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RIP CD 92.9
- Thread starter CbusRadio
- Start date
I wonder if they intend to stick to the oldies format. This article from Columbus' NBC 4 TV quotes an ICS spokesperson as saying, “Times they are a changing… More to come...Oldies for now til things improve. More announcements to come.”
Like many radio operators, ICS/Delmar and related organizations have used placeholder formats in the past.
NBC4-TV (WCMH): Ohio radio station that replaced CD 92.9 halts alternative music in apparent rebrand
Like many radio operators, ICS/Delmar and related organizations have used placeholder formats in the past.
NBC4-TV (WCMH): Ohio radio station that replaced CD 92.9 halts alternative music in apparent rebrand
that "More to come" comment was posted on their 93x facebook page
And that 93x facebook page is fake. The handiwork of a guy named Don Holliday. I don't know what his stake is in WWCD Radio, but he went to great lengths to tear down 93x, even putting up this website, which presents Malloy's lopsided view of the break-down between cd92.9 and ICS/Delmar.
It might be kinda concerning that someone crafted a deepfake like that Facebook page and a lot of people, including area media, fell for it. If you didn't tell me it was fake, I would have thought it was for real.
Seriously? Scroll through the page. The guy scraped content off of 93X's horrible-ass website, posted it to the fake page and then responded to it in the comments. It's trolling 101. (no pun intended)
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I mean, most people scroll through Facebook passively. Getting fooled by a spoof page like this is not new.
While I'm skeptical (for multiple reasons), I sure hope it does stick around and the music stays the same. I'm really loving listening to this iteration of 92.9. (That said, I do feel the pain of those who lost their broadcast radio option for WWCD -- even if I highly disagree that ICS/Delmar had some sort of duty to keep leasing to Malloy when a new agreement couldn't be negotiated.)
People legitimately think that Delmar was smarter to have to rebrand twice in the span of a month to poorly programmed formats rather than work out something reasonable and stable with Malloy?
The flip was handled horribly with unprofessional taunts towards Malloy during testing the stream and social media. The programmer of the alternative "X" format was egotistical and rude towards CD, its fans, and even some local artists. It's reported "X" played a bunch of tracks uncensored, which smacks of unprofessionalism.
Say what you will about Malloy's struggles, at least his staff wasn't putting the license at risk. I highly doubt Delmar/ICS can bill more with either of these less than professionally programmed formats than with CD, and the way they've handled this whole thing can't be very lucrative for them.
Unless "tick off an entire community around a heritage brand, allow a guy from a record store to make the new formats a personal jukebox, risk the license with obscenity/profanity and be way too musically broad" is some sort of savvy business strategy I'm unaware of that's suddenly going to work in Columbus in 2024. On an AM with a translator, no less.
CD at least had an air staff, a heritage brand, a viable niche and a professional approach, with a ton of good will. The fact Delmar couldn't come to terms with it doesn't make them look like they know how to handle the alternative format, or whatever they replace it with. They certainly don't look any better than how some on this board are portraying Malloy and his operation.
The flip was handled horribly with unprofessional taunts towards Malloy during testing the stream and social media. The programmer of the alternative "X" format was egotistical and rude towards CD, its fans, and even some local artists. It's reported "X" played a bunch of tracks uncensored, which smacks of unprofessionalism.
Say what you will about Malloy's struggles, at least his staff wasn't putting the license at risk. I highly doubt Delmar/ICS can bill more with either of these less than professionally programmed formats than with CD, and the way they've handled this whole thing can't be very lucrative for them.
Unless "tick off an entire community around a heritage brand, allow a guy from a record store to make the new formats a personal jukebox, risk the license with obscenity/profanity and be way too musically broad" is some sort of savvy business strategy I'm unaware of that's suddenly going to work in Columbus in 2024. On an AM with a translator, no less.
CD at least had an air staff, a heritage brand, a viable niche and a professional approach, with a ton of good will. The fact Delmar couldn't come to terms with it doesn't make them look like they know how to handle the alternative format, or whatever they replace it with. They certainly don't look any better than how some on this board are portraying Malloy and his operation.
This is a fair criticism of what went down, while I admit I was a fan of the short-lived 93X. I'll just repeat what others have said or hinted at. Word on the street is Malloy owed Delmar/ICS a ton. Some say 4, some say several months in arrears. If this is true, then perhaps this "heritage brand" is not marketable either? Malloy let staff go before he had that building on the market, so one can assume what his priorities are. While I like some of the station's content, I have no sympathy for the guy.
Exactly. They bounced around the Columbus radio dial like a pinball after leaving 101.1. Didn't it have to rely on a bar for operating funds? Doesn't sound like much of a Heritage Brand.
I couldn't listen to WWCD for more than a few seconds simply because of their terrible audio quality. It was a disgrace to those who created the music.
What was wrong with the audio quality?
The opposite, actually. Malloy admitted recently in an article that the station propped up the bar. It makes you wonder why he bothered with it, when any number of venues in town would have welcomed a 'cd101 night' a couple times a month. Which brings me to his 2015 "Save Our Station" indiegogo campaign, when he tried to shakedown his listeners for a million dollars. He raised just north of $160k, and then he opened a bar and, from what someone else said on this thread, finally completed the purchase of the precious intellectual property in 2017. Can someone explain to me what's so valuable about this IP? He attempted to run an independent radio station for 14 years without the one asset it requires to make it sustainable. That's either bold or foolish, depending on your point of view.
