But that might be a job opportunity they went back to rock.
After a year of trying news, WIQI-FM 101 switches to adult hits
July 17, 2012|By Heather Gillers | Tribune reporter
Turn to 101.1 on the FM radio dial and you will no longer hear the latest news headlines. You’ll get Britney or Alanis instead.
After less than a year as an FM all-news station, RANDY MICHAELS’ Merlin Media pulled the plug Tuesday morning on FM News 101.1, replacing it with an adult hits music format as part of Merlin’s ongoing quest to capture more women listeners.
“It was a difficult decision to make, but after a year of minimal audience engagement, coupled with the format’s inherent expense, I felt it was time to make a change,” Michaels, CEO of Merlin Media and the former chief executive of Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, said in a statement.
John Gehron, chairman of the advisory board of Merlin Media in Chicago, said the move is another attempt to capture a female audience age 18 to 49 and the advertisers that come along with those listeners.
Michaels had hoped to attract female listeners in summer 2011 when his firm bought alternative rock station known as Q101 and shifted it to an all-news format. But the strategy was cut off at the pass by WBBM-AM 780, the CBS-owned all-news station that began simulcasting on FM. Radio listeners never gravitated to FM News 101.1, which was mired at the bottom of ratings.
“To reinvent the wheel, when in fact the wheel is not broken, is difficult,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a trade publication about talk radio. He said the station’s focus on stereotypically female topics like cooking, fashion and child rearing also turned off listeners.
“When you say, ‘This is for women, and here’s what we’re talking about,’ it can come across as insulting,” Harrison said. “It’s presumptuous.”
WIQI-FM (FM News 101) attracted a dismal 0.03 percent share of the listening audience last month, according to June ratings from Arbitron. Chicago’s top station, V103, which plays urban adult contemporary rock, captured 5.5 percent.
The station will become i101 and shift back to music. Examples listed on a company press release include ‘N Sync, Alanis Morissette, the Goo Goo Dolls and Britney Spears.
Gehron described it as “a mix of music that’s been popular over the last 15 years, minus the hip-hop.”
Harrison called the decision “a retreat.” “They’ve retreated to safer ground,” he said.
At least five Chicago stations, including the popular WTMX-FM 101.9 (The Mix) and WKSC-FM 103.5 (Kiss FM,) play what Arbitron characterizes as “contemporary” music, but Gehron said he does not believe the market is saturated.
“Just by looking at the size of their ratings,” he said, “there’s always room for more.”
Gehron said that on Tuesday morning Merlin Media laid off news writers, support staff and most of the close to 30 news anchors, reporters and others brought on board with much fanfare last summer when Merlin launched the news station.
Merlin operates two other FM stations in Chicago: WLUP-FM 97.9 (The Loop), which plays classic rock, and WKQX-LP (Q87.7), which plays alternative rock. A Merlin-owned FM news station in New York also switched back to music.
Michaels resigned under pressure from Tribune Co. in October 2010 in the wake of news reports alleging he had created a sexually charged “frat house” atmosphere in the corporate suite of the bankrupt media company.
hgillers@tribune.com
Twitter @hgillers
