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WQAL as Soft Hits (and Great Hits)
- Thread starter CleveFan
- Start date
WDOK moved to a soft AC format in late '86 or early '87 under PD Pete Irmiter and using the old easy listening jock staff. When Embrescia-Wilson-Pollack bought the station in late '87 they fired Irmiter, brought in Sue Wilson and a new group of jocks, and re-launched as "Soft Favorites 102".
WQAL stayed the course with the strings and harps until late '89. They flipped it to soft AC and adopted the slogan "Soft Hits 104". Aside from the fact that the new slogan rhymed with a female body part, WDOK sued them for copyright infringement. I'm not sure of WDOK won the suit or WQAL just figured it wasn't worth the time and money to fight it, but shortly thereafter WQAL re-imaged as "Great Hits 104." They stuck with the soft AC format for just about a year seeing their numbers erode. Early 1991 they flipped to a much hotter AC format and re-branded as "Q-104." Over the next two years, their numbers started growing, mostly at the expense of "Lite Rock" WLTF.
WQAL stayed the course with the strings and harps until late '89. They flipped it to soft AC and adopted the slogan "Soft Hits 104". Aside from the fact that the new slogan rhymed with a female body part, WDOK sued them for copyright infringement. I'm not sure of WDOK won the suit or WQAL just figured it wasn't worth the time and money to fight it, but shortly thereafter WQAL re-imaged as "Great Hits 104." They stuck with the soft AC format for just about a year seeing their numbers erode. Early 1991 they flipped to a much hotter AC format and re-branded as "Q-104." Over the next two years, their numbers started growing, mostly at the expense of "Lite Rock" WLTF.
Thanks SonoSational18. Great insight. Interesting that there were legal battles between 'DOK and 'QAL going on years before they would end up being sister stations. I can see that with "Soft Hits" vs. "Soft Favorites." Plus, 'DOK got a head start on the "out-of-the-elevator" approach, making 'QAL's attempt not worthy in competition. Having Sue Wilson running 102 proved to be a success and made them stand out in a very crowded AC radio field compared also to Majic, back when they were AC, and Lite Rock.
The constant slogan and name change also doomed "Soft...er, Great Hits." The only way 104 would successfully leave the Easy Listening format behind was to go hotter, and Soft AC was not it. Flipping to Q104 was a better move, where it also stood out with a different approach - an uptempo, more contemporary presentation with a Top 40 approach ("More Music, More Variety of the '80s and Today" was their first slogan as Q I believe). The newer approach really did help put a dent in WLTF's ratings and dominance.
It's funny with the legal battles, because 'QAL would later fight with 'LTF over the "Free Ticket Weekend" slogan in '93, three years after 'DOK challenged 104. The whole Q104 vs. Lite Rock 106 1/2 battle, and not just in ratings, was interesting to watch between 1991 and '95, when 'LTF was pretty much done and limping for the next two years before "Mix" arrived.
The constant slogan and name change also doomed "Soft...er, Great Hits." The only way 104 would successfully leave the Easy Listening format behind was to go hotter, and Soft AC was not it. Flipping to Q104 was a better move, where it also stood out with a different approach - an uptempo, more contemporary presentation with a Top 40 approach ("More Music, More Variety of the '80s and Today" was their first slogan as Q I believe). The newer approach really did help put a dent in WLTF's ratings and dominance.
It's funny with the legal battles, because 'QAL would later fight with 'LTF over the "Free Ticket Weekend" slogan in '93, three years after 'DOK challenged 104. The whole Q104 vs. Lite Rock 106 1/2 battle, and not just in ratings, was interesting to watch between 1991 and '95, when 'LTF was pretty much done and limping for the next two years before "Mix" arrived.
SonoSational18 said:... WQAL stayed the course with the strings and harps until late '89. They flipped it to soft AC and adopted the slogan "Soft Hits 104". Aside from the fact that the new slogan rhymed with a female body part, WDOK sued them for copyright infringement....
I used to make fun of WDOK's "Soft Rock 102.1" slogan for the same reason, but this one wasn't female, LOL.
@danny: Actually WDOK's slogan more than just rhymed... it just rolled off the tongue sounding just like said body part(s).
@clevefan: The demise of WLTF is an interesting story. They had a strong head-to-head competitor in WMJI but managed to come out on top for most of the 5 or so years they competed. They popped the champagne corks when they "drove Majic out of the format" but failed to realize that the war was just beginning. While WMJI flipped to oldies, they were still competing for pretty much the same listeners. Meanwhile WDOK started chipping away at the upper demos, and then WQAL at the lowers. They were caught in the classic squeeze play. Had WLTF stayed true to the principles that made them successful: execution, research, and promotion they probably would have stayed on top. During the early 90's there was an air of arrogance and complacency within the upper management at Booth. At the time they should have doubled down on those things, they fired the consultant (who ended up at WDOK) and severely cut the marketing budget. They first allowed morning show sidekick and producer Kenny Campbell go to Baltimore, and then they allowed Trapper to go to WDOK. They announced the hire of Matt Patrick to do mornings but apparently nobody asked about his non-compete with WKDD. Matt ended up staing at KDD until a year or two ago. They hired the morning team of Corey and Jay from Richmond (and later added Desiray). The PD, Dave Popovich quit and they hired the PD away from WQAL who supposedly sent the new morning show in a different direction every other week. At the same time the music was all over the place. Were they lite rock? Where they Hot AC. The answer changed constantly. There were rampant rumors that the station was going to go to the darling format du-jour, ARROW (All Rock-n-Roll Oldies). Booth was absorbed into what became Secret Communications. They eventually hired Randy James from WRQX in Washington. In 1996 a sale of all the Secret properties to SFX was announced, but Cleveland (and Pittsburgh, I think) were backed out of the deal before it closed, so the station was in limbo for a better part of a year, first waiting for the SFX deal to close, then waiting to see who the NEXT buyer would be. Jacor bought the station in 1997 and the re-branding to Mix, overseen by James, happened that fall.