I apologize because this has probably already been explained by techs on this thread, but yes, the audio quality is poor. Is it because it's translated from AM or is it the source? 93X's stream sounded better than its FM broadcast, which isn't saying a whole lot.
I'll explain it.
WWCD outlasted Jacor's Channel Z. It was closely tied to the local scene. The DJs were locally known and active in the community. The Andymanathon alone was a unique event that did great work for charity and continued his legacy.
101.1 was sold for an excellent price by the guy who owned the frequency and saw it through its early days as it built the brand. That money went to him, not Malloy.
102.5 was an LMA which Fun With Radio, Vaughn's company, entered into. The word was there was pressure from Salem to acquire 102.5, and Malloy bought the IP and managed to continue leasing it. Then, the pandemic hit. Which shut down the events and caused revenues to dip pretty much everywhere. I'm doubting Malloy could make a better offer than Radio One.
Then came the 92.9 LMA.
Whatever Malloy may or may not have done, the fact is that "CD101" is the longest lasting alternative/modern rock brand in the Columbus market, and had a great team of air talent who were dedicated to the music and the community. They truly lived it and connected with that set of Columbus listeners and concert attendees. That's why even the most tech savvy reddit types followed every move in this 92.9 saga. There was passion for the product.
To say there's no value in the IP is to ignore facts and market history. And if there's no value in it, why is iHeart even parking the call letters? We're often told on this board that call letters mean nothing.
Malloy worked at CD for most of its history. His passion may be hit hard by current realities, but it's not like he fought for something that was worthless. And if it was never sustainable, it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. Don't know him personally, but on some level I admire that there's some dreamers and idealists left in this business. Radio would be more dull without them.
WWCD outlasted Jacor's Channel Z. It was closely tied to the local scene. The DJs were locally known and active in the community. The Andymanathon alone was a unique event that did great work for charity and continued his legacy.
101.1 was sold for an excellent price by the guy who owned the frequency and saw it through its early days as it built the brand. That money went to him, not Malloy.
102.5 was an LMA which Fun With Radio, Vaughn's company, entered into. The word was there was pressure from Salem to acquire 102.5, and Malloy bought the IP and managed to continue leasing it. Then, the pandemic hit. Which shut down the events and caused revenues to dip pretty much everywhere. I'm doubting Malloy could make a better offer than Radio One.
Then came the 92.9 LMA.
Whatever Malloy may or may not have done, the fact is that "CD101" is the longest lasting alternative/modern rock brand in the Columbus market, and had a great team of air talent who were dedicated to the music and the community. They truly lived it and connected with that set of Columbus listeners and concert attendees. That's why even the most tech savvy reddit types followed every move in this 92.9 saga. There was passion for the product.
To say there's no value in the IP is to ignore facts and market history. And if there's no value in it, why is iHeart even parking the call letters? We're often told on this board that call letters mean nothing.
Malloy worked at CD for most of its history. His passion may be hit hard by current realities, but it's not like he fought for something that was worthless. And if it was never sustainable, it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. Don't know him personally, but on some level I admire that there's some dreamers and idealists left in this business. Radio would be more dull without them.
^^^I agree he had a talented air staff. I especially enjoyed the midday host. She had a great sound that would fit just about any format.
What's often ignored is the state of alternative radio as a whole. It's too fragmented and divisive a format to build any sort of consensus hits. The format was in a very bad place long before the pandemic.
As for the WWCD call letters, like Lance said earlier, iHeart is basically parking them on an AM sports station on the gulf coast of Florida effectively as a favor to Malloy. The sheer irony of a company like iHeartMedia lending a hand to a standalone local broadcaster now devoid of a license.
In my personal opinion, WWCD should have tried to align with a nonprofit organization and run the format commercial-free on the 88-92 band. Look at how KEXP thrives and try that. Heck, 91.5 has a good signal and it's a gigantic waste.
As for the WWCD call letters, like Lance said earlier, iHeart is basically parking them on an AM sports station on the gulf coast of Florida effectively as a favor to Malloy. The sheer irony of a company like iHeartMedia lending a hand to a standalone local broadcaster now devoid of a license.
In my personal opinion, WWCD should have tried to align with a nonprofit organization and run the format commercial-free on the 88-92 band. Look at how KEXP thrives and try that. Heck, 91.5 has a good signal and it's a gigantic waste.
WHKC is one of the key examples I had in mind when I stated that, "Like many radio operators, ICS/Delmar and related organizations have used placeholder formats in the past." The short-lived 80s format that initiated WHKC on the way to its current format was put in place by Robert Casagrande aka Robb Case, who was the brother of Delmar's Brent Casagrande. I enjoyed that early iteration of an 80s-based gold format, including Robb's (Sunday night?) request show --although the final ones were difficult to listen to as he suffered. It was sad to see him pass young. Some will also recall that Case was known as the longtime pilot of WCMH-TV's "Chopper 4."
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This...this...a thousand times, this! If this town had a viable college/community radio station that I could pick up inside my house without a jerry rigged antenna, I wouldn't even be on this message board right now.
