A Country Within A Country
Written Jan. 30, 2008 by Sean Ross in Content + Terrestrial Radio with 3 Comments
If Fort Wayne, Ind., isn't usually on your radar as a market, it's worth checking out the fall numbers for Russ Oasis' Country WBTU. The heritage Country FM, which had languished until being relaunched last year as US93.3, was up 4.3 - 8.6, pushing ahead of rival WQHK (8.0 - 7.7): a net gain of more than four Country shares over the spring book and nearly two shares over a year ago.
The easiest way to describe US93.3 is that it's like hearing "Froggy Country" in its early days, but with patriotic references instead of amphibians. The jocks are Sam Adams, Dolly Madison, Clara Barton, Andrew Jackson, Betsy Ross, and Patrick Henry (all shown as registered trademarks on the station Website). Frequent listener club members sign up for "U.S. citizenship." The station's current variation on the ages-old "High/Low" contest is "Operation Tax Refund," in which listeners have to guess what amount the check from the station's "Department of the Treasury" is written for. The language of the station is developed to the point where it has its own on-line glossary..
Musically, US93.3 is yesterday-and-today Country, imaged around "the newest of the new and the legends the other guys have forgotten about" with a heavy presence of early- and mid-'90s titles. Like Oasis' WKLU Indianapolis, its spotload is low (only four minutes in the two hours I heard). And like Oasis' other stations, its formatics are grounded in traditional top 40--in the 3 p.m. hour, Dolly Madison could be heard talking briefly about hockey's Ft. Wayne Komets playing that night or about Edwards and Giuliani pulling out of the presidential campaign.
In other words, US93.3 is a relatively developed package.at a time when stations are going more minimal. It plays a lot of music, including a lot of "oh wow" titles. But presentationally, it's not going to be mistaken for an iPod.
Here's US93.3 at 3 p.m. today:
Gretchen Wilson, "Here For The Party"
Josh Turner, "Another Try"
Billy Ray Cyrus, "Achy Breaky Heart"
Tim McGraw, "It's Your Love"
Craig Morgan, "International Harvester"
Vince Gill, "Trying To Get Over You"
Tanya Tucker, "It's A Little Too Late"
Gary Allan, "Watching Airplanes"
Rodney Atkins, "Watching You"
Clay Walker, "Dreaming With My Eyes Open"
Chuck Wicks, "Stealing Cinderella"
Brooks & Dunn, "You Can't Take The Honky-Tonk Out Of The Girl"
Reba McEntire & Linda Davis, "Does He Love You"
Brad Paisley, "Letter To Me"
George Strait, "One Night At A Time"
Reader Comments
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Musically, US93.3 is yesterday-and-today Country,
Wanna hear REAL Yesterday-and_Today country check out WJVL 99.9 in Janesville WIS.
I am familiar with both stations after living in Indiana and Now WI.
If "Achy Breaky Heart" is an "oh wow" cut, then I'm more disenfranchised from the mainstream than I thought.
And if they're really espousing "the ones everyone else forgot about", I wonder why that aircheck didn't list a single Bill Anderson, George Jones, Warner Mack or Buck Owens cut? Or for that matter, even a Highway 101 or Desert Rose Band cut?
Good for them for being creative and using radio's theater of the mind. Creative ways of presenting, basically the same music, is what sets you apart from your compition. I've not heard them but hearing about their approach is good enogh.