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WNKN builds a Classic Hits Oasis

C

cincyradio72

From RadioInsight:

Grant County Broadcasters flipped “Classic Country 105.9” WNKN Middletown OH to Classic Hits “105.9 The Oasis” on Tuesday.

Positioning as “Where The Music Went”, the station’s website is emphasizing that it has a larger library playing songs “that didn’t test well with the younger audiences stations were seeking”.


Edited text to comply with fair use rules.
 
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There's no way I can pick them up in Bellevue anymore. I can barely even pick up WGRR anymore. I used to be able to pick them up, but the dial is so cluttered now that we can forget about it.

I used to listen to 105.9 in Highland Heights back when I was 11 when it was top 40. I always called them WRTS, because they were obsessed with "Romancing The Stone" by Eddy Grant. They were obsessed with Howard Jones too.
 
NoWayNoCC said:
There's no way I can pick them up in Bellevue anymore. I can barely even pick up WGRR anymore. I used to be able to pick them up, but the dial is so cluttered now that we can forget about it.

If by "cluttered" you are referring to the addition of more stations on, or near, those parts of the band, that would indicate that radio is not dying, as so many have been saying for decades.
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cincyradio72 said:
From RadioInsight:

Grant County Broadcasters flipped “Classic Country 105.9” WNKN Middletown OH to Classic Hits “105.9 The Oasis” on Tuesday.

Positioning as “Where The Music Went”, the station’s website is emphasizing that it has a larger library playing songs “that didn’t test well with the younger audiences stations were seeking”. The station is focusing on music from the 1960s through 80s with an emphasis on the 70s. Core artists are listed as including Chicago, Billy Joel, Beach Boys, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind & Fire, Bee Gees, Doobie Brothers, Hall & Oates, Supremes, James Taylor, The Guess Who, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Santana, and Fleetwood Mac.

Longtime Cincinnati personality Jeff ‘Maverick’ Bolen, who had been hosting mornings at sister Classic Country 106.7 WNKR Williamstown KY, moves to the same timeslot at WNKN. Ernie Brown will move in reverse, shifting from WNKN to mornings at WNKR.

WNKN covers both the Dayton and Cincinnati markets where in the latter it will create a challenger to Cumulus Media’s 103.5 WGRR. In the early months of Covid, WNKN surged in the Cincinnati ratings to a 6.1 share in the April and May 2020 Cincinnati monthlies. Since then it has fallen back to earth, generating a 1.7 share in the May 2022 ratings. WGRR currently is second in the market with an 11.1 share. In Dayton it will compete against Cox Media Group’s 1980s focused “95.3 The Eagle” WZLR.

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I listened to about 50 minutes of the station this morning and it does have a nice music mix. You can tell the website is still under construction though and also the stream player was very bare bones. It didn't list the song titles and if I didn't know most of the songs already I wouldn't have any idea what song is playing. Hopefully they can upgrade it as they build the station site out. I am planning on adding this as a preset in my car.
 
"If by "cluttered" you are referring to the addition of more stations on, or near, those parts of the band, that would indicate that radio is not dying, as so many have been saying for decades."
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Well, the same was said of the AM band back in the 90's and 00's and here we are. That band is going down and pretty quickly; even the big 50kw stations are looking at alternate platforms and many have FM simulcasts. Well, FM is probably 20-30 years behind AM and that's not good. Once it happens, it will snowball. I'll also note that, in a lot of markets, you have multiple FMs acting as zombies for the likes of EMF (the greatest frequency hog in radio history, IMO). That's not great for the outlook of radio either.

Face it, kids are streaming their music now and they're rarely using radio streams.
 
BRNout said:
Well, the same was said of the AM band back in the 90's and 00's and here we are. That band is going down and pretty quickly; even the big 50kw stations are looking at alternate platforms and many have FM simulcasts. Well, FM is probably 20-30 years behind AM and that's not good. Once it happens, it will snowball. I'll also note that, in a lot of markets, you have multiple FMs acting as zombies for the likes of EMF (the greatest frequency hog in radio history, IMO). That's not great for the outlook of radio either.

Face it, kids are streaming their music now and they're rarely using radio streams.
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But lots of AM stations keep going strong. At night, I note that many AM stations have to contend with nighttime interference from other stations on the same frequency. That shouldn't be so prevalent if AM was dying as the nay-sayers contend. How can we say that it's "going down and pretty quickly", when way back in the 1990s, they were talking about AM radios demise and, overall, the demise has not occurred?
 
johnbasalla said:
But lots of AM stations keep going strong. At night, I note that many AM stations have to contend with nighttime interference from other stations on the same frequency. That shouldn't be so prevalent if AM was dying as the nay-sayers contend. How can we say that it's "going down and pretty quickly", when way back in the 1990s, they were talking about AM radios demise and, overall, the demise has not occurred?
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Look, I'm actually a big fan of AM radio - having grown up with it. Love the expanded reach that a stronger signal can have. And the added wildcard of skywave has fascinated me since my dad explained it to me in one evening in 1969. But, all that said, I'm a realist and my affinity for the senior band is not shared by many anymore. My wife and kids won't even tolerate listening to anything on AM because of the sound quality (it used to be better) and the various noises that interference causes.

