I saw the RI article. They had a picture of the CUBS Wrigley Field. Is that a hint? IE: moving WSCR to an FM freq???? The 2nd: Why NOT B-96? As someone posted "how low can they go?" By weeks' end, we will all know OR something might/will be leaked.....
B96 is being beat by the non-comm Christian Contemporary station. Great job Audacy. Even the jockless Franken FM on 87.75 METV FM is beating them.
There is no room in Chicago for 2 CHR's + an Adult CHR. Kiss or B have to blink first. Audacy would love to rid of B96, even stripped down it costs an arm and a leg to run and the heritage billing will dry up at some point.
Simulcast WSCR on FM. Rid of the AM signals at some point. They will not take them dark, this is Market #3, they can get $5 mil or so each for the AM frequencies and the piece of paper. WABC in NYC received 12.5 million for WABC in Market #1 which is worth about twice as much as Chicago, 4 years ago.
Read my post from last week and think. I swear they have been playing a ton of golds off of 104.3's playlist lately.
It wouldn't surprise me if they put WSCR on FM. They will probably shut off the AMs. The tower site was put into "Audacy's Atlas" which means it will likely be sold down the road and the stations will either go silent or diplex at lower power elsewhere. They need to shift programming to FM ahead of that.
Jeremy they will not take the signals dark or lower power. They will put them up for sale. Major market AM stations with good ground propagation are still in demand. Most likely the sale will not involve TX site or equipment. Just the license. Very common trend these days.
Now, Jeremy you made me think..... how about moving the Jams format to 96.3 and make 104.3 WSCR? Far shot, but they can retain part of the 96.3 audience and carry over the current 104.3 audience. Too much work and too logical for Audacy.
2 moves could also be "Alpha Media" next move of merging "The River" with something else or 95.1 and 100.7.... what a circus!
95.1 I believe bills pretty well. So I don't think they'll change that one. It was the least effected station by all of this.
104.3 WSCR or 96.3 WSCR is more than likely. I would leave 104.3 alone (It has a better overall signal) but I just don't see them killing off B96. You never know with Audacy though. They don't care about heritage brands. Not since day 1. So it could be either or.
Jeremy, it is a circus bro! I never in my life thought it could get this bad. I was listening to that 1973 air check that JJSPC1372 posted. Not in my time period, but man, what a great air check. That was Chicago radio. Talent. Even the Urban jocks were on fire. The suburban stations were LIVE and sounded downtown. Sad state of affairs, circus.
Jeremy: Yours was the post I spoke of where B96 was playing "throwbacks."
They own TWO AMS. So, the weakest of the FM's must die. WBBM 780 and 96.3 FM..... (I know....I'm nuts!) WSCR 670 and 105.9 FM.....(CUBS begin THURSDAY....) WBBM-FM "B-96" audience to 104.3....prepping them up with the throwbacks...
If they merge B and Jams on whatever frequency, could they at least add some classic dance to the playlist? Old School hip hop is getting tired. Give us a bigger rhythmic variety.
Also, it would be a sad day if the name B96 ceased to exist in Chicago. 40 years!
Even though they are buried, and no one really cares except radio geeks like myself, it would still be nice to see an end put to the WCFS-FM call sign IMHO.
nothing should surprise anyone when it comes to what these BK-in-wait messes wind up doing,
shit, we do a classics format on the beat now and nothing's changed, still a decent listenership but on the wekends, it gets bigger for sure with 'classic dance', you gotta remember guys, there's only about 300 songs that really stand the test of time throughout that 80s and 90s era, especially targeting females... I actually spent a few hours cleaning it up in Feb and much happier with it, i don't have all day to play pretend radio station but it sure does wonders for my Digital Saviors Chicago.
i wouldn't be shocked to see them move the scr to either 104.3 or b and have todd be a parasite with the format leaning dance with the rhythm in there, wouldn't shock me to see them move the scr to 105.9, wouldn't shock me to see them move or destroy anything, it's what they're best at, wrecking a brand name website, f'in it so badly that they need to waste time on air to spell out the stupidity for the few listeners they have left
I'm so glad I don't have to give a shit about that ancient medium any longer. There's so many choices now, to be discouraged by what these turd jockeys push as radio these days is silly, they're not the only game in town anymore and run by the same morons who missed the entire dance and urban revolution before, not a visionary among them.
Sal! Ha ha, welcome back. Sal saying it as it is. Old man, hope you are doing well.
There are more than 300, you are being conservative, if you add in pop remixes. But you are correct, there is not a stable of hits due to most of these artists releasing 1 or 2 shots and being gone.
