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96.5 AMP WZMP flips to AC As "Today's 96.5"

Miguelito said:
BTW: I'm just ruminating. For the most part, I think the playlist on 96.5 is almost-great. If there were slightly more '90s and slightly less '80s, I'd take off the "almost" part. :)

I still can't believe they named it "Today's 96.5."
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That's always been my general beef with Mainstream AC stations. They say "80s to Now" but many are more "80s and Now." The 90s musically were very fractured, so it is tough to put a finger on a gold library that fits the AC format well. You'll hear stuff like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia or "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls, but is something like "Be My Lover" by La Bouche going to make people reach for the dial? Rap was big in the 90s, but I'm not seeing AC stations flock to add in Biggie and Tupac... and I also don't expect them to start spinning Soundgarden and the like. It seems that the window of 90s music suited for AC libraries is fairly narrow.
 
Does CBS/Entercom have a chance at grabbing any of B101/More FM's audience? EVERYONE who has tried in this city has FAILED. Are they going for the same audience as WOGL? Wouldn't KYW on FM introduce that station to people who have never heard it on 1060 or refuse to listen to it on AM?
 
atthestars said:
That's always been my general beef with Mainstream AC stations. They say "80s to Now" but many are more "80s and Now." The 90s musically were very fractured, so it is tough to put a finger on a gold library that fits the AC format well. You'll hear stuff like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia or "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls, but is something like "Be My Lover" by La Bouche going to make people reach for the dial? Rap was big in the 90s, but I'm not seeing AC stations flock to add in Biggie and Tupac... and I also don't expect them to start spinning Soundgarden and the like. It seems that the window of 90s music suited for AC libraries is fairly narrow.
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Agreed. The '90s was a time of seriously fractured genres. Although "Be My Lover" is a song I would love to hear on the radio, I think that one's going to be relegated to iPods and other personal music libraries. Biggie & Tupac will never be on an AC station but there certainly are formats that can play them. Soundgarden and the like will also not likely find a home at AC, but will find spots at Variety and Classic Hits stations.
 
Bill_W said:
Does CBS/Entercom have a chance at grabbing any of B101/More FM's audience? EVERYONE who has tried in this city has FAILED. Are they going for the same audience as WOGL? Wouldn't KYW on FM introduce that station to people who have never heard it on 1060 or refuse to listen to it on AM?
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I think the timing and execution are better now than when this was tried at 97.5. Also, Now 97.5 pretty much played exactly what B101 was playing. Today's 96.5 is making a concerted effort to differentiate from More FM (despite the fact that they keep saying the word "More" on and 101.1 keeps using the word "Today's"). And yes, KYW on FM would bring younger listeners but probably not too many. Young people don't get their news from the radio. KYW will probably end up on the FM dial eventually but not until the company has absolutely no other options on the table.
 
Bill_W said:
Does CBS/Entercom have a chance at grabbing any of B101/More FM's audience? EVERYONE who has tried in this city has FAILED. Are they going for the same audience as WOGL? Wouldn't KYW on FM introduce that station to people who have never heard it on 1060 or refuse to listen to it on AM?
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Everyone has a chance, but Philadelphians are creatures of tradition. That's why KYW still has the teletype sound, and why Action News faced backlash in the 90s when they dared to tinker with the Action News Theme. That's also why people set their radio to 101.1 and leave it there. But there's always a chance. I think CBS's idea with 96.5 though is to shave enough off of 101.1's ratings for WOGL to take #1 in the target demos. The joy of having an entire cluster to maneuver.

As for KYW on FM? KYW on AM is still the top biller in Philly. Right now, I doubt whatever revenue boost KYW would get moving to FM would offset the loss of the income with a new format on the AM. And with no challenger to force them to FM, it's status quo.
 
Miguelito said:
I think the timing and execution are better now than when this was tried at 97.5. Also, Now 97.5 pretty much played exactly what B101 was playing.
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In Now 97.5's short 1ish year lifespan, they essentially held 3 formats.

1- Mainstream AC to battle 101.1
2- All-Christmas
3- Hot AC

Greater Media didn't give the station ANY time to find footing, always tinkering too quickly. I remember Now 97.5 positioning themselves as "A younger approach to today's soft rock," but eventually morphing into Hot AC and spinning "When I Come Around" by Green Day, which sounded very out of place with that type of imaging.

Now could have made a dent if left to grow. But between A.) Battling some of the gold library with co-owned Ben FM and B.)Greater Media wanting to beat CBS to the FM Sports punch, it made sense to dump the format after a very short life.
 
How would an older skewing Punk, Rock of the 80's, Classic Alternative work out. Punk, Alternative from the 70's, 80's and mid 90's nothing over 1995?
 
Gunsmoke said:
How would an older skewing Punk, Rock of the 80's, Classic Alternative work out. Punk, Alternative from the 70's, 80's and mid 90's nothing over 1995?
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My guess would be poorly, as that music doesn't have a much of (or basically any) history on Philly radio. It'd be too niche and nearly impossible to monetize.
 
Gunsmoke said:
How would an older skewing Punk, Rock of the 80's, Classic Alternative work out. Punk, Alternative from the 70's, 80's and mid 90's nothing over 1995?
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It would be great to hear! But as atthestars says, it's niche and hard to monetize. Sadly radio is "if you can't sell ads, you're gone". That's just the truth. Now, what I do think could work is a format of alt rock from the mid 80s through early 00s. However, Radio 104.5 is basically doing that with a lot of newer indie stuff too. I love Radio 104.5, but they NEED to expand their playlist big time.
 
atthestars said:
Action News faced backlash in the 90s when they dared to tinker with the Action News Theme.
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After 20+ years, it might be time to let go of that one. :cool: It's not like they still have the magnet board weather map in use.

But maybe people leave 101 on because it gives the target audience what it wants, and not pure inertia. (Though a lack of marketing can't exactly help on the brand awareness front for an insurgent.)
 
Sounds like Today's 96.5 added some AMP format flip survivors to the airwaves today.

Bennett takes over Middays 9am-2pm.
Bex gets afternoon drive 2p-7p. (She is the only one to survive from Wired-->Amp-->Today's)

No word on Mornings/Nights
 
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