XPost: rec.radio.broadcasting
RadioInsight
///////////////////////////////////////////
Wild Country Moves Ahead Of EMF Sale Closing
Posted: 22 Sep 2021 10:00 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/213165/wild-country-moves-ahead-of-emf-sale-closing/
As Martz Communications Group prepares to close on its $2.5 million sale of
CHR “94.7 Hits-FM” WYUL Chateaugay and Country “Wild Country 96.5” WVNV Malone NY to Educational Media Foundation, the latter brand is moving to a network of AMs and translators in the region.
The Wild Country brand is now being heard on the former Classic Country
Star 100.1 1470 WPDM/100.1 W261CJ Potsdam and former Classic Hits 1490 WICY/102.7 W274BI Malone and 103.5 W278CS Akwesasne.
With the move to the new signals afternoon host Dave Cohen has exited.
Angie Thomas moves over from WPDM to host middays, while Brendyn Wayne
moves from middays to afternoons. The syndicated Bobby Bones Show in
mornings and B-Dub Radio at night round out the daily schedule. WPDM and
WICY will break away separately for local high school sports.
///////////////////////////////////////////
The Worst Year For Pop Music Was . . .
Posted: 22 Sep 2021 08:30 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/ross/212327/the-worst-year-for-pop-music-was/
A year ago, I wrote a Lost Factor column defending the hits of 1974. To detractors, it was the year of “(You’re) Having My Baby,” “The Night Chicago Died,” and “Annie’s Song.” I remember it as the year of “Waterloo,”
“Rock Your Baby,” “For the Love of Money,” and “Let It Ride.” Besides, I
don’t hate “The Night Chicago Died” and “Seasons in the Sun.”
Besides, I always thought 1975 was the garbage year for hit music: “Feelings,” “I’m Sorry” by John Denver, “Wildfire,” “Please Mr. Please,”
“The Last Farewell” by Roger Whittaker. Early on in my career, I remember a conversation with R&R editor John Leader that began with “a lot of people
say 1975 was a terrible year,” which just cemented how I felt about it.
But last weekend, the SiriusXM 70s on 7 American Top 40 rerun was August
1975. And I realized that much of 1975 as a flashpoint stemmed from two
songs climbing the charts that week — “Feelings” and “Run Joey Run.” But
1975 is also the year of “Get Down Tonight,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Fight the Power,” “Jive Talkin’,” and “Supernatural Thing.”
For those songs only remembered at the chart geek/person who sought out AT40-level, 1975 was an especially great year “Up In A Puff Of Smoke” by Polly Brown, “Emma” by Hot Chocolate, “Get Down, Get Down” by Joe Simon,
“I’m on Fire” by Dwight Twilley Band. I don’t like the MORish 1975, but I
remember the goofy 1975 relatively fondly, including “Shame Shame Shame” by Shirley & Company and “Black Superman-Muhammad Ali” by Johnny Wakelin. Even “Run Joey Run” is more goofy than galling.
One of the things that was made clear to me after 18 months of writing
about the Lost Factor, our calculations of which songs did and didn’t
endure at radio through pop music history, is that Top 40 (or at least
AT40) indeed played it all in the ‘70s and, as such, you can write the
brief either way for most years.
I decided to throw it open to Facebook friends. What was the worst year for
hit music? The condition was that it had to be a year when they were
listening to contemporary radio, and not the years after they had given up
on keeping current. Some responded with a few different years or a stretch
of years (1990-94 was a popular one), and I tallied those as well.
I asked the question on Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, the only years between 1972 and 2003 not to have been cited were Top 40’s resurgent years
of 1983, 1984, and 1985. There are some general votes for the doldrums of
the early 2000s. There are several votes for 2020. There is one vote for 2018-21, even though I’ve just written a “Song of the Summer” column about
how music is getting better this year.
Only one reader named 1975. As it turned out, that year had several
defenders, including R&B radio veteran Marcus Chapman, who remembers it as “my pick for the best year ever in music — funk bands, Philly soul, jazz funk, and early disco were all awesome that year.”
Instead, readers’ most reviled years were:
1981 – 14 votes (1980 got eight)
1990 – 18 votes
1991 – 16 votes (both include those blanket votes for 1990-94)
I’ve railed plenty about 1981. I’ve written recently about the dominance of pop/rock in that year, which would have been fine if there had been no
“disco backlash” (actually directed more toward Mainstream R&B in one of its best periods) and if the new-wave songs that were pop hits in the UK
and Canada had made it here a year or two earlier.
Even then, I’ve seen a Facebook discussant reel off their summer ’81 faves — “Jessie’s Girl,” “Bette Davis Eyes,” “Urgent,” “The Stroke,” “Winning,”
“The Breakup Song,” “Seven Year Ache,” “Queen of Hearts” — which would have
all been valid if I wasn’t sitting through “The One That You Love” to hear
them
The disdain toward the early ‘90s has a few different lightning rods.
