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

[davideduardo]

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

And that out of metro audience can't be monetized, so from a business perspective, it is useless.

 

[JaxRadioFan]

It was a very interesting week listening to WFYV and reading the play by play postings. I must admit, I was eager to find out what the new format was going to be and wanted to hear it live. I did catch the last song played and the stunting begin. When I heard that, it brought memories of when 106.5 stunted with a similar stunt with 4 or 5 different formats and as you know WOKV came on after that. So I thought, I thought, WOKV's going to get 104.5. When I woke up yesterday morning to hear that was the case, I was happy about it and not surprised. The Jaguar games will now be on a 100kw signal on FM which I like, even though I can't stand Brian Sexton's play calling. It comes in load and clear in my office building and will no long need to rely on my smart phone to the stream. I hope we get a dove like music station on 106.5 and did anyone notice that on the tunin app, 690 shows Kix country classics? What's up with that? I think it is a station from Alabama.

 

[John FL]

Moving news/talk from AM to FM certainly saw positive results overall. Today, we are seeing news/talk formats positioned on the biggest local signals as was done with WOKV. Similar to financial disclaimers, past success does not always guarantee future results. It’s the safe move. I’m thinking this move is all about protecting a sizeable investment and giving WOKV a B-12 shot. There will be a bump in the short run but a number of circumstances have changed since WOKV first came to FM.

Listeners who experienced static or who are outside the coverage area of 106.5 will see a benefit. There is potential to attract new and younger listeners too. (Think of all the presets from Rock 104.5) Reality is any station or format that moves to a full Class C given our land area will benefit.

WOKV has a large local presence and with that comes a heavy duty payroll. With revenue pressures, that larger stick will probably translate into higher ad rates. I’m not of the opinion that this move is brilliant because we would have to analyze future results/impacts before we could make that statement. You can put me in the cautiously optimistic column.

My concerns are these. WOKV is a very popular station but their stock has dropped a bit. Across the country conservative talk is declining in popularity. Neal Boortz's retirement too adds to some of the challenges. Agree or disagree with him, at least Neal had a sense of humor and he was entertaining. He gave it to both sides and I think the average person feels that way too. N.E. Florida is still conservative overall but there has been an influx of new residents from a good number of N.E. blue states. If you look at voting results, Duval is now considered a battleground area and not a slam dunk for the GOP. These are challenges for the long run.

The very formidable task at hand is to attract younger demos. That won’t be easy. Their best shot IMHO is with Jacksonville’s Morning News. It’s their best program not only because it's brilliantly produced but because it’s the least polarizing for the community served. We hear an awful lot today about the low information voter. TV news viewing is down considerably. The loyal viewers tend to be the older ones. Often I hear people simply want to be entertained. WOKV already had a place on FM and was doing well. The expectation is they can probably perform even better. With fewer people seeming to care much about being informed, there is now more availability reaching people who do.

There was a lot of speculation as to what format would replace Rock 104.5. Simply, Cox went with the known, proven quantity and took the least risk as a result. On Page 2, Upstate29651 provided a link to a radio insight article that I could have written myself. They make a very compelling case as I have been doing as well that Jacksonville really doesn’t have a classic “pop” hits station and there is only 1 AC in the market. Talk about format holes and programming opportunities!

People should not be turned off by the brand “Easy” because listeners don’t care what a format is called, but rather it’s all about the content. Had Cox introduced Easy 104.5 to market, extensive marketing and promotional dollars would have been required. There would have been a lot of unknown variables so as I said before Cox played it safe. Still, in my opinion Easy 104.5 would have been brilliantly programmed and imaged because I really don’t expect anything less from Cox. I believe too the market would have embraced the format and Easy would prove a formidable competitor and a strong addition to the Cox cluster, especially among woman 35+.

So that leaves 106.5. If Easy winds up there, it will earn a few shares and act more like a spoiler. I would doubt a talent roster would eventually be in place and I doubt the format would ever reach the kind of potential it could reach. Still, it’s better than nothing. If anything else winds up at 106.5, it will probably mean format bias once again won out.

 

[Ai4i]

Didn't Tampa's "Dove" originally have a lot of artist overlap with WKTZ, not a FULL signal, but one which seems to cover Jacksonville?

