{"id":26744,"date":"2020-09-03T17:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T22:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=26744"},"modified":"2020-09-03T19:16:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T00:16:56","slug":"iheartmedia-blows-webgs-country-format-new-rock-95-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2020\/09\/03\/iheartmedia-blows-webgs-country-format-new-rock-95-five\/","title":{"rendered":"iHeartMedia blows up WEBG\u2019s country format for new \u2018Rock 95 Five\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Rock 95.5 Chicago<\/p><\/div>\n

The prayers of Chicago's hard-rock radio fans have been answered.<\/p>\n

Two and a half years after the untimely demise<\/a> of WLUP 97.9-FM, the iconic classic-rock station known as The Loop, the music of Metallica and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce is in the air again.<\/p>\n

As of 5 p.m. today, iHeartMedia pulled the plug on the failed country music format of WEBG 95.5-FM<\/a> and renamed the station \u201cRock 95 Five.\u201d The rebranding followed six hours of stunting, starting with R.E.M.'s \"It's the End of the World As We Know It.\"<\/p>\n

Targeting primarily male listeners between 25 and 54, the new format will feature such artists as Nirvana, Guns N\u2019 Roses, Linkin Park, AC\/DC, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Def Leppard and Foo Fighters, in addition to Metallica and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce.<\/p>\n

No word yet on personalities for the station, which will air without hosts for several weeks. Management declined to comment on the status of Big 95.5's on-air staff, including Lisa Dent, Brooke Taylor and Lance Houston, who also served as program director.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Matt Scarano<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI am thrilled to bring rock music back to Chicago,\u201d said Matt Scarano, president of iHeartMedia Chicago. \u201cThese songs haven\u2019t been played on the air for years. I am looking forward to hearing the soundtrack of our lives on 'Rock 95 Five.'\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to go with a retro rock format was based in part by research showing listeners' fondness for nostalgia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even the station's logo was designed to evoke rock radio's past. Fans may recall that 95.5 had been the frequency of former rocker WMET from 1976 to 1986.<\/p>\n

Rock listenership has been up for grabs here since 2018 when Merlin Media sold The Loop to Educational Media Foundation, which flipped the station to its K-Love contemporary Christian music format under the call letters WCKL.<\/p>\n

Today's move sets up iHeartMedia to compete in the rock realm with Entercom WXRT 93.1-FM, Hubbard Radio WDRV 97.1-FM, and Cumulus Media WLS 94.7-FM and WKQX 101.1-FM.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal with 'Rock 95 Five' is to provide the music Chicagoland has been missing, a key soundtrack for a large lifestyle group,\u201d said James Howard, regional senior vice president of programming for iHeartMedia Chicago. \u201cOur purpose is to be a driving force and a companion in the lives of millions of rock music fans for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard is expected to double as program director of \"Rock 95 Five\" at least for the time being.<\/p>\n

Except for a momentary blip<\/a>\u00a0when it first signed on in 2015, Big 95.5 has been an embarrassing disappointment for iHeartMedia and a perennial also-ran to WUSN 99.5-FM, the Entercom country station that had a 33-year head start in the format.<\/p>\n

In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, Big 95.5 ranked 21st overall with a 2.1 percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 573,900. US99 was 20th with a 2.3 share and a 735,600 weekly cume.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s comment of the day:<\/a> Mark Edwards Edelstein:<\/strong> I watch a lot of TV, and a lot of channels and a lot of devices, probably more than is good for my health. I never saw any advertising for the show [\"News Nation\"] before the premiere. My guess is they may have wanted to get everything humming along before they started promoting the program. Even though they did practice runs for a long time, there's something different about the real thing. It will take time to grow, but I think there's a place there for this show. It's not the news with Ted Baxter, it's a truly solid product and should be able to find its audience.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The prayers of Chicago's hard-rock radio fans have been answered. Two and a half years after the untimely demise of WLUP 97.9-FM, the iconic classic-rock station known as The Loop, the music of Metallica and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce is in the air again. As of 5 p.m. today, iHeartMedia pulled the plug on the failed country... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26744"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26744"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26757,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26744\/revisions\/26757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}