Detroit Radio: 105.1 The Bounce Plans To Be Local

WMGC 105.1 FM The Bounce, owned by Massachusetts-based Greater Media, which also owns WCSX 94.7 FM and WRIF 101.1 FM, is about one-quarter of the way through its 10,000-songs-without-ads debut.

The Detroit Free-Press reports they’ve hired a sales manager, Scott Kunnath, who starts Aug. 3, according to Steve Chessare, Greater Media's vice president/market manager.

The search for local talent is underway, he added. And they're scouting for a program director and soon will be on the hunt for salespeople. The 10,000 songs are expected to last at least through the end of July.

Steve Chessare

"Right now, there's no plan to take any syndication or network shows. It’s all going to be local. The station was designed to be local and be Detroit-centric," Chessare said. "The Detroit audience knows what they want to hear and there is definitely a Detroit sound."

When news of 105.1's new format was first released, the statement by the company -- which also owns stations in Boston, Charlotte, New Jersey and Philadelphia -- described it as "throwback hip-hop and R&B songs from the '90s and 2000s."

Variations on that have been tweeted from the station's Twitter account, which as of Thursday at 5 p.m., had 512 followers.

Chessare declined to give more details, citing "the secret sauce."

Right now, listeners are in the 30-45 range, 60% women and 60% white, according to Chessare.

There are no Nielsen ratings yet for the just-birthed programming, so those demographics are based on who's signing in to access the radio station's website  to stream its music or downloaded the app. By getting female listeners, Chessare says, the station expects to ultimately capture men because they listen to what women want to hear, so they have something to talk about.