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It's one of the most uncertain radio stations in Buffalo. And now it's changing again. WBUF-FM has had an endless number of formats from Classic Rock to Jack FM and more. And now the struggling outlet is onto yet new territory - something called "Buffalo's Real Rock."
What does that mean?
"Here’s a sample hour taken from Saturday at 2pm, according to Mediabase: Living Colour, “Cult Of Personality;” Nita Strauss f/ David Draiman, “Dead Inside;” Rage Against The Machine, “Testify;” AC/DC, “Thunderstruck;” Puddle Of Mudd, “Control;” Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Black Summer;” Candlebox, “Far Behind;” Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle;” Guns N’ Roses, “Civil War;” Lit, “My Own Worst Enemy.”
Townsquare’s WBUF Trades Classic Rock For Active Rock
How long before it switches again? Hard to say, but management usually gives a new format a few years to catch on. WBUF is all but unreceivable OTA in the GTA, although like many other Buffalo FMs, it used to come in here like a local.
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Since 1975, this will be format change #12. Their A/C format through most of the 1980's seemed to be the most successful.
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If memory serves, didn't they try Howard Stern at one point? Possibly even while his semi-censored version was airing on Q107.
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RadioActive wrote:
If memory serves, didn't they try Howard Stern at one point? Possibly even while his semi-censored version was airing on Q107.
They did and it was live. Q107 had an at least 20 minute delay to edit anything that might offend GTA listeners.
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mace wrote:
Since 1975, this will be format change #12. Their A/C format through most of the 1980's seemed to be the most successful.
I declare you to be correct. It's my memory that is fuzzy.
What were the formats again before their life as Mix 92.9?
(I was also born in the 70's, so I am not aware of 92.9's formats back in the 70's)
WBUF went to Mix 92.9, then it was B93, then Smooth Jazz, then Alice @ 92.9. After that, Dancin' Oldies, then ROCK radio, then talk radio (with Howard Stern in the morning) Then they became Jack FM (longest running format in a while) then back to rock (as Classic rock) and now Active Rock... (that's 11 alone right there!)
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With the proper antenna placement I can still get the signal. During tropo season I can sometimes get both BUF and the Grand by changing antenna position.
My favorite era for WBUF was when it was free form. I think that lasted from 1974 to 1978. When it went AOR lamentably.
One of my recordings from the golden era:
WBUF 1975
Also have some from the AOR days on a weekend they were playing 1960's music Second clip below:
WBUF 1978
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There was also WFXE Foxy 93 in 1980.
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They were an AC billed simply as WBUF FM 93 from the end of 1981 through to 1991 when they unveiled the Mix monniker.
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Jody Thornton wrote:
They were an AC billed simply as WBUF FM 93 from the end of 1981 through to 1991 when they unveiled the Mix monniker.
I think they became B93 shortly after changing their moniker to Mix 92.9, possibly to avoid confusion with CKFM, who had just recently rebranded themselves as The Mix 99.9 around the same time.
PJ
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Paul Jeffries wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:
They were an AC billed simply as WBUF FM 93 from the end of 1981 through to 1991 when they unveiled the Mix monniker.
I think they became B93 shortly after changing their moniker to Mix 92.9, possibly to avoid confusion with CKFM, who had just recently rebranded themselves as The Mix 99.9 around the same time.
PJ
Nice thinking, but Jack & Jack were closer on the dial for the longest time!
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Radiowiz wrote:
Paul Jeffries wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:
They were an AC billed simply as WBUF FM 93 from the end of 1981 through to 1991 when they unveiled the Mix monniker.
I think they became B93 shortly after changing their moniker to Mix 92.9, possibly to avoid confusion with CKFM, who had just recently rebranded themselves as The Mix 99.9 around the same time.
PJ
Nice thinking, but Jack & Jack were closer on the dial for the longest time!
I believe that with the branding of Jack FM they had to pay a licensing fee to Sparknet Communications (the North American owner of the Jack brand, according to Wikipedia), so it might not have been the most economically feasible option to change monikers yet again. Whereas, I don't think there was any brand holder for the "Mix" moniker at the time, so they wouldn't have been stuck in any license holding agreement at the time if that was the case. B93 didn't appear to be different in format from Mix 92.9, so they may very well have changed it to avoid confusion with the Toronto Mix, or at least to stand out a little better.
PJ
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Would a Buffalo station really care what the branding of a Toronto station is? Not sure I've ever heard of that happening down south. But anything's possible.
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RadioActive wrote:
Would a Buffalo station really care what the branding of a Toronto station is? Not sure I've ever heard of that happening down south. But anything's possible.
Maybe in the diary days, but I doubt it today.
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EDGE102.1 and EDGE103.3 perhaps?
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Several other call signs for the various formats WSJZ and WLCE
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What is it with this station's seemingly endless inability to land on a format that works? I can't recall a revolving door anywhere that matches the record of WBUF (or whatever call letters it has this week.)
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RadioAaron wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Would a Buffalo station really care what the branding of a Toronto station is? Not sure I've ever heard of that happening down south. But anything's possible.
Maybe in the diary days, but I doubt it today.
Those were the diary days when Jack & Jack were side by side.
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RadioActive wrote:
What is it with this station's seemingly endless inability to land on a format that works? I can't recall a revolving door anywhere that matches the record of WBUF (or whatever call letters it has this week.)
They managed to hold onto Jack FM for quite some time.
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Radiowiz wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Would a Buffalo station really care what the branding of a Toronto station is? Not sure I've ever heard of that happening down south. But anything's possible.
Maybe in the diary days, but I doubt it today.
Those were the diary days when Jack & Jack were side by side.
