Country
100.5 WCMS Flips From Country to Classic Country
After 40 years as THE Country station in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, 100.5 WCMS had slowly become the #2 country station in town behind sister “97.3 The Eagle” WGH. In order to take the two stations out of direct competition, WCMS flipped to Classic Country in April 2003. This move would be short lived, as the station would flip to Rock before the year was out. Aircheck Contributed By Bob Corbin of VARTV.com
KQCH moves from 97.7 to 94.1
WOW-AM & FM were one of the last pair of stations west of the Mississippi to retain not only call letters beginning with “W”, but also those which only contained 3 letters. When Journal Broadcast group acquired the pair of country stations they felt the baggage that came with Great Empire’s operation of WOW in recent years was heavier than the stacks of mail the station would no doubt receive. WOW-AM became KOMJ with an Adult Standards format. In October of 2000, (KSSO) 94 1 KISS Country was launched. The initial heavy promotion would soon be squelched by Clear Channel, who holds the trademark for the “Kiss” moniker and just happened to own the other country station in Omaha. Rather than fight it, Journal wanted to get on with the rebuilding of 94.1 FM. O...
104.9 WWLS-FM becomes K-Bull 104.9
WWLS-FM (WWLS The Sports Animal) becomes Country K-Bull 104.9 (now KQBL). The sports format continues at WWLS-AM 640 and KLGH-FM 105.3 (which began simulcasting The Sports Animal on April 1) It was pretty anti-climatic. A commercial was interrupted on 104.9 then the new Legal fired up. K-Bull has begin a war with Hot Country KTST (101.9 The Twister). Each station now claims to playing 31-in-a-row. Many thanks to OKCRadio.net for contributing this switchover, logos, and summary .
610 WSLC drops country WSLC-FM for Urban AC WVBE-FM
WSLC 610 stopped the country format it had for nearly 50 years…the last year and a half or so as a simulcast of country sister FM WSLC-FM 94.9 “94.9 Star Country”. It is now WVBE(AM), simulcasting sister FM WVBE-FM 100.1 in Lynchburg, VA, about 50 miles to the east. The clip, I believe, is useful for your collection because they did NOT just “flip the switch”…they gave a salute to WSLC/610’s long history in the format, and a “launch” into the new simulcast of the Lynchburg station. In addition, the jock on the air at the time noted the switch on both stations. Thanks to Mike Ward for the clip and the summary
103.3 KTBL becomes Adult Alternative “103-3 The Zone”
Citadel Communications has a lock on the country audience in Albuquerque until the summer of 2000, when Clear Channel debuted 107.9 KBQI. K-Bull and sister 92.3 KRST both lost significant market share to Big I 107.9. In late January 2001, K-Bull began removed its entire airstaff and began running promos after every song directing listeners to KRST. On Monday, Feburary 12, the station began stunting with all REM as KREM. This was followed by a days of U2, and Dave Matthews Band. During those three days sweepers by former KPEK morning team of Gene and Julie asked listeners what they would like to hear on “The New 103-3”. On Thursday, Feburary 15, Gene and Julie did a live morning show which ended with a supposed cease and desist from Clear Channel for breach of contract. Gene and...
Froggy 94.1 becomes The Buzz
In the late 80s, what would eventually become Froggy 94 was actually on 94.3 FM, and was a simulcast of Oldies AM 680 WODZ. This gave way to a Beautiful Music format for a time in the early 90s, and a frequency change to 94.1. In 1992, the station flipped to Country as WOGY, and it was off to the races against well entrenched market leader WGKX “Kix 106”. For a time in the mid 90s, Froggy 94 did fairly well, even beating Kix in one or two books, but never getting past a 4 share overall. In January of 2000, the station, along with sister stations 104.5 WRVR and 680 WJCE were purchased by Entercom, and changes were in the air. By the fall of 2000, the promotions budget was reduced, and after the last major promotion, the Dixie Chicks concert at the Memphis Pyramid, it was announc...
Mix 93.7 KSD Becomes The Bull
Previous Format: Hot AC New Format: Country Date & Time Of Change: October 9, 2000 at 12:00pm More Info: Wikipedia
106.7 WYAY relaunches as “Eagle 106.7”
After 16 years in the country format, 106.7 WYAY had found itself as the forgotten sibling of sister “Kicks 101.5” WKHX. However, ABC/Disney did not want to open a door for a competitor to its dominance of the country audience in the Atlanta area. With WKHX leaning current based, a hole was opening for a gold based station to target the older demographics. At 3:00pm on September 1, 2000, Eagle 106.7 was born. >
