Richmond Radio 1999 News

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Richmond Radio 1999 News

12-5-99 - Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been very busy finishing up another project. Here are the latest Richmond area ratings for the period July 1 through September 22, 1999. Not included on the list is WKLR because it didn't make the top 10, but it's morning show ranked #6 (6.3) and afternoon ranked #10 (4.9).

Station	Overall	Morning	Afternoon
WCDX	9.3	7.1	9.4
WTVR-FM	8.8	8.4	9.4
WRVQ	8.4	7.5	8.2
WRVA	7.9	11.3	5.2
WMXB	6.4	5.9	7.6
WKJS	6.2	7.3	5.4
WKHK	5.6	5.8	5.6
WRCL	5.2	4.3	5.8
WRXL	5.2	5.0	5.5
WPLZ	4.6		4.9

11-8-99 - WRVA has changed it's afternoon drive show again. Tim Farley has left the show to concentrate on being program director, leaving Pam Overstreet running solo. From the "Where are they now?" file: Former XL-102 jock Max Ryder has been consulting on-demand music website MusicMixx.com.

10-16-99 - It seems to be official now, WDYL "Y-101" is still calling themselves "Richmond's New Rock Revolution". No air staff yet, they say that is coming soon.

10-12-99 - OK, maybe WDYL 101.1-FM debuted another new format last night. They switched from "Smooth FM" to a Buzz-like format. They now say "Richmond's New Rock Revolution". Maybe this one will stick, tune in tomorrow to find out. I wonder why some stations do that, Cool 106 did the same thing; one day of a fake new format before switching over the real one.

10-10-99 - 101.1 WDYL debuted it's new format today. They are calling themselves "Smooth FM", the music sounds similar to the old "Smooth Jazz". No announcers yet, just a lady saying "WDYL Chester-Richmond, The Smooth FM" between every song.

10-5-99 - Clear Channel and AMFM are going to merge, this means that 10 local stations will be owned by the same company. Clear Channel owns WRVQ, WRVA, WRXL, WRNL, WTVR-FM, and WTVR-AM. AMFM Inc. owns WMXB, WRCL, WKHK, and WKLR. Nationwide the merger would mean that one company controls 830 stations. It is not yet known whether the combined company will keep all the local stations.

10-4-99 - 990 AM is now WLEE and 1320 is now All News WVNZ. Also, WHAP 1340 is simulcasting Hot Talk, not All News as I said before. 990 is now carrying Don Imus, Mike Gallagher, G.Gordon Liddy, Blanquita Cullum and the return of Jim Jacobs and "The Big Show"! You can read more at their web site http://www.wvnz.com

10-2-99 - 101.1 is now silent again, apparently they were doing some transmitter testing the other day when I heard them. I would listen for them to start up with a new format in the next couple of weeks. Also, the rumor is that on Monday (10-4), WLEE 1320-AM is taking on the all news format of 990 and 990 AM will start its' "Hot Talk" format. WHAP 1340 will still be all news.

9-28-99 - While scanning the FM band on the way home today I heard 101.1 WDYL back on the air. Now they are playing 80's music. I heard Def Leppard, The B-52's, The Tubes, and Ratt. No announcers, just music and some liners between songs. I also finally rearranged the radio page.

8-21-99 - Some catching up on past events...Richmond magazine came out with their annual "Best and Worst" issue, radio related winners were:
Radio DJ Who Really Knows His or Her Music: Dick Hungate WKLR, Bill Bevins WTVR, Jeff & Jeff WRXL
Best Overall Radio Personality: Bill Bevins WTVR, Tim Timberlake WRVA, Jim Jacobs (gone but not forgotten) WRVA, and honorable mention to Jeff Wicker WRVQ Best Radio Duo: Jeff & Jeff WRXL, Jeff Wicker & Betty Bodine WRVQ, Johnboy and Billy WKLR, honorable mention to Bender & Jackie WMXB.

Mentioned in the Business section of the Times Dispatch on August 2, Jim Jacobs now works for 4M Communications as Vice President of Operations. 4M Communications owns WVNZ, WHAP, and WVNS in Norfolk and is in the process of buying WLEE-AM. No word yet on whether he will have an on air position.

100.3 FM is now simulcasting country formatted 105.7 "The River". 107.3 "The Beat" has changed their call letters from WXNC to WBBT. Also in the coming weeks, look for this page to split up. It's just too darn much to have it all on one big page.

7-24-99 - The Spring ratings are out, for the period 4-1 thru 6-23. Nothing unexpected here. But a couple morning shows have changed, with the new "Bender" at B103, and Juan Conde gone from Power 92. The Power 92 morning show actaully went up a bit from 7.3 to 7.9 and B103 lost some from 5.5 to 5.0. Mornings ended up like this: 1)WRVA; 2)WCDX; 3)WTVR; 4)WRVQ; and 5)WKHK. One other note is afternoons at WRVA where Jim Jacobs was fired for low ratings, the replacement "Tim and Pam Show" did even worse than their predecessor, losing a half point from 4.8 down to a 4.3.

