92.3 K-Rock Going Top 40; Opie and Anthony Going Away
CBS Radio is shifting its New York rock outlet, 92.3 K-Rock (WXRK), to top 40. K-Rock will become “92.3 Now FM” as of 5 p.m. this Wednesday night, Billboard has confirmed. That also means the end of the line for popular DJs Opie and Anthony.
92.3 K-Rock to 92.3 Now
The switch from 92.3 K-Rock to 92.3 Now is being made to better target “teen demographics,” a CBS exec tells Billboard, as well as increase appeal to the typical 18-34 market. The station’s new focus is describing as “contemporary hit music.” The station already has a new Web site up with a countdown to Wednesday night.
Opie and Anthony Fired
As for Opie and Anthony — aka Greg Hughes and Anthony Cumia — the DJs have confirmed that their show is coming to an end.
“It’s official,” Opie announced in a message on his Twitter profile. “KROCK has just informed us that our services are no longer needed.#2 M18-49,#3 M25-54. This is really bad for our show,PERIOD!”
An hour later, another tweet followed: “It’s officially over. Extremely bummed. This is not good for our show, period!”
The Latest Change
The 92.3 K-Rock change is only the latest shift enacted by CBS Radio this year. Just last month, CBS announced plans to change its L.A. talk station, 97.1 KLSX, to a new top 40 format under the name “AMP RADIO.” The move resulted in on-air personality Adam Carolla losing his job, along with DJ Tom Leykis and other staff members. Needless to say, people were upset over the decision. Our story about the news was flooded with comments for days.
As for 92.3 K-Rock, the station took on the name in 2007. Opie and Anthony had been on-the-air there, however, for about three years, dating back to when the station was called Free FM.
