Variety Hits News

November 6, 2008
Milwaukee now has a Variety Hits station. Today at noon Central Time, longtime Hot AC outlet "94.5 WKTI" (WKTI-FM) shifted to Variety Hits as 94.5 Lake FM. The station has requested new call letters WLWK and is using the slogan "What will we play next?" (with an emphasis on the word "will").

For more on the new station, check out this article by skilled radio analyst Sean Ross.

November 5, 2008
SAM 96.7 (WFRM-FM) in the Olean, NY market is being sold by Farm & Home Broadcasting to Backyard Broadcasting for $325,000. Until recently, the SAM Variety Hits format aired on 106.3 WQRM.

In August 2008, the Colonial Radio Group bought WQRM for $290,000. It began an LMA on the station, which began simulcasting country 103.9 WLMI in September 2008. The SAM format moved to 96.7 WFRM-FM (licensed to Coudersport, PA) on September 15, 2008. That station has a Construction Permit to move to Portville, NY, which will give the station coverage into Olean.

November 3, 2008
There's good ratings news for a few stations in the format from the Summer 2008 ratings book, according to AllAccess.com. 106.5 the Arch (WARH) in St. Louis finished number one in the key Persons 25-54 demographic for the Summer 2008 book (it was also #1 in P18-49). Also, 105.1 Jack FM (KCJK) in Kansas City, finished in the top five in the P25-54 demo.

October 30, 2008
There's a new program director coming to 95.7 Ben FM (WBEN-FM) in Philadelphia, according to allaccess.com. It's Jules Riley, who has program director experience in the format from her run as PD of the successful Bonneville Variety Hits station 106.5 The Arch (WARH) in St. Louis.

October 28, 2008
Walla Walla, WA has lost its Variety Hits outlet, 95.7 Bob FM. The station changed its call letters to KKSR on September 29, 2008, hinting that a move might be on the horizon. That proved to be true, as on October 20, 2008, the station flipped to Adult Contemporary as 95.7 Star FM.

October 27, 2008
Is Entercom planning to bring Variety Hits back to Memphis? The format was on there briefly (September 2006 to June 2007) on Citadel's 98.9 Kim FM (first WMPW and then WKIM) in a female-leaning form until it shifted outright from Variety Hits to Hot AC in June 2007. But, according to a listing on hdradio.com, Entercom plans to bring "Adult Hits Variety" to the forthcoming 99.7 WMC-FM HD2 radio signal that is slated to debut soon in Memphis. No word yet on the specifics of the format or what the station will be called.

One interesting subplot: WMC-FM is a rare station that is licensed to broadcast at a whopping 300,000 watts. HD radio broadcasts (as of now) as 1/10 the strength of the analog signal, but will the WMC-FM HD channels be allowed to broadcast as 30,000 watts? Signal strength has been a challenge for the expansion of HD radio to this point, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

October 22, 2008
According to 100000watts.com, brand new station 106.1 WYKY in the Somerset, KY area (technically licensed to Science Hill, KY) has signed on with Variety Hits. According to this article, the station will be known as Somerset 106. The article suggests that the station debuted on 10/17/2008 after having a sneak preview on sister station 1480 WLTO.

October 21, 2008
Clear Channel flipped 92.9 The River (WRDX) in Dover, DE from Classic Hits to Variety Hits as 92.9 Tom FM, effective today. There are relatively few Variety Hits stations in the Clear Channel lineup, though that company has generally found success with the format when they have utilizied it, such as on WLUE in Louisville.

October 20, 2008
Chicago's unique "Nine FM" trimulcast (92.7 WKIE, 99.9 WRZA, and 92.5 WDEK) is dropping its 3,000+ songlist mix that had aired from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (8 p.m. on Saturdays) and gone Progressive Talk in that timeslot with Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, and other liberal/progressive talk show hosts. Nine FM has been referred to in the trades as "Adult Hits", but it certainly didn't fit the Variety Hits mold by playing a large number of songs that were much more obscure than the format typically has. Chicago still has a legit Variety Hits station on CBS-owned 104.3 Jack FM (WJMK).