1) WCDX	9.4
2) WTVR-FM	9.1
3) WRVQ	7.8
4) WKHK	7.4
5) WRVA	7.2
6) WRXL	5.5
7) WKJS	5.2
8) WMXB	5.0
9) WKLR	4.9
10) WRCL	4.6

7-21-99 - Style Magazine has a decent cover story this week on Richmond Radio. You can check it out over at Richmond.com. No mention of the internet sites devoted to Richmond Radio...

7-20-99 - Alert surfer Brian Marchand emailed me and reminded me to add WJYJ-FM to the station list, and also that their translator here in Richmond at 107.5 went off the air with WXNC 107.3 coming on the air. I always wondered why the translator was here in the first place. I can pick up 90.5 as well or better than I ever could 107.5. Thanks for the tips, Brian!

7-19-99 - WDYL 101.1 FM is now off the air. The station signed off at the end of the day Thursday (7-15-99) at midnight. No word yet on what will happen to that frequency. WDYL had been at 92.1 and 105.7 before changing to 101.1 FM in Setember of '98. WDYL played contemporary Christian music.

6-20-99 - Another one snuck up on me, there is another new station in town, 107.3 WXNC "The Beat, Richmond's Dancin' Oldies". Apparently they came on the air sometime this weekend. It is a 1.4KW station in Powhatan, not too far from Midlothian. They have a pretty strong signal here in the North side of Henrico. I would not have guessed Oldies as a format, though. We already have an oldies station. Some of the songs I heard were "Shining Star", "Forget Me Nots", "Disco Inferno", and "Some Kind Of Wonderful".

5-29-99 - The latest Arbitron ratings for the period 1-7-99 thru 3-31-99 are in. Nothing unusual here this time around. The morning shows go like this: WKHK - 10.3, WRVA - 8.5, WTVR - 7.8, WCDX - 7.3, WRVQ - 6.9

1) WTVR	8.7
1) WKHK	8.7
3) WCDX	8.4
4) WRVQ	6.7
4) WRVA	6.7
6) WMXB	6.1
7) WRXL	5.4
8) WRCL	4.9
9) WKLR	4.7
10) WPLZ	4.6
10) WKJS	4.6

4-23-99 - Some news about the Radio Free Richmond project. The Richmond City Council approved a resolution that supports increased diversity in ownership of Richmond radio stations. This also includes support of low power community stations. Read more about it at the Radio Free Richmond page.

4-7-99 - There was a short note in the Richmond Times Dispatch this morning about Jim Jacobs. They fired him as of Monday. There was a quote from GM Carl McNeil about the "majority of Richmonders" not buying into it. I would be curious as to which radio show does have the majority of Richmonders tuned in (answer = none). There must be more to the story. It's bad enough to get rid of Jacobs, but even worse to put someone like Pam Overstreet in his place. Who wants to listen Tim and Pam talk for three hours? I imagine there will be quite a few more "FM listeners" in the afternoon drive time from now on.

4-6-99 - Jim Jacobs is conspicuously absent from the afternoon airwaves on WRVA. No word on why he's not there. Tim Farley and Pam Overstreet are now doing the afternoon show, although there will be at least one less listener than before.

3-16-99 - Radio One is buying WCDX, WPLZ, WJRV, and WGCV. Somehow I missed it, but they also recently acquired WDYL, WKJS, and WSOJ. According to the latest ratings, that gives Radio One three of the areas top ten stations.

3-4-99 - Just got word today that the new morning show at WMXB (B-103.7) will be "Bender", formerly of WDRV-FM in Pittsburgh. There is a web site: www.bendermornings.com . Thanks to Dennard Summers for the tip!

2-27-99 - It's not really Richmond news, but the Greaseman (Doug Tracht) was fired Thursday from WARW in Washington DC. He made the comment "No wonder they drag them behind trucks" after playing a clip of a Lauryn Hill song. Hill had just received several Grammies the night before.

2-6-99 - The fall '98 ratings are out; OK so I was wrong... Cool 106.5 oldies actually scored higher than its former incarnation, The Buzz. Also, The last day for the "Mo & Sally Morning Show" was yesterday, they are leaving WMXB for WMBX in West Palm Beach, Florida. Here are the ratings for the period 9-24-98 thru 12-16-98.

1) WTVR-FM	9.5
2) WKHK-FM WCDX-FM	8.8
3) WKJS-FM	8.2
4) WRVA-AM	7.3
5) WRVQ-FM	6.5
6) WRXL-FM	5.8
7) WRCL-FM	5.4
8) WPLZ-FM	4.8
9) WKLR-FM	4.6

1-30-99 - After about a year and a half Mo & Sally, the morning crew at WMXB, are leaving. Although they won't say when. Rumors are that they are going to Florida or possibly back to Roanoke. Also, Q-94 and XL102 now broadcast their signal over the internet.

1-22-99 - Melissa Ruggieri's column this week is a continuation of last weeks column. This link is only good for a week, so hurry up! (This link has expired also, email me if you want a copy).

1-16-99 - Melissa Ruggieri's column this week is an interesting "where are they now?" look at some past Richmond Radio personalities. (The newspaper links are only good for a week, but I've got the html saved if anyone is interested).