99XWatch.org

Morningstar analyst says resignation of CMLS CFO could be "could be symptomatic of organizational issues."

This is a bit stale, but from the 7/2/2009 Morningstar "Stock Analyst Notes:"

[Cumulus CFO Marty] Gausvik's nine-year run as CFO came to an unexpected end with the after-hours release issued Wednesday. The company disclosed that Gausvik resigned "to pursue other opportunities." We think the vague wording and sudden nature of the departure raises a number of questions about the operational environment at the firm.

Corbett also writes that Morningstar is "maintaining [its] fair value estimate" of Cumulus stock, which suggests that Morningstar analysts weren't overly concerned about those "questions."  Although perhaps they should have been.

Jimmy Baron: Cinema Legend

Back in the day, I had thought about something like this, but never got around to it:

Five Fewer Days of Bert and TRG?

From Radio Ink:

Cumulus President/CEO Lew Dickey Jr. spoke with Radio Ink Wednesday, after word came out that the company is requiring all employees -- from himself on down -- to take five days of unpaid leave before June 1.

Since most Cumulus employees are at will, The Bert Show and Regular Guys may be among the few to whom this doesn't really apply, since they have contracts.  Of course they may have been inclined (or pressured) to renegotiate their contracts out of solidarity with other Cumulus employees, but it seems unlikely that five days of unpaid leave during a ratings period is good for either party.            

Thanks to a loyal reader for the tip.

Fram vs Bono?

New York Daily News radio columnist David Hinkley features Leslie Fram's comments in his Thursday Column. 

When U2'S new CD "No Line on the Horizon" came out last month, WRXP (101.9 FM) devoted a full day to the new record and the band.

So WRXP program director Leslie Fram says she found it interesting this week when U2 lead singer Bono, the beneficiary of this promotion, joined the call for radio stations to pay performance royalties every time they play an artist's music.

Thanks to an reader for sending this one to me.

Radio Geeks Only

A loyal reader provided me with a link to FCC information on the 99X Transmitter.

Revisionist History? Win a prize!

Is it me, or is FMBQ's version of the facts revisionist history?

99X had been broadcasting on the web and on Top 40 sister station WWWQ’s HD2 signal, with a promise from Cumulus to bring the legendary station back to the air as soon as a suitable FM signal could be procured.

The first person to provide me with evidence that Cumulus promised to bring 99X back to the air, prior to January 21, 2008, and I will give them a prize: a $30 gift certificate to Front Page News, Midtown, home of the best trivia night in the city. 

“Less hertz. No Berts.”

Andisheh Nouraee made me laugh.

Go figure...

Looks like 99X is coming back on the air.

99X is back at 97.9FM Friday morning at 9:09am! Call 404-497-4861 to sound off and tell us your thoughts on the return of 99X!

Some what more authoritative is the FCC Release on the Transfer of 97.9 to Cumulus.

I don't know if I'll be blogging on 99X yet...or twittering.  Would the proper statement be tweeting?  I'm so 2006.

Sean on 99X

I had fully intended yesterday's post to be my last.  Then, Sean posted this.  Sean analysis of 99X's ultimate decline demands whatever modest additional exposure I can give it here:

... in the mid 90’s, upwards of 50% of the music 99X played was new based.  This meant that every other song was new or no older than 3 months old.  Recently 99X has been operating with a max of 19% new music.  That means that you get 3 new songs an hour, and many of those were ill focused for the 99X music community.  In the end, it seems that Cumulus was in fact programming 99X like an AC station with alternative rock hits, in the hopes of securing a 25 – 54 year old add buys.  Focusing on 25-54 with a station that was built to accrue 18 -34 year old is like putting a bicycle on the track in a stock car race.  Peddle as hard as you want… you lose the race… by miles.

Looking from a music stand point it seems like Cumulus couldn’t understand the fact that Bush, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and their ilk were the bands of yester year, and were not the building blocks for the current music generation.  It felt like that they were trying to recreate the 90’s.  The 90’s are gone.  They couldn’t understand what bands like the Shins, Silversun Pickups, Band of Horses, Arcade Fire, The Bravery, Interpol, Spoon, Against Me, Rise Against, etc had to do with 99X.  These are bands that sell out medium sized venues in Atlanta with little or no airplay; they have massive internet and magazine prominence.  These are the same types of building blocks we used in 1992; these are today’s building blocks for this music generation.

Jim V. on 99X

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
-- T. S. Elliot, The Hollow Men

I'm not sad that 99X is gone.  Jimmy Baron said it best, "I mourned the loss of my 'friend' two years ago."  I'm sad that good people lost their jobs, but the radio station today bears little resemblance to the radio station that gave me so much enjoyment over the years.  I've replaced that loss with Sirius at home and XM in my car. At this point the only thing that a radio station can offer me that I can't get on satellite, (with better programming and fewer commercials,) is Atlanta-centric talk aimed at adults with the proper number of chromosomes. Unfortunately, the prospects for that don't look too good.

This will be my last post on 99XWatch.org.  I'm sure that my friend Rodney Ho will do a great job of keeping you informed about what happens in Barnes v. Toucher and whether or not Jimmy's two shows in development get picked up. If you want to read my occasional musings, you can check out JimV.com. 

January 27th, would have made three years blogging about 99X.  I enjoyed getting to play media critic and later gossip reporter. I want to thank all of the people who trusted me enough be sources.  I'm proud that I was able to break a few big stories. I also want to thank all of my readers.  I'm far too egotistical to do something like this if no one's paying attention.  With almost half a million page views, it's clear that people were.  Finally, I want to thank the people that made 99X--99x.