Is today Friday the 31st or 13th?

AGDLynn · #1 01-31-2003, 07:53 PM

So..today I leave work about 4:20 --- 20 minutes later than I normally leave.

At 4:53, it dawns on me tomorrow is my bro's birthday..(that's a fyi, lol) hang on, I'm getting to the freaky part!

About 3.5 miles from my house (about 40 miles south of Atlanta), I tune into one of fav radio stations, WFOX 97.1, Oldies, but I am getting country tunes!! Turns out it is a a Texas radio station, not sure which one, but it has a Beltway!

Then, just as I pull into the drive, I hear the call sign "WFOX, Gainesville Atlanta", then they start to play HAWAIIAN SONGS!!

I rush into the house and turn on a radio to 97.1, but am getting crappy reception. Later, I turn it on to97.1 and I get some 93. something Dance Party Station from South Florida!!

That goes on for 2 songs, and then the WFOX Gainesville Atlanta message comes on and then a Texas station again...The dj says KILT which is 100.3 Houston. But when I look up 93Q, it says KKBQ Houston's on-line radio!

Randy and Spiff and the gang were their normal selves this morning. I must admit I didn't listen the whole day! The website says "Thank you to the many loyal listeners of Fox 97.1. Your support has meant a lot to us over the years. We'll remember the good times and great oldies forever but now it's time for a change. Stay tuned for more!"

Any Atlanta area folks know what is going on??????

SATX*APhi · #2 01-31-2003, 08:36 PM

That is hella freaky!! Maybe somebody tapped into something and then something else and caused a big ol' rucus. But that is super freaky!

Lisa Fishman · #3 01-31-2003, 08:41 PM

Ooooohhhh, that is weird, Lynn. I remember WFOX Gainesville Atlanta!

lifesaver · #4 01-31-2003, 08:42 PM

Hate that $hit. At least they could prepare you for it. We had a station here in SA about 8 years ago called KDIL, it was "A younger country" Unfortunately it was about 6 years ahead of the game. Now theose stations, (Robert Earl Keen, Reckless Kelly, Pat Green, Cory Morrow, Kevin Fowler, Cross Canadian, etc.) are popping up like weeds. Anyway, their last week on air, they let everyone know they were going down, and had a week long party. Playing whatever. Peopel were stopping by the station with CD';s they wanted to hear and they were playign them. Too funny. Of course 106.7 has been about 10 diff formats since then.

I cant believe you got 93Q in Atlanta! Daymn. Even that station has changed formats about 500 times. Hope it resolves itself to somethign you like....

AGDLynn · #5 01-31-2003, 10:41 PM

Had an ice cream attack so we had to go out!

Turns out the Hawaiian station, I think, is KDNN?? Weather and Traffic Report: Raining and lots of cars, lol!

Guess WFOX is "retooling". WPCH does that during the time that they play Christmas songs Nov. 1 - Dec. 25th.

AlphaSigOU · #6 01-31-2003, 11:01 PM

I can see picking up distant AM radio stations at night, especially high-powered ones like KRLD (Dallas) and KOMA (Oklahoma City) if the weather is right, but FM radio is usually line of sight -- unless we've been hit by a solar flare -- things like that tend to happen occasionally.

Wanna talk about funny? My mother and I drove from Dallas to Vegas to deliver my mom's old car over to my younger brother Thanksgiving weekend. On US 93 between Phoenix and Kingman (one hell of a road to take at night!) we musta picked up AM radio stations from LA, SF, Denver, Cheyenne, WY but nothing from Vegas or even Kingman! WTF?!?!? Shows you how strange the airwaves can get at night.

AGDLynn · #7 01-31-2003, 11:14 PM

Back in 1993, when most of the South had the "Snow Storm of the Century', I was visiting my now hubby in Vicksburg, MS. I would listen to WSB AM 750 at night to see if I had to go to work in Georgia the next day,

Took me a weeK to get through Alabama!

When I was a teen, I could usually get WWL and WLS (New Orleans and Chicago??) at night.

Yea, it is strange to pick up very far away stations, but you can't get the station in the next town because they have low power, lol.

If FOX has to change, so far my voice on the "variety" stations are the tunes from Hawaii..I'm not sure who the artists are but they seemed to be having a great time, lol. Bouncy tunes.

AGDLynn · #8 01-31-2003, 11:21 PM

Weekend Peach Buzz:

Fox 97 dumps oldies format

So much for Fox 97's "Save Our Oldies" campaign last spring.

Cox Radio dumped Fox's oldies format at 10:30 a.m. Friday, replacing it temporarily with a sampling of Cox-owned radio stations nationwide, including alternative rock Y101 in Richmond, Va., and Hawaiian 105's "Aloha Morning Show."

Randy Cook and Spiff Carner, who had helmed Fox's morning show since 1989, were fired along with the rest of the air and sales staff, totaling about 20 people.

Fox in its '90s heyday was baby-boomer heaven, selling out the Georgia Dome with its Ultimate Oldies concert. But since Cox Radio bought Fox in 1999, the station has been in a funk, finishing 15th in the last ratings book. It dropped the Ultimate Oldies concert last year and placed Randy and Spiff on a double shift to save money. The "Save Our Oldies" campaign prompted a short-lived leap in ratings.

What is Fox going to be replaced with? We probably won't know until Monday. Among candidates bandied about by radio followers are an urban format, country or even regional Mexican. (Cox Radio is part of Cox Enterprises, which also owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Boo!!

LuaBlanca · #9 02-01-2003, 12:28 AM

cross-radio "skipping" like that has happened to me before w/ FM and AM stations- but THIS is by FAR the most RANDOM thing i've ever experienced:

My father is a fire chief and he has a call radio in his truck. Well one night, about 4 months ago, we're driving along and the call radio is on as usual, and suddenly we hear "Earl? Earl, we need you around back," in a SERIOUS SOUTHERN drawl. Well, us being "Yankees" and all, we crack up laughing. Then "Earl" replied "Howdy Mac? I'm on my way but turn the light on, I can't see a god-damn thing around the side." We nearly DIED laughing. Apparently this sort of thing happens often- some southern fire department (my dad remembers it being Misssissippi) uses the same EXACT frequency as our local station does and every so often they "skip" and go the wrong way or something- I'm not entirely sure how it works but regardless- it was REALLY funny.

AGDLynn · #10 02-01-2003, 12:02 PM

I was driving to work about 3 years ago and happened to pick up an Anderson/Greenville SC area radio station for a few minutes on my radio. Wierd b/c I was born in Anderson..about 2.5 hours away.