 

[shel777]

When oh when will AM ever die out? About 20 years ago, Canada began to move its national network, the CBC, over to FM. And unlike America, any kind of station can exist on 88.1 to 91.9; not just religious, non-commercial, and college stations. Canada is obviously more progressive, where we are stuck in another century, where an unbelievable amount of AM stations must have complex and expensive antenna patterns in order to protect each other from signal clashes, whereas most FM stations are omnidirectional.

Cox's WDBO sounds so much better on FM, as does WOKV. It's just too bad WOKV is 100 conservative-formatted. WOKV is why I listen to WJCT-FM on HD1, which, by the way, has excellent signal processing, whereas most NPR stations run a flat signal. WJCT is a pleasure to listen to, and without 20% of its airtime clogged up with screaming commercials.

 

[Ai4i]

You might not have WJCT-HD2 if there were no reserved band.

 

[cd637299]

Didn't Tampa's "Dove" originally have a lot of artist overlap with WKTZ, not a FULL signal, but one which seems to cover Jacksonville?

WDUV used to be on 103.3 & licensed to Bradenton, your basic B/EZ station. Couldn't see why it wouldn't overlap w/ WKTZ (Percy Faith, 101 Strings, Ronnie Aldrich, et al.) WKTZ used to be on 96.1 & commercial, and they have never changed, even on 90.9 now (except of course for dropping the ads), which suits me fine!

cd

 

[Gregg]

Should AM Talk stations simulcast on FM? Cox thinks so. They've found FM simulcasts for nearly all their AM Talk stations... not just Jacksonville, Orlando and Atlanta but even places like Tulsa and Dayton.

Meanwhile Clear Channel dosn't seem to think so anymore. They've discontinued FM simulcasts on their Talk stations in San Diego, going with Rhythmic Oldies, and Tuscon, going with Country.

With the audience for Rush, Hannity, etc. aging, does it really make sense to put formats built around syndicated Conservative Talk hosts on FM? Maybe Cox should have left WOKV's simulcast on 106.5 and put youthful male talk The Bone on 104.5. Maybe kept the WFYV call letters and some of the staff. It seems to be working well in Tampa. WHPT has better overall ratings than WFLA, and certainly younger demographics. But I don't think it makes any sense now to put The Bone at 106.5.

I think Cox will try a Very Soft AC format similar to WFEZ Miami and WDUV Tampa. Remember the Jacksonville area HAD a Very Soft AC format on 94.1 WSOS before it went Classic Rock. WDUV is always #1 in Tampa. WFEZ is currently #4 in Miami. Seems logical to try it in Jacksonville.

 

[Ai4i]

I think I had confused WKTZ's music format with that of their AM, WJAX (1220).
'KTZ was on 96.1 back when I was at UF, Gainesville.

 

[TommyR]

I don't think anybody would give two hoots if a new format overlapped with WJAX. Sometimes I wonder if the college remembers they own it. The performance of their automation suggests not.

Sunny 94.1 could have become something if it were left to grow, but it was tweaked so many times, so quickly, it basically became WEJZ with 1-2 fewer currents an hour.

If Chesapeake-Portsmouth were to find a way to move 1600 The Beach (True Oldies Channel, except when preempted for fishing talk and live racing) to FM, do you think there would be a measurable response?

 

[upstate29651]

When oh when will AM ever die out? About 20 years ago, Canada began to move its national network, the CBC, over to FM. And unlike America, any kind of station can exist on 88.1 to 91.9; not just religious, non-commercial, and college stations. Canada is obviously more progressive, where we are stuck in another century, where an unbelievable amount of AM stations must have complex and expensive antenna patterns in order to protect each other from signal clashes, whereas most FM stations are omnidirectional.

Cox's WDBO sounds so much better on FM, as does WOKV. It's just too bad WOKV is 100 conservative-formatted. WOKV is why I listen to WJCT-FM on HD1, which, by the way, has excellent signal processing, whereas most NPR stations run a flat signal. WJCT is a pleasure to listen to, and without 20% of its airtime clogged up with screaming commercials.

Two different nations, one MUCH larger in population than the other. Apples & oranges.

