WKAF 97.7 to Urban AC

Via Boston RadioWatch

http://bostonradiowatch.blogspot.com/2016/12/waaf-sets-new-line-up-in-2017-entercoms.html?m=1 Entercom set to put WAAF rock on 107.3 only with WKAF 97.7 to run Urban Adult Contemporary.It will happen a few days after the WAAF changes.

>>a brand new Urban Adult Contemporary format geared toward female listeners. Previously the station aired Urban Top 40 and was known as WBOT/Hot 97-7 and WILD/Wild 97-7 between 1999 and 2005

There's a mistake at the bottom of that BRW page, where it mentions "iHeartradio’s WXKS/Talk 1430".

1430 has been WKOX since 2010 when the WXKS (AM) call letters swapped frequencies and call letters with 1200 AM.

Indeed.The swap was around March or April of 2010 (with local hosts Severin and Katz joining WXKS 1200 around April)

now the 64 dollar question is what is or what was Beasley planning to do with 106.1 and if Entercom's 97.7 does flip would it be to go head to head with Beasley ..... and how does Beasley counter a superior signal?

Granted this is speculation because Beasley has been tight lipped about what WRCA is going to feed the new translator when it lights up, presumably soon.

1330 is currently doing Brokered Programming in Spanish? I suppose infomercials, preachers and immigration lawyers?

If there is enough of a Spanish-speaking population to make that profitable, and there's enough of a Spanish-speaking population to make Red Sox en espanol profitable, then maybe the station will go with Tropical music in Spanish? Similar to WSKQ, NYC's top Spanish-language station and sometimes #1 in the 18-49 demo?

Odd that the Red Sox have a Spanish-language network for their games, yet there is no Hispanic FM station in Boston.

Excitement in the Boston market !
I hope they do some stunting like WBQT did.

Gregg. said:

1330 is currently doing Brokered Programming in Spanish? I suppose infomercials, preachers and immigration lawyers?

Click to expand...

WRCA is currently dark under a STA since mid November, when they terminated the contracts with all brokered programs in preparation for a move of the WRCA studios to the former Greater Media complex in Dorchester and bringing the newly acquired 106.1 translator for WRCA on the air.

Beasley did not pay north of 400K for that CP, plus construction and legal costs to run "dolla a holla" programming.

As for what they are going to put on it, your guess is as good as mine. Nobody is letting any info about their plans out of the building.

I'm still not convinced 97.7 is flipping. Maybe they just fed the rumor to BRW to make Beasley nervous about their impending 1330/106.1 launch.

jlehmann said:

I'm still not convinced 97.7 is flipping. Maybe they just fed the rumor to BRW to make Beasley nervous about their impending 1330/106.1 launch.

Click to expand...

Someone said here that they have heard 1330's transmitter on the air for short times in recent weeks....what were they running for audio?

1330 may have been on the other night with foreign language stuff, testing perhaps.Heard it in Salem.
Who knows if the change at 97.7 is just a rumor but supposedly they hired a consultant and set up a different studio.
BRW had said the AAF change is next Tue. with 97.7 splitting off a few days later.

Could Urban AC be a "ruse"? On a "Premium Members Only" page on the other site it says this "Where does Entercom plan an “Oldies 97.7”? --- I ask Could Boston be the answer?

raccoonradio said:

1330 may have been on the other night with foreign language stuff, testing perhaps.Heard it in Salem.
Who knows if the change at 97.7 is just a rumor but supposedly they hired a consultant and set up a different studio.
BRW had said the AAF change is next Tue. with 97.7 splitting off a few days later.

Click to expand...

The foreign language on 1330 is a religious Spanish station in NYC. 97.7/107.3 could be just a rumour because why would they tweak their station and add new talent just to have a spotty signal in Boston?

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

On 1330 the other day they were playing a promo loop WRCA Watertown "drive safely during holidays" over and over.

MarcB said:

Could Urban AC be a "ruse"? On a "Premium Members Only" page on the other site it says this "Where does Entercom plan an “Oldies 97.7”? --- I ask Could Boston be the answer?

Click to expand...

WKAF puts its best signal over the city of Boston and its southern suburbs, along with, obviously, Brockton. If you're going to try Urban AC, that's where most of your potential listeners are likely to be. Anyway, with classic hits WROR doing so well, there would seem to be few listeners for 97.7 to pry away with an "oldies" format except for some 60+ folks who don't want to hear those '80s songs 'ROR is playing.

