After stunting with non-stop Taylor Swift since Thursday afternoon, Sun Broadcasting relaunched 93.7 WHEL Sanibel/Fort Myers FL as CHR “Hot 93.7” at 9:00 this morning.
Taking multiple shots at Beasley Media’s crosstown CHR “B103.9” WXKB as being “old and tired” emphasizing the commercial lengths, music choices, and national contests on WXKB, the launch creates a direct format competitor, while also filling the hole created by iHeartMedia’s flip of Hot AC “Y100” WZJZ earlier this month.
The new brand also creates a flanker to sister Rhythmic CHR “Fly 98.5” WFFY against WXKB and iHeart’s Rhythmic CHR “105.5 The Beat” WBTT. WXKB currently ranks ninth in the market with a 3.0 share in the December 2023 Nielsen Audio ratings. WBTT is fifth with a 4.0 share, while WFFY is tenth with a 2.8. The now-defunct WZJZ had a 1.2 share.
The launch of “Hot” follows the move of Country “Hell Yeah 93.7” to translator 94.1 W231DC Fort Myers.
The first hour of the new “Hot 93.7” featured:
- Dua Lipa – Dance The Night
- Teddy Swims – Lose Control
- Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
- Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red
- Harry Styles – As It Was
- Tate McRae – Greedy
- Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits
- Doechii – What It Is (Block Boy)
- Sabrina Carpenter – Feather
- Paul Russell – Lil Boo Thang
- Justin Bieber – Ghost
- Dua Lipa – Houdini
- The Weeknd – Die For You
- Taylor Swift – Cruel Summer
- Imagine Dragons – Enemy
- Kenya Grace – Strangers
- Jack Harlow – Lovin’ on Me
INSTANT INSIGHT: While it’s a great change of pace to see a new Top 40 launch in 2024, what is really gained taking shots at WXKB? The goal now should be to keep listeners, especially younger demos, engaged on the FM band. Attacking one competitor to grow your own cluster, fails to acknowledge that the target demo for Top 40 is quickly abandoning radio for other platforms. That should be who you’re targeting.
If they would’ve been smart, they should’ve put Rock 103.3 / 94.1 on a full power 93.7 instead of 2 translators and just completely dumped country. This new CHR format will go nowhere ratings wise as the kids don’t listen to broadcast radio anymore.
I live in this media market and I can see them dumping country. We have four country stations with a decent signal in this area (well 3 now) Gator Country 101.9 has always been my favorite but Kix Country 92.9 in nearby Port Charlotte gets a good signal here too and thats always been my second choice. I agree that younger people don’t really listen to radio so top 40 definitely not a good choice. I’m 30 years old and drive a cement mixer. Plant I work at has 25 drivers, all the guys older than 40 listen to FM all day in their truck, all the younger guys say 35 and below mostly all of them Bluetooth music from their phone. I love radio, being 30 years old I’m definitely an exception, none of my friends really listen to radio hardly at all. I’d really like to see Rock 103.3 get a full power FM signal. One of my favorite stations but I do wish the signal was a lot bigger.