Most markets tend to only have 1 successful AM - usually a 50 kw signal. Yes, there are exceptions (Milwaukee, Chicago, New York). But even formerly AM friendly markets like San Francisco and LA have moved on. In many cases, the owners of big AM signals have them simulcast on FM - either via translator or on a full signal (like WBBM/WCFS Chicago or KCBS San Francisco). That's because the intellectual property of these stations is valuable and their owners see the writing on the wall and are making the move to save them.

Yes, right now there are far too many signals crowding the band appallingly. Frankly, I don't get why this was ever allowed. And something like 90% of those signals aren't profitable. It can't go on forever. When I was in Europe last month, I found that Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands (and others) had vacated the MW (AM) band. It was empty. In Amsterdam, Brussels and much of France, AM was the home of lots of British radio because they were the only ones in the region using it. That was great, and the formats were varied (talk, sports, and several music formats). But every single feed was primarily heard by listeners via DAB and/or FM. The AM signals merely fill the gaps in coverage. This is likely where we're headed someday.
 
I definitely have to wonder if the demise of Big 106.5 aided in the format decision, even though this station's predominant focus will be the Cincinnati market. The demise of Classic Country WNKN is good news for 101.5 Hank FM for sure.
 
I briefly listened to it online. They didn't play anything spectacular. They seemed proud of themselves that their commercial breaks were shorter than 3 minutes.

Briefly in the mid-'90s, WWNK had Saturday night '70s that sounded great. It actually sounded like the real '70s did. The Oasis is nothing like that.

The days of legendary stations are sadly over.
 
I'm noticing very healthy doses of 90s and early 00s country on 94.1 now. Playlist resembles 95.5 WSM-FM Nashville and 99.5 KPLX in DFW now.

wnnf.tunegenie.com
 
Just one small criticism if you're going to play the 1960s you can't ignore the British Invasion. I've been listening pretty much for two days I think I've heard two songs from Britain one by the Beatles and one by the Stones really?
 
The Oasis branding with palm tree is a little odd to me for this area but I get what they’re trying to convey. The format is not really my cup of tea and seems heavy on the ‘80s pop, at least when I’ve listened. And Del Shannon (or whoever it was) into Sade sounded like a train wreck. But perhaps with a little tweaking, I wish Grant County Broadcasters well with WNKN. It’s nice to see the little guys taking on the big media conglomerates. And as an aside, I’m not really a country music fan but did like the mix they played as Classic Country 105.9.
 
keys2 said:
The Oasis branding with palm tree is a little odd to me for this area but I get what they’re trying to convey. The format is not really my cup of tea and seems heavy on the ‘80s pop, at least when I’ve listened. And Del Shannon (or whoever it was) into Sade sounded like a train wreck. But perhaps with a little tweaking, I wish Grant County Broadcasters well with WNKN. It’s nice to see the little guys taking on the big media conglomerates. And as an aside, I’m not really a country music fan but did like the mix they played as Classic Country 105.9.
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I'm sure the '80s pop is for the Cincinnati Market since '80s are pretty well covered in Dayton by the Eagle and by Jack FM.
Btw when I lived in Cincinnati I could only get 105.9 on my car radio none of my radios at home now I'm in Centerville I can get the station on all my radios
 
I agree with Bruce B's comment they sound more like Soft Pop. Actually to me, during middays, they sound like a mid-70's MOR/AC station with less talk. The "we'll be back in less than three minutes" is, in my opinion, good counter-marketing to the seemingly endless stop sets on WGRR and most other stations. I find it curious they totally ignore Dayton where only WSWO-LP (although it overperforms in coverage) and 95.3/101.1 The Eagle (a 6 kw A whose transmitter is nearly 20 miles from downtown Dayton and a highly directional 99 watt @ 814' translator designed to cover low-lying areas in Greater Dayton) are competitors. WGTZ (Jack) seems to be designed to glom onto some of WTUE's listeners. I suppose the Cincinnati emphasis is the result of their trying to sell it in combination with sister WNKR (which also overperforms in coverage). As an ex-Cincinnatian, the 105.9 is OK in parts of the metro but get into some of the valleys and reception falls apart.
 
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