09-13-2003, 07:14 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment...5546c.html
Station Blinks & reformats
By RICHARD HUFF
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Booted: Lynda Lopez and Chris Booker, formerly of WNEW
It's been a bad week for the Lopez sisters.
Just days after Jennifer Lopez called off her wedding to Ben Affleck, Lynda Lopez and her boyfriend, Chris Booker, were fired as disk jockeys from WNEW (102.7 FM).
Lopez and Booker were the station's morning jocks and the cornerstone on which programmers built the female-targeted Blink format.
Station general manager Maire Mason said research and ratings led to the decision.
"Music is going to be the centerpiece of this radio station," Mason said.
Also gone in the shakeup are on-air promos voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. He'll be replaced by a female voice-over.
The switch had been expected.
Earlier this week, station operations manager and program director Steve Kingston suddenly resigned and early ratings for the Blink format did not indicate listeners were locked in.
The shakeup comes just six months after Infinity Radio, 102.7's parent, sunk big bucks into relaunching the station as a destination for female listeners.
The concept was to mix entertainment, personalities and news - some of it from a variety of Infinity sister companies - into programming that would appeal to women. It was an attempt to buck the traditional formatting of radio, one that essentially failed.
Now, programmers have about a week to shape up the new concept - a music-driven form of Blink - in time for the start of the critical fall radio ratings period, which starts on Friday.
"We've tightened the focus of the [target audience] to women between the ages of 30 and 44, taken out some of the entertainment and added more music," Mason said.
Rather than have Lopez and Booker chat with stars and talk about the latest gossip, listeners next week will find music, traffic and news at the top of the hour.
Also gone in the shuffle are jocks Tim Virgin and Todd Newton.
Mason said the music format is also being refined to appeal to women in the target group.
"You won't hear any rap," Mason said. "They were playing some oldies; you won't hear oldies. You'll only hear '80s, '90s and the '00s. ... It's just much more focused."
Station Blinks & reformats
By RICHARD HUFF
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Booted: Lynda Lopez and Chris Booker, formerly of WNEW
It's been a bad week for the Lopez sisters.
Just days after Jennifer Lopez called off her wedding to Ben Affleck, Lynda Lopez and her boyfriend, Chris Booker, were fired as disk jockeys from WNEW (102.7 FM).
Lopez and Booker were the station's morning jocks and the cornerstone on which programmers built the female-targeted Blink format.
Station general manager Maire Mason said research and ratings led to the decision.
"Music is going to be the centerpiece of this radio station," Mason said.
Also gone in the shakeup are on-air promos voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. He'll be replaced by a female voice-over.
The switch had been expected.
Earlier this week, station operations manager and program director Steve Kingston suddenly resigned and early ratings for the Blink format did not indicate listeners were locked in.
The shakeup comes just six months after Infinity Radio, 102.7's parent, sunk big bucks into relaunching the station as a destination for female listeners.
The concept was to mix entertainment, personalities and news - some of it from a variety of Infinity sister companies - into programming that would appeal to women. It was an attempt to buck the traditional formatting of radio, one that essentially failed.
Now, programmers have about a week to shape up the new concept - a music-driven form of Blink - in time for the start of the critical fall radio ratings period, which starts on Friday.
"We've tightened the focus of the [target audience] to women between the ages of 30 and 44, taken out some of the entertainment and added more music," Mason said.
Rather than have Lopez and Booker chat with stars and talk about the latest gossip, listeners next week will find music, traffic and news at the top of the hour.
Also gone in the shuffle are jocks Tim Virgin and Todd Newton.
Mason said the music format is also being refined to appeal to women in the target group.
"You won't hear any rap," Mason said. "They were playing some oldies; you won't hear oldies. You'll only hear '80s, '90s and the '00s. ... It's just much more focused."
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