G

 

[davideduardo]

Two different nations, one MUCH larger in population than the other. Apples & oranges.

On the "other" border, Mexico's congress passed a bill that said that since AM was essentially no longer viable, and to protect the investments and the jobs found at foundering AMs, as many as possible would be moved to FM.

In that country of 110,000,000 about 85% of all AMs are moving to FM. After a transition period, the AMs will go silent and the facilities will not be relicensed. And, except in rural areas with non-Spanish speaking indigenous populations, no new AMs will be granted.

This parallels comparable actions taken in many parts of Europe and the rest of the world.

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

Yes, but let's not forget the # of stations each country has total (AM&FM)...

Mexico: 1,410
Canada: 669
United States: 15,196

 

[davideduardo]

Yes, but let's not forget the # of stations each country has total (AM&FM)...

Mexico: 1,410
Canada: 669
United States: 15,196

You have to take into account other things like the ratio of stations per thousand population, percentage of urban residents vs. rural, percentage of land neither arable nor otherwise usable, etc.

Ecuador, population 14 million, has over 400 radio stations. Los Angeles MSA, with 13 million, has 88. In Ecuador, AMs are being "retired" by the dozens.

And that is just one example. You can look at South Africa, Austria or about 100 of so other nations where it has been recognized that AM is no longer suitable for today's high concentration of man made interference as well as unable to serve rapidly expanding urban areas. So even seeming less-developed places like Jamaica and Guayana and Belize have seen AM disappear totally.

A good example of the challenges for AM in urban areas: 100 kw Radio 10 on 710 in Buenos Aires, Argentina realized that even with 100 kw they had noisy areas in the center of that 17 million population metro area; they purposely directionalized to push more of the signal at the city.

Few metro area US AMs today give good noise free coverage of their market.

 

[JH_Radio]

KYW doesn't in Philadelphia. WPHT does bettter but they are a bigger stick too

 

[nfladxer]

I don't think anybody would give two hoots if a new format overlapped with WJAX. Sometimes I wonder if the college remembers they own it. The performance of their automation suggests not.

Sunny 94.1 could have become something if it were left to grow, but it was tweaked so many times, so quickly, it basically became WEJZ with 1-2 fewer currents an hour.

If Chesapeake-Portsmouth were to find a way to move 1600 The Beach (True Oldies Channel, except when preempted for fishing talk and live racing) to FM, do you think there would be a measurable response?

 

[nfladxer]

Sunny 94.1 could have become something if it were left to grow, but it was tweaked so many times, so quickly, it basically became WEJZ with 1-2 fewer currents an hour.

If Chesapeake-Portsmouth were to find a way to move 1600 The Beach (True Oldies Channel, except when preempted for fishing talk and live racing) to FM, do you think there would be a measurable response?

Actually except for when Sunny 94.1 ran the John Tesh Radio Show in the evening, Sunny did NOT play any currents, only soft AC hits, mostly from the 70's and 80's, with a few 60's thrown in.

The fact that you ask about a real Classic Hits/Oldies station having an effect is certainly still a great question. A properly formatted "Greatest Hits" station, IMHO, could do quite well in some key demos, and would most likely pull some audience share from both WEJZ and The Eagle. The safer bet is to go Soft AC, and use the model of WFEZ as the template.

 

[TommyR]

In its final weeks (I think Tesh was gone at that point), they were more or less recycling WEJZ playlists.

I definitely think there is a bigger opening for easy oldies than the regular kind. And don't think the competition won't add a few if such a station takes off. As much as I enjoy an sometimes defend Classic Rock 94.1, Sunny would be doing just as well about now, IMO. Maybe sales likes this better so they can get some male-targeted business. I'll also be interested in hearing if 94.1 tweaks or adds more 90's than Man In The Box...

 

[Parttimer]

106.1 will move to 106.5 if Cox thinks that will produce the most billing.

If they follow their pattern in Orlando expect 690 to flip to ESPN in a few weeks.

 

[cd637299]

106.1 will move to 106.5 if Cox thinks that will produce the most billing.

If they follow their pattern in Orlando expect 690 to flip to ESPN in a few weeks.

I think that 1010 would have something to say about that......

cd