SYRACUSE -- As quickly and suddenly as it appeared on Friday, Clear Channel's "Young Country" format on WPHR has disappeared. This morning, the station flipped back to its previous urban/R&B format, Power 106.9.
Various sources writing to CNYRadio.com this morning say Clear Channel switched back to the urban format at about 8:00 am.
If you've been following CNYRadio on Twitter, you may have noticed an observation we made yesterday morning: noted SU broadcasting professor Dr. Rick Wright, who has a show Sundays on Power 106.9, made an appearance during the George Kilpatrick show on WSYR. While neither Power 106.9 nor Young Country were mentioned specifically during the conversation, Wright said several times, "it's all under control," basically hinting to assure listeners his show would return.
While flanking as a defensive strategy is nothing new in radio, some observers are scratching their heads as to why Clear Channel would go to all the trouble of launching a new format that would last only a weekend, rather than simply tweaking the playlist of heritage country powerhouse B104.7 (WBBS).
CNYRadio.com tried to contact Clear Channel management on Friday afternoon (during the short window between the WVOA flip at 4pm and the WPHR flip at 5:45pm), but still no response.
As of 11:30 am, the Power 106.9 website at power1069.com still has the same "Young Country 106.9 is currently Under Construction" message it displayed on Friday.
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Jim Reith is interviewing someone discussing 106.9's planned tower move and the format switch right now on WSYR (4:39 PM) - they're claiming the format flip stunting is related to the move. (I didn't hear the beginning of the interview).
Yes, I also heard the last part of that interview. The person Reith was interviewing was Clear Channel GM Joel Delmonico. Got into the car and turned the radio in time to hear the last minute or two. Hopefully Producer Bill posts the entire interview as a podcast on the station website... I'd love to hear the entire thing and perhaps share the link for anyone else who may be interested.
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