Radio Waves

Two new rock stations enter the local fray

By Paul Moffett

WEHR

Louisville has a new station covering the Adult Contemporary segment— WEHR 105.1 FM.

The station signed on the air on March 28 and has been fine-tuning the technical end of the operation since then, according to Steve Cook, General Manager.

The format is "Hot Contemporary Adult," Cook said. " 'Hits without hype' pretty much describes it."

Programming is done locally. Currently, there are two live shows, during morning and evening drive times. Gary Green, who was with WLAP in Lexington, covers the morning shift and Dave Steele, formerly with WSTO in Owensboro, is the afternoon on-air personality. A nighttime live show is in the planning stages.

The operation of the station is entirely digital. The commercials and station IDs are stored on hard disk, accessible by atouch of a button. The CDs are stored and played in "juke boxes," which are controlled by the computer network that extends throughout the station. There are currently ten staff members. That number is likely to increase to about fourteen. Noteworthy among the staff is the lead singer for the Monarchs, Bob Lange.

WEHR, whose nominal city of origin is Shepherdsville, has its tower on Brooks Road in Bullitt County. However, its focus is the section of the Louisville market currently served by MIX 102 and WDJX.

The station is owned by Century Comrnunications, of New Canaan, Connecticut. Century Communications also owns fifty-five cable systems, cellular phone operations and several other radio stations, including stations in Owensboro.

WFTX (The Fox)

The Fox is ready to start bragging about their market share, even though they've been on the air a very short time.

"Kickin' a**" is the phrase of the moment.

According to Buzz Casey, the new AOR (Album Oriented Rock) station is challenging longtime leader WQMF in the Arbitron book just released.

For the record, the station went on the air June 7, playing rock 'n' roll, in a 30-70% mix of current and classics.

The on-air line-up looks like this: mornings feature Miller & Butz, with news by "infomaniac" Lola Lee. A familiar voice can be heard holding down the midday slot: Future Bob. He's back at work following his motorcycle wreck, in which he broke his leg and ankle and abraded a few sections of skin.

Buzz Casey is the afternoon drive time guy, while Big Buck Naked covers nights. Zack Tyler is the "all night animal."

WTFX 100.5 is a brand new station with a new frequency and is owned by Prism Radio Partners, a Tucson, Arizona-based media company that currently owns thirteen radio stations. The station is programmed locally and, according to Casey, the reception from listeners has been "great."

"We're the people's radio station," he said. "We want to give them what they want."

The station currently has alternative and metal shows on Sundays and a local music program is in the works.

The station is sponsoring a Robert Plant concert at Louisville Gardens on September 26,