Wine Country was formerly WWTR, a brokered religious station that languished in the ratings cellar. Says GM Ronaldo DeJesus, "After the change to country, even we were surprised by the punch of this station. Sure, we were confident we could be a player in the market, but the result of turning WWTR into WYYN has been nothing short of miraculous."
WYYN borrowed marketing ideas from the quirky "Froggy" country franchise and saturated the station with wine imagery. The jock lineup is only the beginning: Mornings feature the trio Pick, Stomp, and Ferment, followed by PD/MD Corky Caskwell in the workplace hours. The husband and wife duo of Merle O. and Cookin' Sherri handle afternoon drive, and Nancy Grapes takes evenings with the popular "Kissin' Cousins" dedication show. Overnighter D.U. Eye pumps out the country hits in the wee hours, and part-timers Topo Grigio, "Savvy" Jan Blanc, and Sam "The Sham" Payne give the weekend a fruity finish.
Music is almost exactly a 50/50 split of the current country harvest and vintage material, with a private reserve of reaction records that Caskwell enjoys spiking amongst the traditional format favorites.
The station is hyper-active with event promotions, notably presenting the nationally sponsored comedy competition, "Gallo's Humor." But on the same night as that big show, local church groups not-so-coincidentally scheduled an old-style tent revival! It was then that Wine Country caught its first whiff of brewing controversy.
PD Caskwell told us, "The Baptist church is a strong force in these here parts. Sometimes they just won't let us breathe."
Rubella Scarrs, President of the Bristol-Palin Chamber of Commerce, says Wine Country has stained a carefully concocted image campaign. "Just when we had people believing we were some new high-tech corridor and semiconductor haven, along comes Wine Country to perpetuate the idea that guys from here marry their sisters."
Law enforcement officials weighed in as well. Sheriff Festus Torpedo is sour on a prominent Wine Country slogan: "Since they began saying 'enjoy WYYN at home, at work, and in your car,' calls to social services have tripled, we've seen increased workplace absences and we're drowning in drunk drivers. The station is popular, without a doubt, but Wine Country makes us cops see red!"
But it's the green that DeJesus likes, and WYYN is practically printing money since the Spring numbers poured in. "The consumers have spoken, and around here, Wine Country 93.5 is the flavor that goes with everything!"
Truly, the trials of 2009 have been enough to drive some operators to the bottle, but one must agree that it's been a very good year for WYYN, Wine Country 93.5!
