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So long WHFS...

Old 01-12-05, 12:54 PM
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So long WHFS...

Hello all spanish format!

At noon today they just pulled the plug without warning on one of the nation's pioneer radio stations. It's now all spanish music all the time.

Old 01-12-05, 12:57 PM
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good. those bastards used to call themselves "alternative" and then play all this linkin park/limp biscuit trainwreck. although switching to latin should be worse. radio is dead anyway
Old 01-12-05, 12:59 PM
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The rock station in Houston just switched to Tejano/Latino as well. So now I know where to go for my Emilio, Juanes, and Little Joe y La Familia.
Old 01-12-05, 01:42 PM
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Just one more reason to make the move to XM or Serius.
Old 01-12-05, 03:18 PM
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uh, its 4:20PM and my WHFS is still playing rock.
Old 01-12-05, 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Lara Means
uh, its 4:20PM and my WHFS is still playing rock.
You sure? I just got home from work (4:23PM) and during my commute it was definitely Spanish music. Does anybody know what the heck happened?
Old 01-12-05, 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by attrition
You sure? I just got home from work (4:23PM) and during my commute it was definitely Spanish music. Does anybody know what the heck happened?

whoops, my mistake, it is all spanish music. i guess DC has a lot of hispanics running around.
Old 01-12-05, 03:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Lara Means
uh, its 4:20PM and my WHFS is still playing rock.

if it's 4:20 then you should do it to it!
Old 01-12-05, 03:49 PM
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My. God.

Los Lonely Boys 24 hours a day. Just imagine it .
Old 01-12-05, 03:51 PM
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Bummer...I used to work with Jenn who did middays...she has now been fired from 98rock and she just was fired because of a format flip.

I remember back in the day when the HFSestival was huge...once again say thanks to the Telecommunications act of 1996 for sucking the life out of radio.
Old 01-12-05, 03:55 PM
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I was wondering what happened. I don't listen to the radio that often, but this still sucks.
Old 01-12-05, 03:57 PM
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But market research shows that a spanish station will do great in DC!!!

Corporate assholes.
Old 01-12-05, 04:42 PM
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I don't live in the DC area anymore, but wasn't HFS just another crappy commercial alternative station? When I lived near Annapolis in '83 that station was awesome. Anyone remember Damien? What is sad is how a station like that got worse over the years....
Old 01-12-05, 04:54 PM
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Originally Posted by atlantamoi
I don't live in the DC area anymore, but wasn't HFS just another crappy commercial alternative station? When I lived near Annapolis in '83 that station was awesome. Anyone remember Damien? What is sad is how a station like that got worse over the years....
Damien is still around and at WRNR I think...

Check this out...

http://www.dcrtv.org/hfs.html
Old 01-12-05, 05:05 PM
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WHFS Abruptly Changes Format
Pioneering Alternative Rock Station Now Spanish-Language

By Teresa Wiltz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 12, 2005; 4:48 PM

The Washington-area FM radio station WHFS, long a pioneering purveyor of alternative rock, did a programming U-turn at noon today by ditching the genre for a Spanish-language, Latin music format featuring middle-of-the-road superstars such as Marc Anthony and Juan Luis Guerra.

WHFS-FM 99.1, the radio station behind the popular alt rock music festival called "HFStival," is now "El Zol," featuring Caribbean and Central American music, according to a prepared statement released by Infinity Broadcasting, the station's owner.

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc., the nation's largest Latino-controlled radio broadcasting company, served as a consultant on the reformatting of the station. Infinity and SBS have formed an alliance, with Infinity owning an equity interest in the Florida-based company.

The abrupt switch came as a shock. Since 1969, WHFS has served as the arbiter of cutting-edge rock in the Washington area, introducing listeners to acts such the Cure and the Violent Femmes.

The HFStival has grown from an offbeat spring festival to a nationally-recognized Bacchanalia that last year offered 36 musical acts spread out over three stages and a techno hideaway called the Buzz Tent.

