bury the lede

New AME At Inside INdiana Business?

Lifted straight from the comments section, look for the folks over at Inside INdiana Business to announce a new assistant managing editor this week, a position that previously didn't exist.

Warm 93.9 Debuts New Format With Creepy Police Song

Another day, another local radio station formatting change:

"Hit songs with a smooth texture are the new specialty at FM radio frequency 93.9, where conservative talk was heard in 2007 and Christian music had a home from 2004 to 2006.

"'Warm 93.9' plans to play the softer side of acts such as the Police, John Mellencamp and Gwen Stefani in hopes of attracting female listeners at work -- the same audience coveted by competing pop stations WYXB-FM (105.7), WNTR-FM (107.9) and WKLU-FM (101.9).

"'One of the most attractive demographic targets now is women 25 to 54,' said Chris Wheat, market manager for Warm 93.9 and sister stations WFMS-FM (95.9) and WJJK-FM (104.5). 'It's certainly an advertiser-friendly format.'

"The new format debuted at 9:39 a.m. today, with 1983 Police hit 'Every Breath You Take' airing first.

"Warm 93.9, which will retain the call letters WWFT for the immediate future, will air the syndicated 'John Tesh Radio Show' from 7 p.m. to midnight on weeknights.

"Wheat said the station also plans to hire on-air staff.

"Before broadcasting Christmas music in recent weeks, WWFT was the place to hear conservative commentators Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and Laura Ingraham. Placing No. 20 in Arbitron rankings and drawing an audience of 1,600 listeners per average 15-minute segment ushered an end to "FM Talk" at 93.9, Wheat said.

"Franklin, Ind.-based WFDM-FM (95.9) subsequently picked up Hannity, Savage and Ingraham.

"WIBC-FM (93.1) unveiled its news and talk format last week."

Nelson Price To Host Radio Show

Ruth Holladay brings us this local radio tidbit on her blog:

"Award-winning author and former feature writer Nelson Price, who worked both at the News and the Star in Indy, has a new venture.

"Here is what he has to say:

"'Hoosier History Live with Nelson Price!'' will premiere Saturday, January 12, at 11:30 am on WICR-FM (88.7), the public radio station based at the University of Indianapolis.

"'Underwritten thanks to the support of our friends at Barnes & Thornburg, 'Hoosier History Live!' will be a live, weekly talk show focusing on all aspects of Indiana history, with in-studio guests, call-ins from listeners, Hoosier history trivia questions, and regular reports from The Road Tripper (Chris Gahl of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Bureau) about events, fairs, festivals, exhibits and other Hoosier heritage-related happenings.

"'This culminates a process that began almost two years ago when Indianapolis radio producer Molly Head approached me about hosting such a show.'"

Chelli Leaving Inside INdiana Business

Ryan Chelli, director of interactive media and market development for Inside INdiana Business, is leaving to take a position with the Community Health Network Foundation. He writes:

"An incredible opportunity was presented to me, and I have accepted a new position with the Community Health Network Foundation to serve as the Director of Marketing and Philanthropic Communications. As a member of the senior leadership team, I will help create and implement strategic marketing and eBusiness programs that will increase philanthropic support for the Community Health Network Foundation and position it as the region's premier healthcare foundation.

"For 4.5 wonderful years, I have had the honor to work with Gerry Dick and his highly-talented team. I have been privileged to be a part of a well-respected company that has changed the way Indiana business news is generated and distributed. I'll miss working with those of you who have assisted in making the organization successful and making my job unbelievably enjoyable. This was a difficult decision to make, and I leave the company with wonderful friendships with Gerry and my co-workers, who will ensure your needs are met during my transition.

"My last day at Inside INdiana Business will be January 4th, and I will assume my new responsibilities with the Community Health Network Foundation on January 14th."

Kravitz To Start WIBC Gig Next Month

Rumor confirmed:

"Bob Kravitz has spent seven years as The Star's sports columnist, doing occasional radio appearances and offering opinions on WTHR-13, the newspaper's newsgathering partner. Starting next month, his schedule will get busier.

