Posted by Another One Bites The Dust on July 17, 2012 at 22:19:33:
Ipod 101 is here and it's fierce. Er, nevermind. Here's what the Sunny Times said today: The music is back at the radio station that for years
was alternative rocker Q101 and less than a year ago became an all-news FM station. Now WIQI-FM (101.1) is playing throwback adult hits. In
late July, Merlin Media, controlled by former Tribune CEO Randy Michaels and private equity firm GTCR, switched the format of WKQX-FM (101.1),
shutting off the music, turning to 24-hour news and hiring a local news staff. Those staffers lost their jobs Tuesday morning when the station
switched back to the FM music scene with an “adult music” lineup and changed its slogan from News 101 to i101. It promises to play such
throwbacks as Alanis Morissette, Britney Spears and ’N Sync. On its website, the station claims to be packed with “stuff from the ’90s, stuff
from the 2000s and some stuff that doesn’t make sense at all!” WIQI didn’t fare well in the radio market, earning only a 0.3 percent share of
listeners last month, according to Arbitron ratings. By comparison, all-news WBBM-AM (780) drew 4.3 percent, and WGN-AM (720) took 3.9 percent.
“It was a difficult decision to make, but after a year of minimal audience engagement, coupled with the format’s inherent expense, I felt it
was time to make a change,” Michaels said in a statement.