Charlie Mitchell recalls it as “the era of third-class hair bands, AC crossovers, and light rap.” Another reader characterizes it as “Billy Ray Cyrus into Right Said Fred into Color Me Badd, C+C Music Factory, Marky
Mark, and Wilson Phillips.” That’s certainly reflected in the high Lost Factor scores for hits from 1989-1992. As Top 40 collapses and less poppy Hip-Hop fills the void, Lost Factor scores decline.
Where the ‘90s recover differs widely, probably depending in part on where you were and what radio you had access to. There are significant votes for
all three years between 1994 and 1996. There are even a few “worst year” votes for 1997, remembered now as Top 40’s renaissance year. There are a
few blanket votes for “anything after 2000” or for the early ‘00s, whose extremes were reminiscent of the early ‘90s, with Trapt and Yung Joc
sitting in for Winger and Young M.C.
“These responses are so subjective,” wrote Rich Marino. “One frequently mentioned year here was actually my favorite year for music. You’ll never
get any non-biased answers to this question here.” Steve West agreed. “Everyone is [influenced] by the year they started discovering music and [upset by] the years when their favorite sounds disappeared from radio in
favor of something else. It happens to everybody.”
All of which inspired me to reach out to John Leader, a legendary programmer/jock-turned-voice actor, for the first time in years in hopes of remembering his qualifier to “a lot of people thought 1975 was bad.” As it turns out, Leader remembers 1975 as one of the last years of musical
variety and Top 40 dominance before the balance tipped to rock radio. It
was also the year Leader started at KHJ Los Angeles. Even “Feelings” is better if you’re the one saying “93-K-H-J” over the intro.
I was Billboard radio editor in 1988-92. I remember the years through 1991 fondly because of the excitement of covering the radio wars of that era.
Top 40 only started to really rankle around 1992 when Top 40 started to collapse. I didn’t like the music in 1992, but I really didn’t like not having the option of hearing it at all in 1993-95.
Regular readers won’t have any problem figuring out my current
least-favorite years. They’re 2016-19 — the year when pop music slowed to sludge and then the two years when it stayed there. In 2020, there was at
least an acknowledgement of the issue, even if the product flow was impeded
by COVID and by the way that Top 40 found and developed music. Im willing
to cheerfully acknowledge the late 00s as my happens to everybody moment,
but the ratings show that I wasnt alone.
With a steady stream of uptempo music from core artists arriving on Friday mornings, I’m not sure if the hits of 2021 are good or just better. For
now, better sounds great. I might go back and write the “but also … ” brief
for 2017 at some point. At the moment, however, I’m happily diverted.
///////////////////////////////////////////
Dennis Glasgow Joins Wonk-FM As Program Director
Posted: 22 Sep 2021 08:02 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/213168/dennis-glasgow-joins-wonk-fm-as-program-director/
iHeartMedia has appointed Dennis Glasgow as Program Director for 104.7
Wonk-FM W284CQ/WWDC-HD2 Washington DC.
Glasgow was Operations Manager/Program Director for Capitol Broadcastings Sports properties in Raleigh NC from 2013 to August 2020. He previously
worked in Washington as PD of Red Zebra Broadcastings Sports 980 WTEM from
2008 to 2010 and has also programmed Sports KNML Albuquerque and KFXX
Portland as well as Conservative Talkers KLZ Denver and KPAM/KKOV Portland during his career.
Wonk-FM currently airs a mix of syndicated talkers including Americas First News, Dr. Daliah, Stephanie Miller, and Joe Pags as well as content from
the iHeart Podcast Channel.
iHeartMedia announced today that Dennis Glasgow has been named Program
Director for 104.7 WONK-FM (W284CQ /WWDC-HD2), effective immediately. iHeartMedia Washington, D.C. has a strong cross-platform presence and
includes a number of iconic brands and franchises — both broadcast and digital — encompassing more than six stations comprised of music, talk and news formats.
iHeartMedia has the leading consumer reach and influence across multiple platforms and delivers more live programming than any other media company.
As Program Director for 104.7 WONK-FM, Glasgow will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day programming operations for the station’s news content, on-air personalities, programming, promotions and digital
operations. He will report to Jeff Kapugi, Region Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Washington, D.C. and iHeartMedia Baltimore.
“As a veteran in sports and news radio, Dennis brings an unparalleled set
of skills and experience to WONK-FM,” said Kapugi. “We are thrilled to have him as part of the Washington, D.C. team!”