The issue is, when terrestrial keeps pummeling the same 100 pop 80s/90s songs and handful of artist over and over, you are led to believe the decades have been pummeled to death, when they are not. WLS-FM is a joke, Drive wannabe Rock based Classic Hits station. Another sore on the rump, killing radio.
Also, Todd is the ultimate winner. He will roll back to Montana and retire laughing how he outlived everyone else being a "yes man" man. ⭐️ for him. But, radio suffered due to it.
Ever since they introduced the new imaging, they completely removed 780 from the branding which is unfortunate. This is an Audacy practice. They have been doing this everywhere.
The domain name is probably what they were able to get cheapest. They still have www.wbbm780.com but I'm going to guess they use www.wbbmnewsradio.com on the air.
WTMJ in Milwaukee had rebranded to "Newsradio WTMJ" when they signed on the 103.3 signal. Now it's the complete opposite. The station is "Newsradio 620 WTMJ", they have no mention of the 103.3 signal in the logo, and the website is 620wtmj.com
WISN has no analog FM at all and is the top rated station in the market.
It's not like people are not listening to the AM stations. It's more like certain companies wish they didn't exist.
I know with WSSP in Milwaukee, Audacy had the 105.7 translator. They were able to run different programming at times since 105.7 is fed by 103.7 HD2 (Which was simply simulcasting 1250) They did some research and found most of the listeners were listening to 1250, so they flipped 105.7 to Urban. Now nobody is listening, because they canned the entire local airstaff and put on network programming.
I think the sad thing, possibly, is "radio people" think the radio listener has the newest, latest gadgets with the newest readouts, etc. (It might be generational.)
When WBBM (or anyone, for that matter) has to say "ask Alexa or Google play to say, play WBBM News Radio..." Who in the heck is going to remember all this, in addition to the "105-9" ments?
You know what you hear: "Is 105-9 FM or AM?"
TOO, It wouldn't kill WBBM to say the call letters a bit more! "It's 6:12, the Accu-Weather forecast is coming up" "Traffic & Weather is next. It's 6:25" This continues the entire hour and it's BAD!
The old "WBBM News time 6:12" etc, worked for decades! KISS! Keep It Simple, Stupid!
In regular conversation with NON-RADIO listeners, they told me "with WBBM, you know what time it is."
You have a product that you really should be proud of! You have a HERITAGE brand! Wear it proud!
(Too, WSSP and WTMJ stuff was noticed, and the WSSP FB page exploded with the lack of any local content.)
MORE FREE ADVISE: On the recorded overnights, don't even say "it's 9 minutes after the hour" or the like. (Recorded 1:00-4:30am) "Sports at :16 & :46" or "stocks at :23 & :53" should suffice.
MORE FREE ADVISE, PART TWO. 15 & 45 (for sports) & :25 & :55 is easier to remember. Go back to what worked so well!
WBBM has outlasted AM Stereo, AM HD radio, you name it, but the "WBBM" brand is strong. (Loved the old WMAQ (all news) liner, --- "in Chicago, NEWS is spelled W M A Q.) Same could be said for WBBM.
You can easily spell WBBM. You have to be TAUGHT to spell A-U-D-A-C-Y!
I think the sad thing, possibly, is "radio people" think the radio listener has the newest, latest gadgets with the newest readouts, etc. (It might be generational.)
It is generational and yes John, most listeners have gadgets that are beyond AM/FM in a car. The gap is widening.
Have a Google Dot or Home? Tell it "Hey Google, play NewsRadio Chicago". Guess what comes on? (sorry John, not trying to hit you over the head!)
You are experiencing the end of Terrestrial radio as we knew and know it. (Cue up TAPS).
most pop remixes are brutal, if you're talking classic dance, how classic you talkin'? Can you go back to The Emotions, Donna Summer spiked in with Stevie V? sure, how much of that can you really do tho, what's too much?
