UPDATE 2:33 p.m. EST: The official press release is below. The Bull also now has an official website and Twitter.
Is the Evolution over? Seems like it.
Word on the street is that Boston’s all-EDM music station Evolution 101.7 FM will become 101.7 FM The Bull, an all-country-music radio station. It’s going commercial-free at noon and officially flipping at 3 p.m. EST today. We’re listening in now, and the station is branding itself as “a new brand of country.”
Meanwhile, the groundbreaking dance music station will live on online.
“Evolution will stay on iHeart and on the old Kiss 108 HD channel,” our spies tell us. “Starting at noon [they] are going commercial free and at 3 p.m. the station officially flips.”
On December 20, 2012, the Clear Channel station re-branded as “Evolution 101.7,” the country’s first all-dance music FM station. Before that it was the short-lived we-play-anything station the Harbor, and before that it was celebrated alt-rock station WFNX, which aired for 29 years.
UPDATE: 101.7 Evolution just posted this message:
Thanks for listening to Evolution 101.7 over the past year and a half. Thanks to your support, Evolution 101.7 has grown, generating a loyal fan base in Boston at 101.7 on the radio and especially digitally on iHeartRadio.
Evolution will transition off 101.7 but remain on iHeartRadio and HD radios at 107.9 HD2, where we will continue to support the local Boston dance scene, the clubs, the shows, the energy, the lifestyle. Pete Tong, Sisanie, DJ Costa, DJ Cesar and all of our Evolution Underground local DJs will all still be right here with the same shows, same music, same website, same Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It’s the same Boston Evolution 101.7 on iHeartRadio.
We’ll still be there when you get into an uber late night and see the driver streaming Evolution 101.7, when you’re at the gym and hear the Evolution 101.7 stream during your workout and when you are out with friends on the weekend and someone has Evolution 101.7 streaming for the pre-party.
Thank you for listening to Boston’s Evolution 101.7!
Here’s the logo:
And the presser that we just received…
101.7 THE BULL BRINGS NEW HIT COUNTRY STATION TO BOSTON FEATURING COMMERCIAL-FREE MUSIC — ALL SUMMER LONG
Country’s Top On-Air Personality Bobby Bones Joins Show Lineup
BOSTON – June 13, 2014 – Clear Channel Media and Entertainment Boston announced today the debut of 101.7 The Bull, Boston’s New Hit Country effective immediately. 101.7 The Bull will kick off with commercial-free music for the entire summer featuring the newest hits from Country artists such as Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert.
In addition, 101.7 The Bull will feature award-winning Country morning program The Bobby Bones Show beginning this summer. The morning show entertains listeners with a unique mix of pop-culture, news and music and features on-air personalities Bobby Bones, Lunchbox and Amy, with special guest appearances from the biggest names in Country music straight from Nashville. 101.7 The Bull programming will also include local news and events, exclusive album premieres, new song releases and a team of local Boston personalities to be announced soon.
“We are excited to launch 101.7 The Bull, a fresh new take on Country music, for our Boston listeners. This station is for the new generation of Country music fans and will give our listeners a front-row seat to Country’s biggest artists and concerts,” said Dylan Sprague, Vice President of Programming for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment Boston. “Listeners will also enjoy waking up with the Bobby Bones Show and his unique and entertaining insight on Country music. No one is closer to the heartbeat of Nashville than Bobby Bones.”
Prior to 101.7 The Bull, the signal aired Electronic Dance Music (EDM) as Evolution 101.7. Boston’s EDM fans can continue to listen to Evolution 101.7 on the station’s website, www.evolution1017.com, on 107.9 HD2 and on iHeartRadio, Clear Channel’s all-in-one digital radio service.
“Evolution 101.7 attracted a passionate and loyal audience on iHeartRadio in a short period of time, and the number of fans listening digitally continues to grow rapidly,” Sprague continued. “We’re excited to continue to provide Boston’s EDM fans with the same great programming on Evolution 101.7 through iHeartRadio, featuring local shows from Pete Tong, Sisanie, DJ Costa and DJ Cesar. Also Evolution Underground, which supports local DJs by letting them take over the station, will continue to air after hours on Saturdays.”
Fans can also listen to 101.7 The Bull on the station’s website, www.TheBull1017.com, and on iHeartRadio. iHeartRadio delivers everything listeners want in one free, fully-integrated service: instant access to more than 1,500 of the nation’s most popular live broadcast and digital-only radio stations from 150 cities, plus user-created custom stations inspired by favorite artists and songs. iHeartRadio also offers listeners a “Perfect For” feature which allows users to choose from thousands of curated stations based on a range of moods and activities. New – iHeartRadio Talk feature offers on-demand listener-created talk content alongside popular news, celebrity and entertainment “audiosodes.” iHeartRadio Talk also features “Daily Pulse,” a customizable Talk channel featuring the most up-to-date news and culture highlights, to which users can add or remove content that is most important to them.