Alt 94.3 launches in Winnipeg replacing Now Radio
At midnight Winnipeg time, Now radio flipped format, relaunching as an Alternative based format, known as Alt 94.3
From my understanding this station will be similar to The Peak in Vancouver but with a playlist that is more local for the Winnipeg audience. Marika and Turnbull will stay on as morning hosts and the rest of the day will just be music with some segments recorded by different hosts from other markets.
The Alt website is alt943.com
The final song played on Now was Goodbye by the Spice Girls. After the launch was made official the first song on the new station was Rainbow by Cage The Elephant.
There will be multiple voices throughout the day. Locally you will hear Aaron Penman and Zap Davids and then out of market voices are Melissa Thomas from Vancouver and Travis Bretzer from Edmonton. The station will be adding more local and out of market voices to our content lineup in the New Year.
Now Winnipeg went through some changes this year, with Alyssa and Luca leaving the station and being replaced with Rob and Friends based out of Calgary’s 101.5 Today Radio. When the Rob and Friends show moved to mornings in Calgary, it was subsequently dropped from the Winnipeg station. Cassey also left the station in the summer. So it basically left Marika and Turnbull in the mornings and Macie as fill in host and Crash and Mars at other times. So the conversation station which is what Now is known for had essentially disappeared. It was inevitable that a format change was coming and with Power shifting to an iconic Alternative station in the city, it means that Alt 94.3 will fill that void that is missing in the city.
Such a bitter-sweet ending to NOW! Winnipeg, the music was great the hosts were great and loved the listeners. I was listening when they made the switch and during the song Goodbye I was thinking about the memories that were made from the station and I’m gonna miss. It also looked like Macie also lost her job, which is sad to see, but I wish her all the best. I think the alt brand will do well in Winnipeg and fill the cap that needed to be filled.
Macie from what I heard has another opportunity elsewhere, so she was already going to be moving on which is why the flip happened when it did. This station is mostly going to follow The Peak model in Vancouver, as in morning show and limited on air staff the rest of the day so it can focus on music.
At least Macie is still with Pattison Media (maybe) but I’ll listen in when she has her new radio job whenever that gets announced