Name: Cumulus Media
Age: 22
Occupation: radio giant
Last Seen: Atlanta, GA
Bee-otched For: polishing a few turds in Grand Rapids
-Age: 22
Occupation: radio giant
Last Seen: Atlanta, GA
Bee-otched For: polishing a few turds in Grand Rapids
2019 is not even a week old and there's some big things going on regarding the radio dial.
On Friday, 107.3 WBBL ceased to exist... Kinda. In reality, it moved back to its original frequency, 1340 AM. The station - now rechristened The Ticket - announced that they will be adding a new low-powered FM signal at 106.1, which should cover a good chunk of Grand Rapids, though it is bad news for fans of Lansing's Q106 and Lakeview's M106.3.
107.3 is now simulcasting Nash 94.5, which has also reverted to the Thunder branding. The simulcast is expected to be temporary since the two stations' signals do overlap, though 94.5 is west of Grand Rapids while 107.3 is east of town.
Now, there's some good things regarding Cumulus' re-working of their stations, especially since 1340's former tenant, WJRW was proven to be an abysmal disaster. In its ten years of existence, they never achieved any ratings success. In its later years, WJRW was simply a clearing house for Cumulus' shitty reich-wing talk shows including Mark Levin and Michael Weiner-um, Savage.
However, Cumulus fucked up by allowing a sports format to still exist in Grand Rapids. Even more, they're still allowing the Huge Fat Retard Bill Simonson to still have a show even though his fame faded 15 years ago. The only good news for them is that he's no longer on the payroll. His show just moved over to the Michigan Media Network, which just took over syndication of his show. New in mornings is the Shep, Shower 'n Shave show with Matt Shepard.
The biggest loser in all this is Eric Zane, who has lost his second radio job in only a few years. Of course, he was with Free Beer and Hot Wings on WGRD but lost that sweet gig because of his public attack on Deltaplex Arena owner Joel Langlois. Many believed that on WBBL, Zane lost his touch, especially when he was asskissing his former target, Huge. According to Zane, he doesn't know where he'll end up, but he's hoping that he'll be able to stay in west Michigan.
Now, there's a question that I want to know: if the country format on 94.5 moves over to 107.3 full-time, could this mean the return of (yep) KLQ? Hard to believe it, but it will be ten years come May 28 when that legendary station disappeared to the internet and met its quiet demise a few months later. Now, Cumulus is NOT a rock-friendly company. Here in Michigan, they only own one major rock station: Saginaw's Z93. Meanwhile, I see that wklq.com is still available.
Personally, I'd like to see a REAL, full-power urban FM station in town. It's amazing that GR is the second-largest city in Michigan and yet, the sole station in town that's hip-hop friendly is WSNX. If Cumulus was smart, they could siphon some of WSNX's numbers and MAYBE for the first time ever, 105.3 Hot FM can beat WSNX in the ratings.
You know, with Zane being canned twice in only a short time, let me say this: when I was a kid, I wanted to be a radio DJ. But then, I learned the reality that the pay really sucks and even if you're #1, they can still can you. So, I ended up getting into the business that I am now. Yes, the first ten years sucked with my ex-boss and his pompous attitude. But after he retired, the place REALLY turned around. Since then, I've gotten several HUGE raises and last week, everybody at my company was given a $500 check. You know, I'm happy that my company's growing and I hope to stay there for years to come. This June, I'll be there for 17 years.
In radio, if you work at one station that long, you're lucky.
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Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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