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WOKV moves to 104.5 FM...now what is next for 106.5 FM & the WFYV calls?

J

JAWilson

Since now the retirement of Rock 104.5, the stunting and the official move over WOKV to 104.5 has now been completed. I figure it would be a good thing for us to put talk of 106.5 on to a new thread since the Rock 104.5 retirement thread is over 30 pages deep. Also what will happen to the WFYV calls since now WOKV-FM will soon park its calls here? Questions that remain to be answered.

----
My two cents:

Whatever goes on 106.5 is going to be interesting and I think Cox made the right call to move WOKV over to 104.5 FM. Just a no brainer on this one considering the trend of News-Talk moving over to higher wattage FM's in the last few years. I will give Cox an A for really having us on edge and then surprising us with WOKV.
 
ok i cannot begin to explain how ****ing stupid of a move that is talk belongs on am music on fm this is bullshit and i am not happy the news is for jax only who cares to hear that shit in saint augustine gainsville daytona bullshit **** the move they ****ed up
 
It may be a "trend" but it's rarely successful in lowering the age of the demos or expanding the audience share - which is shrinking.

I remain unconvinced moving the same increasingly less popular programming to FM is anything more than a feel good move on the part of companies not willing to deal with talk's long term demographic problem.
 
I knew all along this is where 104.5 was headed; however I was not at liberty to let on I knew the real plan although I did hint to the fact. This trend has proven to be highly successful for Cox Radio with WDBO-FM 96.5 Orlando and with WSBB-FM 95.5 Atlanta. With the gradual decline in the former Rock 104.5 ratings, and classic/mainstream rock in general, this is a brilliant move on Cox Radio Jacksonville's part since vast improvements were realized when WOKV-FM first appeared on the smaller 106.5 signal. With the bigger 100kw signal, Cox will realize even bigger success with an already proven news-talk formula heard for years on WOKV-AM 690 and WOKV-FM 106.5.
 
Whether anyone likes it or not, talk is the future of FM.

The demos issue is the elephant in the room, but short term success is being found simply because talk is cheaper to run than music due to royalties. I don't know what the Jax radio dial is like, but Birmingham may be a vision of your future: It has 3 talk stations on FM and 3 sports stations (two full power, one via translators). That's six stations out of just 24 viable metro commercial signals. That about 25% of the FM dial taken up by talk, not including the two NPR stations or the handful of religious preaching stations in the noncomm band.

All is not necessarily lost for music fans, however. Displaced music formats have found their way back on to FM in Birmingham via four different translators relaying HD-2/3 signals. The same thing is happening in other markets like Montgomery and Atlanta. I'm frankly surprised the venerable rock format didn't immediately show up on 106.5.
 
I was not surprised on the news/talk move with 104.5. I for one listen to WDBO on fm here in orlando and I enjoy it. The one good thing about having constant weather reports on fm is during bad weather you don't have all the crackling coming over it. From memory 690 was not all that bad during the day but at night you can forget it outside of jacksonville. I was at the Florida School for the Def and Blind for 7 years in St. Augustine and I never found a radio to get 690 at night in that area. As for 106.5 I really don't have any ideas. My guess would be either easy or power. That just seems logical at the moment.
 
690 is very directional at night, I hear you there

I can sometimes pick it up here but not often.

-Rob
 
That 690 signal is incredible during the day. I was always impressed how you could pick them up in Coastal North Carolina during the day. I wonder how much longer they keep WOKV on 690. I really hope they don't go all sports. That's what Cox did with 580 in Orlando..a huge signal with a format that can be heard on three other frequencies.

If 690 changes, wouldn't it be great to have an oldies format on there? The Big Ape..I know the FM still uses it, but that just screams a high energy oldies format!
 
jmtillery said:
I knew all along this is where 104.5 was headed; however I was not at liberty to let on I knew the real plan although I did hint to the fact. This trend has proven to be highly successful for Cox Radio with WDBO-FM 96.5 Orlando and with WSBB-FM 95.5 Atlanta. With the gradual decline in the former Rock 104.5 ratings, and classic/mainstream rock in general, this is a brilliant move on Cox Radio Jacksonville's part since vast improvements were realized when WOKV-FM first appeared on the smaller 106.5 signal. With the bigger 100kw signal, Cox will realize even bigger success with an already proven news-talk formula heard for years on WOKV-AM 690 and WOKV-FM 106.5.
Click to expand...

'DBO's numbers are in the shitter. The only reason the change was made in Orlando was to accommodate the Magic. I feel confident the same move was made in Jax to accommodate the Jaguars.

G
 
Regarding 106.5. A few months ago Cox put that soft AC "Dove" format on 106.1 before it became hip hop. Wouldn't it make sense to put that format on 106.5?
 
I don't know how translators work from a legal sense. Can Power remain @106.1 since the brand has been established, avoid listener confusion etc., and simulcast on 106.5 as well? If that happened, Power would be a "real" station with its' own calls. Billing would probably get better and listeners who can't hear 106.1 may be able to hear it on 106.5 and vice-versa.

