WLAV's Rob Brandt Heading To iHeartMedia

[GnashManDu]

Former longtime WLAV programmer and afternoon driver Rob Brandt has announced he's heading to iHeartMedia. He'll begin with shifts on WLLZ Detroit and is set to join the national Classic Rock & Rock talent roster.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't show up in a position locally at some point sooner than later. The sales team at iHeartGR is much better positioned to monetize talent than Cumulus GR.

[The Painted Horse]

The sales team at iHeartGR is much better positioned to monetize talent than Cumulus GR.

False.

[GnashManDu]

False.

Untrue

[MWmetalhead]

I look forward to hearing him on WLLZ!

What airshift will he hold?

[Trophyhead]

Rob was always a favorite listen from his point of arrival to the conclusion of his days at 60 Monroe Center. Very much engaging and himself on the air. When I would see him in Louis Benton, I wanted to go in and tell him so but I figured "why not leave the guy alone?" Brandt can only help the brand, whether it is in Detroit, GR or nationally. Best of luck.

[ral315]

From Rob's post on Facebook:

The new radio adventure begins!

I'm pleased to let you know that I am now part of the iHeart Media On Air team in Detroit & 106.7 WLLZ, Detroit's Wheels. In the near future I will be on the air at other iHeart Media Classic Rock stations in their Major & Large Markets. This weekend, hear me on Detroit's Wheels Saturday & Sunday from 7pm-12mid on the iHeart radio app.

During this journey I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do next. What are my goals? What do I like to do, what am I good at & what haven’t I achieved? There was only one thing I hadn’t checked off my list of goals & that was to be on the air in a major market. This was the goal I set when I first went on the air at age 14.

Several months ago, my wife & I decided we wanted to stay in West Michigan so making this decision was easy, plus I get to be a part of another legendary station in the “D”!

Thanks to Tony Travatto & Casey Krukowski for making this happen. I look forward to rockin’ the Motor City & more! My official start date at iHeart Media was 9/7/23 which is quite ironic to say the least. (those who know, know)

[handbanana]

What significance is the date of 9-7-23?

[Trophyhead]

As to Handbanana's question, hard to say. Rob apparently stepped away from WLAV around May 19 of this year.

[dwp49423]

What significance is the date of 9-7-23?

Two guesses:
9-7 => 97 as in 97 WLAV
Being that this is the year of WLAV's 50th anniversary, I wonder if Sept 7 1973 is when the rock format debuted at 96.9?

[Radio Chili]

I think it was in 1974 that 'LAV-FM went AOR.

[originalzzmfmjock]

Yup, September 30, 1974 to be exact. At this time in 1973 LAV-FM was still an automated oldies format. So in reality next year is their 50th anniversary as an AOR/Classic Rock station.

[Greg Buben]

Bob is right because I remember that morning when they changed. In 1973 they were still "The Goldmine of G.R." with
oldies from the 50's and 60's and mostly automated. Ed Buchanan (aka Uncle Buck) and Jay Holloway were their live
on air talent. In the morning drive they would simulcast with the Top 40 WLAV-AM 1340 hosted by Bruce Ryan. Gradually
they starting adding evening and overnights of free form radio but not yet a regular AOR station. This is when Aris Hampers
was starting his radio career. The free form radio was something before the mainstream AOR format prevailed and in
the case of WLAV that wasn't until 1978.
Before almost all of the early AOR stations had tightened up their formats under the Lee Abrams AOR model the major
markets such as Detroit had a few of these FM free form stations that eventually tightened their formats. That included
in Detroit WRIF, WABX, WWWW, and across the river in WIndsor, ON, Canada CJOM. The free form radio was too loose
which is why almost all of the free form stations eventually became the AOR of the late 70's through the 80's.
Getting back to WLAV they changed their format over these past 50 years that it is deceiving to call themselves the
"Legend" and to claim that they've been doing the same thing for the past half of a century. Besides that, WLAV tried
in the early 90's to go modern alternative rock and then after WJFM (now B-93 Country) flipped from classic hits to
classic rock the owners of WLAV-FM decided to make it classic rock When Clear Channel bought WJFM they made
WJFM country WBCT (aka B-93) and that left WLAV to become the classic rock station of G.R Clear Channel tried in
a cheap manner to compete with WLAV when they flipped 101.3 FM to their "Fox" station and they were completely
clueless as to how to do it when they tried that in 2000. Under I Heart in G.R. I don't think they could do any better
if they tried that again but in Detroit with Rob Brandt on WLLZ if they give him some freedom then perhaps I-Heart
could make WLLZ successful. I still think Town Square should flip WLHT to classic rock and if they would have done
that sooner then perhaps they could have picked up some of the WLAV veteran air aces such as Rob Brandt, Steve
Aldrich, and Tone "The Fun Guy" Gates. Good luck to Rob in Detroit at WLLZ.

[MWmetalhead]

Why are the line breaks in your posts in such bizarre spots when I read on my smartphone? You realize the board software works just like MS Word and wraps lines automatically as needed, right?

LAV didn't flip to classic rock until about 18 months following 93.7's flip to country. Between the modern rock format that lasted maybe a year and the launch of the classic rock era, the station programmed AOR as "97 Rock". The playlist was lousy but featured fewer commercials than KLQ at least.

The flip of 93.7 to country occurred prior to Clear Channel acquiring the station.

WLAV went classic rock when Adams sold the station to Bloomington dba Michigan Media, owners of WKLQ. It proved to be an extremely wise move.

101.3 The Fox despite consistently trailing LAV earned decent male demo numbers in its first several years. I actually thought that station sounded best its first couple years following launch. It did sound bad in the late 00s, I'll grant you that.

[jaywmi]

As far as WLAV goes... the modern rock experiment lasted from late May of 1992 to September of 1993 - a bit over a year. The top-line ratings never matched or exceeded those of the previous WLAV incarnation, although it had developed a bit of a cult following during that time, especially around neighborhoods of downtown Grand Rapids and the Eastown area. This helped to precipitate the move of the modern rock format to 1340 AM until Michigan Media took full control of the stations (another year and a half or so).

I remember the time (it probably was in the late 00s) that The Fox was programming some weird AAA/mainstream rock hybrid, not really choosing either of those lanes. That didn't last too long, thankfully.

Why are the line breaks in your posts in such bizarre spots when I read on my smartphone? You realize the board software works just like MS Word and wraps lines automatically as needed, right?

LAV didn't flip to classic rock until about 18 months following 93.7's flip to country. Between the modern rock format that lasted maybe a year and the launch of the classic rock era, the station programmed AOR as "97 Rock". The playlist was lousy but featured fewer commercials than KLQ at least.

The flip of 93.7 to country occurred prior to Clear Channel acquiring the station.

WLAV went classic rock when Adams sold the station to Bloomington dba Michigan Media, owners of WKLQ. It proved to be an extremely wise move.

101.3 The Fox despite consistently trailing LAV earned decent male demo numbers in its first several years. I actually thought that station sounded best its first couple years following launch. It did sound bad in the late 00s, I'll grant you that.

[MWmetalhead]

The "Rock's Finest" era of 101.3 The Fox did indeed sound awful.