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WORST SC STATIONS OF ALL TIME

lite 103.9 under bob harrison was another failure. the peak at 93.3. 93.3 has had many failures. oldies on 93.7 and oldies on 106.3. sports talk on 1440 seems to be a failure as well. classic country on 660 was a failure too 1490 is not a failure if you own it.
 
98.9 Chick FM. Makes no sense given the fact that the signal is iffy over Charleston proper. When they were Spanish, at least they had a good portion of the market to themselves!

98X/98ROCK. A mish-mash of rock programming (which it can't be blamed for since it's the only rocker in town now). The thing that grinds my gears is its iffy sound quality. Compared to the Bridge which broadcasts from the same tower at about the same height/power combo, 98.1 has always sounded very quiet and seems like it lacks any processing. It has a good 10 mile shorter range than the Bridge in most places...its like they built it 25 years ago and nothing at the tx site has been changed since the Reagan administration.

Honorable mention:
Gator/Lucky Dog/Country/Bob 106.9: This station has rebranded 4 times in 4 years...they were fairly lucrative when they were a Hilton Head ONLY station on 104.9. They just can't compete against KIX 96. And the bizarre names every year reflect that.

103.1 the Drive: Despite covering Hilton Head, Beaufort, and much of Savannah proper, it has been a ratings flop since day one. I've guessed it's format is strictly there to protect Oldies 98.3 from getting a real competitor, but there are a half-dozen better formats I can imagine would do well on that signal.

Radio-X
 
STAR 103!
A prime example of the Bland leading the Bland, the worst Air Talent staff ever, Mindless Programming, and into the toliet, with the flusher handle down!
Never has there been a more missed/screwed oppertunity!
 
My vote goes for Shine 96.7 Greenville. What a waste of airwaves.
It'd be better if it simulcasted 96.5 Asheville or 96.7 Columbia or 96.9 Charlotte.
 
radiodxrichmond said:
98.9 Chick FM. Makes no sense given the fact that the signal is iffy over Charleston proper. When they were Spanish, at least they had a good portion of the market to themselves!

98X/98ROCK. A mish-mash of rock programming (which it can't be blamed for since it's the only rocker in town now). The thing that grinds my gears is its iffy sound quality. Compared to the Bridge which broadcasts from the same tower at about the same height/power combo, 98.1 has always sounded very quiet and seems like it lacks any processing. It has a good 10 mile shorter range than the Bridge in most places...its like they built it 25 years ago and nothing at the tx site has been changed since the Reagan administration.

Honorable mention:
Gator/Lucky Dog/Country/Bob 106.9: This station has rebranded 4 times in 4 years...they were fairly lucrative when they were a Hilton Head ONLY station on 104.9. They just can't compete against KIX 96. And the bizarre names every year reflect that.

103.1 the Drive: Despite covering Hilton Head, Beaufort, and much of Savannah proper, it has been a ratings flop since day one. I've guessed it's format is strictly there to protect Oldies 98.3 from getting a real competitor, but there are a half-dozen better formats I can imagine would do well on that signal.

Radio-X
Click to expand...
Chick FM was terrible. The whole concept screamed failure.

107.9 The Coast as soft AC was another disappointment, but I've heard worse. I remember them calling it "a day spa for your ears." Sounded like a combo of the old WLOW, 98.3, and 98.7. Terrible, but I really only listened shortly after their launch, so maybe they improved over time. I never understood what its purpose was, but has any station from Triad ever really had a clear one?

I can't believe 103.1 The Drive is still on the air. If they want to play classic hits so badly, like I've said over and over, plug WGCO in and simulcast it there again. Although extremely powerful in Savannah and to the south, 98.3 has significant signal issues in parts of Beaufort County, where it could probably do quite well. Sounds better than The Drive, but that's not saying much.
 
Star 105.3 in the mid to late 1990s. Didn't try, very poor marketing (only a few ads in the papers and some billboards), and music mix that was already repeated on two or three other stations.

WALI 93.7. Not knocking the station (it has very good programming and serves its niche well), but the guy running the station is uncreative. No online presence (not even a live stream), and the jingles have been the same for at least a decade, probably more. The owner probably reads 80% of the commercials, but a new owner or fresh minds in their ownership group could grow the station.

WTMZ back when they were 910 the Zone. Flipped it from the standards format that actually got the station a rating, to hot talk and sports, back when that format was hot. No local shows, Fox Sports Radio when it was just starting, and it tried Don and Mike during afternoon drive which nobody listened to. Had some sports rights, but after maybe two years or so they flipped it back to standards which worked until Citadel sold 910 to Kirkman and made it sports.
 
Here is another topic that could go national...especially for the veterans in here
That remember the 18 minute rule for commercials (Most places I worked ignored it)...
Whats the most commercials you remember running, "heaviest" log etc...
a n d did you ever have to quickly jot down 3 hours of meter readings (once
every 30 minutes at one point) when you heard from a competitor (there was a time
when we do things like that for each other) the FCC was in town...
 
One I remember was back in the late 80's early 90's Mix 106 in Newberry. When they signed on the audio sounded like it was coming through two seperate phone lines and the mix was very weird.... CC1
 
CrazeeCarroll1 said:
One I remember was back in the late 80's early 90's Mix 106 in Newberry. When they signed on the audio sounded like it was coming through two seperate phone lines and the mix was very weird.... CC1
Click to expand...

Your not far off the mark, Carroll! IIRC, WNMX used regular phone lines to send their audio to the transmitter site and nothing dedicated exclusively for their use. Later on, after the Brooks family gained a controlling interest in the station, they installed an STL.

As far as what I think was that worst SC station of all time it would have to be WNMX's successor, WDXZ in 1996. Worst in every way from failed promotions, crappy audio chain, equipment that didn't work most of the time, building where the studios and offices were located was falling apart, manager that was drunk, not to mention bouncing paychecks.

I should know, I had the misfortune of working there. It was my first radio gig and it almost became my last!

Robyn
 
Restarting this topic. A station I've thought of which hasn't been talked about but was poor: 99.7 when it tried comedy for those few months around 2000. Also those one or two years when it simulcasted 103.9 out of Savannah. What a waste of a 100kw signal. At least Apex bought it and made it into the most successful station in town.

That whole time from when they flipped from the beach music format to the move to Charleston was bad. A niche smooth jazz format (that would have fit better on a smaller signal) with brokered Andy Thomas in afternoon drive and CofC basketball, which didn't fit on that format.
 
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