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Wildly bizarre ideas of radio formats that would never fly...
- Thread starter new_friends_gr
- Start date
No problem. You pay for it, and we'll do it.
You had me until you said ambient, rap and hip hop. Other than that it's an interesting idea.
Back in the 90's there was an AM in Portland, OR. that went all Elvis music. It lasted about 60 days before closing the doors and abandoning the entire station. I purchased their newer-vintage transmitter to cover the cost of storage.
That's the funny thing about ridiculous format ideas, they always end badly for the fool who invests in them.
That's the funny thing about ridiculous format ideas, they always end badly for the fool who invests in them.
Elvis was done a day a week on KBRN in Boerne, Texas long ago. There was the all Beatles Station in Houston. KRLD FM in Dallas was all Beatles for a few months. Then an FM in Dallas/Ft. Worth went all Beatles for quite a long time, over a year I think.
In about a 5 or 6 week stint between clients (Spanish language Christian programmers) a station I worked for aired a dramatized and orchestrated Spanish language version of the Bible non-stop. Actually it got lots of calls.
In New England, a pending sale of a major city station stalled leaving the seller to 'do something' and they opted for rebroadcasting NOAA Weather Radio. They actually showed in the ratings. Seemed the sale was delayed a long time, maybe a year.
I talked to a guy in the North East that was running an AM station. The daytime format was all traffic and weather. They included where police were running radar. It seems they did pretty well for as long as it lasted.
A LPFM in Bryan/College Station, Texas aired Gregorian Chant for what I think was several months. Although I was always passing through at different times and days, I cannot say it was 24/7 but considering it was always Gregorian Chant for a good while makes me assume it was 24/7.
In about a 5 or 6 week stint between clients (Spanish language Christian programmers) a station I worked for aired a dramatized and orchestrated Spanish language version of the Bible non-stop. Actually it got lots of calls.
In New England, a pending sale of a major city station stalled leaving the seller to 'do something' and they opted for rebroadcasting NOAA Weather Radio. They actually showed in the ratings. Seemed the sale was delayed a long time, maybe a year.
I talked to a guy in the North East that was running an AM station. The daytime format was all traffic and weather. They included where police were running radar. It seems they did pretty well for as long as it lasted.
A LPFM in Bryan/College Station, Texas aired Gregorian Chant for what I think was several months. Although I was always passing through at different times and days, I cannot say it was 24/7 but considering it was always Gregorian Chant for a good while makes me assume it was 24/7.
That was WLVH Hartford (93.7), the last legal, full-power FM ever to do a Spanish-language format in the market. As I recall, ownership was a bunch of crooks and was forced to shed the station after a lengthy court fight. Spanish has been an AM/pirate-only thing in Hartford ever since, until just recently when a translator on 97.1 started to relay a tropical format from an existing HD2. Its coverage area is quite limited, though.
José Grimault was the original creator of the WLVH format, but he sold the station in September of 1986 to Sage who continued the format. Grimault took the money and made a significant investment in Spanish Broadcasting System; he was the father-in-law of Raúl Alarcón, Jr., of SBS.
The Sage group sold out in December of 1989 when the partners that formed Sage had problems; newly formed First City bought the station.
Wild America (or something similar) was the theme park as I recall.
WCTA AM 810 in Alamo, TN where I live, has a format mostly of NOAA weather radio, and news from CBS and the Tennessee Radio Network. That's all there is, except for generic filler music and a recorded promise of "more new programming to come" that has never happened. The station had been off for several years because of illness of the owner, but was put back on with short notice by some of his friends in order to keep from losing the license. The owner has since died, and I don't know who is paying to keep the station on since there are no sponsors and no live staff. I still believe they're just trying to keep the station legal until it can be sold, but who would want it?
Being curious, the FCC site shows WCTA as being sold for the forgiveness of a small debt. I think that was approved around last October.
With no basis for my thinking, I gather the station is likely up for sale and still doing the same programming.
I recall they have studios at the tower site (could be wrong). If so, about the only way I could see a 250 watt daytime only AM making it would be by calling on every business they can and perhaps converting part of the building to living quarters (or bring in a mobile home). The reason I say that is such an arrangement seemed to really help WQSE in White Bluff, TN, by building a home onto the back of the station building. WQSE at the time was mostly a husband and wife with a part timer or two.
If I recall correctly, I listened to WCTA while near or in Jackson driving toward Nashville, but that was about a decade ago.
At 810 AM, I sure hope they don't have a painted and lit 200 feet plus tower they have to pay to paint and keep lit since that is quite an expense for such a small station.
With no basis for my thinking, I gather the station is likely up for sale and still doing the same programming.
I recall they have studios at the tower site (could be wrong). If so, about the only way I could see a 250 watt daytime only AM making it would be by calling on every business they can and perhaps converting part of the building to living quarters (or bring in a mobile home). The reason I say that is such an arrangement seemed to really help WQSE in White Bluff, TN, by building a home onto the back of the station building. WQSE at the time was mostly a husband and wife with a part timer or two.
If I recall correctly, I listened to WCTA while near or in Jackson driving toward Nashville, but that was about a decade ago.
At 810 AM, I sure hope they don't have a painted and lit 200 feet plus tower they have to pay to paint and keep lit since that is quite an expense for such a small station.
It may have been sold to someone in the group that had put the station back on over the last couple of years. There has been a sign on their front door with a Missouri phone number to call for information.
The studio is in the same building it was always at in downtown Alamo and the tower is a few miles away outside of town. It probably isn't above 200 ft. but it's lit. They might could put a small apartment in the back of the existing building, but there's no room for a house behind it, so living in the building might not be an option unless they were to buy an adjacent building, which currently house offices and a church, and convert it, and I don't know if zoning laws would allow it
Wow, that sure complicates with keeping WCTA a cheaply run station. Having the tower away from the building means getting the audio out there. A lit tower is never a cheap thing. The last station I worked with a lit tower had a company that changed out the beacon infrequently but enough to where it was never allowed to just burn out. As I recall my boss remarking about it, it sure wasn't inexpensive. The bulb itself was always pricey.
Zoning is another deal. Being on the end of a CP once begging to do things required incredible patience and way too much time. A simple question or remark delayed things another month. Add to that, what I was asking was already being done, so I wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel.
It will be interesting to see what happens with WCTA in the future.
Zoning is another deal. Being on the end of a CP once begging to do things required incredible patience and way too much time. A simple question or remark delayed things another month. Add to that, what I was asking was already being done, so I wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel.
It will be interesting to see what happens with WCTA in the future.
To jump back on subject, there was a little station that had to get on the air before losing their CP. They were authorized for more power and more height but they went at 9 meters with, I think 150 watts to begin. They ran a format of community announcements, much like an audio version of those channels on cable TV that announce non-profit events and meetings sprinkled with ads from small businesses that cycle through every few minutes. I think they did this almost a year.
I had an idea at one time for band called Ded Possum - country heavy metal. 
Their tour could be sponsored by the Road Kill Grill.
New Wave Klezmer
Then there was one that went all Elton John for a long long time...
Actually, the Country+Rap format was tried, but it came out as CRap.
(I'll go away now...)
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