News

We’re Changing our Format!

You miss those days of your youth. The radio cranked with the sounds of The Eagles, Huey Lewis and the News, Queen, The Rolling Stones and many more.  Radio when music was music and times were real.  As of midnight on Thursday, May 24th, 2018, WHOU’s new music format will be “Classic” – classic hits from the 70’s and 80’s.  This change marks the first format change in the history of the station.

Fred Grant purchased the station in 2011 and since that time WHOU has experienced many changes which have included the addition of local DJ’s – Chris Putnam in the morning, Jules Summer during the mid-day, and Greg Koster in the afternoon drive.  “I can’t tell you how excited I am for the change to classic hits,” said DJ Chris Putnam. “I get calls constantly from listeners asking for more classic hits.  That’s what our population wants and I’m thrilled we can provide it on a continuous basis moving forward.”

The idea of switching formats on WHOU happened organically based on both staff and listener feedback and was later solidified by market research. “We just got to a point where we were tired of listening to current music that was mostly unoriginal and produced by people looking to be famous rather than making great music,” said Fred Grant, owner of WHOU.  “As we played more classic hits the feedback was overwhelming from listeners.  Turns out, the research supports the switch.”  With the switch WHOU will be the only Classic Hits format station in Aroostook County and western New Brunswick.  They will be leaving behind a field of at least 3 other stations playing Adult Contemporary (AC) music in the area.  Additional research found that in the 2010 US Census 48% of the population in Aroostook County was between the age of 30 and 64 with a median age of 45, a very large target market for a classic hits format.  In total, over 67% of the population is 30 years old or older in Aroostook according to the 2010 census.

“A lot of work has gone into this change,” said Grant, “we’ve hand selected thousands of the best hits of the two decades, updated our on-air station imaging, and releasing new features throughout the summer.  It’s going to be a very exciting time and switching the format for Memorial Weekend is the perfect way to kick-off the summer season.”

In addition to the format change WHOU will be bringing back their online player so listeners can tune in from anywhere in the world.  The popular classic hits syndicated show “The Daily Show” with Mike Harvey will be taking over evening hours (7pm to 12am) when the Red Sox aren’t playing.

Putnam adds, “let’s face it, the music from the 70’s and 80’s is the best and that’s what the majority of our area wants to hear – The Best.”

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Close
Close