By ROBERT LEBZELTER, Special Sections Editor, bobleb@starbeacon.com
PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP — The landscape of local radio is changing again.
The sale of the five radio stations on Jefferson Road, from Clear Channel to Media One, was completed last month and the new owners are changing formats and adjusting programming.
Not everything is exactly new. Dana Schulte, who left the stations under Clear Channel rule, is back as vice president and general manager under the new regime.
The biggest change so far is at WZOO 102.5. Once current hit radio, marketing 12-to-24-year-olds, the station is now oldies, targeting those 25 and older.
Sometime in November, news / talk / sports formatted WFUN becomes all sports, joining the ESPN radio network.
Schulte said there weren’t enough young people with disposable incomes to maintain the contemporary hit format and attract sufficient advertising.
The oldies format targets a much wider audience, he said.
“Even younger people like it. It’s music you can snap your fingers to. Everyone can relate to it.”
Schulte has heard few complaints about the change. “To be honest, I had two e-mails and two phone calls. We’re used to getting a lot more complaints than that. Our reaction is probably 95 percent positive.”
The down side? “High school kids miss their format. But advertisers are very pleased with the format.”
The format fills a void after two Erie stations recently abandoned oldies. Closer to home, WWOW switched from the ABC True Oldies Channel to local talk and Eternal World programming when the station was sold in February.
WFUN will abandon talk and news to focus on sports in November, Schulte said.
Talk shows with Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck will be history.
ESPN is not completely new to the area. WWOW broadcast ESPN radio from 2002 to 2004, on weekends only.
John Broom’s 6 to 9 a.m. talk show will be replaced by “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” featuring Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays. Broom’s show will air from 10 a.m. to noon on an interim basis.
WFUN will drop news, which will be available on the FM stations, especially WREO 97.1. Former news director Kathy Davis has switched to morning deejay at WZOO. Broom will replace her in the news department, with help from Mark Richards.
Joe Pete and Ed Looman are back broadcasting sports from Carl’s Overlook Restaurant Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Schulte said Pete will do a local sports show the other weekdays from 5 to 7 in the studio.
He said other local sports programs are being considered for weekends. The format change isn’t a big stretch. The station already broadcasts Fox Sports Radio evenings and airs local high school football and basketball plus the Indians, Cavs and Browns.
“A good portion of our advertisers purchased time on the Browns, Indians, Cavs and high school sports. But people shy away from political talk shows,” he said.
He said the station is considering even more local play-by-play, including possibly Midget League football and Little League.
The other stations, including WREO, with its adult contemporary, WYBL with its country, and WFXJ, with its classic rock, will remain pretty much the same.
Schulte said except for programs like “Bob and Tom in the Morning” on WFXJ, all musical formats are deejayed locally. “These are excellent, excellent people on the air. We are lucky to have this kind of talent,” Schulte
