99.9 and 97.5 Benton Harbor change calls

[cckadlec]

I have noticed that nobody else has brought these changes up in the past week, which make it quite clear that some format swaps/flips are about to occur:

Back on the 11th, 97.5 Y Country sent their WYTZ calls over to Live 99.9. In turn, 97.5 changed their calls to WRRA. It appears the FCC approved this on that date.

Make of that what you will (99.9 flipping to country again - which would be weird given the fact they already changed to Alternative, and 97.5 taking on something new?), but I can imagine since they still haven't made any changes, that they both - or one of them - will quite soon, probably in response to the recent changes of 94.3 and 107.1. Meanwhile, 99.9's typical TOH ID at :48 still uses WQLQ calls as of Sunday night, so perhaps wait and see if they both switch calls officially at the time of an unannounced flip.

[thatonedude]

As long as they don’t mess with the Lake, I’m fine with this.


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[format this]

I noticed today that the revamped calls are on 99.9, but still imaging and presenting as an Alt station. I don’t see any change happening soon, with perhaps putting Alt on 96.1 for the Notre Dame crowd. I was surprised to hear that 94.3 ditched the Quality Rock format to simulcast mainstream rocker 107.1.


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[ChrisWL1980]

For the record, yours truly noted the impending call change in the WZOC/WIRX thread.

I suppose it's possible 99.9 flips to Y-Country, thus enabling the Benton Harbor audience to keep their country station while giving B100 some competition (again). B100 was back up to double digits in the fall ratings (while 99.9 saw a drop after the flip to ALT) so the thought may be it's time for someone to take them on again. I like the ALT format and would be bummed to see it demoted to a translator but if they're focusing specifically on South Bend, the translator might make more sense from a business perspective.
Another scenario: 99.9 goes Y-Country, WSBT adds a simulcast on 97.5 and stays on the 96.1 translator and ALT is toast.
Another scenario: nothing changes except the call letters. How long has 92.9 continued to identify as U93 even after ditching the WNDV-FM calls? Y-Country has heritage in Benton Harbor so they could conceivably keep it as is even without a Y in the call letters.

[MWmetalhead]

Country will definitely be moving to 99.9.

Only question is - what lies ahead for 97.5? If a translator in the St. Joe area ultimately gets upgraded to 97.5, what programming will backfill on the translator?

[KalamazooClown]

WSBT is going to be simulcast on 1400 WQYQ and the 106.1 translator - https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2950 ... simulcast/

[radio_sparty]

I'm curious what happens with WSJM-FM. WQYQ, under the previous call sign of WSJM, was a sports station. They then merged the news-talk and sports-talk into a single WSJM brand and moved it to FM. Does 94.9 go all news talk? Do they flip to music?

[MWmetalhead]

I'm guessing 97.5 will flip to Alternative once 99.9 flips to Country.

I'm not sure why WSJM-FM would change aside from removing any syndicated programming that may duplicate what is heard on 106.1. (There might not even be any programming overlap.)

[format this]

Just announced… alt is moving to 96.1 and 98.3 next week. I did call the 96.1 flip.


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[cckadlec]

Just announced… alt is moving to 96.1 and 98.3 next week. I did call the 96.1 flip.

Could you share the source of this information? Just curious on more information.

I assume you are referring to 98.3 WCXT and the 96.1 translator in South Bend? And if that's alternative moving to those two, is that format moving from 99.9 after all that advertising on 106.1 for their listeners to tune into 99.9? Or will that be a second station with alternative and 99.9 remains unchanged? And if 99.9 IS moving to 96.1/98.3, what replaces 99.9?

[format this]

Just announced… alt is moving to 96.1 and 98.3 next week. I did call the 96.1 flip.

Could you share the source of this information? Just curious on more information.

I assume you are referring to 98.3 WCXT and the 96.1 translator in South Bend? And if that's alternative moving to those two, is that format moving from 99.9 after all that advertising on 106.1 for their listeners to tune into 99.9? Or will that be a second station with alternative and 99.9 remains unchanged? And if 99.9 IS moving to 96.1/98.3, what replaces 99.9?

Let’s see… a running promo on 99.9 pretty much sums it up.


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[format this]

106.1 is simulcasting 960 WSBT. 99.9 is probably flipping to country.


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[cckadlec]

106.1 is simulcasting 960 WSBT. 99.9 is probably flipping to country.

I assumed so for 99.9 given the call letter swap initially.

I recorded the last half hour of 106.1 before they abruptly switched mid-song to WSBT. I really enjoyed that station. QYQ could have done a better job at perhaps saying goodbye for two minutes instead of going into another song that would just be cut off, but credit due for letting people know about the change ahead of time and even on the air 20 minutes before.

Credit due for all of these switches actually, good or bad. Any time a station/corporation cares enough to give advanced notice to listeners or the industry as a whole, it is a positive thing considering what uncaring rotten scum most of the industry's large corporations are these days.

[zackeast]

Since it’s all going public now, I’ll spill the beans and stop lurking

106.1 now WSBT AM 960 simulcast
98.3 The Coast will retire the format to make way for Live’s Alternative format to air on 98.3 and 96.1 South Bend
Y Country to 99.9
107.9 The Lake leaves 99.9 HD2 and 107.9 translator and heads for the big time at 97.5.

Based on engineering work, switches happening sometime next week.

[ChrisWL1980]

Sucks that The Coast is toast. I really liked that station when I visited Paw Paw last September. I'm glad ALT is staying around in some form though.
What happens to the 107.9 translator? New format, going silent or no change?