Jerry Lee’s heritage AC in Philadelphia will promote the name change throughout the holiday season, making it official on 12/26. The new name and imaging reinforce the station’s commitment to “More Music, Less Talk.”
The station is not making any programming changes and the name change comes during a period of sustained dominance, with WBEB being the most listened to station in the market for an unprecedented 88 consecutive ratings books.
This is the latest bold move from a proven radio innovator who remains the only stand-alone, major market FM station in the country — winning radio’s highest honor, the Marconi Award, eight times in the past decade.
The move is a result of extensive research studies that are the trademark of Jerry Lee: “Research showed that despite ongoing evolution of the station’s audience and playlists, the B101 name still has a strong association with some artists that have not been played on the station for many years. The update from B101 to MoreFM is designed to better align the station’s name with its programming and help more closely match listener perception with the station’s current reality. A similar move helped spur the station’s leadership position 20 years ago,” noted the station in a release.
“We made a nearly identical decision in 1993 when we kept the same programming but switched our name from EZ-101 to B101 to update our image,” said Lee. “That one worked out pretty well, increasing our audience 40 percent over the next three years and ultimately helping establish us as a dominant #1, particularly with Women 25-54. We’re confident this name change will set the foundation for the next 20 years of growth.”
WBEB has the most extensive music testing program in the industry. The name MoreFM surfaced as an obvious choice during the research says GM Blaise Howard: “As we went through the process it became clear that what our listeners expect from us and what sets us apart from competitors is our commitment to playing more of the music they love with less of the talk they don’t,” said Howard. “With the MoreFM name, we are embracing our strength and reflecting the listening experience that matters most to our audience.”
RBR-TVBR asked Blaise, How will the imaging and on-air sound/personality change, if at all?
“As far as imaging …we have new on air imaging that is upbeat, fun and playful. There will not be any personnel changes. Over the years, the AC format has evolved and the station has evolved with it. Now it’s time for our name to catch up.
For years we have branded ourselves as the more music station. The transition is going to be seamless.”
