from the Peoria Journal-Star
PEORIA - Three new radio stations made their debut in Peoria on Thursday, including one devoted entirely to pop hits from the 1980s.
WKSO-FM, formerly "Kiss 94," is now "Channel 94.3," playing all-80s music; WFXF- FM 102.3, formerly "Extreme Radio," is now "The Eagle," playing classic hits; and WBGE-FM, formerly "Jammin' Oldies 92.3," is now "Power 92," playing current pop hits.
Michael Rea, vice president and manager of the Peoria market for AAA Entertainment, said the changes should bode well for the company - and for listeners.
"As we put all of the formats together, we tried to do it in a way that complemented each other," he said. "Both that station (94.3) and "The Eagle" will be playing a lot of music that nobody else is playing, that's kind of been forgotten."
AAA recently bought WKSO and WFXF from Kelly Communications, adding them to their three other stations: WBGE-FM, jazz station WJPL- FM and WWCT-FM, "Rock 106."
Classic hits station "The Eagle" will play music by the likes of Bob Seger, Steve Winwood, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, The Doobie Brothers and Chicago.
Howard Stern, whose morning show had aired on 102.3, will not return, Rea said.
That decision might have had something to do with the recent addition of "Ray Lytle's Morning Disaster" to AAA's other station, "Rock 106."
Prior to the new format, 102.3 had been airing all-Eagles music before switching to old Abbott and Costello radio shows.
"Power 92" will play current Top 40 hits, or "today's hottest music," as the station touts.
All-'80s "Channel 94.3" will feature artists like The Stray Cats, Joan Jett, The B-52s, the Go-Go's, INXS and The Cars.
"The library has over 1,000 songs on this station, so it can stay fresh for quite a while, I think," Rea said.
In the days before the sta tion was unveiled, 94.3 aired soundbites of movies, music, televisions shows and commercials from the 1980s.
Rea said the '80s-centric programming is a fresh approach.
"It's a relatively new format. There's one in Chicago that's doing pretty well already in their Arbitron trends," he said.
AAA has also tweaked WJPL-FM, "Smooth Jazz 96.5." The station has been repackaged as "Magic 96.5," but Rea said few changes have been made to the station's programming.
The on-air talent for the new stations hasn't been decided yet, Rea said.
"We're completing our personnel decisions and hopefully within the next week, we'll have all of our DJs in place," he said. "We plan on having very strong personalities."
Rea said AAA is optimistic about the three new stations, as well as the two old ones.
"I think we'll do well. We're putting out five very strong products, and two of the new stations really have no direct competition," he said. "We're going to work very hard to put out a product that people want."
from the Peoria Journal-Star
By SARA BAKER of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Howard Stern is missing in action on 102.3 FM, but Parrotheads should enjoy the music coming from "Kiss 94."
The usual programming on the two stations is gone, and listeners are hearing only one artist on each station.
WFXF-FM 102.3, "Extreme Radio" is playing all Eagles music, and WKSO-FM 94.3, "Kiss 94" is playing all Jimmy Buffett tunes.
Kelley Communications recently sold the two stations to AAA Entertainment. Michael Rea, vice president and manager of the Peoria market for AAA, said the music changes are only temporary.
"We’re in the process of moving all the equipment from Kelly Communications to our building," he said. "It’s just easier that way."
He said AAA Entertainment is building new studios for both stations. Once they are completed, regular broad casting will resume.
But what they will broadcast hasn’t been decided, he said.
"We haven’t come to a final decision on where everything’s going to land," Rea said. "We’re just looking at everything and trying to see where those stations fit in with the rest of the market and our other three stations here."
AAA also owns WBGE-FM 92.3, "The Cool FM"; WJPL-FM 96.5, "Smooth Jazz"; and WWCT-FM 105.7, "Rock 106".
Kiss 94 had played a mix of adult contemporary and current pop hits, while Extreme Radio played active rock and aired Howard Stern in the morning.
Rea said Stern may or may not return to WFXF.
"He is under contract, but there’s not been a determination whether he’s going to be back on the air or not," he said.
The solid blocks of Eagles and Buffett will probably be over by the end of the week, Rea said. By then, the stations will be completely moved into the AAA studios and their new formats will have been chosen, he said.
from: FMQB
Meanwhile, Kelly Communications held on to the syndicated Howard Stern Show, which they had been carrying on WWCT, and moved it to the company's WTAZ-FM, changing the station's format from Talk to Classic Rock. WTAZ's former Talk format is now heard on Kelly's WOAM-AM, which was 24-hour Sports. Kelly Communications owner Bob Kelly said 'OAM will carry a combination of Talk and Sports.
WWCT was recently in the news after losing a court battle with former MD/midday talent Jenifer Daniels (fmqb 5/28). Daniels was awarded a $1.6 million settlement in a pregnancy discrimination case. WWCT has appealed the decision. The negative publicity the station received was also a factor in Kelly offering a lower price for the station. "The lawsuit did play a factor because going back in time during initial discussions, Mr. Foster told us the issue would be taken care of and never go to trial," Kelly said.