"Certainly this will have major ramifications for new music in Washington, D.C., said Seth Hurwitz, the owner of the city's 9:30 Club and producer of last year's HFStival, which drew 65,000 fans to RFK Stadium in May.

"They were always the forerunner for presenting new music," he said of WHFS. "They were a vital fabric of Washington's culture."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2005Jan12.html

I honestly don't listen to radio that much anymore, since its mostly crap anyway, but this was one station I had a preset for. I guess I really need to look into that XM unit for my car now.

As for the HFStival, that started being crap when they got away from the initial intentions. It used to be 20 bands of $20, and those were the best HFStivals ever. They were still good until they switched to the two day format. That killed it all. It used to be local, but then it got too commercial and expensive.

Oh well. Its fun listening to 98 Rock on the drive home, hearing them claim victory and beating up on HFS. Good times.

Last edited by joshd2012; 01-12-05 at 05:09 PM.
Old 01-13-05, 04:21 AM
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I won't lose any sleep over this. Im from D.C. and all the stations here suck just like in the rest of the nation. WHFS, Aero Classic Rock, 98 Rock, DC 101.....suck, suck, suck, and suck.

Here's a semi-decent station:


http://cc.liquidviewer.com/Radio/Ind...ayerframe.html
Old 01-13-05, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by dick_grayson
good. those bastards used to call themselves "alternative" and then play all this linkin park/limp biscuit trainwreck. although switching to latin should be worse. radio is dead anyway
radio dead is because of lame corporate playlists that shovel the shit that we think we want to hear ad nauseum.

Originally Posted by achau9598
Just one more reason to make the move to XM or Serius.
I have and I ain't looking back.. XM to be exact.

Originally Posted by KnightLerxst
I remember back in the day when the HFSestival was huge...once again say thanks to the Telecommunications act of 1996 for sucking the life out of radio.
this certainly mean no more HFStivals: summer, and Holiday December shows, god this is just another death knell to a horrible music scene for the Washington DC area.

Originally Posted by Rivero
I won't lose any sleep over this. Im from D.C. and all the stations here suck just like in the rest of the nation. WHFS, Aero Classic Rock, 98 Rock, DC 101.....suck, suck, suck, and suck.
they suck, because they talk talk talk talk, that's what this stupid area likes: Talk radio. screw DC radio - we don't even have a decent college station.
Old 01-13-05, 10:54 AM
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Very strange. I listened to HFS a lot in the mid-90s. Haven't listened to it in years as the geezer in me has settled into 70s/80s rock and varying styles (that's why I love Sirius - at least a half-dozen stations that match my tastes).

Can't believe they just changed from one format to another in the blink of an eye.

I suppose the Junkies will move to JFK and then take over Stern's slot next January.
Old 01-13-05, 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Red Dog
Very strange. I listened to HFS a lot in the mid-90s. Haven't listened to it in years as the geezer in me has settled into 70s/80s rock and varying styles (that's why I love Sirius - at least a half-dozen stations that match my tastes).
The last time HFS was any good was the mid-90s, so that probably contributed. HFS has been in the toilet for years now - good riddance as far as I'm concerned.
Old 01-13-05, 12:08 PM
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As was said before,

ClearChannel did the exact same thing to Klol in Houston about a month ago. Without warning, at noon, they just started playing latino hip-hop.

Klol was 35 years old and very popular in Houston (though not as popular as their other rock station in Houston).

About a year ago, 99x in Atlanta defected away from ClearChannel (that was also a rock station like Klol) and started their own thing. I guess their management got the news of them also being targeted for latino music, and they had enough money to prevent it.
Old 01-13-05, 01:04 PM
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KLOL's format change still makes my head spin. It makes no sense, given the glut and popularity of spanish channels already available in Houston. Of course, I'm still stinging over the dumping of the dedicated classic rock station years ago that left KLOL as the next best thing.
Old 01-13-05, 02:28 PM
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I wasn't terribly impressed with WHFS when I lived in the DC area (1998-2001), but my friend who grew up there would tell me tales of when it was a great station.

