102.5 to flip to FM talk in two weeks

[Mike]

Cox huh?
Maybe they'll put Eddie Money in mid days.

and david lee roth for overnights

[John Waywoods]

I cound care less for talk. i have my own opinion. If I ran CBS I would move 98.7 to Classic Rock.

[MsMusicRadio]

Don't listen now and this makes no diff. I just wonder if Cox will move Slater and other music jocks to the robo blocks on the Eagle or just cut them loose like they did Corey Dylan?  If the Eagle gets even more Classic Rocky, they will lose me although I still prefer Q105, The Dove, and Magic. On another note, is Ann Kelly gone or on vacation?

[Cedric]

I don't know who Slater is. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he is absolutely obnoxious. He has the phoniest puker DJ voice I've ever heard. The exaggerated way he pronounces "Bubba the Love Sponge" makes me nauseous. Lets hope they fire him...

[John Holcomb II]

Is this station HD? Will Cox do what they did with HTQ and put classic rock on the HD2? The bone is classic rock i think isn't it? I heard it for the first time as  a DX target here from The Villages not long ago.

[Frank Ferreri]

Doesn't sound like a "Major Announcement" as we used to say....Bubba and Cowhead did talk shows with a few tunes..now no tunes. This may open a door for someone to do classic rock if, in fact, it is still a viable format. If so, it would have to be smartly programmed to avoid tunes that have been burned to a crisp. Deep tracks of Beatles, Doors, Janis, Jimi, with a flavoring of all those groups that put out one great album. Music of Your Life for retired hippies? Can't you just hear the Jeff Laurence liner..."The ONLY Tampa Bay station playing Ina Gada Da Vida"

[badjef]

Don't listen now and this makes no diff. I just wonder if Cox will move Slater and other music jocks to the robo blocks on the Eagle or just cut them loose like they did Corey Dylan?

Sounds to me as though getting fired was a good thing. Corey made out much better over at 'FLA.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

[Obtuse1]

This certainly explains 97X's playlist expansion of late (Cox? playlist expansion? really!) to include more alternative gold/recurrents with (gasp!) less repetition. They are sounding better these days than they have in quite some time, IMHO.

As long as they continue to differentiate themselves from WXTB they will most likely keep the modest but comfortable niche they've carved out. Heck, they might pick up a few of the younger "Bone" listeners (which is what Cox is banking on).

On the oft mentioned (by one guy) topic of Active Rock....WSUN going with the format that nearly killed 98Rock would fail miserably. Remember those dark post-Bubba days? Even small-signaled 97.1 was eating their lunch. Wisely WXTB shored up the older demos with copious amounts of classic rock and grunge gold.

"Hard Rock" just isn't selling in large numbers anymore (certainly not enough to build an entire format around).

Let's take a gander at the sales figures for last year (weekly charts are too erratic in nature these days to get a clear overall picture).

Of the top 100 albums in 2011 (Billboard), there were exactly zero (0) "metal" acts. One could make an argument for Alt. mainstays Foo Fighters at #39 as "Hard Rock", or maybe even Kid Rock at #16, but the highest charting album by a traditionally "Hard/Active Rock" artist last year was from Linkin Park, at #107. Did find one "hair band" though...a greatest hits package from soccer-mom favorite Bon Jovi (#48).

As for "alternative" acts? Hmmm.....

Bon Iver #100
Arcade Fire #97
Kings Of Leon #93
Beastie Boys #90
Red Hot Chili Peppers #71
Foster The People #55
Black Keys #50
Florence & The Machine #44
Foo Fighters #39
Coldplay #35
Mumford And Sons #8

The few rock acts that actually have any lasting chart/sales success these days are "alternative" acts. 97X is wise to maintain course in that regard if younger demos are the goal. Granted, the 97.1 pea-shooter is never gonna hit Dove numbers (especially in a PPM world, where signal is a big advantage), but it should continue to keep the lights on.

CBS moving Play to traditional Classic Rock could work, but if I were over at CC I might also be looking to grab some of the Eagle's....errr...."thunder". At the very least, I'd expect WXTB to lean a bit more "classic" to make a run at The Bone's listeners.


 

[LouPickney]

Fans of the Hot Talk genre should enjoy Nick & Artie, which Shark said on Bubba's show this morning will clear live from 10p-1a ET (not in those exact words).  Premiere is syndicating N&A and I've liked what I've heard from them, and they are slowly but surely landing clearances.  It's mostly been on non-ESPN sports stations, but now they will have two Hot Talk format clearances in Florida with 96 K-Rock in Ft. Myers and 102.5 the Bone as of 4/23/2012.

I'm somewhat surprised that Real Radio 104.1 in Orlando hasn't added Nick & Artie, especially with the Premiere/Clear Channel connection, but perhaps that's something to look for on down the line.

[badjef]

Maybe 98Rock will not flip to WFLA simulcast after-all. With 98 Rock now being the only Rock station they will take a lot of "The Bone's" old listeners.

So, you switch 970 to HD1 from the HD2 of 97.9. Remember, you want the Northern coverage improvement that you weren't able to accomplish on 970. Then, you move 98Rock to 100.7. It would compliment WJRR in Orlando. Mix is the station most vulnerable for CC. It goes away since the female pie (can I say that?) is fragmented by WDUV, Q105, and WWRM.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!