I've often talked about the importance of listener-centric decisions. There is no doubt, for those who enjoy WOKV but had trouble hearing the station or who would never think of tuning in AM, this move was a good one. For a number of us who are just looking for that one music station we can call our own, so far it isn't a very happy day.

Still, we live in a great technological age. I'm listening to WFEZ right now. I see a lot of merits in an Easy format. It's enjoying renewed popularity and it is viable in the money demo - when done right. Cox has done it right. I really was hoping Jacksonville would finally have a really good station on a very powerful stick. That won't be. Maybe we'll get crumbs or we won't get anything else in this deal. Really, nothing has really changed. :mad:
 
As to the Jags, if you ran all 16 games a season together, you'd have a little over 48 hours of actual play. I doubt that 48 hours a year (other chit-chat about the Jags aside) would be a reason to move a 100k FM there.

Like was said above, to avoid music royalties and such, look for even more talk or sports on FM. Nature of the beast. Such is radio in the 2010s.

I'm not in the biz, but I wouldn't be surprised to see another sports talker on 106.5. Really.

And....I don't see 690 changing for years and years. They'll have their Myrtle Beach & Bunnell audience.

cd
 
cd637299 said:
They'll have their Myrtle Beach & Bunnell audience.
cd
Click to expand...
104½ gets into Bunnell full time.
Sorry, Myrtle loses!
 
JohnJax said:
I don't know how translators work from a legal sense. Can Power remain @106.1 since the brand has been established, avoid listener confusion etc., and simulcast on 106.5 as well? If that happened, Power would be a "real" station with its' own calls. Billing would probably get better and listeners who can't hear 106.1 may be able to hear it on 106.5 and vice-versa.
Click to expand...

Yes, this would be legal as long as the translator's 60dBu is entirely contained within the 60dBu of 106.5 or is entirely contained within the 60dBu of another facility's HD signal playing the same format. But, since 106.1 has established itself as a bona-fide contender with enough signal to unseat the market's high powered dominant station, why not program some different format on it rather than waste the signal by simulcasting?
 
Kmagrill is right, why waste the 106.5 signal considering if you put the coverage maps of 106.1 and 106.5 side by side they are very close to the same in a lot of ways. Now the question is what kind of format is Cox willing to put on 106.5 that can be decent to draw ratings and have some revenue potential? The Soft AC format is one of them, but I am sure there are other options they are studying as well.
 
I noticed yesterday that the stereo pilot of 106.5 was on the air for the first time in almost 7 years so the next format for this frequency will most likely will be music based.
 
stevensonair said:
It may be a "trend" but it's rarely successful in lowering the age of the demos or expanding the audience share - which is shrinking.
Click to expand...

Actually, WTOP and KSL nearly doubled their 25-54 audience almost immediately after beginning operation on FM. KTAR and KIRO show good results, and Cox sisters KRMG and WDBO have improved considerably in the money demo since getting an FM stick.

There are others, however, that have seen different results. What it really boils down to is that good talk works, bad talk doesn't. Being on FM alone won't make younger people listen to bad programming, but those who won't tune to AM for any reason will be happy to tune in good talk programming on FM. If WOKV provides what people want and/or need, it should see growth similar to the stations I mentioned rather than being another KOGO, an also-ran that failed to gain ground and ultimately went away.
 
upstate29651 said:
jmtillery said:
I knew all along this is where 104.5 was headed; however I was not at liberty to let on I knew the real plan although I did hint to the fact. This trend has proven to be highly successful for Cox Radio with WDBO-FM 96.5 Orlando and with WSBB-FM 95.5 Atlanta. With the gradual decline in the former Rock 104.5 ratings, and classic/mainstream rock in general, this is a brilliant move on Cox Radio Jacksonville's part since vast improvements were realized when WOKV-FM first appeared on the smaller 106.5 signal. With the bigger 100kw signal, Cox will realize even bigger success with an already proven news-talk formula heard for years on WOKV-AM 690 and WOKV-FM 106.5.
Click to expand...

'DBO's numbers are in the shitter. The only reason the change was made in Orlando was to accommodate the Magic. I feel confident the same move was made in Jax to accommodate the Jaguars.

G
Click to expand...

I respectfully disagree with you on all counts. WDBO News-Talk moved to the FM band because Cox needed a 100kw stick to effectively compete with the other stations for the 25-54 target demo, and the numbers are right on target where they should be in comparison to the previous WHTQ numbers, and the numbers will continue to improve. Hence the reason WOKV moved to the larger 100kw stick in Jacksonville. The Jaguars had nothing to do with the move. It was solely for the purpose of bringing an established highly rated and high demand Jacksonville product to as many listeners as possible on the FM band. And, same as with WHTQ Orlando, WFYV was chosen as the "sacraficial lamb" becauise Rock 104.5 had the lowest of the lowest FM numbers.
 
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