Originally Posted by Red Dog
I suppose the Junkies will move to JFK and then take over Stern's slot next January.
I used to listen to them on JFK and heard they made the switch to HFS. I thought that their show was entertaining - hope they end up somewhere. Given my shifting tastes, I think that I would be primarily a JFK listener if I moved back to the area (and I just may).
Old 01-13-05, 03:15 PM
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That sucks. I don't listen to the radio much, but when I neglected to grab some cds I'd usually flip between 99.1 and 101.1 and stick with which ever one was playing the better (or less crappy) song.

Oh well, just 101.1 and cds for me now. Satellite radio isn't an option for me as I just wouldn't use it enough to pay a monthly fee. I prefer listening to whole albums over the radio anyday. I just like the album experience.
Old 01-13-05, 03:23 PM
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POSTED: 4:42 pm EST January 12, 2005
UPDATED: 11:49 am EST January 13, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The radio station WHFS changed its format to Spanish language dance music Wednesday after more than 35 years of playing rock and alternative music in the Washington region.

At noon WHFS became "El Zol" 99.1, playing Caribbean and Central American dance music geared toward people between the ages of 25 and 54, according to a statement from the station's owner, Infinity Broadcasting. The station made the switch to reach a growing market in the Washington area that Infinity said is underserved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video: John Sherman Reports: Alt Rock Radio Station Says Goodbye
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


"There exists a tremendous opportunity for Infinity to launch a Spanish language format in Washington, D.C., where almost 10 percent of the population is not being directly served," said Infinity President Joel Hollander in a statement.

Infinity spokeswoman Karen Mateo, said some former WHFS employees will be offered jobs within the company's national network of 183 radio stations. She said some have been fired, but would not say how many.

Reached at home, John "Cakes" Auville of the WHFS morning show "Junkies" said he and other WHFS employees had been instructed not to comment on the format change. A woman who answered the phone at the station referred all calls to Infinity's New York headquarters.

WHFS, which stood for "Hi Fidelity Stereo" started out on the dial at 102.3 in 1961 playing classical music and jazz. But by the late 1960s and early 1970s, WHFS had shifted to a free form style where DJs were given wide choice on what they played. The station featured well known rock bands but also lesser known musicians whose tracks were not played on big radio stations.

Bruce Springsteen came to the station when he was playing in clubs and Steve Miller stopped by when he couldn't get his songs on other radio stations, according to Damian Einstein, who started working as a DJ at WHFS in 1971 and stayed there for nearly 25 years.

"Certain artists weren't being played anywhere, so they went to WHFS," said Einstein, now at WRNR in Annapolis. "We did a lot of different stuff no one else did."

In 1983, WHFS moved from Bethesda to Annapolis and shifted to the 91.1 frequency. After several changes in ownership, it was bought by Infinity in 1996, eventually settling in Lanham. It reached listeners in the Washington area, Baltimore and Annapolis.

The station sponsored an annual concert at RFK Stadium known as the WHFstival. Mateo said the Infinity "realizes the importance of the event in the community" and will "look to continue the event" if possible.

Ratings, however, have slipped. WHFS had lower ratings than Infinity's other three FM stations in the area, making it a target for a format change.

"Of the stations we own in that market, that is the one that made the most sense to make the change," Mateo said.


The switch also demonstrates the growing power of the Hispanic market in the Washington area. Immigrants primarily from Central American countries have built large communities in areas such as Silver Spring and Wheaton in Maryland, and sections of Northern Virginia and Washington.

Infinity estimated the area's Hispanic population grew 25 percent in the past four years to reach 400,000 people. The company signed a deal in October with Spanish Broadcasting System that gave Infinity inroads into Spanish language radio.

"El Zol" will be Infinity's first Spanish language station in a top 10 market, according to the company

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/entert...81/detail.html
click on the link also to see video footage of the 98 rock guys celebrating last night (and they kept saying that the reporter over there at wbal looked alot like matt damon(
Old 01-13-05, 04:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Duran
HFS has been in the toilet for years now - good riddance as far as I'm concerned.
hell, I may check out El Zol. It can't be as bad.

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