Nine-FM says goodbye

Since radio stations changing formats don't say goodbye on the air anymore, the best way to do so is through an e-mail to your listeners. This was posted on Chicagoland Radio and Media's website earlier today, as well as on Nine FM's own website. I've said my piece on Nine-FM, so I'll let the now-defunct station have the floor:

This is a difficult letter to write to our most loyal listeners. Over four years ago, our local company invested millions of dollars in purchasing the three FM frequencies that make-up 9FM. We gave Chicago radio listeners a choice in music that they did not have and over those years, we believe we did succeed in building a wonderful listening experience.

However, the competitive landscape has been changing with radio stations that broadcast from the big downtown buildings. We found ourselves with new stations that suddenly adopted music that was not all that different from what we play. Although we think that we do it better than the other guys do, the simple fact is that there are so many music stations in Chicago, we simply cannot compete effectively for the ad dollars.

At the same time, we put a new Progressive Talk radio station on the air, on a daytime-only AM station. In the midst of an historical political, cultural and economic climate, our little daytime-only station has been alone, spreading a message against two full-time Conservative Talk radio stations. It is simply not fair to the hundreds of thousands of listeners who have to wait until 7:00 in the morning for Chicago's only Progressive Talk radio voice to sign-on, while at the same time, there are over thirty FM music stations broadcasting to the Chicagoland area.

Thus, we have made the decision to move WCPT-AM's programming to the three stations that have been the home to 9FM. Everyone from the programming, promotions and sales staffs fought the good fight, but given the state of the competition on both the AM and the FM dial we feel that Chicago needs more alternatives to the voices from the Conservative spectrum. It is never easy to say goodbye. However, the one thing that remains constant in radio is change and it would not surprise us if at some point down the road, there will be another, "We Play Anything" radio station for the Chicago area. Until that time, we invite you to listen to Progressive Talk radio on the former 9FM radio stations from 5:00 am until 9:00 pm. And if you have been a fan of the "Dance Factory" show, we invite you to continue to listen to that program on 92.5-FM, 92.7-FM and 99.9-FM seven nights a week as you have in the past. We are proud of what we have accomplished and want to thank you for listening.

All the best,
The Staff of 9FM