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96.3 bought by IHeart?

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
TRTV
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96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by TRTV » Sun Oct 29, 2023 11:27 am

I happened to be on iheart’s website and noticed 96.3 WDVD came up as one of there stations? Did they just squire this? Wasn’t WDVD cumulus?



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RayQix
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by RayQix » Sun Oct 29, 2023 11:36 am

I just looked at their website and don’t see the iHeart logo on it anywhere

Maybe just an associated stream for folks.


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MCelotto
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by MCelotto » Sun Oct 29, 2023 11:58 am

Here's the link, just a streaming association..

https://www.iheart.com/live/963-wdvd-5352/



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MWmetalhead
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Oct 29, 2023 12:32 pm

Exactly.

The Cumulus stations have all been available on the iHeartRadio streaming platform for a number of years.

iHeart cannot purchase any additional FM stations in SE Michigan; they are already at the limit permitted by the FCC.



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RayQix
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by RayQix » Mon Oct 30, 2023 10:21 pm

Limit…..? Who put that out there lol


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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by Deleted User 16144 » Mon Nov 27, 2023 8:01 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2023 12:32 pm
Exactly.

The Cumulus stations have all been available on the iHeartRadio streaming platform for a number of years.

iHeart cannot purchase any additional FM stations in SE Michigan; they are already at the limit permitted by the FCC.
Can iHeart still purchase an AM in Detroit? If so how long before Kevin Adell sells WFDF 910? There was mention a while back from Adell himself saying he would eventually sell to iHeart.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by MWmetalhead » Mon Nov 27, 2023 10:08 am

I believe they can. Not sure why they'd want to do so, though.



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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by edj » Mon Nov 27, 2023 8:00 pm

They dumped 1310 for a reason. Why would they want another AM, even with a translator?




RadioDork1
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by RadioDork1 » Wed Dec 06, 2023 10:09 pm

https://youtu.be/KSy_Kn7s8gQ?si=zCU7ehw47x3RhkVa Wish this never happened....So many great DJS on this channel. I loved this station. MW...Were they not doing good in the ratings? Was it the whole alternative thing that was the craze? I was young...I heard them start mixing in more alt music....I knew something was up. I'm not in the industry....Just a fan of radio. I will say Lisa Lisa and Beau are great people. They always treat their fans good. Anyway, sorry for the long post.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Dec 07, 2023 10:34 am

I'll see if I can find some old ratings summaries from R&R. I want to say WPLT was in the low 3s in ages 12+ when the shift to the boring Modern AC format occurred.

While the CHR like presentation seems bizarre now, the music (aside from the asinine up-pitching of the audio, something many alternative rock stations did in this era) was pretty darn good.

The station sounded a lot like 93.7 The Edge in Minneapolis.

The dull Modern AC format that followed this one was dreadful.



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Colonel Flagg
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by Colonel Flagg » Thu Dec 07, 2023 1:10 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Thu Dec 07, 2023 10:34 am
I'll see if I can find some old ratings summaries from R&R. I want to say WPLT was in the low 3s in ages 12+ when the shift to the boring Modern AC format occurred.

While the CHR like presentation seems bizarre now, the music (aside from the asinine up-pitching of the audio, something many alternative rock stations did in this era) was pretty darn good.

The station sounded a lot like 93.7 The Edge in Minneapolis.

The dull Modern AC format that followed this one was dreadful.
Planet 96.3 should still be around today. There were too many people who were allowed to be "decision makers" who had no right to be in on the conversation. Sales really wanted AC, but they wanted something a little more "hip" than WNIC or WMGC. The PD's they hired were odd choices. As I've mentioned before, one of them walked out, and never returned. When they hired Greg Ausham, I thought there was a shred of hope that something good was going to happen. I thought wrong. Ausham didn't stay long. I brought in an old friend of mine, a long time PD, with a winning track record. He was offered the gig, but turned it down. "Too many chef's" is what he told me.

Sales, and corporate (Disney) wanted AC, not an "Alternative" station. The decision to jettison the Planet brand had a lot to do with that. When those decisions are made "upstairs" by the GM and GSM, and AE's, that's how you end up with a radio station named after the now nearly obsolete Direct-to-Video Disc, instead of something catchy and easy to remember, like Planet.

They should have never let this guy leave the Fisher building. I think the story would be a lot different:

https://mcrfb.com/?cat=1147


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MWmetalhead
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Dec 07, 2023 5:28 pm

An actual mainstream AC might've been a good choice in the late 90s! Certainly would've made more sense than Modern AC. Magic 105.1 did not launch until 2002, if I remember correctly.

The first 18 months or so of WDVD were really bad. It was obvious people from New York were calling the shots. Once Rocky Allen was sent packing, the station began sounding better in a hurry.



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Colonel Flagg
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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by Colonel Flagg » Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:40 pm

MWmetalhead wrote:
Thu Dec 07, 2023 5:28 pm
An actual mainstream AC might've been a good choice in the late 90s! Certainly would've made more sense than Modern AC. Magic 105.1 did not launch until 2002, if I remember correctly.

The first 18 months or so of WDVD were really bad. It was obvious people from New York were calling the shots. Once Rocky Allen was sent packing, the station began sounding better in a hurry.
Everything you say is true. I was there for all of that. The Rocky Allen "Showgram" :lol

I still believe Rick Gillette was the right guy for the PD stripes, and should have stayed. After that, it was a revolving door, including Garrett Michaels, Tom O'Brien, and Greg Ausham. Steve Kosbau took care of Doug-FM. That was a fun project, but I hated seeing so many people lose their jobs. There were some talented people on the 7th floor.


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Re: 96.3 bought by IHeart?

Post by Mega Hertz » Thu Dec 07, 2023 7:21 pm

MW - June 30, 2001. The flip is on youtube.

Planet was great. You knew you were gonna love the next song. I had never heard alternative presented in a CHR format. Then it became MOMdern AC, alternative your mom listened to, also.

I remember meeting Johnny in the Morning at a McDonald's one morning in 8th grade when my dad let me cut school and took me out to breakfast. This was just after The Edge flipped. He took the time to sit and discuss radio and why they changed and everything with me, this 14 little punk. Good guy.

I think I heard a story (maybe Flagg could help out) how Rick Gillette called an air staff meeting and took something of a competitor's station and smashed it. I could be wrong but I feel like I heard something about that years ago.


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