How much 80s can you really use, Phyllis Nelson? Bobby O? My Mine? Lime? How do get to the K7s, N2Deep, House of Pain, Max A Million, E.B.T.G., LaBouche etc and how far do you go up and downtempo with it all not to mention the others in the 90s you need to use to calm the f'er down so it's not rah-rah go go all day long at the work place? Those diggin' Tom Tom Club and Carl Carlton or B.B.&Q have parallels to those listening to freestyle and certain club classics but how many? Where does it age out for the P1's
Groove is in the heart, staple, Expose'? No-brainer, sweet sensation, lime, cynthia, tka, robin s, dangerous on the dancefloor, do you keep part of the 104.3 2K shit? if so how much will be accepted en masse mixed in with an entirely different generation that has little to no respect for that heritage late 80s, 90s? but how much of that can you run and how much gets burned out after four months then, how much commercial (madonna, prince is too much, which ones - who t F wants to spend the money to research it all) where do you go from there? stay tight is probably the key tho, 100 over and over to get that cume up, punch ins, oooo robin s... ooo technotronic... ooo debbie deb... ooo samantha fox...ooo stacey q, ooo heavy d, ooo livin' joy, ooo gabrielle... will eric drool and make it a mariah love fest all day, remember, none of them ever knew what they were doing, they counted on bill, julian and frankie to be their connection to the real world when they were in their suit world, shakes was no genius either... then, again, Do you go to NRG hits? Only certain ones would work, Modjo, Alice Deejay, select Daft Punk, Cascada, you think pullin' Ali Damisi, iio, Nadia Ali, Erika, Darude, Kernkraft is gonna be accepted in dayparts? What is daypart anymore lol, it's really a crapshoot but good luck to anyone who does it
Hope you're doin' well Z, i check in from time to time but throwin' darts at my balls with the torture that is terrestrial radio these days and the conversations many have about it just ain't my thing no more. Radio is what it is, a dying medium, it's been choked by it's own family members in the name of failed business plans financed by their friends who fisted any idiot dumb enough to buy in after the dump they took on investors. There's only so much left in it, at least at the valuations these clowns place on the spots they try to sell, you should hear the conversations I have with some of them about buying ads for Digital Saviors Chicago, they're comical with their rates and I get more reach with our groups and pages than they would give me with their 'stick'
Between that and workin' TV shows and movies, i don't have the time to care but it's always a fun 'drive-by' conversation such as this one
We are on the same page. But check out the boys at the link below doing Top40 Dance (circe 1980s). They are passionate and loyal to history and the format. (Def not what we see on terrestrial) It is not a Classic Dance stream per se, but it is a tribute station for the historic WQHT New York from 86 to roughly 93. Imaging, production and music are slick. They cycle the music adding and removing titles and changing spins. It is obvious. But, my point is, they mix flashbacks (pre 86), House, Freestyle, Dance Pop and the Dance remixes which a lot were in house. There were a lot of good pop hits that were remixed by the time periods leading club jocks.
You can have the format thrive with good mixes and aware jocks how to react between spins. Add in safe Pop hits (aka non rock), Urban friendly (not hardcore hip hop) you can age the station through the 90s (aka B96, WKTU NYC, Energy Chicago) and get 5 years out of it with a FUN "This is a Dance Beat, this is NOT" format, thanks to you Sal. You will be counter programming WLS-FM which is slamming the same 100 rock pop titles and you would think Urban never existed. Hey, very similar to your Beat stream. Do I think Todd or any consultant for Audacy pull this off? #### NO!
Happy to see you drive by, but that is not a PC term in the Windy City these days!
Hello, WYTZ95, Jeremy, Sal, and all the rest. Long-time no see. Good conversation all-around and I agree with many of the points already mentioned.
That Hot 97 Classic station is one my favorite go-to stations whenever I listen to online radio. From the music to the presentation, it is well-polished. I also listen to its "American Dance Traxx Flashbacks" on Mixcloud, hosted by "Big T of Kearney, NJ" and showcasing how Hot 97 sounded during a week between 1986 and 1993. That show is actually based on a real syndicated Rhythmic/Dance Top 40 countdown show called "American Dance Traxx", which lasted from 1987 to 1993. It should be noted that B96 actually aired "American Dance Traxx" on the weekend during the final years of the show's run (1991-1993).
The Beat Chicago is also one of my favorites when it comes to my online radio fixes. They've changed things up recently. It used to be mainly classic R&B of the 60s to the early 2k during the weeekday. Now you have a random format, ranging from classic 60s/70s/80s hits, all 80s hits, or all 70s hits. On the weekend, it's the same as it always was with the classic dance hits heard on Killer Bee-era B96, both Energy 88.7 and 92.7, CyberRadio, and the real WBMX from the 80s. Regardless of what format is being presented, the station is well-run and each format has a large playlist of songs.