Very true re signal and oldies/classic hits possibility.That would be kind of like how iHR saw the success of WKLB and put country on 101.7 to pry some listeners away, but would it work?And despite it being used by many stations, the word Oldies reminds some or many that we're getting older and toward the end of its run as retro hits, 103.3 called itself Boston's Greatest Hits instead.

As I noted in 2012 when the word came that 103.3 was changing, I Want to Hold Your Hand was heard on its last day and in that year, anyone who was 12 when that song came out in 64 was now 60.They were running 64-79 "...and now, the 80s!" for songs.

If 97.7 is indeed changing would Ent. try a Wheel of Formats with different slogans and formats each day for a week as a stunt as 96.9 did IIRC?

raccoonradio said:

Very true re signal and oldies/classic hits possibility.That would be kind of like how iHR saw the success of WKLB and put country on 101.7 to pry some listeners away, but would it work?And despite it being used by many stations, the word Oldies reminds some or many that we're getting older and toward the end of its run as retro hits, 103.3 called itself Boston's Greatest Hits instead.

As I noted in 2012 when the word came that 103.3 was changing, I Want to Hold Your Hand was heard on its last day and in that year, anyone who was 12 when that song came out in 64 was now 60.They were running 64-79 "...and now, the 80s!" for songs.

If 97.7 is indeed changing would Ent. try a Wheel of Formats with different slogans and formats each day for a week as a stunt as 96.9 did IIRC?

Click to expand...

I don't get the stunting strategy at all. OK, it gets radio geeks talking about the station for a week, but that doesn't translate into listeners to the new format. Then there are the alleged "just scanning the FM band and look what I found" listeners. Do many people (outside of the aforementioned geeks) really do that anymore? I would think most just punch up the preset (or app) and listen to a station they know they like. If Entercom has the music and staff in place, then just flip and be done with it. Nobody wants to hear a day of Hula 97.7 or Hot Polka 97.7.

Re: oldies/classic hits. The only way 'KAF could possibly slice audience away from 'ROR, other than bringing back a ton of 1964-73 hits that would make the station poison to advertisers, would be to make its mix less rock and more pop/disco/r&b. But a lot of those hits haven't been heard in the market since WODS flipped; will Boston listeners still appreciate them in 2017, and should they be mixed in with "Hotel California," "Dream On," "Refugee" and all the other '70s/'80s rock hits that 'ROR has been spinning nonstop for years?

I still think Urban AC sounds like the most likely new format for 97.7, if a change is going to be made. The question is whether, however well it does in attracting an audience, whether advertisers will sign up at rates that those numbers deserve. Urban AC is a tough nut to crack with advertisers everywhere. It's hard to see Boston being any different.

How many more Urban AC's can the market support? I know everybody's chasing the same female demo, but aren't they overfishing the waters here? It's not like Kiss rules the airwaves anymore here, everybody's got their competitor in place already. IMHO Entercom is better served going after the WROR/WZLX male demo - less fractured, maybe easier to slice off a worthwhile segment of the audience? IDK anything about such things, really.

BRW said it would be geared toward women, so a bit of a niche there

Recent tweet by @bostonradio

This time next week everyone in Boston will be getting jiggy with it and wearing MC Hammer circus pants #hammertime #rnboldies

raccoonradio said:

Recent tweet by @bostonradio

This time next week everyone in Boston will be getting jiggy with it and wearing MC Hammer circus pants #hammertime #rnboldies

Click to expand...

So a reboot of "jammin' oldies" 20 years later, with '80s and '90s replacing '60s and '70s? Interesting....

CTListener said:

Re: oldies/classic hits. The only way 'KAF could possibly slice audience away from 'ROR, other than bringing back a ton of 1964-73 hits that would make the station poison to advertisers, would be to make its mix less rock and more pop/disco/r&b. But a lot of those hits haven't been heard in the market since WODS flipped; will Boston listeners still appreciate them in 2017, and should they be mixed in with "Hotel California," "Dream On," "Refugee" and all the other '70s/'80s rock hits that 'ROR has been spinning nonstop for years?

Click to expand...

The WODS "Greatest Hits" playlist from just before the main 103.3 channel flipped to "Amp", with all those pop/disco/R&B hits mixed with the late '60s/'70s/'80s pop/rock hits that WROR plays, is still playing automated on the WODS HD2 channel.