CTListener
Walk of Fame Participant
WFCR took WNNZ Westfield, MA (640) off Clear Channel's hands in 2010.
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Waiting to see - WABC, WNBM and W232AL-FM.
- Thread starter AMRocks
- Start date
WFCR took WNNZ Westfield, MA (640) off Clear Channel's hands in 2010.
Kemosabe
Star Participant
I'd not be surprised if WFCR were looking to sell WNNZ soon.
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CTListener
Walk of Fame Participant
That would probably spell the end of music programming on WFCR 88.5. Strangely, New England Public Radio's news/talk programming is not on the powerhouse 88.5 signal but on 640 AM and a bunch of limited-signal FMs and translators scattered around western Massachusetts. In some areas, WNNZ is the only decent signal for the news/talk, which, I assume is why WFCR hangs on to it. WFCR carries Morning Edition and All Things Considered, but all other hours are either classical or jazz.
Kemosabe
Star Participant
While that could happen, Martin Miller seems quite satisfied with the coverage afforded by his WNNZ translator network. The AM signal is expensive to operate, and its directional pattern seems optimized to reach the fewest ears possible. How long before 640 AM becomes practically worthless?
WNBM 103.9 does not cover the whole market, but still reaches many people. With a current overall rating of .3, it seems to be grossly underperforming. As virtually everyone in the market that listens to Urban A/C tunes in WBLS, it seems they would have little to lose by trying something else. Soft/AC appears to be on the rise. The Breeze is the #1 music station in San Francisco. The format is also gaining in Detroit and Seattle. And with WPLJ being sold, Cumulus would not need to be concerned that this format would be drawing listeners from a sister station.
Another format I could see working on 103.9 is a variety hits format such as Jack. It did quite well in New York on 101.1 FM, even if the current classic hits programming is performing even better.
Signal Reaches a Large Population: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNBM&service=FM
Another format I could see working on 103.9 is a variety hits format such as Jack. It did quite well in New York on 101.1 FM, even if the current classic hits programming is performing even better.
Signal Reaches a Large Population: https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNBM&service=FM
I'm sure they would be looking to sell if the price was right...but the price won't be right!
(Although, didn't they get it as a charitable donation for free?)
LOL!
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Remember that the useful signal area on the RL maps is about 20% inside the innermost red contour. The station does not cover 3/4 of the market population with a 65 dbu signal, and in areas to towards Manhattan is pretty well blocked by the large buildings and apartments.
AMRocks
Star Participant
"Did quite well?" So well that they flipped back to their old format.
Yes, it did quite well. In 25-54, much better than the oldies format they had prior to becoming Jack.
What actually happened is that the PPM testing in Philadelphia (beginning in 2002) revealed that the potential for classic hits (a totally different format) was huge in the PPM, so in preparation for its later currency launch in New York CBS applied what they had learned about the new ratings system and classic hits at WOGL and flipped WCBS-FM to the better of the two options.
The ITU now says that 15 mV/m is the minimum needed AM signal to cover an urbanized area. Under that standard, the coverage of WABC is not that significantly greater than that of an ESB FM signal.
Night skywave is irrelevant. Very little radio listening happens then, and nearly no buying takes place. And nearly no listening to out of market AM stations at night can be seen anywhere in the USA.
Yabadabado1
Leading Participant
I am probably one of the few that listens to AM stations out of my area at night [WCBS, CFZM, etc.] Even ordered something from a WCBS advertiser once so buying does take place. Granted, probably no one under 50 listens to out of market AM stations at night but if they follow a certain sports team that is broadcast on that AM station and that doesn't have an affiliate in where they live, they might try and tune it in [if they even remember that AM still exists.]
CTListener
Walk of Fame Participant
One person listening and patronizing one advertiser once -- that would seem to confirm David's "nearly no" statements on both listening and buying, no? The bottom line is that while many of us radio fans found long-distance AM reception fascinating from our youth right into adulthood, that fascination hasn't been mainstream in the US since the very early days of radio broadcasting. I'm pretty sure none of the middle-school kids I knew back in 1968 in suburban Boston were listening to anything but WRKO or WMEX on AM, not staying up late to check out CKLW and WKBW, let alone listening to baseball on WBAL or WJR when the Red Sox were playing on WHDH.
BJSteigner
Leading Participant
I would like to see Cumulus sell them off and exit New York City radio.
If you grew up in a rural area, channel surfing to hear the hits was more necessary (we lost CKLW at sundown pattern change). So off it was to WLS and others.
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