Chicago Media Chat Message Forum

Forum Agreement, Terms Of Service Disclaimer

95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Ifart on July 19, 2020, 3:00 pm
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:23 pm

Any bets on how long before iheart dumps big 95.5 for "totally" 90s?

ADMIN NOTE: I had a few people email me that the subject line is bland. (no offense to the OP) Modifying it so it is picked up by Google search more deeply. (Yes, it makes a big difference when people put descriptive subject lines that mention Chicago, radio, frequencies, call letters etc)

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by ROTFLMFAO on July 19, 2020, 3:44 pm, in reply to "95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:24 pm

No bets it is not gonna happen.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Ifart on July 19, 2020, 4:52 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:24 pm

https://www.whois.com/whois/totally955.com
How many 95.5 does iheart own in the top 25 markets??

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 19, 2020, 5:52 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:24 pm

Lets ask the important questions:

They launched Totally 93.9 in Miami as a niche format - They are trying to knock down the COX radio AC's there. COX is a powerhouse in Miami.

All 90s launched here. Who are they going after? NewsRadio WBBM, WBEZ and WGN-AM? WDRV & WLS which are Classic Rock and Classic Rock wannabe. The MIX? They have to protect V103 and WLIT. SHE and WBMX are in the toilet. - I don't see it.

Unless they just want to push their national brand out like they did for KOSF doing iHeart 80s. They would have better luck launching iHeart 80s Chicago to go after WLS-FM and WDRV and every other station playing anything 80s.

Detroit, Phoenix are iHeart 95.5 but they are high rankers. Now, Market #30, Las Vegas, KWNR The Bull is a flailing Country format ready to be flipped.

Also, iHeart and all of them are great registering these domains to make radio dorks and their competition freak out as they launch something totally different. Smoke screen! For now, I lay my money here.

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Ifart on July 19, 2020, 6:25 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:28 pm

Could be a smoke screen or maybe not. Something is definitely up at 95.5. Protecting WLIT makes the most sense. Theres also room for classic rock or mainstream rock, "totally"___ could be a few different possibilities

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 19, 2020, 6:39 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

When they branded KOSF "iHeart 80s" it caused an identity problem with their online stream. I really have no inside news, but they could be branding the handle "Totally" for their 90s format.

You are a gazillion % right, at this second, GOLD formats are the ones that generate revenue and ratings. Especially as long as Covid keeps up, you will see a dip of current formats. Add in that CHR is atrocious these days.

I believe Bobby Bones 2 years is up. That is a fact that Iheart gives him that long in each outlet to grow. I also just told a friend that BOTH Country outlets are not setting fire to the ratings in this market. Both are lower half performers and not ruling their demos either. One has to blink first.

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Jeremy Andrewz on July 19, 2020, 6:58 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

iHeart attempted 90s-based formats before. Never in Chicago. Gen-X Radio (which also had 80s and 2000s) was rolled out on multiple stations a decade ago. Louisville seems to have taking a liking to it. They relaunched it there last year with a different branding.

Aside from that and Classic Hip-Hop, until now they never really did much with 90s. The lone exception is “B107.3” (an HD2 translator) in Fort Collins, CO. Used the “iHeart90s” music log and imaging similar to the Clear Channel CHR stations of the late 90s-early 2000s. It’s well done actually.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Jeremy Andrews on July 19, 2020, 7:00 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Sorry. I spelled my name wrong and forgot to link B107.3 above
https://b1073online.iheart.com/

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Nah on July 22, 2020, 1:34 am, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

95.5 could do it.

WJMK/KHits did it and then Entercom handed them a flash drive with an Urban format on it that's mostly done with remote talent & lamely executed and isn't setting fire to the ratings, either.

There's a hole for 80s/90s/GenX Classic Hits in the market.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Chris Connell on July 19, 2020, 3:52 pm, in reply to "95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:25 pm

90s?? I don't think so. 80s maybe? But why would they mess with WLIT numbers?

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 19, 2020, 5:55 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:25 pm

The 80s format is "aging out". Your 18 year old in 1980 is now 58, 1985 is 53 and have essentially demoed out of the 25 - 54. (This will ignite some people).

You are starting to hear a lot less 1980 - 1985 these days in turn for 1985 - 1990.

They could position it to protect WLIT. WLIT is pretty niched. iHeart 80s is a totally different beast. But the 80s format is out as the 70s and 60s overall is gone.

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Watts on July 19, 2020, 6:12 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:25 pm

80's & 90's format might be interesting to try. Perhaps skewing 1985 plus.

Until terrestrial radio goes away, it's all about demographics and trends, for better or worse. Sadly, though, probably don't expect anything too radically unique or different in Chicago's DMA or other large to medium DMA's.

For me, when I started scanning the dials as a youngster, I recall 95.5's WRXR days. How the time flies... and if we could only have the time back when radio was.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 19, 2020, 6:18 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5"
Edited by board administrator July 19, 2020, 6:25 pm

80's & 90's format might be interesting to try. Perhaps skewing 1985 plus.

I agree with you. I would do a 1980 - 1999 format and focus on 1985 - 1995 or 1985 - 1999. You can get way with Bon Jovi into Britney Spears as opposed to Vangelis into Britney Spears. LOL.

This would also work for Dance. Mix between WBMX (80s), B96, Energy. Much before 1985 is foreign to the 1999 dance sound.

