Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

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Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby DenMan1965 » Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:57 am

Looks like the Pattison Group flipped The Peak 953 to Wild 953 Big shock was not expecting that at all

http://www.wild953.com

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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby albertaboy4life » Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:55 pm

Wow!

Didn't expect that either.

Guess the idea of no major format changes during the first five year license term is no longer the practice.

So what comes of 101.5? Does it become a clone of its sister, 102.3fm NOW! Radio in Edmonton?
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby Rocky » Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:20 pm

Finally someone has made the leap to take on Country 105.

Good luck to Pattison on this long overdue change.

My only question is, why did they launch at 10:15 AM rather than 9:53 AM? Isn't 101.5 the frequency of struggling sister station KOOL 101.5? You expect 101.5 to change format at 10:15 AM. Maybe when they flip to NOW FM, that will occur at 9:53AM.

Regardless, delighted to have a new spot on the dial for Country music in Calgary!
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby radiofan » Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:48 pm

Calgary's Peak radio station switches format to new country, changes name to Wild 95.3

Mike Bell, Calgary Herald
Published on: February 29, 2016 | Last Updated: February 29, 2016 3:06 PM MST


Two years in Calgary is apparently enough to make anyone go country.

Local radio station the Peak 95.3 is the latest to go full western, as the alternative rock station has flipped format and changed its name to Wild 95.3 and adopted the tag line “Calgary’s new country.”

Now instead of acts such as Arcade Fire, Coldplay and Mumford and Sons, listeners can expect to hear a healthy dose of Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and Florida Georgia Line.

The station made the abrupt switch on Monday morning at 10:15 a.m., ending their run 22-month-run as the Peak, which was launched in April 2014 with great fanfare and high expectations but had them languishing in or near last place in the ratings for much of that time.

That, ultimately, was the reason for the switch after, what general manager Eric Stafford says were, “discussions about options and opportunities … for some time, certainly over a number of months.”

The station, part of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, put its stock in modern rock, with a format similar to its successful sister station on the West Coast and meant to specifically target Calgary’s other alt rock station X92.9.

That’s something that then-Peak program director Kath Thompson acknowledged at the time of the launch and with great optimism.

“Well, we are definitely in the modern rock space with them, for sure,” Thompson told the Herald at the time. “It’s interesting because I do believe that modern rock is the new rock, if you know what I mean. And rock stations have coexisted together in markets before. For goodness sake, look at Top 40, we can have a whole number who are all a little different from each other.

Read the full story at: http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ ... me-to-wild
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby erratics » Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:51 pm

Who would've thought a country station would be identified as "Wild 95.3" these days? I guess times have changed since I remember country as "Big Country" many years ago. As long as the license restrictions for this fairly new station will allow it, if there are any, this seems the way to go in the Calgary market at this time for this station. Then again, getting a license for 95.3 by Pattison comes across to me as a commercial radio means to an end in Calgary for something more lucrative than they originally applied for much like what Newcap did with 90.5 a few years back with AAA and changing to Top 40.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby jon » Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:14 am

From this morning's Broadcast Dialogue:

The final on-air talent roster for Wild
953 Calgary, the new Country station,
has been set. Mornings are co-hosted
by Christy Farrell and Fraser Tuff.
Farrell arrived from Sun FM Kelowna
while Tuff, an eight-year Calgary radio
veteran, is back after taking a year off
for world travel. Ash Hinton does
middays while Samantha Stevens, ex
of QX104 Winnipeg, is in PM drive.
Evenings is the syndicated Casey
Clarke Show with Roo Phelps...
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby albertaboy4life » Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:50 am

Pattison Group has been far more aggressive in its promotion of WILD 953 than its predecessor the Peak. There are far more billboards in the city with WILD ads compared to the Peak and the marketing messaging has been very clear in stating that Calgary country music radio listeners now have another choice.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby erratics » Fri Apr 29, 2016 7:49 pm

That's because Pattison owns many of the signs and therefore space to promote Wild 95.3.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby Aaron » Sat Apr 30, 2016 11:10 am

They owned The Peak too. The point is they seem to have dedicated more resources to this brand.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby the-real-deal » Sat Apr 30, 2016 11:38 am

You kind of wonder about Pattison and country music. They are all gangbusters about WILD, yet they squandered a great country opportunity with their Kelowna FM station 103.1, just a few years ago. They abandoned country music and switched to a Sun FM copycat. Then, Newcap brought in Country 100.7 and made it the number one station in the market. Pattison showed poor judgement with the country genre, so will they do it again, billboards and all?
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby Jim Walters » Sat Apr 30, 2016 12:20 pm

the-real-deal wrote:You kind of wonder about Pattison and country music. They are all gangbusters about WILD, yet they squandered a great country opportunity with their Kelowna FM station 103.1, just a few years ago. They abandoned country music and switched to a Sun FM copycat. Then, Newcap brought in Country 100.7 and made it the number one station in the market. Pattison showed poor judgement with the country genre, so will they do it again, billboards and all?


You might recall, they did the same thing in Kamloops. After years of success with JC 55, the station moved to FM and became B 100 with the successful Country format Someone at HQ had the scatter brained idea to jump on the Classic Hits (Jack) format bandwagon and suddenly Kamloops had no Country station. Payback was them doing such a crappy job with the wannabe Classic Hits format (a ratings bombshell), NL Radio saw the opening and applied for and got a license for what is a very successful Country FM station.

I'd hope the person that made the decisions for Kamloops and Kelowna are no longer employed by Pattison or in the industry.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby jon » Sat Apr 30, 2016 12:35 pm

Interesting to contrast that with Pattison-owned JR-FM in Vancouver which is still getting respectable ratings: their 5.3 SHARE overall in the last book puts them #7 in Canada's third largest radio market.

Although certainly no howling success, Pattison was early into Country, just a few years after purchasing their first radio station, CJOR in Vancouver. End of the 1960s and start of the 1970s, right after their "Chicken Rock" (later to be known as Light Rock) format.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby Aaron » Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:39 pm

the-real-deal wrote:You kind of wonder about Pattison and country music. They are all gangbusters about WILD, yet they squandered a great country opportunity with their Kelowna FM station 103.1, just a few years ago. They abandoned country music and switched to a Sun FM copycat. Then, Newcap brought in Country 100.7 and made it the number one station in the market. Pattison showed poor judgement with the country genre, so will they do it again, billboards and all?


It's all about timing. Country cycles in and out like no other format. It was a low point when they flipped those, and it exploded almost immediately after.

Unfortunately for them, I think they're too late with their Calgary entry. The bubble the format's been enjoying the last few years is quickly coming to an end. There isn't room for two Country stations in any market right now.
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Re: Wild 953 Calgarys New Country

Postby the-real-deal » Sun May 01, 2016 11:49 am

I think that the Alberta radio fortunes likely chimes with the oil industry cycle and not just country music's own cycles. The other factor is Pattison, one of the world's richest men. If they are in it for the long haul, (and we do not know that, yet, as Pattison is notorious for changing his mind?) they can certainly ride out any cycle of business. Country music has been around in Alberta for a very long time, and it's a proven brand.

The mentality of Albertans might make country music much more appealing, versus the rest of Canada ? But, with the oil industry being what it is, I agree it's a big gamble.
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