First we had a sports station named The Fan.

Recently Rosie… er, Rosey 105 became The Buzz.

And now, as of yesterday, country station KWJJ has become… The Wolf.

Remember a time when radio stations were known by their calls? Apparently that time is now past, or at least it’s no longer fashionable in the industry.

What’s next? Will our oldies station become The Fogey? We could change our news/talk to station to The Talk. It’s hard to say what classic-rock stalwart KGON would become. The Rock? Nah, we’d get in trouble with Prudential and some nutjob wrestler/movie-star over that one. No good suggestions come to mind for our “new rock” station, KNRK, though plenty of snarky ideas are easily conjured.

Branding, baby. It’s the buzzword of our times. Welcome to the new age, a lot like the past age but with sillier nomenclature.