With more than 20 years of sports and news radio experience, Glasgow joins
the Washington, D.C. region from Capitol Broadcasting, where he most
recently served as Vice President of Operations and Program Director for
three sports stations including, WCMC-FM in Raleigh. He also served as
Program Director for news talk stations KPAM-AM and KKOV-AM in Portland, Oregon. Throughout his career, he has held several programming roles for various sports stations including Vice President of Programming for Red
Zebra Broadcasting, overseeing stations in Richmond, Norfolk and WTEM-AM in Washington, D.C. In addition, he also served as Program Director for
KFXX-AM in Portland, Oregon, as well as Program Director and Morning Show
Host for KLZ-AM in Denver, Colorado and KNML-AM in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“It’s an exciting time to be at WONK in Washington, D.C.,” said Glasgow. “I
am looking forward to creating meaningful and informative content for
D.C.’s insiders and thought leaders every day.”
///////////////////////////////////////////
Steve Dent Joins 92.5 The Fox Cincinnati As Program Director
Posted: 22 Sep 2021 05:34 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/213163/steve-dent-joins-92-5-the-fox-cincinnati-as-program-director/
Cumulus Media Classic Rock 92.5 The Fox WOFX Cincinnati has tabbed Steve
Dent as its new Program Director succeeding Marty Bender.
Dent will continue to host mornings at Cumulus Rock 93.9X WNDX Indianapolis
as he has since September 2020. From 2011 to January 2020, Dent programmed iHeartMedias “Alt 103.9” WZDA Dayton and then added Classic Rock 104.7 WTUE Dayton in 2016. The Cincinnati native held multiple on-air and
promotions roles at iHeartMedia in Cincinnati and Dayton between 2000 and
2011.
CUMULUS MEDIA announces that it has appointed Steve Dent as Program
Director for 92.5 The Fox/WOFX-FM, Cincinnati’s Classic Rock. Dent, a
native Cincinnatian, will continue to host Mornings on Cumulus
Indianapolis’ 93.9X/WNDX-FM. A 20-year Rock radio veteran, he most recently programmed WTUE-FM (Classic Rock), WZDA-FM (Alternative) and WXEG-FM (Alternative) in Dayton, OH.
Jon Laing, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Cincinnati, said: “We are thrilled to have Steve join our programming team in Cincinnati. His
expertise in the Rock format, and understanding of the local market
dynamics line up perfectly with our competitive strategy.”
Steve Dent commented: “I am thrilled to have this opportunity in my
hometown! 92-5 The Fox has a long Rock tradition here in Cincy with a
veteran staff of pros. Im excited to be working with my friends at The BOB
TOM Show and this amazing team at Cumulus Cincinnati. Thanks to Jon Laing, Keith Mitchell, John Dimick and Wade Linder for trusting me to continue the Rock legacy of 92-5 The Fox!”
///////////////////////////////////////////
940 WINZ Rebrands As Fox Sports 940 Miami
Posted: 22 Sep 2021 04:35 AM PDT
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/213160/940-winz-rebrands-as-fox-sports-940-miami/
iHeartMedia has rebranded Sports 940 WINZ Miami as Fox Sports 940 Miami,
while moving to the national Fox Sports Radio lineup 24/7.
As part of todays rebranding, FSRs new 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe will air
from 6-9am replacing Jeff DeFo DeForrest. Also exiting the lineup is The
Greek from 3-5pm as the station will now run The Doug Gottleib Show in its entirety.
WINZ will continue to carry Miami Marlins baseball and University of
Florida basketball and football.
iHeartMedia Miami’s 940 AM WINZ, Miami’s Sports Station, announced today that the station will rebrand to FOX Sports 940 Miami, and will broadcast
FOX Sports Radio’s industry-leading weekday lineup. The official launch
took place this morning Wednesday, September 22, at 6 a.m. EDT.
FOX Sports 940 Miami will continue to serve as the official flagship radio station for all 162 regular-season Miami Marlins games as well as spring training games. The station will also continue as South Florida’s home for Florida Gators men’s football and basketball.
“We are excited to align 940 AM WINZ with a first-class organization like
FOX Sports Radio,” said Shari Gonzalez, Market President for iHeartMedia Miami/Fort Lauderdale. “This partnership ensures passionate South Florida sports fans, and our 940 advertisers will have access to the nation’s top talk hosts and their insights on the most relevant topics facing teams, athletes, and fans.”
New Programming Lineup:
2 Pros and a Cup of Joe with Arrington, Quinn Knox 6 – 9 a.m. ET
The Dan Patrick Sho w9 –12 p.m. ET
The Herd with Colin Cowherd 12– 3 p.m. ET
The Doug Gottlieb Show 3 – 6 p.m. ET
Straight Outta Vegas with RJ Bell 6 – 7 p.m. ET
The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard Rob Parker 7– 10 p.m. ET
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. ET
The Ben Maller Show 2 – 6 a.m. ET
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)