Something is happening at 97.1 BOB FM in Wichita, and all I am prepared to tell you right now is that BOB appears to have been summoned to Human Resources.
We do not know whether this is disciplinary.
We do not know whether this involves benefits.
We do not know whether somebody finally discovered that BOB has spent years coming to work every morning, playing whatever the hell he wants and apparently answering to nobody.
What we do know is that the Wichita radio landscape just moved, and whenever furniture starts sliding around inside a radio market, I start paying attention.
Murfin Media has sold Classic Hits 92.7 KWME to Steckline Communications, putting the Wellington-licensed signal into Greg Steckline’s growing Wichita operation. Meanwhile, Murfin still has 97.1 BOB FM sitting over there doing what BOB has always done best.
Whatever BOB wants.
And honestly, I have respected the commitment.
BOB does not care about your format wheel.
BOB does not care that Journey technically should not be followed by Prince followed by Def Leppard followed by something somebody found on a cassette under the passenger seat of a 1997 Ford Taurus.
BOB has one guiding philosophy:
WE FOUND IT
WE LIKE IT
WE ARE PLAYING IT
That has worked just fine.
But now 92.7 has been sold.
And BOB has apparently been called upstairs.
This is where things get interesting.
Because radio stations do not get called into HR for winning Employee of the Month.
Nobody says, “Hey BOB, could you come see us around 3:00 and bring your access badge?” because everything is completely normal.
😂
Somebody has a plan.
We are not going to tell you what that plan is yet.
Mostly because I enjoy watching radio people become completely irrational when they know something is happening but cannot figure out what.
Programmers start checking websites every eleven minutes.
Consultants suddenly know somebody who knows somebody.
Former employees begin receiving texts that simply say:
YOU HEARD ANYTHING
Salespeople pretend they know nothing while knowing absolutely everything.
And somewhere in Wichita, BOB is sitting in the lobby outside HR wondering whether he should have updated LinkedIn.
Here is what makes this especially entertaining.
BOB is not some brand-new radio station still trying to decide what it wants to be when it grows up. The name has history in Wichita, and Murfin brought it back in 2023 after acquiring the former Rocking M properties.
Since then, the station has leaned hard into the broad-music attitude that makes the BOB format so wonderfully strange.
Classic Rock.
Pop.
Hair bands.
Prince.
Fleetwood Mac.
Bon Jovi.
Something from the 1980s that suddenly makes you remember where you bought your first microwave.
BOB will play it.
No judgment.
No explanation.
And possibly no adult supervision.
That last part may become important.
That is all I am saying.
😂
The sale of 92.7 creates a legitimate opening for Murfin to rethink how the pieces fit together in Wichita. That does not mean 97.1 necessarily needs some dramatic reinvention. In fact, the smartest thing might be protecting exactly what makes BOB different while adding something the station currently has room to become better at.
Being even more Wichita.
That is where this gets interesting from a programming standpoint.
The broad music proposition is already there.
Spotify can duplicate a lot of songs.
It cannot duplicate Wichita.
It cannot tell you what is happening on Kellogg this morning.
It cannot laugh about something somebody said at a Wichita City Council meeting.
It does not understand why the weather can go from 82 degrees to everybody looking for a coat before dinner.
It cannot argue about the Shockers.
It does not know which local restaurant everybody swears is better than the one everybody else swears is better.
That is what local personality adds to a music station.
A sense of place.
BOB already has the soundtrack.
Maybe HR wants to discuss something else.
Again, I am saying absolutely nothing.
You people are going to have to wait.
What I can say is that whatever is developing has the potential to make 97.1 considerably more interesting without destroying what makes the station fun.
That matters.
Too many radio changes begin with somebody deciding everything that existed yesterday was wrong.
Sometimes it was not wrong.
Sometimes the answer is not blowing up the station.
Sometimes the answer is simply giving an existing brand another reason for listeners to care about it.
BOB has personality built into the name.
What happens if the station suddenly gets a little more actual personality around it?
What happens if the musical free-for-all starts feeling a little more connected to Wichita every day?
What happens if somebody walks through that door who already understands this city?
I am not answering that.
Nice try.
😂
You will know soon enough.
For now, let’s appreciate the ridiculousness of where we are.
92.7 changes ownership.
Murfin starts rearranging things.
97.1 BOB FM continues playing everything except Gregorian chant, and frankly I am not completely convinced that is off the table.
Then suddenly HR sends an email.
BOB PLEASE SEE US
Uh-oh.
Did somebody finally complain about the playlist?
Was it Journey?
Was there an incident involving Whitesnake?
Did HR discover that BOB has never completed the annual workplace harassment training because BOB technically is not a person?
Did someone finally ask why the station keeps showing up without pants?
We cannot confirm any of those things.
But something is happening.
And because this is Wichita radio, I promise you it is going to be much more fun to watch if we do not ruin the ending before we get there.
So for the moment, BOB can keep nervously refreshing Outlook.
We will keep watching the building.
And everybody else can do exactly what HR apparently wants us to do.
STANDBY
We will tell you what BOB was called upstairs about soon enough.
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