WZIM 99.5 Bloomington/Normal

Another one bites the dust. Great Plains Media's WZIM has flipped from classic hits to Fox Sports "The Ticket." This leaves the Bloomington-Normal market with 3 non-music fm's (WRPW 92.9 is conservative talk and 93.7 is WJBC-AM's simulcast). Additionally, it leaves the market with no classic rock or classic hits station, although Peoria's 93.3 "The Drive" (Classic Hits) and 95.5 "GLO" (Classic Rock) are audible in Bloomington, especially in a car.

The station will broadcast the play by play of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Indianapolis Colts games. Although I consider myself somewhat of a sports fan this flip is an example of the recent trend of attrition among FM music stations.  I find it somewhat disappointing.

The station's new website is up and running:

http://www.995theticket.com/#!page__home|mainPage


The flip is the second within a week in Bloomington-Normal. On April 1, Connoisseur's  WVMG "Magic 100.7" flipped to WWHX "Hits 100.7." Where will I get my Christmas Fix in Bloomington-Normal come mid November??????? :)

WVMG-100.7 Bloomington-Normal (Hits 100.7)

In a usually quiet Bloomington-Normal radio market and after almost seven years of being on the air, Connoissuer's WVMG (100.7) flipped from AC "Magic 100.7" to what appears to be rhythmic leaning top-40 "Hits 100.7." The station appears to be going after a younger crowd in Bloomington-Normal in an attempt to take shares away from Townsquare Media's AC leaning heritage Top 40, 101.5 WBNQ.

Although it is unclear as to when the change took place, it had to be within the last few days. The former format's website is still active and there is no information on Connoisseur's website:http://connoisseurmedia.com/press/category/press-releases/.

The flip comes days after Floyd Evans was named as Market Manager of the radio group's Bloomington-Normal cluster, which also includes 97.9 WBBE (Bob FM-Adult Hits) and 96.7 WIHN (rock).