Bland Rebrand For WFGR

[radiofan86]

Rock fans won't be happy, and neither will pop fans.

My EXACT thoughts I had when looking at their recently played, then I saw your comment.

I wonder if the WTRV move back to AC was a cost/logistics one. Previously, they used the same Soft AC logs in Buffalo, Albany and GR. Albany flipped to Hot AC earlier this year (and is doing NOTHING), Buffalo went AC last year... it's probably easier to just plug in the AC log on 100.5 now.

The Townsquare cluster is kind of a mess right now. iHeart has the programming upper hand, as much as it pains me to say it. 105.7, 101.3 (and of course B93 and SNX) are all well-positioned and covering their intended audiences.

[Greg Buben]

I,m not sure why I was singled out to be one in favor of the WFGR new rebrand. To me it still sounds like the classic hits of
the 70's and 80's as it was before it starting calling itself "The Grand". Although there are some crossover hits that both
classic hits and classic rock stations play this is far from a classic rock competitor to WLAV. I do think that Town Square
could have called WGRD "The Grand" instead because of the call letters WGRD are better suited for that nickname and
branding than is WFGR. WFGR would be better if they continue saying "We're For Grand Rapids".

[MWmetalhead]

To me, "FGR" sounded like shorthand for "F**k Grand Rapids."

I am glad they no longer use that call sign for branding.

[SteveL]

I would assume they'd get a bit of a blip because it's a change but I agree with Craig Russell - why bother? The liner I just heard said "Hand crafted in West Michigan for West Michigan" which is laughable but playing songs like "The Warrior" by Scandal will only lead to the same 2 or 3 share they've been getting.

[MWmetalhead]

I think multiple flips will happen within the next 60 days.

I think 107.3 will return to Sports or will go News/Talk. The new GM that Cumulus brought in from Dallas is well versed in those two formats. Gregg Henson has also spent much of his broadcast career in sports radio (he also has some general talk experience). It makes no sense for Cumulus to hire those folks and not provide a spoken word format on a decent signal.

95.7 will go Country.

Those are my predictions.

The retooled 98.7 attacks LAV from the opposite side GRD is attacking it. It may also be a bit of an insurance policy for male oriented buys should Cumulus choose to reintroduce a male oriented format on 107.3.

[TheGadgetGuy]

I don't see Cumulus spending the money necessary to make a spoken word format successful. A station that just passes through syndicated programming isn't going to generate much in the way of results.

What they should do is swap the formats of 94.5 and 107.3. The Country format did pretty well before it was moved to 107.3.

[craigrussell100]

If Cumulus was smart...they would flip 107.3 to a straight ahead pop-rock Classic Hits like FGR used to be. With that stick, they could cover almost the whole western side of the state with a real mass appeal radio station. Of course they would do it on the cheap, but it certainly wouldnt be worse then what thy are doing now. AND most older business owners love the 80's Classic Hits. In smaller towns (like Greenville, Ionia, etc) those advertising relationships would be able to be cultivated, and with a numbers boost, you could sell LAV and HTS on combos like FGR and LHT and GRD used to do.

Sidenote. Greg, WGRD will never change away from using those call letters, ala "The Grand". WGRD has been a heritage station and a legendary set of call letters in the market for over 75 years. They will never abandon them. Take it to the bank.

[ChrisWL1980]

The Eagle stations up north are what I consider Rock AC. It's a hybrid of Adult Alternative, Classic Rock and Classic Hits.

[MWmetalhead]

I still fully haven't gotten over the abandonment of the "98 WGRD" moniker circa 1994.

"97-9 GRD" will never sound quite correct to my ears.

Greenville and Ionia area businesses usually have little reason to pay GR ad rates. They have WION and WGLM on which to place advertising.

[48125er]

I think once again 107.3 as sports or talk would be a epic fail, not more than 1.5 like Blunder country, I still think classic or Country not newer than early 2010s would be best for 107.3, much like the 92.5 the Outlaw during the citadel days.

[DJ-MichaelAngelo]

I still fully haven't gotten over the abandonment of the "98 WGRD" moniker circa 1994.
"97-9 GRD" will never sound quite correct to my ears.

Ditto! In my formative years of radio listening when I was a kid, it was always "98 rock" WGRD so that's what I best remember them by.