"Beginning Jan. 7, when WIBC launches WFNI-1070 AM -- which will be known as '1070 The Fan' -- Kravitz will co-host a sports talk show from 3-6 p.m. each weekday.

"Kravitz's duties at The Star will be unchanged.

"His radio co-host will be Eddie White, a former vice president of Team Properties and Sports Marketing for the Adidas group.

"'Nobody has more connections in the sports world than Eddie, and nobody has more opinions about local and national sports than I do,' Kravitz said."

FCC Overturns Ownership Ban

Let the ownership fun begin:

"The Federal Communications Commission in a party-line, 3-2 vote, agreed today to overturn a 32-year-old ban and allow broadcasters in the nation's 20 largest media markets to also own a newspaper.

"FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was joined by his two Republican colleagues in favor of the proposal, while the commission's two Democrats voted against it.

"Martin pushed the vote through despite intense pressure from House and Senate members on Capitol Hill to delay it. The chairman, however, has the support of the White House, which has pledged to turn back any congressional action that seeks to undo the agency vote."

Market Share

In his column this morning, the Star's John Ketzenberger offers this take on the state of affairs at Emmis Communications -- and across the radio industry -- right now:

"The slumping share price is the key factor in any outcome. Emmis isn't alone -- all radio station operators are struggling.

"News that a new way of measuring audience may hit stations with an urban format such as Emmis especially hard. Emmis has the leading urban stations in New York and Los Angeles.

"But Emmis shares are so low that one analyst privately marveled that the entire company's stock market value is likely much less than the value of its urban-format New York station. It's hard to finance a stock buyback when the collateral -- stock -- is so low. Smulyan need look no further than attempts to take radio chains Clear Channel and Cumulus private for examples.

"If the radio market doesn't improve -- and there are scant signs that is about to happen -- it's likely Emmis will look much different at this time next year."

WKLU Changes Its Tunes

UPDATE: The Star's David Lindquist fills in some of the details on the WKLU format switch here.

"'Oldies 101.9' debuted Tuesday with mainstream hits from the 1960s and 1970s. Station owner Russ Oasis says listeners will hear an assortment of songs from acts such as the Beatles, Eagles, Supremes and Fleetwood Mac.

"Oasis attracted attention on the local radio scene when he paid $6.2 million for WKLU in 2004 and debuted its classic rock format with no commercial interruptions.

"'We did so well out of the box that everybody in the world jumped in after us -- splitting that pie,' Oasis says.

"Conceding that WFBQ-FM (94.7) has been the dominant local station in classic rock for decades, Oasis says a 2006 tweaking of WJJK-FM (104.5) from its multi-format 'Jack' concept to classic-rock 'Jack' hurt WKLU.

"'It's been eating away at us,' Oasis said. 'We've gone from No. 3 among listeners ages 25 to 54 to around 10th among listeners 25 to 54. That's what caused us to make the change.'

"WKLU presently stops music once an hour for a commercial break, and Oasis says two breaks per hour is a future possibility."

More news from the radio world: The fiercely anti-corporate folks over at WKLU (101.9 FM) abruptly changed the station's format this morning from classic rock hits to hits of the '60s and '70s. There's clearly some overlap between the two eras, but some artists and genres have gone missing.

By one insider's count, that's four formatting/station moves this quarter, not counting the impending frequency flip at WIBC.

Kravitz To Host Sports Talk On WIBC?

Rumor has it that the next host of afternoon sports talk on WIBC will be a familiar and popular local name: the Indy Star's Bob Kravitz. The show will start in January.

Word on the street is that the station will promote Kravitz and the show as doing "sports talk the right way for the first time ever in Indianapolis."

Them's fighting words. Your thoughts?

Celebration Of Mike Fenwick's Life Scheduled For Dec. 15

An update on memorial services for WFYI's Mike Fenwick, who passed away over the weekend:

"A public celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, December 15, 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to WFYI Radio (WFYI.org) or NPR (NPR.org) in memory of Mike Fenwick."