majic days, it's evolved into 60's, 70's & a touch of 80's w/o the 50's doo-wop which is good. the overall feel makes the listener "safe" that their kids won't hear anything offensive, it's easy to play in backgrounds of restaurants, busses,businesses that advertise & proudly listen for their spot to air & not have to tune out. It was much better when 100.9 became WMJK because that "mini Majic" had a localized feel & they did away with the satellite. I like Ron Foster too, but it just sounds so "beamed in". Satellite or not, it still has an "Americana" feel that cultured families can show their kids music from a more innocent age. More marketable now than ever and IMO in this area since it's so scarce & you have 10 country & 10 aor stations to choose from & only 2 oldies. Bad move on a certain CC GM's part to come in, change WMJK to a slim AOR music library(which still has grandfathered "Brown Eyed Girl" from it's Majic days every 12 hours), and then leave the station & move on. Along with school closings, (what familie's gonna listen for school/business closings between feeds of Bob & Tom's adult content? I just think it's more colorful but would be even moreso if it were localized so they could throw in an occasional beach report, local news, fishing report, local giveaways, something the region lacks. Formats like that even make money off churches who find the "good time rock-n-roll oldies" a safe thing to listen to. It makes for a great backbone of a "full service" format.
 
cARLOS Blake said:
Biz- The feed just has a fun flavor & since the 'NCG/Majic days, it's evolved into 60's, 70's & a touch of 80's w/o the 50's doo-wop which is good. the overall feel makes the listener "safe" that their kids won't hear anything offensive, it's easy to play in backgrounds of restaurants, busses,businesses that advertise & proudly listen for their spot to air & not have to tune out. It was much better when 100.9 became WMJK because that "mini Majic" had a localized feel & they did away with the satellite. I like Ron Foster too, but it just sounds so "beamed in". Satellite or not, it still has an "Americana" feel that cultured families can show their kids music from a more innocent age. More marketable now than ever and IMO in this area since it's so scarce & you have 10 country & 10 aor stations to choose from & only 2 oldies. Bad move on a certain CC GM's part to come in, change WMJK to a slim AOR music library(which still has grandfathered "Brown Eyed Girl" from it's Majic days every 12 hours), and then leave the station & move on. Along with school closings, (what familie's gonna listen for school/business closings between feeds of Bob & Tom's adult content? I just think it's more colorful but would be even moreso if it were localized so they could throw in an occasional beach report, local news, fishing report, local giveaways, something the region lacks. Formats like that even make money off churches who find the "good time rock-n-roll oldies" a safe thing to listen to. It makes for a great backbone of a "full service" format.
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WOHF does many of things you describe as localized. They are very active in the region with live remotes from all over the North Coast. They also have live local news several times a day with an entire half hour broadcast during the noon hour. They have also given away locally several items to listeners including a jet ski most recently. If anything is to be changed my opinion is they need to drop some of the small town news stories and become a little more regional with their coverage.
 
BizDecision said:
Define "regional." That area is a little different. It's just outside the Toledo market. What would you cover?
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More headline news from the communities it serves. Less cat rescued type stuff.
 
Any local news is good news-especially of it's "breaking news" & there's someone actually in the building to throw it on the air. That would build early credibility w/ WOHF's new change. If 92.1 plays their cards right & promotes local news/traffic/weather/beach/fishing/ski reports & fun oldies & maybe do some t.v ads like their sister the Eagle, they may really make some money with that. I always thought 92.1 was a gold mine if the right format came along & their rates have to be cheaper than Elyria Lorain & CC. Back to their local news thing, they would also be smart to pour it on now since the Sandusky ClearChannel trio has cut way back on local news. Unlike WLKR 102.7fm now has only morning news & a short pre noon news minute Aft. Drive has only traffic, no local or even a minute of national news-same(I believe) with the rock station 100.9-only a psa pool segment. 1450 am has their old ex-listeners trained to tune in only for morning news/vital statistics in the morning & then tune back out/turn off their radios because of the tsunami of sports talk. 1450 still does CBS then local news a couple times in the afternoon/early evening along with stocks. Not much for anyone but a gung ho sports fanatic to stay tuned in for. Hopefully 92.1 has stopped running FM auto racing :)
 
92.1's "sound" has improved tremendously. Every now and then, I drive through that area. I remember when a few years ago, it sounded like the announcer was talking in a can. There was some odd reverb going on.

With respect to news, the lost pet stuff would be a little off but I don't think there's much "breaking news" material there. However, I agree with Carlos in that a good local news effort would be a huge boost. There's good sized corporations there like Whirlpool and others. There's got to be stuff happening.
 
I was the first News Director of 92.1 (WNRR) right after we built the place
and was one of Bob Ladd's "original full time four."
Back then we did a 10 minute local newscast
and I can tell you that it wasn't always easy filling it....
yet Bob and I always did.
There wasn't exactly much "big city" news going on...
but if you were observant and a bit creative...
you could write enough to get the job done.
The signal then was also a lot less than the 6 kw & HAAT they now have.

Bill Weisinger
www.SundayOldiesJukebox.com
www.WeisingerEngineering.com
 
WWES- So you guys were the ones who hooked up the old cart carousels? I remember helping fill in one morning on that station & Bob had the station rigged with "fake stereo". He built a unit that made the stereo light on your home radio light up but it really wasn't true stereo :DThose carts were all mono & he had the reverb CRANKED to possibly attempt making up for the poor processing. Then when c.ds came along he had a couple home model Pioneers with the casings ripped off of them rigged up to it all running Century 21 HitDiscs. Man was that studio trashed! I believe if he would've kept that station, got some backers & some good processing (and someone who knew how to program CHR) they'd be doing fine as WNRR(Norfolk Rail Road) I believe?
 
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