January 12- It Ends
On January 12 2005, just 12 days after the start of what should have been a great New Year, Infinity Broadcasting brutally murdered WHFS 99.1. At 12:00 on that day, WHFS's loyal group of listeners heard the true voice of the Beast. Yeah, Beelzebub is from Mexico. After we had heard "The Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley, a song popular in 1995, the radio station announced its true name for the last time: "WHFS Annapolis. Washington DC." (Then some weird noise which resulted from Hell and the damned springing up to Earth), and,
"WHFS transmitiendo desde la ciudad capital de America: Esta! Es! Tu! Nueva! Radio!"
And that marked the final breath of the Only True Alternative.
I thought it was a joke for the longest time. I couldn't accept this tragedy. I mean, c'mon, just look at EL ZOL's party logo: www.whfs.com How could that not be a joke? Well, it's not. What really kills me about the turn was that Infinity didn't even let HFS say goodbye to it's listeners. They didn't even warn their staff about the change. The Junkies found out right after their show ended that morning. In fact, the only warning that we had that something like this might occur was HFS's steadily dropping ratings.
Why Did It Happen?
Infinity Broadcasting owns four radio stations:WPGC, WJFK, WARW and WHFS. WPGC is hiphop and has great ratings. WJFK is doing well because of Howard Stern, WARW isn't doing too poorly. Finally, WHFS has the lowest ratings because of high competition. If Infinity were to make a change, it would defidently be WHFS. And it was.
Why Spanish Music?
There are only two radio stations in D.C. that play spanish music and both have weak signals. HFS is now the strongest Spanish Music station in the area. They also have a lot of resources behind them. 10% of the radio market wanted spanish music so Infinity came through.
Why no Warning?
Well, if Infinity had given a warning to it's staff that there would be a change and some of them would be fired, then there's a risk that the staff would say certain things on the air in retaliation. Infinity didn't want to take that risk. I think it would have been more fair to us to get a warning but... whatever. Also, radio works best when things happen suddenly and rumors spread. What better way to get a whole lotta people tune to 99.1 to find out what the fuss is all about?
What Can We Do?
Sadly, not too much. There are two petitions going around online. I strongly encourage everyone to sign those. Here are the links: http://www.petitiononline.com/991hfs/petition.html and
http://www.petitiononline.com/WHFS/petition.html
Also, there was a protest in DC on Saturday January 15. There could be another one in the near future.
What will happen to the staff of 99.1?
The Junkies are officially returning to their old home, WJFK FM, which is a talk channel also owned by Infinity. They'll be in the 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM time slot. More information about them at: www.junkiesradio.com
Some DJs and other staff members have been fired and some will be offered jobs at other Infinity stations.
Tim Virgin is going to WNEW FM in New York.
No Word about the fate of Love Line.
What About the HFStival and the HFSmas Nutcracker?
Infinity's president, Joel Hollander, said that he understood that both of these events were important to D.C. and Infinity would try to keep them going.
People who know how the aftermath works for format changing radio say that there's not too much hope for the continuation of these two concerts.
What are HFS's competitors saying about the abrupt change?
98 Rock, the bastards that they are, are celebrating. Saying things like, "Adios HFS! We won!". If you were a true HFS fan, DO NOT support 98 ROCK.
DC 101, the only good rock station left for us, haven't done anything shitholeish like 98 ROCK. Instead, they played several tribute songs to HFS over this weekend and made several announcements about the "legendary HFS and how they will be missed." If you want to listen to rock on the radio, 101.1 is the only way to go now.
Any Hope for an HFS Reincarnation springing up with another company?
Yes!
Empire Broadcasting are working their asses off to try and make something that will attract abandoned HFS fans. They plan to combine 94.3 in Warrenton, (which is currently spanish), with the 94.3 in Annapolis, (currently country), and relaunch an alternative rock station called WRNR. This is about the only hope we have of getting another HFS format.
That's all for now. If I find out more, I'll post it. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them so just post away.
"WHFS transmitiendo desde la ciudad capital de America: Esta! Es! Tu! Nueva! Radio!"
And that marked the final breath of the Only True Alternative.
I thought it was a joke for the longest time. I couldn't accept this tragedy. I mean, c'mon, just look at EL ZOL's party logo: www.whfs.com How could that not be a joke? Well, it's not. What really kills me about the turn was that Infinity didn't even let HFS say goodbye to it's listeners. They didn't even warn their staff about the change. The Junkies found out right after their show ended that morning. In fact, the only warning that we had that something like this might occur was HFS's steadily dropping ratings.
Why Did It Happen?
Infinity Broadcasting owns four radio stations:WPGC, WJFK, WARW and WHFS. WPGC is hiphop and has great ratings. WJFK is doing well because of Howard Stern, WARW isn't doing too poorly. Finally, WHFS has the lowest ratings because of high competition. If Infinity were to make a change, it would defidently be WHFS. And it was.
Why Spanish Music?
There are only two radio stations in D.C. that play spanish music and both have weak signals. HFS is now the strongest Spanish Music station in the area. They also have a lot of resources behind them. 10% of the radio market wanted spanish music so Infinity came through.
Why no Warning?
Well, if Infinity had given a warning to it's staff that there would be a change and some of them would be fired, then there's a risk that the staff would say certain things on the air in retaliation. Infinity didn't want to take that risk. I think it would have been more fair to us to get a warning but... whatever. Also, radio works best when things happen suddenly and rumors spread. What better way to get a whole lotta people tune to 99.1 to find out what the fuss is all about?
What Can We Do?
Sadly, not too much. There are two petitions going around online. I strongly encourage everyone to sign those. Here are the links: http://www.petitiononline.com/991hfs/petition.html and
http://www.petitiononline.com/WHFS/petition.html
Also, there was a protest in DC on Saturday January 15. There could be another one in the near future.
What will happen to the staff of 99.1?
The Junkies are officially returning to their old home, WJFK FM, which is a talk channel also owned by Infinity. They'll be in the 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM time slot. More information about them at: www.junkiesradio.com
Some DJs and other staff members have been fired and some will be offered jobs at other Infinity stations.
Tim Virgin is going to WNEW FM in New York.
No Word about the fate of Love Line.
What About the HFStival and the HFSmas Nutcracker?
Infinity's president, Joel Hollander, said that he understood that both of these events were important to D.C. and Infinity would try to keep them going.
People who know how the aftermath works for format changing radio say that there's not too much hope for the continuation of these two concerts.
What are HFS's competitors saying about the abrupt change?
98 Rock, the bastards that they are, are celebrating. Saying things like, "Adios HFS! We won!". If you were a true HFS fan, DO NOT support 98 ROCK.
DC 101, the only good rock station left for us, haven't done anything shitholeish like 98 ROCK. Instead, they played several tribute songs to HFS over this weekend and made several announcements about the "legendary HFS and how they will be missed." If you want to listen to rock on the radio, 101.1 is the only way to go now.
Any Hope for an HFS Reincarnation springing up with another company?
Yes!
Empire Broadcasting are working their asses off to try and make something that will attract abandoned HFS fans. They plan to combine 94.3 in Warrenton, (which is currently spanish), with the 94.3 in Annapolis, (currently country), and relaunch an alternative rock station called WRNR. This is about the only hope we have of getting another HFS format.
That's all for now. If I find out more, I'll post it. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them so just post away.