Is it an Oldies station or what? They play two or three songs good songs that were soft Oldies hits, then they drop in a song that sounds like an easy listening remnant from WADV. And in the middle of Saturday morning, they have a show with two guys talking about money and finances. Who listens to a format like that, 70 year old women?
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Can Somebody Explain WECK?
- Thread starter Rusty Bridges
- Start date
Their format is classified as adult standards...and aside from morning drive, Sinatra & Friends on Sunday evenings & assorted brokered programming(which explains the Saturday programming you mentioned), it's satellite-delivered; they also air Deliliah every night as well(which segued over from WJYE/WMSX). I would say that, yes, their format is geared to older people.(Oddly, I listen to it too...though I'm a bit out of that demo.)
If you have to ask, the station likely isn't for you.
D
dand5780
Guest
No.
Buffalo's Timeless-I've asked before, you'll get a few older songs and then a Michael Buble. How do we know the new song is "timeless?" We don't, but they throw it in.
I listen to it sometimes since FM is unbearable except 104.1.
Tom Donohue's morning show airs the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, recited by listeners.
Buffalo's Timeless-I've asked before, you'll get a few older songs and then a Michael Buble. How do we know the new song is "timeless?" We don't, but they throw it in.
I listen to it sometimes since FM is unbearable except 104.1.
Tom Donohue's morning show airs the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, recited by listeners.
"Timeless" is a positioning statement, not a sworn court document.
In their opinion, the songs they play are of a style that as stood up to the test of time.
Do you think the classic hits station that says "Our town's best music" really thinks their music is better than Garth Brooks or Ella Fitzgerald or Brahms? It's just what in advertising is known as "puffery". You should know that.
Based on what I've read so far in this column, enough of you are listening.....
They MUST be doing something right or at least better than some of the
other options in the area.........
They MUST be doing something right or at least better than some of the
other options in the area.........
Mother prefers the Edge
Hasn't WECK burned through several formats?
(Talk, Sports, BREEZE, Sludge, etc..)
The current format is probably cheap to run and is possibly
breaking even. That' best case scenario for many of these
relic AM stations. "Timeless" is relative. Sooner or later, both
station and audience will expire...
(Talk, Sports, BREEZE, Sludge, etc..)
The current format is probably cheap to run and is possibly
breaking even. That' best case scenario for many of these
relic AM stations. "Timeless" is relative. Sooner or later, both
station and audience will expire...
Everybody's gonna die. Standards and oldies on AM might have a few years remaining because the AM band is where these songs were first heard. That said, there might as well be a "use before" sticker on these stations, like a cup of yogurt.
Yes....yes, they have burned through many formats-and one of them WAS "music of your life"(AKA adult standards). So have WBUF and WLKK. Your point is....?
The point is that this station has little value. CBS was glad to get
rid of it. It's current format is probably the wisest choice.
Whether it's financially viable is a separate issue. It's a low power
AM in 2017..!
It's possible that WECK has more listeners than
WBUF and ALT Buffalo. Those formats aren't exactly
thrilling anybody...
The real issue is whether this station and its sister station make money. It's estimated that the pair bill a bit over $800 thousand a year, which is ample to make a comfortable living for the station owner.
The formats are viable for direct account selling... just not agency buys.
The fact that the owner recently paid a couple of hundred thousand for translators would indicate that they have a viable concern.
B
Buddy Shula
Guest
CBS was glad to get rid of it because the sale price was 1.3 million.
Agreed.
It boils down to "Here's a frequency...what do we do with it?"
When CBS sold the station, perhaps the new owner saw a hole in the market.
Change came to be, for the reasons that be.
Today the current format does what it does.
Tomorrow, if a better hole in the market can be found, they'll consider it, I'm sure.
I still have to agree with some of the other posters here that already mentioned that for a music format, it is wise to stick with music that originated on AM.
This is why I am a bit surprised no one in Buffalo has picked up on Hippie radio:
http://www.hippieradio945.com/
The name alone might draw attention and gain listeners. (possibly slightly younger)
Unless the cookie cutter name is too costly to gain the rights to, maybe??
Perhaps nobody has "picked up on Hippie radio" because it's not RADIO here. It's one of MANY on-line streams, competing with iHeart, Pandora, and Spotify - as well as satellite and USB drives. Otherwise, it's simply branding for a classic hits station - and we have a pretty good one here already.
That's the first billing figure to appear. Coming from you, it has some credence. Yet there are those in the local community who have projected a number around 500k. $800k pales in comparison to the dollars taken off the table by the three clusters owned by Entercom, Cumulus and Townsquare. The question regardimg WECK, does $800k reflect the billing of WECK and its sister, WLVL in neighboring Lockport or WECK AM and it's translator? Although the figure quoted appears enough to sustain the owner, one can only wonder if it sustains paying down the note on the WECK's $1.3 million sale price years ago. If so, that note may already be paid, given the station runs with satellite programming and a skeleton staff. And if the note is paid, the billing is gravy. But here's a thought, if you (collective) won the lottery, would you buy an AM standalone and translator in a market like Buffalo? Perhaps you might, but when considering an exit strategy, who'd buy it from you when you wanted to sell in ten to 15 years? Beuhler? Beuhler?
Who cares? People do things for their own reasons. Who are we to sit in judge? There are a lot of posters on this board who have lots of opinions about the major owners, and how everything was so much better when it was live and local. Here's a local guy who put his money where his mouth is. More power to him. If any of you can do it better, buy a station.
That is a combined billing estimate for the two stations. If we look at operating costs, they have low engineering expense as there are no high power transmitters. They can combine back-office and management costs, and make heavy use of automation, too.
$75 k a month can definitely pay expenses, amortize the note and have a decent amount left for the owner's salary and profit. And most broadcast and business loans are relatively short term so perhaps the note is paid off, or rolled over.
It used to be that stations like that were considered "guaranteed lifetime employment" with a steady income in the form of the owner's salary, as well as a car trade and all manner of barter. It's a little different with the media environment changing so fast, but still can be a nice deal for an owner-operator.
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