The Infinite Dial

You haven't read much about Oldies WAKY Louisville, Ky., in the trades, but they deserve a mention today. WAKY is the former suburban Oldies outlet WASE; it picked up the call letters of (one of) the market's legendary Top 40 station(s) a year ago. And on Friday, it became the only Oldies station in the market when Cox switched longtime Oldies FM WRKA to Country as WQNU (New Country 103.1).

Like WLNG Eastern Long Island, N.Y., WAKY is one of those stations that operates in open violation of programming law (as it's interpreted in most places): longer playlist, heritage jocks, throwback formatics. Even with its signal issues, it was able to carve itself a 2.6 12-plus to WRKA's 3.7. And while it's certainly possible that WRKA would have left without a nudge--as Cox did with its Oldies outlets in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Stamford, Conn. -- it's still a nice story for independent operators and radio history buffs.

WRKA isn't currently streaming, but you can hear airchecks of them on the WAKY-AM tribute site.

Meanwhile, hearing Cox's New Country format on a better signal is intriguing as well -- while much of the format has evolved newer/younger/hotter these days, the Cox version of "New Country" is more pronounced than most. They're also running the attack ads that Cox used on Country KKBQ Houston and former dance outlet WPYM Miami. One charges that rival "WAMZ is all about commercials ... as many as 27 commercials an hour" punctuated by a Gomer Pyle-type voice exclaiming, "Commercials, commercials, and more commercials!"