They're playin' that Hippety Hop music in Cheeseland

[Barefootom]

After 5+ years, Midwest Family pulls the plug on their Classic Hits station, The Lake, in Madison.   They're simulcasting the jams on WJQM, their Hip Hop station (or, as the industry euphemistically calls it, Rhythmic CHR) The combined signals, at opposite ends of the Metro, give them full coverage of the market.    The Lake had been mostly voice-tracked by staffers of other stations in the building, so it appears no jobs were lost.

[Darrel M]

After 5+ years, Midwest Family pulls the plug on their Classic Hits station, The Lake, in Madison.   They're simulcasting the jams on WJQM, their Hip Hop station (or, as the industry euphemistically calls it, Rhythmic CHR) The combined signals, at opposite ends of the Metro, give them full coverage of the market.    The Lake had been mostly voice-tracked by staffers of other stations in the building, so it appears no jobs were lost.

Sure enough, the message left behind on http://www.931thelake.com indicates that the hosts will still appear on the other MWF stations, including Sly (who was already pulling another shift at WTDY), and Greg Bair, who apparently will head back to WJJO's morning show.  (Say, wasn't one of the reasons Bair went to The Lake was that he had a falling out with Johnny Danger?)

BTW, "106.7 Jamz" is still identifying themselves as such, both on the air and on their http://www.madisonjams.com website.  This would suggest that the simulcast decision was made very recently (past couple of days, perhaps?), or that MWF is planning something else for 93.1 (probably not likely, since what new format would they add?).

[Darrel M]

BTW, "106.7 Jamz" is still identifying themselves as such, both on the air and on their http://www.madisonjams.com website.

Guess I spoke too soon; the normal and legal on-air ID's now reflect both stations (when they were not yet earlier in the AM).

[Barefootom]

I started hearing the rumor of this change last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the State Journal web site reports the simulcast of Jamz will only last for one week; starting next Monday, they"ll simulcast their Country station, Q-106 on 106.7, giving them a greater presence in Iowa County.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/entertainment/311603

[Scholarm1111]

Excellent Move, Midwest Family!

It is going to be interesting to finally see what hip hop can do on a full market signal in Madison. Peashooters WKPO and WJQM have gotten up to 2.5 and even 3.0 in the past.

Midwest Family's goal here is to take Z-104 down a couple of notches and create the opening for Magic 98 to score number 1 on a more regular basis (it has been trading the number 1 shot with Z-104 for a few years).

[Barefootom]

Their signal on 93.1 is NOT a full-market signal.  It's licensed to DeForest, and can be tough to pick up on the fast-growing West side of Madison.  It does provide better coverage in Madison than the Jamz signal at 106.7.
As for Magic 98, they have their work cut out for them.  In the Arbitron released last week, Magic 98 fell out of the Top 5 with what may be an all-time low share of 5.1.

[Scholarm1111]

Makes one wonder if the move was a direct reaction to the latest ratings to help Magic 98 get back on top.

I had thought this move made sense for at least the past year. It may or may not work, but it certainly should be interesting to see what happens.

[Barefootom]

The Summer book had nothing to do with it.  I heard the rumor a couple of days before the numbers came out.  Real goal of this is to allow Q-106 to simulcast on both 106.3 and 106.7 which will strengthen them in Iowa County.   I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say there are more Country listeners down there than Hip Hop listeners.   Q-106 is successfully beating back the challenge from CC's WMAD, and this will only continue that trend.

[jjschim]

Now if Mid-West could only figure out what to do about their pathetic ratings on 1670.

[Scholarm1111]

I have no doubt that getting Q-106 on 106.7 in eastern Iowa county and western Dane county was part of the strategy, but if that was the main goal why not keep classic rock on 93.1 and do away with the hip hop format altogether?

I think they also wanted to see if they could bring Z-104 down a few notches at the same time. Z-104 hasn't had this kind of competition in Madison ever. Again, it may or may not work but it should be interesting.