WATERLOO - A pair of area radio stations abandoned long-time formats in the past week and have become direct competitors.

Waverly's 99.3 KWAY-FM and 92.3 KOEL-FM in Waterloo both made the change this week to contemporary hits radio/Top-40 stations.

Y-99.3, which had an adult contemporary format for more than 10 years, made the switch at 10 p.m. Friday, according to operations manager Dallas Martz. The station played nothing but music all weekend and now calls itself, "The Cedar Valley's #1 hit music station."

"We have done research for the past couple of years and identified a need for more contemporary hits," he said. "We felt that this station could provide better service to its clients by making the change. It allows us to deliver more listeners for our advertisers.

"It's not that the old format was bad, but we felt we could do better and provide better marketing for our clients," he said.

Martz said the change has been successful and listener response is 90 percent positive. He said by Wednesday morning he was hearing almost all positive comments.

Martz was one of two staff additions to come along with the change. Longtime television weatherman Craig Johnson was named the station's exclusive staff meteorologist. Johnson's addition makes Y-99.3 the only local radio outlet with its own meteorologist. Johnson left KWWL-TV on June 27 after 24 years.

"You don't have to say much about what he means to Northeast Iowa," Martz said. "He delivers a great weather product. He's an outstanding individual and all of us at this station can learn a lot from him."

Like Y-99.3, Cumulus Broadcasting's 92.3 KOEL made the jump to CHR/Top-40, starting Monday at 9:23 a.m., and became KKHQ, ending the station's 25-plus years as a country music station.

The call letters KOEL can now be found on 98.5 FM, replacing KKCV. That station offers country music.

Market manager Jack Swart said the move was a great opportunity to cover a format that has been missing in the Cedar Valley.

"It's been a long time since a local station offered this format," he said. "We thought this was the best option. We're really excited about it. A market the size of Waterloo should have this particular format."

Swart said the response has been great, but those that enjoyed the country mix were not as happy with the change.

However, Martz, who worked at KOEL from 1995-'98, said the format change was a bad move.

"That's a fine example of corporate radio," he said. "It's sad to see what happened at KOEL. That was a decision made out of a corporate office on the East Coast. KOEL has some of the most recognizable call letters in the Northeast Iowa area."

Swart, who was aware of Y-99.3's format change, responded that he is not worried about the competition.

"They're just a little station and we're not too concerned about that," he said. "They're there for Waverly, and that's good for Waverly."

Swart responded to the term "corporate radio" by calling it a "cute handle."

"It's called taking advantage of an opportunity, not corporate radio," he said. "It's good business. We're a progressive radio group looking to serve its audience."