I discovered this totally by accident: www.mix1021.com and it says under construction but at the top of the window I noticed it said "Under Construction - WZAT". Was this station 'Mix 102.1' at one time? It just seems peculiar...
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WZAT-FM (ESPN 102.1)
- Thread starter Buckeyes2001
- Start date
Buckeyes2001 said:
From March 11th, 2008 to October 4th, 2010, WZAT was Hot AC as "Mix 102-1 - The Best Mix Of Music".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WZAT
I'm not sure what you mean by "heritage" but......"Z" lost the format battle to KISS FM WAEV a loooooong time ago. It wasn't even close during the years I've been here (since 2006). They reformulated, remixed bunches of times before striking out for sportsville.....The predictions were and still are that this station will continue to pull a couple of 12+ shares at its best......
cscott said:
Z102 was a heritage Top 40 station in the mid-late '80s/very early '90s. Then they flipped to Alternative. In 1998, Cumulus bought the station from Phoenix Media Partners and flipped it to Top 40. WZAT had okay ratings after that initial flip back to Top 40. But when Clear Channel flipped their Hot AC WAEV ("Mix 97.3") to Top 40 as "97-3 KISS FM" in December 2001, it quickly decimated WZAT. Z102 floundered with its many reformulations, as you mentioned (Top 40, Hot AC/Top 40 hybrid, Top 40 again, then Hot AC), and is now an ESPN Radio affiliate. And I concur - I don't see ESPN doing all that well on WZAT.
R
Radio-X
Guest
I think back then, they were the only "HOT" top 40 FM station in town (1971-1992).
Others tried to compete (Kiss 98.7, WAVE97...sorta, 1400 WSGA, Z 103-1, 99.7 WHTK, Blu 92, etc.) but most were met with failure for varying reasons.
And during the 70's-80's, 95 SGF gave them a good run for their money. 'SGF was on the hot end of hot AC before the format had a name. And they did pretty well in the ratings. The problem was 97 Rock had signed off years before (97.3 before WAVE97) and there was NO rock station within listening distance of Savannah.
Kiss/River was sort of a hot AC at the time, and this is around the time WHTK signed on. So they saw the writing on the wall and became...The Rock of Savannah...I-95!
Random history, yes...
Radio-X
Others tried to compete (Kiss 98.7, WAVE97...sorta, 1400 WSGA, Z 103-1, 99.7 WHTK, Blu 92, etc.) but most were met with failure for varying reasons.
And during the 70's-80's, 95 SGF gave them a good run for their money. 'SGF was on the hot end of hot AC before the format had a name. And they did pretty well in the ratings. The problem was 97 Rock had signed off years before (97.3 before WAVE97) and there was NO rock station within listening distance of Savannah.
Kiss/River was sort of a hot AC at the time, and this is around the time WHTK signed on. So they saw the writing on the wall and became...The Rock of Savannah...I-95!
Random history, yes...
Radio-X
radiodxrichmond said:
WZAT was not Top-40 (nor called Z-102) until several years after its 1971 debut. WZAT featured Burl Womack ("Breakfast With Burl") from 5:00 AM - 9:00 AM, which was heavy personality with MOR/Pop music. From 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM, 'ZAT was automated with Drake-Chenault's "Hit Parade" (A/C of the era) service. From 6:00 PM - 5:00 AM, "Solid Gold" from Drake-Chenault (hybrid Top-40/Oldies) was on the air. WZAT's owner Albert Weis bought 1400/WSGA from Don Jones in 1974 (for a million bucks). As I recall, WZAT slowly transitioned to more of an adult Top-40 (becoming Z-102 along the way), while WSGA continued as "The Rockin' 140", with a balls to the wall Top-40 image. Declining ratings (and revenue) drove WSGA to become "The Music Of Your Life" in 1982.
Seeing that Cumulus recently flipped a station to Top 40 in Birmingham, AL to "99.5 The Vibe" to go up against heritage Q103.7, I wonder if they might follow a similar pattern in Savannah and take 102.1 back to top 40? 102.1 The Vibe?
Perhaps after having a break from a music format, a CHR with a fresh slate wouldn't do so badly.
Perhaps after having a break from a music format, a CHR with a fresh slate wouldn't do so badly.
I still say a modern rock station would do the best. Rather that be active rock or alternative rock, I still believe with WZAT's coverage and including the Statesboro and Hinesville area, Z102 as a modern rock station of sorts would kill 106.1 which does not reach as large of an area.
Yes, they did it in the 90's but it's 2011. Then again, I'm biased in genres of music.
Yes, they did it in the 90's but it's 2011. Then again, I'm biased in genres of music.
I don't understand why they don't move Rock 106.1 to the 106.9 signal. If they want to keep attempting at country, move it to 106.1.
carolinaradio said:
This.
G
This is an awesome description of the start of 102.1 WZAT. Thanks for your info. I see from doing research from Billboard Magazine. WZAT started playing King Biscuit Flower Hour in March of 1974. (From 3-23-74 Billboard Magazine). I guess you can say that is when WZAT started going in a Top 40 direction?
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