I am in total agreement with WYTZZ95FM. His longevity in the business/market speaks for itself.

Chicago is littered with various hard rock stations which ultimately failed.

1. Someone correct me if needed. WZZN-FM 94.7 evolved into an Active Rock format. It didn't last.

2. WWBZ-FM "The Blaze 103-5" stuck around for approximately three years. My impression was a hard rock "hits" format. Lots of repetition. When Major Broadcasting sold it, the beginning of the end. Hair bands pretty much ran their course.

3. WRCX-FM "Rock 103-5" came after "The Blaze." They began with an A-Z music presentation. The rock gradually moved to Active Rock. Like him or not, Mancow was the glue which held that station together. When Mancow left Rock 103-5 for Q101, the handwriting was on the wall. Some third-rate out of town morning show was plugged in and ultimately, the station failed.

Who owned WRCX-FM 103-5 when they flipped to Jamin' Oldies? Chancelor Media? AM/FM? My mind is foggy on this one. All I'm sure of is the parent company wanted to dump Active Rock. I presume the research said Jamin' oldies would work in Chicago, much like in other markets.

"The Rock" was another 3-year format before it flipped.

To sum it up, WYTZZ95FM is exactly right! Active Rock/Hard Rock doesn't work in the city of Chicago. It is a format which is impossible to sell to premium advertisers.

As a side note, I remember talking to someone who worked at WYTZ-FM (Z95). They were instructed to tone it down because parent company, ABC thought this CHR station rocked too hard. A steady diet of Whitesnake, Warrant, Guns N'Roses, Van Halen, Winger, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue mixed in with other artists on the Billboard charts. Imagine hearing Janet Jackson next to Motley Crue? I never had any issue with Z95 during their heyday. I'm unclear if a consultant issued this directive to soften the sound somewhat.

At or near the top of the hour, the jocks read a liner which said something like "Arbritron-rated #1" Z95, WYTZ-FM Chicago. In fact, Z95 used the VOICE of Ernie Anderson for their legal ID, station sweepers, etc. The same Ernie Anderson who was the voice of Z100/WHTZ-FM Newark/New York City as well as WTIC-FM 96.5 Hartford and many other stations. Ernie was the voice of the ABC television network in the 1980s. Casey Kasem did the same for NBC-TV.