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It's not often a station changes branding back to what it used to be. But that's what's happened at the rocker now known (again) as Q92.
And it shows the power of branding. Even though they changed the name of the Rogers station to Rock 92.7 in 2016, everyone who remembers it when it signed on in 1990 still called it by its original moniker. So if you can't beat 'em, go back to what they know.
“People still call us Q92, and I stopped correcting them a long time ago,” [station content coordinator] Mellany Dahl told Sudbury.com between broadcasts on Friday afternoon, adding that the corporate decision to rename Q92 was “fine, but this is better.”
92.7 ROCK goes back to its roots with ‘Q92’ rebranding
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Same thing in other Rogers markets. Rock 92.1 in Timmins went back to Q92, Rock 101.1 in North Bay reverted to 102 The Fox. There might be others.
CHEZ 106 in Ottawa never did change to the Rock branding, and remains CHEZ.
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I always wondered why and how they thought those "consolidated" brand names for their rock stations were a good idea. I honestly don't know much about the industry, but I never thought that consolidating those brand names like that would do them any good. All it did was take away iconic local brands from popular local radio stations, and that can't have helped anyone or anything. Apparently these hopefully welcomed reversions were made two days ago on the 28th.
As for CHEZ in Ottawa, when those brand consolidations were made, Rogers swapped the branding comprised of the call sign and the frequency in reverse, while also eliminating the rounding in the branding, thereby changing the branding from "CHEZ 106" to "106.1 CHEZ". This change was apparently reverted in May, 2020. This should stand as a case-in-point example of how legacy brand names matter, and that there are cases where implementation of consolidated or generic brands in place of classic legacy ones just isn't appropriate, particularly when it comes to big-name FM stations in substantial or major markets. Fortunately, the HTZ-FM (Niagara/Golden Horseshoe) and CHOM (Montreal) brands have never been altered by any of their successive owners (knock-on-wood).
Last edited by tdotwriter (June 30, 2024 11:09 pm)
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It wasn't "branding" per se but a call letter change that had me stumped. Remember when CKOC briefly changed its call letters to CKMO, the "MO" supposedly standing for "Maximum Oldies?"
No one bought it and especially for those who grew up on OC - to whom the format was appealing - never accepted it. Soon, it was back to CKOC, which it remains.
We'll see if it stays that way once Neeti Ray gets his mitts on it.
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97 Rock in Buffalo became WRLT "Turn on the Lite" in 1985. Three years later, 97 Rock returned with many of the same jocks as before.
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Dale Patterson wrote:
97 Rock in Buffalo became WRLT "Turn on the Lite" in 1985. Three years later, 97 Rock returned with many of the same jocks as before.
But with tweeked call letters. WGRF instead of WGRQ.
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It wasn't a flawless change over. Melanie neglected to turn on her mic so there was roughly 30-40 seconds of dead air after the initial songs ended, and then repeatedly called the station 92.7 , correcting herself to say Q92. Nerves maybe, or not comfortable in front of a group of people who had gathered out front. She was in a small canopy type thing. They had about 40 people, 99% men, who showed up for free pizza and to fill out a ballot for a 1000$. My brother was one of those men, he came away with a free hat, T shirt and a pen. He rode several buses for two hours to get there, under the belief he was going to see a band play live. The station had been advertising all week that a ' legend was returning '. As of today, Monday July 1, they are still just playing the same 200 songs. Melanie, by the way, has been an on air talent there for 34 years. That is impressive.