I usually go to OnlineRadioBox to listen to additional online stations although more recently I put in all the URL streams on the VCL Media Player and listen to them there. Some of the stations on OnlineRadoibox display the song currently playing. I listen primarily to online radio stations and the only Chicago FM stations I occasionally tune in to nowadays are, believe it or not, 97.1 the Drive and MeTV FM. I could tune in to V103 or Lite FM 93.9 if I wanted to but iHeart stations are not available on OnlineRadioBox and I'm too lazy to go to iHeart's site to listen. WLS-FM is available but I rarely listen to that station for the reason WYTZ95 mentioned earlier with the classic rock-heavy playlist and lack of dance/urban classic hits. Also, that station always loads with a commercial! This also happened with some of the other stations' streams on OnlineRadioBox, such as Q101, whenever I try to listen.
I never tune in to B96 (since modern pop is pop music of this era is straight-up awful) as I scrolled through the various radio stations on OnlineRadioBox but I notice them playing Eminem's "Without Me" which kinda shocked me as that song is over 20 years old (21 to be exact). The youngest portion of the 18-36 demographic that pop music stations crave weren't even alive when that song originally came out! I clicked to see what the station was playing in the past 24 hours to see the amount of older tracks that were played. I already know Jeremy already mentioned it in regard to B96 increasing the amount of gold titles/throwbacks. In comparison, I read a B96 songsheet from a 1995 Billboard article which featured the 1979 disco classic "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and that song was younger that that point (16 in 1995) than Eminem's song is today. It was quite common for the Killer Bee-Party Radio-era B96 play some 80s gold titles and 70s disco gold. The oldest song I've noticed on present-day B96's playlist is Notorious BIG's "Hypnotize" from 1997.
While I haven't listen to B96 in over 2 decades, part of me is still sad to see B96 go if the enviable does happen should the station merge with 104.3 Jams. I grew up with many of songs 104.3 Jams played on the radio, whether it was on B96 or WGCI yet my main grip with them is their very light playlist of 200-300 songs. Also, is 104.3 Classic Rhythmic or Classic Urban? B96 during their golden years of the 1990s was classified as a rhythmic station by the music trade magazines like Billboard and Radio & Records. Listening to 104.3 Jams, you would think B96 only played hip hop and R&B during their glory years of the 1990s and avoided all the house/Euro/techno/freestyle hits of that era as dance music was the main ingredient in B96's success in that decade and many people having fond memories of the Killer Bee/Party Radio era. You mean to tell me the likes of George Lamond, Lil Suzy, TKA, Cover Girls, Cynthia, Techontronic, Snap, Culture Beat, Ce Ce Peniston, Crystal Waters, Inner City, Fast Eddie, Real McCoy, Daft Punk, and so on can't fit in 104.3's playlist. I get that dance audiences and urban audiences are different yet classic-era B96 somehow made it work playing the dance artists alongside 2pac, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, TLC, Brandy, Mary J Blige, Blackstreet, Coolio, Da Brat, LL Cool J, etc. as well as the pop of Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Prince, Madonna, Boyz II Men, Paula Abdul, etc. Even Celine Dion was commonly played on B96 during that time.
Why can't these retro/throwback-themed stations thrown in some lost hits, deep cuts, or forgotten tracks from popular artists of the time instead of recycling the same 200-300 songs over and over? You'd think Blackstreet was a one-hit wonder with "No Diggity" as they had other hit songs that were played on both urban and rhythmic radio in the mid-to-late 1990s. Mariah Carey had multiple hit songs yet all they seem to play is "We Belong Together". With Mariah superfan Eric Bradley, who was apart of B96's golden years and currently programs modern-day B and 104.3 Jams, running the station alongside Todd C, you'd think that station would have a ton of other Mariah songs. Also, where's Janet Jackson on 104.3's playlist? She was a staple on both rhythmic and urban radio back in the day multiple hits yet Jamz doesn't play ANY of her big hits? SHM.
At least for old school Killer-Bee fans like myself, there's Dance Beat Radio (a fan tribute station to classic-era B96, which also features custom sweepers by the legendary Mitch Craig), Original Hot 97 NY on Live365, The Beat Chicago during the weekend and 181.FM's 90s dance station if you want to hear classic dance or rhythmic hits.
You will also notice that terrestrial stations will never play more than 4 or 5 songs from the same artist. Research indicates it is taboo. I think they have banged their head too hard or did hard drugs one time too many.
The hardcore hip hop fans of Jams time period were averse to the pop hits and dance hits too. That is why you saw it disappear around 97 - 98 on B96 but still hit hard on Energy and WKTU New York into the mid 2000s as they were not spinning hip hop.
Your points are well taken but at the end of day, I keep saying it, Terrestrial radio is marching toward its grave.
on March 26, 2023, 4:08 pm