The trimulcast is keeping its dance music format, with the "Dance Factory" dance format remaining on nights and overnights as it did during the Nine FM era.

October 2, 2008
105.1 Bill FM (KQBL) in Billings, MT is flipping from Variety Hits to Sports as of December 1, 2008, according to All Access. 105.1 Bill FM debuted in August 2005 after going through rock and AAA formats on the signal. When it goes sports, the station will carry ESPN Radio content along with the Dan Patrick show.

September 30, 2008
Gone for more than two years, the Variety Hits format is back on the air in Ft. Wayne, IN. Rhythmic AC "106.3 The Vibe" (WVBB) flipped to Variety Hits as 106.3 Joe FM effective 9/27/2008 according to 100000watts.com. The 106.3 signal in the Ft. Wayne market is one that has seen a slew of formats, though with new owner Russ Oasis (who purchased the station from Artistic Media Partners in November 2007), perhaps some stability has finally arrived for the station.

WVBB is a Class A signal that has what those in the business sometimes refer to as a "small stick" (6,000 watts from a relatively short tower). But it covers the Ft. Wayne metro area with a city-grade signal, something that the last Variety Hits station in the market (102.9 Mike FM) was unable to do with its even weaker signal, which did *not* provide the same city-grade coverage to Ft. Wayne that the new 106.3 Joe FM will offer.

September 29, 2008
The AM simulcast of 95.3 Bob FM (WBPE) on 1410 WSHY in Lafayette, IN has now ended, with WSHY becoming "News/Talk 1410".

September 24, 2008
Variety Hits is on in the UP (upper peninsula) of Michigan. According to 100000watts.com, Radioactive, LLC's new 107.3 WUPF has signed on as 107.3 Jack FM, effective 9/21/2008, in the Escanaba, MI market.

September 23, 2008
The AM simulcast of 95.3 Bob FM (WBPE) on 1410 WSHY in Lafayette, IN is about to end. The Lafayette Journal and Courier reports that in a few days, 1410 WSHY will begin carrying Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and other top-flight talk programming. The change is in part because of a sale of WSHY by Artistic Media Partners to a group headed by Jeff Holmes. This tip came via the always valuable information resource AllAccess.com.

The long-anticipated station move with 96.1 Chuck FM (WAVF) moving from Charleston, SC to Myrtle Beach, SC and 101.7 WKZQ-FM moving from Myrtle Beach to Charleston has taken place. The Charleston Post and Courier has details of the move here. According to 100000watts.com, that the stations will soon be swapping call letters, though for now 101.7 Chuck FM is technically WKZQ-FM.

September 22, 2008
Congrats to radio programming vet Kevin Weatherly, who has been promoted by CBS Radio in Los Angeles from programming highly successful 93.1 Jack FM (KCBS-FM) and legendary rock station KROQ to VP/Programming for CBS Radio's entire L.A. cluster.

September 16, 2008
Chuck Bortnick has been named Executive Vice-President of Sparknet Communications' Jack FM radio brand, according to a report in All Access. Bortnick has more than 30 years of experience in the radio business. According to the article, Bortnick will be responsible for expanding Jack FM into new markets while also working with Jack FM's radio partner Dial Global and with current Jack FM stations across the United States.

September 15, 2008
It's Bob FM out and Jack FM in on Powell Broadcasting's 102.3 KZSR in Sioux City, IA. After the Bob & Sheri syndicated show ended yesterday at 9 a.m. CT, the station went into three hours of stunting with "Pop Goes The Weasel" before relaunching at noon CT as 102.3 Jack FM.

To my knowledge, this is the first time anywhere in the world that a station has switched from Bob FM to Jack FM.

According to the Sioux City Journal, station general manager Dennis Bullock made the announcement about the switch when the stunting ended at noon. That was followed by "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones, which was the first song to be played on the station under its new Jack FM identity.

Humorously, a report on radio-info.com reveals that Bullock claimed that Jack obtained the station from Bob in a poker game, which is not the first time that Jack supposedly won a radio station via a poker game.

Bob FM originally came to the Sioux City market while owned by NRG Media; Powell Broadcasting obtained control of the staton in January 2007.

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