WHFS Abruptly Changes Format

[mattclearing]

Any fans of alt-rock in the DC area will be stunned to learn that 99.1 WHFS is a salsa station, as of about 12:05 yesterday.

While this station has fallen apart since Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting bought it a few years back, those who remember how it pioneered the alt-rock format long before anyone had heard of Kurt Cobain will likely mourn the loss.

They also were very supportive of local music.

It's a sad day for music in Washington.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4390-2005Jan12.html

WHFS Changes Its Tune to Spanish
Alternative Rock Pioneer Targets Latino Audience

By Teresa Wiltz and Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 13, 2005; Page A01

WHFS-FM, the Washington area radio station that was a pioneering purveyor of alternative rock to generations of young music fans, did a programming U-turn yesterday by ditching the genre for a Spanish-language, pop-music format that transforms it into the largest Spanish-language station on the local dial.

In an instant, the station abandoned the likes of the White Stripes, Green Day and Jet for middle-of-the-road superstars such as Marc Anthony, Juan Luis Guerra and Victor Manuelle.

The switch reflects both changing demographics and a corporate war of attrition involving Washington's two major radio station owners, Infinity Broadcasting, which owns WHFS, and Clear Channel Communications, which owns WHFS's chief competitor, DC-101.

Despite its self-proclaimed "legendary" status, WHFS (at 99.1 on the dial) has long trailed DC-101 in the race to win the ears of rock listeners in the Washington-Baltimore area. At the same time, Spanish-language radio is the fastest-growing format in the country, while alternative rock radio is a withering niche.

...

[depakid]

1. Chalk up another victory for Clinton

Radio consolidation is his baby... and he deserves the lion's share of the creit for letting it pass.

[tx_dem41]

2. As much as I hate what has happened to radio, this was seems pretty..

easy to understand. Low ratings and a booming demographic towards the new format.

[rfranklin]

3. Maybe they could do Spanish simulcasts of Howard Stern...

El Sterno en la manana.

[NashVegas]

4. HFS Hasn't Been HFS For a Decade

They blew it when they started playing 90s faux alternative puke. Einstein and Waugh are all at another station now and have been for a while.

[cedahlia]

5. True

Sometime back in the late 90's, I mourned the death of what was once a truly great radio station. These past few years have been downright dreadful and unlistenable. Someone thought it would be a great idea to fire all the old (good) DJs and bring in a bunch of meathead, obnoxious, stereotypical fratboy types to DJ. Obviously, that wasn't such a great idea given their reported continual ratings downslide.

Oh well, I've pretty much given up on commercial radio anyway, as it all seems to be Clear Channel-controlled, and as a result, it just sucks.