-Jay Gleason
June 17, 1999
from the: Peoria Journal Star
PEORIA - Local fans of conservative talk show host G. Gordon Liddy got a surprise Monday when they tried to tune in his morning show on 102.3 FM (WTAZ): The voice of New York shock jock Howard Stern.
That's because of a shakeup at two of the four Peoria-area radio stations owned by Kelly Communications.
As of Monday, 102.3 FM became known as WFXF-FM ("The Fox"), broadcasting Stern's often-explicit humor weekday mornings and classic rock - that is, older rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd - the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, such talk show hosts as Liddy, Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Art Bell, who'd been carried on 102.3 FM, are now being broadcast on 1350 AM, which previously had been Kelly's 24-hour sports station (WOAM-AM).
The changes follow last week's collapse of Kelly Communications' deal to buy WWCT-FM ("Rock 106") from owner Bruce Foster.
Though that sale hadn't been finalized, Kelly had been operating WWCT-FM since last summer. When the deal fell through, it left Kelly without a classic rock station (and without a home for Stern's show).
AM 1350, now known as WTAZ-AM, will carry a combination of talk and sports programming, said Kelly Communications owner Bob Kelly.
The station will carry sports - including Peoria Pirates and Chicago White Sox games, as well as sports talk shows - from 5 p.m. to midnight weeknights and from noon to midnight on weekends, Kelly said.
Talk show hosts Tom Leykis and Michael Reagan, who had been carried on WTAZ-FM, will not be on the AM station due to the nighttime sports programming, Kelly said.
Copyright © Peoria Journal Star
from: allaccess.com
Longtime Rocker WWCT/PEORIA has been broadcasting from its transmitter site since last FRIDAY afternoon (6/11), as original owner BOB FOSTER takes over the reins after the sale of the station fell through.
According to the "PEORIA JOURNAL STAR,: KELLY COMMUNICATIONS took control of the station nearly a year ago when an agreement was reached with FOSTER to buy the station for $7.75 million. However, last week, KELLY COMMUNICATIONS wanted to pay a reduced price citing station audience and income decline.
ALL ACCESS hears WWCT is playing more Classic Rock and will not retain the syndicated HOWARD STERN show. Look for STERN to resurface on KELLY's Talker WTAZ-A.
from the: Peoria Journal Star
By ANDY KRAVETZ of the Journal Star
PEORIA - The owner of WWCT-FM Rock 106 pulled the plug Friday on a deal to sell the radio station to Kelly Communications Inc.
Station owner Bruce Foster said the $7.75 million deal fell through because Bob Kelly, owner of Kelly Communications, didn’t want to pay the price he offered last July when the deal was announced.
"Kelly was in the process of buying the radio station," Foster said. "They defaulted on the deal, so the signed agreement is null and void, and I took back the station."
On Wednesday, Kelly said he offered Foster $6 million, citing a lower appraised value of the station. Foster turned that down.
"Kelly did try to discount the price at the last minute, and I said no," Foster said. "We had an agreement, he signed and he agreed to it, so I am going to hold him to it."
Things had changed, however, from last summer when the agreement was reached, Kelly said.
"Basically, we do not feel the value of the assets being purchased are worth what they were worth in 1997, which is what we based the price on," said Kelly, whose company has run the station since August.
Kelly cited declining income and audiences as one reason he soured on the deal. The other, he said, was negative publicity from a federal lawsuit filed by Jenifer Daniels, a former Rock 106 disc jockey.
Daniels claimed station employees and Foster discriminated against her, eventually forcing her off the air because she was pregnant and gave birth to twin boys in 1995. A jury agreed, awarding her $1.6 million in damages, though federal statutes limit her to collecting about $100,000.
Foster said Friday he has filed an appeal.
That didn’t matter, said Kelly, whose company owns four radio stations in Peoria and two in Bloomington.
"The lawsuit did play a factor because going back in time during initial discussions, Mr. Foster told us the issue would be taken care of and never go to trial," he said. "But as you know, it was spread across the media for an entire week."
Foster said he planned several changes for the station including dropping the popular "Howard Stern Show" from the morning time slot and using local disc jockeys.
"We are going to have live DJs, none of these Dallas, Texas, disc jockeys," Foster said. "A satellite DJ is just not as good as a Peoria DJ."
He also indicated he would change the music format to focus more on "rock’n’ roll, not this new stuff that sounds terrible."
At 2 p.m. Friday, station employees seized control of the signal from the station’s transmitter in rural Tazewell County near Washington.
Playing up the part of pirate disc jockeys, station engineer Wayne R. Miller and John Symmonds played what Foster dubbed "real rock’n’ roll" but left out one thing - commercials. He vowed the station would be commercial-free until Monday.
Foster, who also owns a station in Macomb, said he had no plans to sell the station, but "if someone threw me a lot of money, I might listen."
Depending upon their editing, there may or may not be more information on WWCT's www pages, available at http://www.rock106.com
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This page © 1999-2000 by The Complete Howard Stern Links!
June 15, 1999
Deal to sell WWCT ‘null and void,’ owner says Kelly, saying station’s value has dropped, offers less; Foster announces return to rock’n’ roll, local DJs
June 12, 1999