Listeners expecting to hear "Soft and Easy Joy 99" this morning were jolted out of bed by the new sound of "99.7 The Grinch," as Dolittle Broadcasting's WJLI/Grand Rapids adopted a "no holiday music" format."With six stations audible in the metro doing all-holiday formats, we thought this would be a way to separate ourselves," said GM Tim Cratchett.
Shortly before 7am, the station began stunting with holiday music, blowing up each song after its first chorus. Destroyed ditties included "Last Christmas" by Wham!, "Merry Christmas Darling" by The Carpenters, and "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney.
After a short message by Cratchett, The Grinch played its first song, "D.O.A." by Bloodrock, dedicating it to Santa Claus. The first hour of the new format also featured Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter, and "I Hate You" by Pink. The music choice can only be described as eclectic, and core artists have yet to emerge.
"The one consistent thing about The Grinch - no holiday music!" Cratchett said. He added that response from advertisers has been "better than it was before the switch, which admittedly isn't saying much."
The station is running jockless for now, having released all airstaffers, including the long-running morning duo of Dan Holloway and Jewel Tyde. Holloway told us, "We were told our names were too close to 'holiday' and 'yuletide' for us to be part of the new format, as we were shown the door."
