| Also on September 16 2005
Another article by Lansing State Journal writer
Mike Hughes, which mentions nothing about Tim Barron
Local radio stations shuffle DJs, music styles
WJIM-FM drops oldies for contemporary top-40
By Mike Hughes | Lansing State Journal
A shake-up in local radio continued Thursday.
One station, WJIM-FM, switched formats, going from oldies to current,
top-40 hits. And key people - Rich Michaels, Monica Harris, Debra Hart,
Danny Stewart - were shuffled into fresh combinations.
The moves came as aftershocks to Tuesday's surprise: WHZZ (101.7-FM),
the only local top-40 station, switched to what's called the
"Jack" format; it minimizes disc jockeys and uses more than
1,000 songs from the 1980s through now.
"That left a gargantuan hole in the market," said Rob
Striker, head of the six local Citadel Communications stations. "We
filled it."
So Citadel's WJIM-FM (97.5) went top-40. That set off a shuffle of
morning people at Citadel stations:
• Michaels went from WJIM-FM to classic-rock WMMQ (94.9-FM), where
he'll be with Hart.
• Harris, his partner at WJIM-FM, moved to light-rock WFMK
(99.1-FM). She'll be with Stewart.
• DJs for the top-40 station will be announced Monday. One might be
Dave Beagle, Hart's sidekick.
The moves will boost all three stations, Striker predicted.
"With fantastic talent like Rich Michaels, we'll be strong."
Dan Drolett, a radio expert who lives in St. Johns, took a mixed view
of the shifts.
"I wasn't surprised by Citadel," said Drolett, who reports
for www.michiguide.com.
"But I was surprised when 101.7 (WHZZ) made their move. They had
done fairly well over the years."
Rick Sarata, the general manager of WHZZ (via MacDonald
Broadcasting), agreed that it did well with the top-40 format. "We
hated to throw away 10 years of good work, but our research showed that
'Jack' will be a big hit here."
Locally, the station calls itself "Mike FM."
Mike Austerman, of michiguide.com, partially agreed with Sarata's
assessment. "The format has done very well in some cities,
including Saginaw," he said, "but not as well in others."
Meanwhile, the only rap against top-40 formats is that they draw
teens, whom advertisers don't pay much to reach.
Striker insisted WJIM will fiddle with the song list and approach,
attracting a slightly older audience. "There's a huge market for
young women," he said.
In his first year locally, Striker has made moves involving
well-known people. Tim Barron and Mark Bashore are out of radio, and
Chris Holman has switched stations; now Michaels and Harris have
switched, too.
Contact Mike Hughes at 377-1156 or mhughes@lsj.com.
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