Do the non-CN tower signals even make it into Buffalo?
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RadioAaron wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
Maybe in the diary days, but I doubt it today.
Those were the diary days when Jack & Jack were side by side.
Do the non-CN tower signals even make it into Buffalo?
Probably not.
Funny how CIDC ended up changing their name to Z103. Was it Hits or Htz that a diary writer here on the Canadian side was listening to? I'm sure Htz listeners wrote 97.7, but still...
It's still not intelligent to have the same name as a station that bleeds into the same market, even with PPM.
Being extra sure (with a different radio name) is always best.
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RadioAaron wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
Maybe in the diary days, but I doubt it today.Those were the diary days when Jack & Jack were side by side.
Do the non-CN tower signals even make it into Buffalo?
88.1 definitely not. Gospel translator there. 88.9-splatter from 88,7. 89.5-splatter from 89,3 WCOM. 91.9-splatter from 92.1WZDV. 93.5-squeezed out by 93.3 Cheektowaga and 93.7. 96.3-splatter from 96.1. 99.1- splatter from hip-hop translator on 98.9. Of the CN Tower stations, Q107 would be challenging caught between a 106.9 Grand Island Gospel translator and a 107.3 Buffalo Urban translator. This is not from my own personal band scan but from the Radio Locator Buffalo FM dial section.
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Paul Jeffries wrote:
I think they became B93 shortly after changing their moniker to Mix 92.9, possibly to avoid confusion with CKFM, who had just recently rebranded themselves as The Mix 99.9 around the same time.
PJ
If I remember correctly, B92.9 was the Dancing Oldies Format, so that would be different than the AC years. I remember them sticking with AC until they became Smooth Jazz in 1994. The last AC song they played was "Lucky One" by Amy Grant, going into the format change.
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Jody Thornton wrote:
Paul Jeffries wrote:
I think they became B93 shortly after changing their moniker to Mix 92.9, possibly to avoid confusion with CKFM, who had just recently rebranded themselves as The Mix 99.9 around the same time.
PJ
If I remember correctly, B92.9 was the Dancing Oldies Format, so that would be different than the AC years. I remember them sticking with AC until they became Smooth Jazz in 1994. The last AC song they played was "Lucky One" by Amy Grant, going into the format change.
Here's the switch from B 93 to Smooth Jazz back in March of 1995:
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Got this from Wikipedia. It should clarify this once and for all. But like the format changes, it's a loooong list!
From early 1991 to 2005, WBUF had a history of short-lived and rapidly changing formats (usually failed attempts to challenge other more dominant stations in the market or adopt fad formats popular in the radio industry for brief periods of time), with the station typically changing formats every two years:
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RadioActive wrote:
What is it with this station's seemingly endless inability to land on a format that works? I can't recall a revolving door anywhere that matches the record of WBUF (or whatever call letters it has this week.)
They’ve kept the same call letters but CHAY in Barrie must be close.
CHAY (Beautiful Music)
CHAY (AC)
Energy (CHR)
The New CHAY (AC)
FM 93 (AC)
CHAY Today@93.1 (Adult Hits)
CHAY Today@93.1 (Hot AC)
Fresh 93.1 (Hot AC)
Fresh Radio (CHR)
Did I miss any? Someone told me they were called Play 93.1 but I don’t remember that.
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Radiowiz wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:
Paul Jeffries wrote:
I think they became B93 shortly after changing their moniker to Mix 92.9, possibly to avoid confusion with CKFM, who had just recently rebranded themselves as The Mix 99.9 around the same time.
PJ
If I remember correctly, B92.9 was the Dancing Oldies Format, so that would be different than the AC years. I remember them sticking with AC until they became Smooth Jazz in 1994. The last AC song they played was "Lucky One" by Amy Grant, going into the format change.
Here's the switch from B 93 to Smooth Jazz back in March of 1995:
I wonder then if I'm thinking of the switch from Mix to B. I only say that because I was in Burlington and I remember Amy Grant going into the new format.
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mace wrote:
RadioAaron wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
Those were the diary days when Jack & Jack were side by side.
Do the non-CN tower signals even make it into Buffalo?
88.1 definitely not. Gospel translator there. 88.9-splatter from 88,7. 89.5-splatter from 89,3 WCOM. 91.9-splatter from 92.1WZDV. 93.5-squeezed out by 93.3 Cheektowaga and 93.7. 96.3-splatter from 96.1. 99.1- splatter from hip-hop translator on 98.9. Of the CN Tower stations, Q107 would be challenging caught between a 106.9 Grand Island Gospel translator and a 107.3 Buffalo Urban translator. This is not from my own personal band scan but from the Radio Locator Buffalo FM dial section.
I'm frequently in Buffalo. The bigger Toronto signals power past the low-power translators in most areas. Q107 is easily heard, as are CBLA and CIUT.
Some of the others you mentioned are not only lower powered but also directional away from the US, especially 91.9 and 93.5.
Get up by the lake in Niagara County and the dial changes. I can hear CIND's HD2 at Fort Niagara, for instance.
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Ive dragged the toronto (CN Tower) signals almost towards Erie PA once on a road trip - this also is because of the lakes in aid. Once you get south to the hills of Buffalo the signals get even better too.
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Up in the hills south of Rochester, you gain enough elevation fast enough that you get line of sight to Toronto again, and the bigger CN signals start coming in pretty clearly in most areas except where they're blocked by translators on this side of the lake.
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Thanks for the info guys. I haven't been to Buffalo in at least 25 years. As I had mentioned earlier, it was a reception guesstimate based on Radio Locator. Good to know that the most of the Toronto FMers have reliable signals in Western NY.