Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

Just heard from a pretty reliable source that Bell is bringing back 89X next week.

Normally I trust Sil, but I gotta wait it out on this.

On second thought, I don't know why and can't see why Bell would do such a thing.

98.7 gets a consistent 3.2 rating with Audacity putting in zero effort. 89X drew in listeners from the US side with good demos, I have no idea how the country station it replaced does in the US.

This would be the best thing to happen this decade so far, would love to see it.. grew up with 89X, such an iconic station in this city

I just saw a "Michigan Nostalgia" merch site that had 89x shirts. Clearly a sustainable brand...

If this is true, would they actually promote it on the Detroit side? Bell has no physical presence at the moment for any of their stations and most people won't just stumble upon it.

This would something I’d finally be interested in when it comes to Detroit radio (Windsor, I know)

I'll shit my pants if this happens.

If it returns, the station needs to focus on 90s tracks the most (especially early & mid 90s), 00s tracks the second most, and everything else in small doses.

They also need to go deep. Not some bullshit 350 song playlist. Playlist size should be double that.

Editorcj wrote: ↑Wed Aug 20, 2025 9:50 pm 98.7 gets a consistent 3.2 rating with Audacity putting in zero effort. 89X drew in listeners from the US side with good demos, I have no idea how the country station it replaced does in the US.

The ratings across the board fell into the toilet after Dave & Chuck left, including within the "good demos."

From Radioinsight...Lance is usually pretty on the ball...

Domain Insight 8/21: Is 89X About To Return To Windsor/Detroit?

Lance Venta by Lance Venta August 21, 2025

New Rock 89X 88.7 CIMX Windsor DetroitAlmost five years after flipping heritage Alternative brand “89X” 88.7 CIMX-FM Windsor ON/Detroit to Country as “Pure Country 89“, Bell Media may be preparing to return the brand to the market.

If it's on his site, the rumor definitely has legs. Best trade news site in existence at the moment.

Do they still have the 20% (instead of 35%) CanCon exception? Or did they give that up when they flipped to country and totally abandoned the US audience?

I wish for the days of "OHM FM" - the top 40 80's days in particular

I might stroke out if this happens.

My money’s on them bringing it back with classic alt. Would love to see that. Doubt anyone like Gnyp or Cristina would want to come back though… they don’t want to risk getting burned again. That’s probably the only sucky part about this potentially happening.


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