Cool 105.7 dies, Viva to move up, Oldies drought in Atlanta possibly permanent
Listeners of oldies music in Atlanta will unfortunantly be without an oldies station yet again, but this time, it looks like oldies will be gone from Atlanta radio for good.
Today, Jerry Del Core, GM for Clear Channel Atlanta, announced that Cool 105.7 (WLCL) will switch formats effective Sunday night at Midnight. The new format will be Spanish-languauge Viva (WWVA-FM), which will move up the dial from it's current dial posititon of 105.3. Viva will simulcast on both frequencies for a week to allow listeners to make a smooth transition, then a new format will apear on 105.3. The new format for 105.3 has not yet been announced.
Two years ago, an oldies drought occured for less than a week on January 31, 2003 when Fox 97 (WFOX), owned by Cox Radio, killed the station due to lack of ad revenue. WFOX became urban Jamz that Monday (February 3rd). Clear Channel immediately picked up the oldies format on then classic hits station Mix 105.7 (WMXV), which began playing all-Beatles music before the flip that following Monday (February 10th).
Randy and Spiff, Cool's morning show, will begin on sister AC 94.9 Lite FM (WLTM) this coming Monday (May 2nd). Lite FM will also pick up all station events, including the Legends Concert Series. No word if JJ Jackson or Chris Morgan will move to Lite.
Unfortunantly, there may not ever be another oldies station serving the entire metro Atlanta area. People in the Northwest Metro can tune to Sunny 100 (WNSY 100.1 Canton) for oldies, and people in the Northeast Metro can tune to Majic 102.9 (WMJE Gainesville) for oldies as well, but neither stations signal reaches Downtown Atlanta or south metro. For people hoping that WFOX will return to oldies, it is highly unlikely. Rumors of up to six stations in Atlanta (including Cool) could be involved in a cascade of format or ownership changes this year and next, but it looks unlikely that oldies would even be on the radar screen.
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