Townsquare Media’s Bismarck Classic Rock outlet has launched a new brand and a tweaked playlist after a five-day stunt.
KBYZ/96.5, formerly “The Fox,” became “The Walleye” at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16. The station had stunted as “Go Fish Radio” with a playlist that was still mostly Classic Rock with some Pop thrown in.
“The Walleye” is positioned as “Classic Rock that Really Rocks.” It appears there are no changes to the station’s lineup, which includes the syndicated “Free Beer and Hot Wings” morning show.
KBYZ has been known as “The Fox” for about a quarter century. Here’s what they sounded like in 2017:
Nielsen Audio’s Spring 2021 ratings show KBYZ was the lowest-rated among Townsquare’s four Bismarck FM stations, in the middle of the market pack with a 4.8 average quarter hour share among listeners 12+. iHeart mainstream Rocker KSSS/101.5 had a 7.6 share.
The change came a month after iHeart’s KYYY/92.9 dropped its longtime “Y93” slogan in favor of “Christmas 92.9” as the frequency made a change to the seasonal format for the first time in a decade. The complete dropping of a slogan is usually an indicator of a pending format change.
Townsquare’s other FM formats in Bismarck are Classic Hits, Country, and Contemporary Hits, while iHeart’s other full-power FM formats are Country and Mainstream Rock. Radio Bismarck Mandan runs Country and Classic Hits formats.
This article was originally published on Dec. 11 and was updated on Dec. 16.