WJMK and WCKG

from All Access:

Another FREE FM Address Registered By CBS Radio
CBS has registered 1043freefm.com, as of JANUARY 17th. Here are the 104.3 properties CBS owns:

AC WEAT/W. PALM BEACH, FL
Adult Hits WJMK (JACK-FM)/CHICAGO
Oldies WOMC/DETROIT
Country KBEQ (Q104)/KANSAS CITY
Top 40/Rhythmic KXBT (THE BEAT 104.3)/AUSTIN

Where will CBS use 1043freefm.com? There is already a FREE FM station in CHICAGO at WCKG (105.9). And with the exception of WCKG and WJMK, which are in the early stages of their formats, all the others above are doing very well in the ratings, in their respective markets. Is there a possible freqency flip in the works? Hmmmmmmmm!


Could explain why www.iknowjack.com is still nothing

Maybe they're gonna ditch Jack all together and put 60s-70s on 105.9. Didn't someone here say they had imaging made up for an oldies format on 105.9 not long before WZZN flipped?<P ID="signature">______________

</P>

> Where will CBS use 1043freefm.com? There is already a FREE
> FM station in CHICAGO at WCKG (105.9). And with the
> exception of WCKG and WJMK, which are in the early stages of
> their formats, all the others above are doing very well in
> the ratings, in their respective markets. Is there a
> possible freqency flip in the works? Hmmmmmmmm!

> Could explain why www.iknowjack.com is still nothing

And as 1059jackfm.com is a Canadian station, it's not as though you'd see that domain popping up.

But what would Infinity be doing if they flipped the two stations? They would clear off the history of bad FM Talk on 105.9, giving Free FM a better chance for success. And it would at least get Jack FM in Feder's column and the media. Flipping two mediocre stations just might get people talking enough to bring fresh listeners to each stations.

Infinity also registered 93freefm.com, and though I'd figured that could very well be for Atlanta (or possibly nowhere), WXRT could possibly be in on the confusion as well.

In any case, if this rumor were found on the boards here, it wouldn't mean much. But All Access is usually right; perhaps something could be happening.

Now THIS is getting interesting.

I had Steve Dahl on just now and he played Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want and gave away Rolling Stones tickets.


Then he went onto complain about how it faded out too fast, how the automation has tones to tell it when to stop and he went on about "Why do we have all these songs in the computer? It's a talk station"

Then he went down a list of songs that are in the computer. All of them Jack is always playing.<P ID="signature">______________

</P>

> Now THIS is getting interesting.
>
> I had Steve Dahl on just now and he played Rolling Stones -
> You Can't Always Get What You Want and gave away Rolling
> Stones tickets.
>
> Then he went onto complain about how it faded out too fast,
> how the automation has tones to tell it when to stop and he
> went on about "Why do we have all these songs in the
> computer? It's a talk station"
>
> Then he went down a list of songs that are in the computer.
> All of them Jack is always playing.

Ironically, I'm listening as well. And that Drew Hayes and Terry Hardin are off at a "CBS meeting" could also start some rumors too.

Dahl was just mentioning that he couldn't figure out why the music was set like that. But you'd think that the stations would just trade frequencies, not studios.

Don't know which program they're using, but it could be as simple as they are using the same licensed AudioVault/Prophet/whatever audio database for both stations. In other words, the sweepers/promos/audio elements for WCKG and WJMK and WJMK2, etc. could be in the same location on their server. Not a big deal.

> > Now THIS is getting interesting.
> >
> > I had Steve Dahl on just now and he played Rolling Stones
> -
> > You Can't Always Get What You Want and gave away Rolling
> > Stones tickets.
> >
> > Then he went onto complain about how it faded out too
> fast,
> > how the automation has tones to tell it when to stop and
> he
> > went on about "Why do we have all these songs in the
> > computer? It's a talk station"
> >
> > Then he went down a list of songs that are in the
> computer.
> > All of them Jack is always playing.
>
> Ironically, I'm listening as well. And that Drew Hayes and
> Terry Hardin are off at a "CBS meeting" could also start
> some rumors too.
>
> Dahl was just mentioning that he couldn't figure out why the
> music was set like that. But you'd think that the stations
> would just trade frequencies, not studios.

I`m not sure we`ve discovered a major story here, but, hey,
anything is possible. Let`s not forget CBS is still paying
Greg Brown, Fred Winston and Dick Biondi to broadcast to an
audience of forty or fifty on WJMK HD-2. Other than Dahl and
Stan and Terry, there`s not much of a local payroll at 105.9
anymore? How about Dahl in the morning with Buzz & Wendy at
the new Oldies 105.9 and Brown, Winston and Biondi the rest
of the day?

But, pip, ABC already has The True Oldies Channel in place,
this town can`t support two oldies stations. But, hey, if
ABC sells out to Citadel and they dump True Oldies, there`s
your void. I`m sure I`m overthinking something very minor,
man, my head`s beginning to hurt.

While I think that on the surface, there could be a really interesting story going on, I think the explanation is far simpler than you might realize.

First of all, ALL the CBS managers are in San Diego, or are supposed to be in San Diego. CBS Radio has a lot to deal with and it makes sense for them to tackle everything from the loss of Stern to the loss of play by play in major markets. They have a lot to get each other up to speed on, so this is the best time to do it. That's why you shouldn't read anything into Drew and Terry in SD. I'm quite certain that Paul Agase of the Score and Norm Winer from WXRT are there.

Secondly, I'm sure you all know that WCKG and WJMK, along with US 99 are all in the Prudential building. In fact, I understand that B96 will end up there at some point as well. These two stations simply share a computer server and the automation system as well. That's why Dahl would be playing songs from what sounds like a Jack playlist. Similarly, when Stern plays music now on Sirius, he can pull from playlists of ANY of their music stations. That's sort of the same idea here.

Maybe someone has some real inside info here, but that's just how I see it.

Re: Kansas City appears to be the answer

> Maybe someone has some real inside info here, but that's
> just how I see it.
>

From All Access:

Following OM/PD CHRIS TAYLOR's exit from CBS Top 40 KMXV (MIX 93.3)/KANSAS CITY, DAVE JOHNSON, who serves as APD/MD/morning co-host at sister Hot AC KSRC (STAR 102) assumes acting MD duties for MIX 93.3. He replaces JOE MACK, who left with CHRIS TAYLOR. Reach JOE at [email protected], or (913) 961-0816.

While JOHNSON would not confirm (nor deny) that speculation, he DID tell ALL ACCESS that "KSRC changed call letters last night at midnight to KCKC. The station is still HOT AC for now."

Looks like CBS is about to do some shuffling over in KC, which would explain it.