The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Gold 93.7 puts new spin on oldies
A new Mentor-based radio station is catering to the musical tastes of baby boomers and others who enjoy rock’n’roll, soul and other pop tunes from the ‘50s through ‘70s, as well as some early ‘80s songs thrown in for good measure.
Billing itself as Gold 93.7, the FM station’s general manager makes a bold claim about the music that he believes will get listeners to tune in and stay tuned, regularly and for long stretches of time.
“You’re going to hear songs here that you’re just not going to hear anyplace else — I can guarantee that,” Clarence Bucaro said.
To deliver that kind of variety, Gold 93.7 has compiled an inventory of songs that goes much deeper than the chart-topping hits that other oldies stations tend to rely on too heavily, Bucaro explained.
“You listen to the various oldies outlets, I guess their music library might be probably 700 songs, running through, running through, running through,” Bucaro said. “But ours will be much, much more extensive.”
Known formally as WQGR and licensed to North Madison, Gold 93.7 is based at a studio on Mentor Avenue and occupies the same dial position as the former Cougar 93.7. Media One Group, the owner of Cougar 93.7, decided it was time for a format change and made the switch to Gold 93.7 on Dec. 10.
Kid Mitchell, morning personality on Gold 93.7, said listener feedback he’s received on the studio phone has been very positive.
“They’re liking the variety, in particular, they’re liking the decades that we’re playing in a big kind of way,” Mitchell said.
Media One Group owns six radio stations in Northeast Ohio, including Mix 97.1FM, which features a format known as hot adult contemporary. This happens to be the same format played by Cougar 93.7-FM from the time it signed on as a new station in 2013.
Although Cougar 93.7 is gone, air personalities from the station, such as morning host Jeremy James, stayed within the Media One cluster by transferring to Mix 97.1.
“What was on old Cougar, most of those announcers have migrated over to 97.1 now,” Bucaro said. “So people who were listening who liked that music, that format, very easily migrated over to the 50,000-watt station on 97.1, and there’s no great loss for them. So we didn’t really lose a format I think. I think we’re really gaining an extra one.”
Media One Group is hoping that Gold 93.7 also delivers a shining performance in attracting advertisers who want their commercials heard by a demographic that Bucaro believes is worth reaching.
“Our target is basically baby boomers, people who were born maybe in 1964, at that end. They control about 80 percent of the nation’s wealth and represent about 40 percent of the Lake County people, so they’re the kind of people who are near and dear to our hearts,” he said. “And we really think they’re going to like this format.”
To ensure that Gold 93.7 offers a format that listeners enjoy, Media One Group has called upon Northeast Ohio radio icon Ted Alexander to serve as program director.
Alexander, who’s worked in radio for 54 years and is a member of the Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame, also will be doing a show on Gold 93.7 titled “10,000 Oldies.”
“It’s like a music magazine of the air,” Alexander said, as he described ‘10,000 Oldies,’ which airs from noon to 1 p.m. weekdays. “A whole lot of interesting information about the artists and the things that went on at the time.”
Besides Mitchell and Alexander, Gold 93.7 doesn’t feature any other live personalities, but Bucaro doesn’t see that as a shortcoming.
“Because the music is the driver. It really is,” he said.
In addition to playing a popular genre of music, Bucaro believes that Gold 93.7’s focus on featuring a truly wide variety of songs will help the station achieve lasting success.
“We’ve already heard that people who have started listening have put their pre-set on and they’re probably going stay with this station, because, again, you’re not hearing the same songs over and over and over again,” he said. “You’re hearing some new ones, and you never know what’s coming up.”