Nielsen audio AQH shares for April

[MWmetalhead]

I think Greg and others may be discounting what Tony Gates meant to LAV from a ratings standpoint.

Stated differently - what do y'all think would happen to GRD's ratings if Free Beer & Hot Wings were to suddenly disappear from their airwaves? I know what I think would happen - they'd tank!

Gates' morning show at LAV, other than the few years Kevin Matthews held down the fort - dated back to 1995, I believe.

[TC Talks]

Tony was around before '95 but not as a regular.

[MWmetalhead]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

[Graham Wellington]

I think Greg and others may be discounting what Tony Gates meant to LAV from a ratings standpoint.

Yeah maybe, but isn't that an indictment then that the playlist is garbage? At the end of the day, most people listen to a music station for the music. If your scenario is true, that tells you that Tony was generating the vast majority of the ratings and masking the fact that the playlist is in need of a massive overhaul.

[48125er]

I think Greg and others may be discounting what Tony Gates meant to LAV from a ratings standpoint.

Stated differently - what do y'all think would happen to GRD's ratings if Free Beer & Hot Wings were to suddenly disappear from their airwaves? I know what I think would happen - they'd tank!

Gates' morning show at LAV, other than the few years Kevin Matthews held down the fort - dated back to 1995, I believe.

Tony was in Chicago before that?

[MWmetalhead]

Not to my knowledge.

[Trophyhead]

Looked up Tony Gates' LinkedIn profile, which puts him in Newaygo at the moment and does cite a stint as Program Director for WLUP-AM in Chicago. Overall, he reports 37+ years with Cumulus Media in his career.

Don't forget Red Noise, who preceded Phil Tower as WLAV's morning man around the start of the 1990s and there could certainly be more people on either side of them who had the role before Tony took up the shift on 97LAV.

[48125er]

Looked up Tony Gates' LinkedIn profile, which puts him in Newaygo at the moment and does cite a stint as Program Director for WLUP-AM in Chicago. Overall, he reports 37+ years with Cumulus Media in his career.

Don't forget Red Noise, who preceded Phil Tower as WLAV's morning man around the start of the 1990s and there could certainly be more people on either side of them who had the role before Tony took up the shift on 97LAV.

I remember hearing him tak about it on the air before, I just forget when exactly he was there.

[TC Talks]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Red Noize (or one of his other names) was the morning guy when LAV made the switch to Classic Rock. Then the Evening Guy (he was a Math Teacher) and Tracy Forner ran mornings for a while. Then Phil Tower.

[48125er]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Red Noize (or one of his other names) was the morning guy when LAV made the switch to Classic Rock. Then the Evening Guy (he was a Math Teacher) and Tracy Forner ran mornings for a while. Then Phil Tower.

Tracy was at WZZM for a while after that?

[TC Talks]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Red Noize (or one of his other names) was the morning guy when LAV made the switch to Classic Rock. Then the Evening Guy (he was a Math Teacher) and Tracy Forner ran mornings for a while. Then Phil Tower.

Tracy was at WZZM for a while after that?

I think he moved to another station. I was out of the market by then.

[MWmetalhead]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Red Noize (or one of his other names) was the morning guy when LAV made the switch to Classic Rock. Then the Evening Guy (he was a Math Teacher) and Tracy Forner ran mornings for a while. Then Phil Tower.

In spring 1993, Noize was at Z93 in Atlanta. WLAV was "97 Rock" and hadn't gone full throttle classic rock yet.

Unless he returned to the station shortly thereafter, he was not in mornings when the flip was made (which occurred my freshman year of high school).

I do remember hearing Steve Labenz on LAV immediately after the flip.

[TC Talks]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Red Noize (or one of his other names) was the morning guy when LAV made the switch to Classic Rock. Then the Evening Guy (he was a Math Teacher) and Tracy Forner ran mornings for a while. Then Phil Tower.

In spring 1993, Noize was at Z93 in Atlanta. WLAV was "97 Rock" and hadn't gone full throttle classic rock yet.

Unless he returned to the station shortly thereafter, he was not in mornings when the flip was made (which occurred my freshman year of high school).

I do remember hearing Steve Labenz on LAV immediately after the flip.

NOIZE didn't come back. I guess I considered the station to be classic rock when he was there...

[MWmetalhead]

97 Rock, which touted its 40 minute rock blocks every hour, was album oriented rock. They played healthy doses of Seattle grunge rock, Aerosmith, Rush, GNR, Def Leppard, etc. Their library went as far back as the 70s and maybe the 60s. They did play Queen, Zeppelin, Skynyrd, etc. I do remember them playing the snot out of "You Wreck Me" by Tom Petty, a popular current single at the time.

The flip to classic rock happened when Bloomington Broadcasting bought WLAV AM & FM. 1340 flipped from alternative rock to sports talk. 96.9 flipped to Classic Rock at Noon or perhaps early afternoon on either a Saturday or Sunday. The flip was announced in advance. I was listening when it occurred.

Losing 1340's music format was a shame. One positive is KLQ increased its emphasis on newer & edgier music ("the Home of Rock 'n Roll" became the "Real Rock Revolution"). Butt rock spins were gradually diminished in favor of Green Day, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, etc.

[Graham Wellington]

I think Phil Tower may have initially hosted mornings immediately following the flip to classic rock. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Red Noize (or one of his other names) was the morning guy when LAV made the switch to Classic Rock. Then the Evening Guy (he was a Math Teacher) and Tracy Forner ran mornings for a while. Then Phil Tower.

In spring 1993, Noize was at Z93 in Atlanta. WLAV was "97 Rock" and hadn't gone full throttle classic rock yet.

Unless he returned to the station shortly thereafter, he was not in mornings when the flip was made (which occurred my freshman year of high school).

I do remember hearing Steve Labenz on LAV immediately after the flip.

NOIZE didn't come back. I guess I considered the station to be classic rock when he was there...

LOL that freedom rock commercial- I completely forgot about that! Probably the fact I haven't seen it in 30 years has something to do with it.

Unfortunately most classic rock programmers today still build playlists that cater to the guys in front of the van.