I 94

[funnyguysmile]

skipperthomas probably said it best.

Entercom has the least to lose here.  WZPL is a format staple and does well in the money demos which is what really matters anyway.  Entercom bought those stations for a pretty penny because they actually make money!

I94's whole purpose is to be there and help push WJJK into the top 5.  Cumulus realizes that whatever they do with 93.9 wont ever be too beneficial to itself, instead its leverage. 

Right. WZPL has the least to lose with only 2 local shows. How is this programmed to Indy?

WJJK is top 5 billing. Top 5 25-54. Outperforming WZPL for years.

Who are these stations you consult? Are you contracted under Cumulus? You must you exposed I94 to be a flanker for its rock station.

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

ummmmmmmm Last i Looked ZPL is Live and Local from 5am to 4pm thats Including the Smiley Morning Show (5-10 AM), Dave Decker (10-2) and Hunter (2-4pm). You seriously need to get your facts straight before you go off saying stuff about your rival stations. I94 is only here to try to shave shares off of Z99.5 and Radio Now to get 104.5 into the top 5 in ratings. but Wait theres more the only station Keeping WJJK out of the top 5 right now is Radio Now's SIster station Hot 96 and WTLC-FM, along with Mr. Wheat's former Station he was OM Over in WFBQ

[option2]

Throwing some music on the air isn't going to steal listeners from WNOU.  Is "u-must-b-hIgh-94" going to spend some money on talent, promotions and advertising?  Anyone can look at a chart and figure out a hit, even Jan Jeffries and Jeff Andrews.  Jeff Andrews, now THAT's some funny shit!  All of the great programmers on the beach and they pick this guy.  Hitler/Jan just needs someone in the building to fill out the weekend schedule.

WNOU should stay tight and focused.  Keep having fun.  WNOU is a very smart sounding radio station.  If they stay one step ahead of the lames at I-94 they'll have no problem.

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

well Other than Carl Frye who's already on Board at Cloudy. and the rumours of Nigel and Marco formerly of Radio now when it was at 93.1. who else will they bring on board. and like Cloudy has adverstised any other format sans FM Talk 93.9. i never saw much ads for Warm or the Song after Cloudy took over

[CHRles]

I tend to agree that Radio Now is a great station. It doesn't like a carbon copy of half the CHRs in this country. They play the hits, but know on what songs to jump on early, and how to image the station. The jocks to me are ALL major market talent, and they've done a good of keeping the station in the 4 share range despite the fact that 100.9's signal is inferior to 93.1 (where Radio Now used to be).
I've got nothing against Jeff Andrews. I like 104.3 ZYP Huntsville. I remember listening to it online in the 90s when it was among the first CHRs to webcast. While it did have an Adult lean, they still managed to sound like a true CHR with their jingles, and weren't afraid to play all kinds of new music at night (everything from Modern Rockers 311 to Dance acts like K5). The thing is, ZYP doesn't sound quite as good today, now that its playlist is dictated by Jan. Huntsville now has a Rhythmic CHR in town, only 300 watts strong (though it broadcasts from a tall tower/altitude) yet in the latest ratings it posted a 5.6 share!!!! So it's obvious that a lot of people in Huntsville in the 18-34 demo, regardless of race, enjoy hearing a good dose of Rhythmic music.
In Atlanta at times Rhythmic CHR 95.5 The Beat seems to top both Q-100 and Star 94. This despite the fact that 95.5 The Beat has serious signal issues in downtown Atlanta. Most of its listeners live in the burbs, which means whites and hispanic make up the majority of its listening audience.
So what we're seeing is that the overly vanilla playlists of Cumulus-owned CHRs, combined with their lean on Recurrents, isn't what a lot of the CHR audience really want to hear in those markets.
With regards to 99.5 ZPL, they were great in the late 80s to early 90s when they had no competition. They were the epitome of Midwestern CHRs where Adult leaning hits, and Rock hits did really well in callout, including some Classic Rock titles, though the station always tried to balance its playlist with the big Pop, Rhythmic, and Dance hits of the day. Don London was a great PD, and the station usually posted double digit numbers. After Hoosier 96.3 debuted (with only like 700 watts of power) I believe ZPL over-reacted by almost sounding like a Rhythmic CHR itself. In the mid 90s it was a true-blue CHR/Pop station playing all the hits, and later it decided to go in more of a Modern AC direction. It's never been able to duplicate its ratings success of the past sadly.

[MikeStandardsFromIndiana]

But even with a Low Wattage when Hoosier 96.3 Signed on back in the early 90's they were high a top the then Bank One tower in Down town Indy thus giving them what seemed like more power

[bigtime]

96.3 was had a great signal downtown but otherwise didn't have a good signal on the Bank One building. Their signal became much better when they moved lower to Riley Towers.

[HarryWolper]

He had great success with a CHR in Billings and had a good run with WZPL. He's an intelligent, creative thinker. Perhaps in my anger I was harsh in my statement, but I'll be damned if I apologize for being loyal to a friend.

I wish I-94 the best! Chris Wheat is a good man and I wish him good health.

First off, Billings is smaller than Muncie in market size. And, I'm not sure his "good run" at ZPL was very successful--I believe that was a very low-rated period for Z.

I never suggested you should apologize for being loyal to a friend (in fact, it is a commendable quality). I was just disagreeing with the idea that Fritz is/was a good PD. He's not the worst ever, but far from the best. Again, though--I'd still take him over Carl Frye.

I also like Chris Wheat and wish I-94 well...though I think it will be a tough road if Cumulus doesn't get local talent or spend money to promote it.

 

[HarryWolper]

Helped Program H and then WBKS.

Great respect for Carl. Anyone that says otherwise can meet me in alley of the VFW.

He is the reason this might work. He knows what R1 will do to make their situation worse.

That last part may be true, but he didn't do a lot at R1. He never really "programmed" Hot 96--he was the music director for much of the time Shirk/Mays owned it. he wasn't PD there for very long. The success of Hot 96 came (well) after he was moved over to 100.9.

I don't know if that counts as disrespect, but there ya go.

Carl is also a nice guy. But recycling has-beens/barely-were people to do programming won't help I-94 (or any other station for that matter).

[HarryWolper]

With regards to 99.5 ZPL, they were great in the late 80s to early 90s when they had no competition. They were the epitome of Midwestern CHRs where Adult leaning hits, and Rock hits did really well in callout, including some Classic Rock titles, though the station always tried to balance its playlist with the big Pop, Rhythmic, and Dance hits of the day. Don London was a great PD, and the station usually posted double digit numbers. After Hoosier 96.3 debuted (with only like 700 watts of power) I believe ZPL over-reacted by almost sounding like a Rhythmic CHR itself. In the mid 90s it was a true-blue CHR/Pop station playing all the hits, and later it decided to go in more of a Modern AC direction. It's never been able to duplicate its ratings success of the past sadly.

Well said. ZPL's over-reaction came from Roger Ingram wanting to "stick it" to WHHH, despite H only having about a third the ratings points at the time (TLC was getting hit much harder than Z). So Roger dumped London and brought back Gary Hoffman, who promptly ran ZPL into the toilet.

Before that, ZPL was regularly #1 in 18-34F and even 25-54F every few books...even after HHH came on. It took an arrogant, over-sensitive GM to destroy all of that almost instantly.