Update: 87.7 has since confirmed our report on their Facebook page. The station says they’ll be releasing more information on the switch/sale this Friday. They’ve clarified, via Twitter, that is a “programming partnership,” not a full-blown sale. What that means? We’ll have to wait until Friday.
***
The landscape of Cleveland radio will change again soon, with even fewer options for folks who don’t want to hear Miley Cyrus or Van Halen every other song.
According to a source, staff at 87.7 FM Cleveland’s Sound were told during a meeting yesterday that the station will be changing to a Spanish programming format on January 1, 2014. The station was sold and the new owners are, for lack of a better term, cleaning house. The station had brought on Stansbury and Chad Zumock recently.
We’ve reached out to 87.7 for official comment and/or confirmation and will let you know what they have to say.
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2013.
WHAT????? Now there is NO good music options in Cleveland radio. I call BS.
This is so disappointing!
I give up.
Hate to say it, but it makes having satellite radio all the more appealing.
The writing was on the wall when they made the boneheaded moves of firing The Black Mr. Rogers, going more cookie-cutter with the music rotation and hiring of the WMMS/WNCX left-over douche-bags that are Stansbury and Zumock.
That really sucks. 87.7 was the best thing to happen to Cleveland radio in the last 20 years.
Bad news. But it was already going downhill quickly — I’m with ScruffyDog.
That sucks, the ONLY station I listened to anymore
How did the only station in town that didn’t suck, end up not making enough money to stay consistent? Spanish? Realy?
I have a lifetime Sirius subscription and hadn’t listened to Cleveland local radio for years until last spring when I saw an ad for 87.7 in Scene Mag, I have hardly turned on the satellite radio since but come Jan 1 I’ll go back. Here I come Howard!
Meh. Look, is is this really so awful? Think of it as a question of who’s being served by that frequency. Cleveland has a TON more Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and other Spanish-speaking peoples than it has fans of Seafair. If 87.7 couldn’t get people to listen to Cleveland music, well, they’re hardly the first to fail at that.
the best station ever gone, can’t believe it!!
Guess it’s back to listening exclusively to podcasts and Google Music for me. The only time I turn on a radio is to listen to 87.7 Cleveland Sound.
Super happy about this! With such a large Latino population, it’s about time we get our own station!
This is my favorite station!!! All the other stations suck….and Latin music??? Really???? Who gives a shit about Latin music! VERY disappointed!!!!!! 🙁
You know, there are three college radio stations in Cleveland that play a diverse mix of music (including a LOT of local stuff) 24/7 with no commercials that you can always flip back and forth between: 91.1, 89.3, and 88.7.
Sweet!!!!! I love spanish music!!!!!
yes it over due …Cleveland Akron and canton dont have one if you go further south south east cincinatti, columbus dayton toledo they have them thanks goodness i moved out of state just for this reason when you do latin music its hard to get radio play if they dont play latin music way to go guys you will be seeing a lot of me maybe too much
sí, sobre debido … Cleveland y Akron cantón no tiene uno si vas más al sur sureste cincinatti, toledo dayton columbus los tienen, gracias a Dios me mudé fuera del estado sólo por esta razón, cuando usted hace la música latina es difícil conseguir la radio jugar si ellos no jugar forma la música latina que ir chicos que va a ver mucho de mí quizás demasiado
Sorry for the haters .. but look at it this way us latinos really dont have a radio staion to listen to spanish music ..in mostly evey city there is at least one but cleveland…. dont go over the boat and support …
And dont worry 87.7 radio station fans..its not like they’re not gonna buy another radio station channel!!!!!!geeeeezzzzz.
This is horse shit. What are they thinking? They should call our neighbors down in Columbus CD 102.5 ask them for advice.
It’s sad when most of the good music in Cleveland is being played as bumper music. i.e. RMG, Alan Cox & Ken Carman
87.7 was the best around! It was great while it lasted though. There are so many other options for Latino music on the radio in the area but only one 87.7. Hopefully they buy another station!!
i like some van halen. that part wasnt cool!!
First 107.3 went back to The Wave, and now this. For a city with the Rock Hall, our radio station selection is pathetic.
great 92.3 and now 87.7 Why can’t this format stick around? Anyway, now I can hear Venga Boys every hour!
89.3 FM and 91.1 FM have plenty of great rock ‘n’ roll if you familiarize yourselves with their program schedules. I wasn’t impressed with 87.7. Latin music might be better, depending on what they play.
Was disappointed when 107.3 sold out then excited again for Cleveland Sound! Now back again to absolutely no radio station with a wide variety of music! What a shame for the Rock Hall City! I was angry when Archie was let go – strictly a business decision I was told when I called to vent my disappointment…. Then I felt sick when they brought in the 2 new Old guys Stansbury and Zumock- Please – didn’t feel quite right since then and now I know why! Hopefully Rocko can come up with a third alternative as both 107 and 87 were great stations!
A long sad trip from the old days of MMS. Amazing considering the local live music scene and the mega shrine at the bottom of east 9th street. What the hell is everybody listening to?
