New station lands on the
FM dial
By Kyle Boggs
Summer
Reporter
The people of Lafayette and surrounding communities
have spoken. As of Saturday at 3 p.m., a new radio station that plays
"all the hits" can be found on the FM dial at 102.9.
The new WXXB-FM is a station designed to target
an audience of 18 to 49-year old listeners. After an extensive research
study, the stations vice president and general manager, Eric McCart,
is sure that the station reflects on the musical tastes of most people
in the age demographic.
"(The research study) was done over the phone.
We got a lot of different people’s feelings on radio in general;
what they would like to see in a station and what they would not," he
said.
Formerly WNJY-FM, a rock 'n' roll oldies station,
WXXB-FM now plays contemporary hit music such as Aerosmith, N'SYNC,
Madonna, 3 Doors Down and Destiny's Child putting the station in competition
with WAZY-FM 96.5 and WGLM-FM 106.7.
"We found that the majority of people like a variety
of music," said McCart.
Program director for WGLM Dan McKay thinks that
the rise of WXXB will have much more of an effect on WAZY than on WGLM.
"We'll see how long WAZY lasts when the next ratings
come out, WXXB is much better about promoting themselves and getting
people excited about winning things," he said.
"Our station is formatted for more of a mature
crowd," said McKay. "We do play a lot of the same things that they do,
but we still play hits from the ‘80s and ‘90s as well as today's,
which is a bit different than their format."
McKay isn't worried about the competition. He explained
that it's like going somewhere for a hamburger.
"McDonalds has hamburgers, you can get them easily,
but we're more like Outback Steakhouse. It's more of a mature crowd
but everyone is still after the same thing," he said.
"WXXB and WAZY basically play the same things,
so WAZY is the one that will be hurt the most," said McKay. "I'm not
worried; we do well with what we're doing."
RadioWorks, which also owns WKHY-FM 93.5, purchased
the oldies station, WNJY, in October of 1999 and relocated the station
from Delphi to Lafayette and replacing the 300-foot tower in Delphi
with a 499-foot tower in Lafayette. The new tower allows the station
to increase its power from 3,000 watts to 6,000 watts.
McCart says that after constructing the tower in
Lafayette, doubling the power and adding a digital transmitter, the
station's success will happen soon.
"The new B1029 comes in crystal clear wherever
you are in the Lafayette area," he said. "The tower’s brand spankin’
new; the power is as good or better than KHY."
McCart said the station will continue to take input
from listeners to better improve the format and serve the public.
"I'm jazzed if you can't tell; keep listening,
the best is yet to come," he said. "We will continue to get better and
better."
|
