Santa may be back at the North Pole, but he apparently gifted several stations with new formats following several weeks of playing all-Christmas music.
That’s the case in Salt Lake City, where Capital Broadcasting’s KLO-FM flipped to soft AC “Coast 103.1” after more than two months as “Christmas 103.” That switch followed the final days of KLO-FM’s classic modern/alternative rock “103.1 The Wave” which began in 2016. “Coast” is clearly looking to take share from Bonneville’s soft AC “FM 100.3” KSFI, which tied for third in the market in Nielsen’s November survey, and Cumulus Media adult contemporary “B98.7” KBEE. Capital boasts the top-ranked station in the market, hot AC “Now 97.9” KBZN.
Meanwhile in New Orleans, iHeartMedia’s “Voodoo 103.7” WFFX, which was hot AC before its move to all-Christmas music, returned as rhythmic AC with the tagline “New Orleans’ Feel Good Station.” WGNO-TV anchor and 40-year market veteran Lebron “LBJ” Joseph has moved to “Voodoo” middays from iHeart urban AC WYLD-FM, where he’d hosted weekends since 2015. The new format has its work cut out for it, as its recent ratings have been under the 1-share mark.
Two stations switched to classic hits following holiday music, including Townsquare Media’s WTRV Grand Rapids, MI, formerly soft AC “100.5 The River.” The new “River” replaces Townsquare’s former classic hits station “98.7 The Grand” WFGR, which flipped to sports earlier in December.
Sticks Media’s KHDV Darby, MT, which rocked around the Christmas tree as “Ho Ho 108,” flipped to classic hits “Rocket 108” Dec. 25, mirroring the format of sister station “Rocket 103.7” KTNK in Lompoc, CA. KHDV, which had been classic hits as “107.9 The Drive” before going silent in 2024 while owned by Sheila Callahan & Friends Inc., was one of two Montana stations Callahan sold to Sticks Media in November for $255,000.
In Corpus Christi, TX, ICA Media’s KAJE, formerly home to Spanish regional Mexican “107.3 Que Buena,” featured all country-leaning Christmas songs as of Dec. 1 before relaunching as “Hot Country 107.3” Dec. 26, matching its “Hot Country 96.1” in Odessa-Midland, TX. For KAJE it’s a return to country, as the station had been branded as “My Country 107.3” and “107.3 The Bull” prior to its switch to “Que Buena” in 2023.
ST Radio’s WGCL (1370 AM, and 98.7 via FM translator W254DP) Bloomington, IN took a slightly different route with its format change, moving from conservative talk-and-sports “Bloomington’s Voice” to sports “98.7 The Zone” WWZN. While most local hosts and newscasters remain on the station, “The Zone” also adds the regionally-syndicated “Indiana Sports Daily” middays and Westwood One Sports programming to fill the rest of the day.
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