I’m disappointed too, I really liked 87.7. And, yes I do agree that the Latino community does need a radio station here to represent them. However I don’t think 87.7 is the best long term choice for that, full time Spanish programming should be on another local FM station. Why? Whatever format survives on 87.7, the fans will be very disappointed in September 2015. I didn’t get to read every comment, so don’t know if this was touched upon: *87.7 is NOT a radio station!* It is actually a TV station. What you are hearing on 87.7 is actually the audio from a low powered ANALOG TV station on Channel 6. Analog channel 6 could always be picked up on 87.75 FM, but Cleveland never had a Channel 6, so a lot of people here didn’t know about this. Places like Columbus had a channel 6 where you could hear the audio on your radio. That being said,
WLFM is actually operating under a FCC loophole. FULL power analog TV stations had to go digital or go dark a few years ago. Low power TV stations like Ch. 6 and Ch. 35 don’t have to do that till September 2015. And you won’t be able to hear the audio from digital Ch. 6 at 87.7 or anywhere else on the FM dial. People in the radio industry call these loopholed TV/radio operations “Franken-FM’s”.
I commented the following on RadioInsight’s Cleveland radio board, but it bears repeating here.
For the most part, 87.7 was operated as an afterthought. Besides the continuous rate of on-air turnover, and lack of any marketing, it was pretty straightforward that there was never any sales department but that they ran solely on trades with a local ad agency (X Factor Media, headed by a former colleague of Tom Wilson’s, former CBS Cleveland OM Chris Maduri, who likely donated the infamous I-71 “Christmas Music? No Bueno!” billboard last year). Then there was the ultimate insult of putting someone with no connection to or understanding of the format, let alone someone bereft of any on-air experience whatsoever, Archie Berwick, in the morning drive slot. You can’t do something like that and expect me to believe that you want to succeed.
Everything about the station made it obvious from day one that Wilson was never serious about running a station, but that he wanted to cash in on the value of an analog low-power TV station once it is either converted to digital or auctioned off for spectrum.
It’s actually an insult to listeners of alternative rock that the station was set up the way it was. And to say it was run as a hobby by Tom Wilson is an insult to actual hobbyist radio operators, many of which actually want to succeed.
Can’t the Latinos just take 99.5 WGAR instead? C’mon, son!
GASOLINA!
It’s kind of crazy that this town kills anything that’s remotely good. I understand that there needs to be a Latin voice in the market. At the same time I also understand that an Alternative voice needs to be heard! If I wanted to listen to the same canned crap over and over, I would have an amazing variety of stations to go to. But, no. I had one shot at something good! You can talk about college stations, but they BLOW! I’m not about to listen to some nerdy fanboy and his video game music collection, or the remixes!!!!!! I don’t need 12 stations playing either of the games! I thought that was what AM was for!?! Wake up Cleveland! THIS IS THE HOME OF THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME!
…..”programming partnership” sounds like a Gateway-styled deal……the license owners can kick back and have others do all the heavy lifting, while banking any profits and not having to open the bank account to cover any losses.
“Programming partnership” is effectively a local marketing agreement. In this case, someone else will pour money and effort into operating audio for channel 6, while Tom Wilson keeps the TV station’s license active until he either converts it to digital or turns in the license for the upcoming spectrum auction.
There actually IS a latin station in town….I think it is in the low 90s on the dial…I am going to miss 87.7 but I only switched to them after the TRULY greatest station in town switched back to “cool jazz”. 107.3 was the best independently owned AAA format station to hit Cleveland airwaves in years!!
If you’ve had a smartphone for the past few years you probably haven’t listened to terrestrial radio anyway. it has sucked so bad for so long here in Cle so this is non news to us streamers….
The station was at its peak 6 months ago. New personalities suck. I listened for music, not bs talk.
Seriously people! Quit hating! You have how many English stations you can listen to compared to us Latinos? We have none! Accept the fact that we have a huge Hispanic population in Cleveland.
88.7, 89.3, 91.1 have and will continue to be the ONLY radio stations worth listening to. Commercial free, more music, fewer hits. Wake up people!
Well that sucks.
@Robert_888 – EXACTLY, and they’ve always been local – if also not on the air for DECADES. If you are compelled to depend on commercial radio for true variety and diversity in programming, you will always be disappointed. Case closed.
Guuuuh…Again non news….Just the stale air of Cleveland terrestrial radio….
Sorry…
It is what it is….
Awesome news!!! never heard that station before anyway WMMS>everything else but I will definitely will by tuning to 87.7 now viene latinooo
“I’m not about to listen to some nerdy fanboy and his video game music collection, or the remixes”
I’ve been listening to college radio in Cleveland consistently as long as I’ve lived here and I’ve never heard anything like that. Some people are just hard to please huh. Stick with WMMS then.
Not lovin’ the new year… lost my favorite radio station ever. #RIP 877 Cleveland Sound. DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against the Hispanic community, I dig the music and respect all cultures of people… but did Ohio really have to take away from one group of people to give to another?? 🙁 I’m very sad.