There is no reason that younger appealing spoken word has to be talk radio, although I think something like what WTKS does could be a part of the package. Podcasts are apparently a big draw for younger ears. How much can a podcaster make from doing what they do versus what a commercially sponsored show on broadcast radio could offer? A podcaster might even be able to promote their streamed channel and still give WABC-FM an audience drawing program. How about audience participation type programs? New York Jeopardy-type games. Something different, unique and FUN. How about "Are You Smarter Than a 10th Grader competition between city High Schools? They are already doing recording of books on tape in New Jersey. It would not be too much of a stretch to get that talent performing radio comedy or dramatic type stuff. Unique Different and FUN. There could still be room in the week for music - Local clubs could be enticed to arrange remotes on Saturday nights - Clubs and Bands would get promotion; WABC-FM would get youthful appeal programming for cheap. Real radio people can probably come up with more, better ideas. Fun unique programming that doesn't have to break the bank. Programming that is especially possible if the owner doesn't have the gun to their head to pay for mountains of debt.
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ESPN 98.7 FM to be no more come August 31, 2024
- Thread starter NYCsporty
- Start date
I'd go even further. A music format on AM in any top 50 market is just a "dead man walking."
Would a Class A or B AM with a stream be as effective as a HD2 or 3 without the FM translator?
There's an old Sicilian proverb that goes something like this in English: "They are like rancid oil and a frying pan with a hole on the bottom."
Also, why did ALT 92.3 start broadcasting Washington DC's Elliot in the Morning in its final months? It was awful and they barely played any music!!!!!!!!! Was someone purposely sabotaging the station even further to justify the switch to 1010 WINS FM?
I'd suggest by then the decision was already made.
Of course it was. There was no incentive to keep a perpetually underperforming format alive. Few listeners. Fewer advertisers. But at least there is 92.3 HD2.
Yeah but it's just not the same without the on air DJs. We were literally connected directly with the on air talent through the text line 55701. I loved texting back and forth with Christine and Lars
All the texting in the world does not make up for the fact that it was not getting ad buys.
It was always a question of when, not if, WINS and/or WCBS AM was going to FM. Audacy picked WINS and 92.3 was the lucky station that got it. Now it will bill 30 million, give or take, for the next decade.
It was probably because of his prior NYC radio experience. From 1996 until 1999, he co-hosted "Elvis and Elliot" with Elvis Duran on Z100. In January 2014, "Elliot In The Morning" was on 710 WOR. WOR dropped the show a few weeks later.
It's always "yeah but" with the alternative format, isn't it? No wonder the format struggles so much!
Throw in the cynical slacker stereotype of the typical alt fan and you have a nearly impossible task of making the format work on commercial radio.
Here's a good article I found from last September
radioinsight.com
What Would You Do with A New York FM? - RadioInsight
It is certainly possible that the end of WEPN (98.7 ESPN) New York’s lease to Good Karma Brands next August will end with 98.7 FM doing something other than returning to the world of mainstream music outlets. Maybe EMF will buy it as a better signal for Air-1. Maybe it’ll be sold to another...
radioinsight.com
Here's a good article I found from last September
What Would You Do with A New York FM? - RadioInsight
It is certainly possible that the end of WEPN (98.7 ESPN) New York’s lease to Good Karma Brands next August will end with 98.7 FM doing something other than returning to the world of mainstream music outlets. Maybe EMF will buy it as a better signal for Air-1. Maybe it’ll be sold to another...
The problem with the “what would you do?” question is that it depends on who the buyer is. The signal would fit the new owner’s market strategy. So there is no way to answer that given we don’t know who the owner will be.
If the question is assuming I suddenly became a multi-millionaire and I am the buyer, then as a standalone I would go Country so I could own the only slice of that very small pie. This strategy is being done in LA with KKGO. I’d rather do that than try to complete with the other big clusters with something like AC or Urban or anything else already being done in NYC.
I like what the one reader said about alternative. He says classic alternative will be successful and that the format successfully returned in both Atlanta and San Francisco and is making more money for both stations!!!!!!!!!
All we really know about Atlanta and San Francisco are the ratings. Not the revenues.
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I don't think Classic Alternative would work in a market that didn't really welcome Alternative originally. Atlanta and San Francisco (and LA, San Diego, etc.) had success with the Alternative format in years past. So harkening back to that era, combined with some current or recent Alt hits makes sense. I think that's why Jack FM is still going strong in some markets and was banished in NYC and a few other markets. Jack uses a lot of Classic Alternative hits.
NYC listeners don't have Classic Alternative in their memory banks. We had WLIR 92.7 in Nassau County but with a limited signal. And there were a few tries on a full signal NYC FM station but all ended poorly. Could you do it just with MTV hits and Alt songs that crossed over to Mainstream Album Rock and Top 40? Then you'd have to include a lot of crossover songs.
Would you be OK with frequent airings of Hungry Like The Wolf, Miss Me Blind and Sweet Dreams Are Made of This? Those are the Classic Alternative songs most New Yorkers know. Go too deeply into Depeche Mode or Adam and The Ants and most New Yorkers won't have a clue.
KITS, according to the San Francisco board, 25-54: #7, 18-34: #4, 18-49: #5.
These are decent numbers.
These are decent numbers.