Mix got off to a good start, but James apparently didn't feel the love from management and moved on. After James left, the station drifted all over the musical spectrum while calling themselves Hot AC. Early in 2011 they flipped it gain to "The Lake" with it's "play anything" format.
@clevefan: The demise of WLTF is an interesting story. They had a strong head-to-head competitor in WMJI but managed to come out on top for most of the 5 or so years they competed. They popped the champagne corks when they "drove Majic out of the format" but failed to realize that the war was just beginning. While WMJI flipped to oldies, they were still competing for pretty much the same listeners. Meanwhile WDOK started chipping away at the upper demos, and then WQAL at the lowers. They were caught in the classic squeeze play. Had WLTF stayed true to the principles that made them successful: execution, research, and promotion they probably would have stayed on top. During the early 90's there was an air of arrogance and complacency within the upper management at Booth. At the time they should have doubled down on those things, they fired the consultant (who ended up at WDOK) and severely cut the marketing budget. They first allowed morning show sidekick and producer Kenny Campbell go to Baltimore, and then they allowed Trapper to go to WDOK. They announced the hire of Matt Patrick to do mornings but apparently nobody asked about his non-compete with WKDD. Matt ended up staing at KDD until a year or two ago. They hired the morning team of Corey and Jay from Richmond (and later added Desiray). The PD, Dave Popovich quit and they hired the PD away from WQAL who supposedly sent the new morning show in a different direction every other week. At the same time the music was all over the place. Were they lite rock? Where they Hot AC. The answer changed constantly. There were rampant rumors that the station was going to go to the darling format du-jour, ARROW (All Rock-n-Roll Oldies). Booth was absorbed into what became Secret Communications. They eventually hired Randy James from WRQX in Washington. In 1996 a sale of all the Secret properties to SFX was announced, but Cleveland (and Pittsburgh, I think) were backed out of the deal before it closed, so the station was in limbo for a better part of a year, first waiting for the SFX deal to close, then waiting to see who the NEXT buyer would be. Jacor bought the station in 1997 and the re-branding to Mix, overseen by James, happened that fall.
Mix got off to a good start, but James apparently didn't feel the love from management and moved on. After James left, the station drifted all over the musical spectrum while calling themselves Hot AC. Early in 2011 they flipped it gain to "The Lake" with it's "play anything" format.
It sounded like WLTF set itself up for failure in the early to mid-'90s. I will say that 106.5 in late '95, early '96 wasn't too bad. Even around '94, it was okay. The music got worse around 1996, when it wasn't even Hot AC. It was a weird Classic Rock with light Alternative and some AC thrown in, though still called "Lite Rock 106.5" before it became simply "106.5 WLTF" in early '97. The jingles during that last period was strange too. The "lite rock" was muted or eliminated to just "106.5." That was quite odd. Towards the end of 'LTF, the station also carried "Delilah" briefly too.
The PD who jumped from WQAL to 'LTF was Steve LeBeau, who replaced Dave Erwin at Q back in early '94. Mary Ellen Kachinske replaced LeBeau at Q soon after the switch. At that point, WDOK and 104.1 both pretty much destroyed 106.5, which stayed out of the Top 10 for over a year before "Mix." I even remember reading in the Plain Dealer rumors of 'LTF flipping to an Urban Contemporary format. Talk about stressful times for those who worked at the station at the time.
Speaking of Erwin, Q104 under his watch was one of the best of the station's history as a Hot AC station. He really helped brought the station back to life after its "Easy 104" run and the "Soft/Great Hits" disaster. It's first two years was great until Erwin left for Los Angeles and LeBeau took over. The music started changing between '94 and '97, when it became a Modern-sounding version of its format (The PD even mentioned in '99 that 'QAL would pick up some of the playlist from The End after WENZ flipped from Alternative to Urban).
The PD who jumped from WQAL to 'LTF was Steve LeBeau, who replaced Dave Erwin at Q back in early '94. Mary Ellen Kachinske replaced LeBeau at Q soon after the switch. At that point, WDOK and 104.1 both pretty much destroyed 106.5, which stayed out of the Top 10 for over a year before "Mix." I even remember reading in the Plain Dealer rumors of 'LTF flipping to an Urban Contemporary format. Talk about stressful times for those who worked at the station at the time.
Speaking of Erwin, Q104 under his watch was one of the best of the station's history as a Hot AC station. He really helped brought the station back to life after its "Easy 104" run and the "Soft/Great Hits" disaster. It's first two years was great until Erwin left for Los Angeles and LeBeau took over. The music started changing between '94 and '97, when it became a Modern-sounding version of its format (The PD even mentioned in '99 that 'QAL would pick up some of the playlist from The End after WENZ flipped from Alternative to Urban).
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