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Alfa Rock 1978 - 2017

T

TVCOOL

Star Participant
I read that EMF parent company of K-Love has bought WCAD-FM 105.7 therefore by the end of August Alfa Rock will close and K-Love thanks it's place.

The following: On July 24, 2017, it was announced that the Educational Media Foundation was buying WCAD and its Boosters for $2.9 million. The station will be EMF's first located in a US Territory and will switch to the company's K-Love network.
 
I have to say that I am utterly baffled by the whole Alfa Rock sale in Puerto Rico. Not that it's being sold. The ratings have been in the toilet for a long time and the station's identity crisis between being a classic rock and current rock station didn't help (this last detail happened with WRXP in New York, another market that has a mostly minority population that doesn't listen to much rock and roll either).

No, I'm baffled that it's being sold to K-Love in particular. Everybody here knows that it's a syndicated Christian radio service. Which means they play a lot of Christian music... in English. Now, there's stations in Puerto Rico that play English music exclusively, like HOT 102, Magic 97.3, and Fresh 99.9, but they play secular pop, which has mass appeal. Christian pop is different in that it's a genre where lyrics are a large part of the appeal, and while Nueva Vida 97.7 might play a track by MercyMe or TobyMac once in a while, most of their rotation - wisely - consists of Spanish-language acts like Tercer Cielo, Marcos Witt, Daniel Calvetti. That's the kind of music that makes an impact. Christian music is very popular in Puerto Rico. I'm not religious at all but even I understand it. But English-language pop music is never going to make much of a dent in the Island. It's the same reason why La Nueva 94 doesn't play much hardcore hip-hop and mostly plays either reggaetón or rhythmic tracks in English.

If it were being sold to someone like Nueva Vida so that they could expand their signal, yeah, it wouldn't be any better, but I'd at least understand the reasoning. But this just looks like something that K-Love is able to get away with because they don't pay any taxes.
 
Identnut said:
I have to say that I am utterly baffled by the whole Alfa Rock sale in Puerto Rico. Not that it's being sold. The ratings have been in the toilet for a long time and the station's identity crisis between being a classic rock and current rock station didn't help (this last detail happened with WRXP in New York, another market that has a mostly minority population that doesn't listen to much rock and roll either).
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The idea that rock is not popular in Latin America is somewhat of an urban legend. In Mexico City, Alfa is one of the top 10 stations, and in the upper income levels (A, B and C+) it ranks even higher so it is one of the market's top billers. Whether it is Mega in Caracas or Rock & Pop in Buenos Aires, there are very successful rock stations in Latin America. In the case of Puerto Rico, it was more likely a question of administration plus not being part of a station group, like UnoRadio, SBS or Univision that hurt them and did not get them on many agency buys.

No, I'm baffled that it's being sold to K-Love in particular. Everybody here knows that it's a syndicated Christian radio service. Which means they play a lot of Christian music... in English. Now, there's stations in Puerto Rico that play English music exclusively, like HOT 102, Magic 97.3, and Fresh 99.9, but they play secular pop, which has mass appeal. Christian pop is different in that it's a genre where lyrics are a large part of the appeal, and while Nueva Vida 97.7 might play a track by MercyMe or TobyMac once in a while, most of their rotation - wisely - consists of Spanish-language acts like Tercer Cielo, Marcos Witt, Daniel Calvetti. That's the kind of music that makes an impact. Christian music is very popular in Puerto Rico. I'm not religious at all but even I understand it. But English-language pop music is never going to make much of a dent in the Island. It's the same reason why La Nueva 94 doesn't play much hardcore hip-hop and mostly plays either reggaetón or rhythmic tracks in English.
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EMF is driven by getting complete national coverage. They know that in some areas, the format will not perform as well as others. But they want a presence everywhere.

If it were being sold to someone like Nueva Vida so that they could expand their signal, yeah, it wouldn't be any better, but I'd at least understand the reasoning. But this just looks like something that K-Love is able to get away with because they don't pay any taxes.
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They got the station very cheap. And the operating costs are very low, principally engineering. They have no sales staff, no real local management.

EMF works on donations, just like most public broadcasters. They are a legitimate non-profit, providing a free service that is supported by donations, so it is not "getting away" with anything illegal or immoral because religious organizations are essentially all non-profit and don't pay most taxes.
 
Rock music hasn't been popular in Puerto Rico since the early 2000s and Alfa Rock was failing to keep up.
 
TVCOOL said:
Rock music hasn't been popular in Puerto Rico since the early 2000s and Alfa Rock was failing to keep up.
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Rock partisanship, as a percentage of the population, has been declining worldwide including in the US. It's no different in Puerto Rico.
 
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I am writing this at the end of February 2018 and Alfa Rock is still alive. Their Wikipedia page says they are a KLove affiliate and Radio-locator says they are currently off the air. All I know is that I’m visiting San Juan this week and love listening to this station. Songs I haven’t heard since they came out 20/30 years ago. Such a weird mix of music. (Weird to these ears at least....I think I suffer from living in a market where these songs don’t “test” well...yeah i’m referring to you WTUE and your super boring classic rock/classic hits or whatever the hell you are now.) Today Alfa Rock spun a remix of Heart and Soul by Huey Lewis that I’d never heard before, let alone on the radio. Jefferson Starship album cuts, a-ha that wasn’t Take On Me, a healthy dose of hair metal, Prince, Sing Me Away by Night Ranger and on and on and on. Oddly, on Sunday night they played smooth jazz/new age/Weather Channel music. Anyway....long live Alfa Rock.
 
buffalochipz said:
Such a weird mix of music. (Weird to these ears at least....I think I suffer from living in a market where these songs don’t “test” well...yeah i’m referring to you WTUE and your super boring classic rock/classic hits or whatever the hell you are now.)
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On the other hand, WTUE had an 8.2 in 25-54 (good for #3) in the Fall book, and is second/third in revenue in the entire market.

WCAD, Alfa Rock, is around 17th in billings and gets a 1.6 in 25-54, which is 19th in the market.
 
A bit late, but the EMF programming took over on WCAD on March 5 at midnight, with Saga's "Perfectionist" being reported as the last song.

The entire staff was let go.
 
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