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Johnny Vegas on July 19, 2020, 6:43 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Now that Liberty (the owner of SiriusXM) has been approved to own even more of iHeart's shares, can we possibly see a simulcast of one of the satellite stations? Not sure if anything is stopping them legally, but if they can, this might be a cheap solution for any of their stations that are under-performing.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 19, 2020, 6:57 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Hi Johnny Vegas!

The Sats are not allowed to repeat on Terrestrial. The funny thing is in the original contract, KISS LA, Z100 NYC and the few others are now gone, simulcast on SXM (that is allowed). But now iHeart is one of SXM's biggest competitors via their app! LOL.

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Jeremy Andrews on July 19, 2020, 9:28 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

I believe one of the Country channels was simulcast on an FM station for a special event a few years back. Forgot where. Somewhere out east.

Craig Karmazin’s company Good Karma simulcast Doctor Radio on 540 WAUK in Milwaukee and on one of their AMs in Cleveland for the duration of the stay home order. He likely knows some people there in some way however...They have since returned to regular programming.

Z100 is gone from SiriusXM. KIIS is still on Channel 11. That deal dates back to the beginning of XM Radio. Initially it was simulcast directly, but eventually they changed it to in house programming with the “KISS” branding. “KISS XM” was in place when I first got XM in 2005. Clear Channel took ovet programming about a year later. They had some of their DJs track shifts on it. The ‘04-05era KISS XM was the earliest example of the modern Pop2K.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Watts on July 19, 2020, 10:02 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

"SXM Refresh"

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/189247/z100-leaves-satellites-as-dave-matthews-band-radio-becomes-permanent-on-siriusxm-lineup/

For those inclined, Z100 is still there, just not in vehicles.

Back to 95.5 terrestrial, perhaps Jeffro could work some strategic visionary thinking given some ideas presented in this thread and be tapped to execute / manage it, and do it well.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Jeffro on July 22, 2020, 9:39 am, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Watts- I get ALL my best programming ideas from this board

Thanks for the vote of confidence! lol

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Watts on July 22, 2020, 6:38 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Jeffro -- it's a genuine compliment. Despite the radio/media landscape these days, you clearly have always had a passion and love for doing what you do... not only being behind the mic but also the myriad of important tasks to be done behind the scenes. It's professionals like you that give some glimmer of hope to the radio/media landscape of the future. We are lucky to have you in our market, and hope you remain here for a very long time.
Your "Jeffro Radio" is excellent as is your presence on the current manifestation of 95.5, in addition to your work on iHeartRadio.
https://www.jeffreyt.com

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Jeffro on July 22, 2020, 8:58 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

That is so very nice of you to say! Thank you. I swear I wasn't fishing for a compliment.

I absolutely love radio...even though the last two and a half years haven't made it especially easy!

Take care and thanks again.

Hard Rock/heavy metal returns to 95.5!!!!!! Z-Rock!!!!!!

Posted by Pure Metal!!! on July 20, 2020, 1:13 pm, in reply to "95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

If it's too loud.... Your too old!!!!!!! Z-Rock 95.5!!!!!!!

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Hmmm on July 21, 2020, 5:43 pm, in reply to "95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Perhaps more fuel to the fire...
"When iHeartMedia registered Totally939.com ahead of its flip of WMIA-FM Miami to 90s Hits last week, the company also registered domains for two other frequencies."

From radioinsight.com
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/191097/domain-insight-7-14-does-iheart-have-plans-more-more-90s-stations-totally/

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by Connell, Chris on July 21, 2020, 5:58 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

It says premium content only. Really?? He asks people to PAY for domain registration "news"?? LoL

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 21, 2020, 6:45 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Smokescreen tactic. Common. They buy up domains like that "just in case" and to throw off the competition. Or to force competition to do it first.

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by AmericanWoman on July 24, 2020, 8:58 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

This rumor about 95.5 changing formats probably not going to happen until at least this December. Dent went full-time December of 2018 likely with a 2-year deal.

Plus what better time than to flip to an adult pop format than during the holidays with LITE in Holiday music.

But understand iHeart values Lance Houston so if they flip they'll first make sure they have a place for him to land in the company.

https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/182179/webg-big-95-5-chicago-names-lisa-dent-midday-host

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 24, 2020, 9:47 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

Dent went full-time December of 2018 likely with a 2-year deal.

Pay her off or let her work a new format as long as it is not totally out of her element.

Why would they want to curse a new launch against one of their own stations that will be #1 for 2 - 3 months?

Z

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by AmericanWoman on July 25, 2020, 11:48 am, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

I certainly respect your opinion but my own thought is that if Lite flips to Christmas a week or two earlier than normal, there will be even more people not quite ready for the holiday music and more than happy to check out a new adult targeted format.

This approach would create more ears checking out the new project and could even get promoted on the Holiday Lite and matched as its younger sibling.

Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s"

Posted by WYTZZ95FM on July 25, 2020, 2:11 pm, in reply to "Re: 95.5 Chicago - "The Rumor is Totally 90s""

In a normal world I would agree with you AmericanWoman, but iHeart does not want to share anything with their Holiday Lite. It boosts their TSL, cume, AQH etc... Also the ratings go up which converts to revenue and some of the audience stays for post holiday programming, allowing the station to bill higher all year than it normally would.

To "promote" another new station even in their cluster would take revenue away from the market cluster, as the new station is not heritage and will bill lower in revenue than the LITE does.

Z

« Back to index

[ Chicago Media Chat Message Forum ]