The dominoes created by Audacy’s upcoming move of Country “94.1 The Wolf” WLFP to 99.7 replacing Hot AC “FM 100” WMC-FM have led to more changes in the market.
iHeartMedia this afternoon moved their “Kiss-FM” brand from 101.9 KWNW Crawfordsville AR to 102.7 WEGR Arlington and in the process moved the station to Hot AC. Branding as “Hit Music For Memphis”, the station continues to feature Premiere Networks’ Elvis Duran in mornings.
Classic Rock “Rock 103” moves in reverse to 101.9 as “Rock 102“. 102.7 WEGR had featured a Rock format for over 45 years.
The move places “Kiss-FM” on the stronger 100kW/287m signal replicating the coverage being lost by WMC-FM, while downgrading Classic Rock to the Class C3 8.5kW/147m signal of 101.9.
The frequency swap follows Flinn Broadcasting’s flip of 107.5 WHBQ-FM from Classic Hits to Adult leaning CHR last week as the Memphis market reacts to the changes brought on by Audacy’s sale of 94.1 WLFP to Educational Media Foundation.
“Rock 103” had a 3.8 share in the March 2023 Nielsen Audio ratings. Cumulus pulled its stations including competing Classic Rock “98.1 The Max” WXMX from Nielsen’s surveys last month. The former CHR “101.9 Kiss-FM” had a mere 1.1 share. WMC-FM had a 5.4 as the station positions itself to gain the lost audience following the upcoming sign-off of “FM 100“.
The first hour of the new “102.7 Kiss-FM” featured:
- Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop The Feeling
- Em Beihold – Numb Little Bug
- Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
- The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
- Avril Lavigne – Complicated
- Lewis Capaldi – Forget Me
- B.O.B. ft. Bruno Mars – Nothing On You
- Elton John & Britney Spears – Hold Me Closer
- Sia – Cheap Thrills
- Miley Cyrus – Flowers
- Ed Sheeran – Photograph
- Taylor Swift – Karma
- Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something Just Like This
- Harry Styles – As It Was
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com