What's with WHAT 1340? (See what I did there with the title?..heehee)

[atrainradio]

Haha anyway, I have been pondering the future of WHAT-AM 1340. How are its ratings doing? The spanish format must be doing ok because it has been on that format for what, 6 or 7 years now? Problem is that it is a mere 1kW. During the day you'd be hard pressed to get it with good clarity over the river into jersey. During the night? Forget it. If it is working, don't fix it. But everything could use change every now and then. Maybe WHAT should take a shot at classic hits, or its failed "Margarita 1340" or what ever it was called.

Your thoughts?

 

[FredLeonard]

I'll have to keep watching the Iowa board to see if somebody posts a thread about "Whos at WHO?"

Maybe because nobody can get the station at night is why they ran Villanova basketball, even though you can't get WHAT in Radnor. After dropping an Urban music format, they tried a mix of Urban and Progressive talk and then Adult Standards. Now Spanish. Whatever they do is a tree falling in an empty forest. Send the license back to the FCC. Maybe they can get something for the real estate.

 

[TheBigA]

If it is working, don't fix it. But everything could use change every now and then. Maybe WHAT should take a shot at classic hits, or its failed "Margarita 1340" or what ever it was called.

Your thoughts?

You were right the first time. If it's working, don't fix it. Change is good in fashion, not business.

 

[FredLeonard]

If it's working, don't fix it.

Ah, yes. The philosophy that gave Japan, Inc. (and other Asian manufacturers) the opportunity to take over so many industries in which the US was once dominant.

Ever heard of "KAIZEN?"

 

[davideduardo]

Ah, yes. The philosophy that gave Japan, Inc. (and other Asian manufacturers) the opportunity to take over so many industries in which the US was once dominant.

Ever heard of "KAIZEN?"

You are comparing technology with formats.

If you have an AM station, and one with a very limited signal that can not be improved, you stay with a successful format as long as it is viable.

Since a format change generally erases most or even all revenue, and it takes as much as a year to build up billing with a new format if it succeeds, in most cases of smaller stations the cost of a format change can never be recovered.

 

[TheBigA]

Ever heard of "KAIZEN?"

Reinventing history? The driving force for Japan, Mexico, Korea, and China isn't "good change," but CHEAP change. Our products were always better, but foreign was cheaper, and cheaper won. If foreign companies could own American broadcasting, and originate programming from their home countries, things would be very different here. But, by law, we have to keep broadcasting American. Thus, the current situation.

 

[FredLeonard]

Reinventing history? The driving force for Japan, Mexico, Korea, and China isn't "good change," but CHEAP change. Our products were always better, but foreign was cheaper, and cheaper won. If foreign companies could own American broadcasting, and originate programming from their home countries, things would be very different here. But, by law, we have to keep broadcasting American. Thus, the current situation.

Wrong! They kept improving their products, little by little. And they ended up making better cars, better electronics. Not necessarily cheaper. But better. Check Consumer Reports' auto issue that comes out each April and see who dominates their recommendations.

Kaizen is a Japanese word for constant improvement. It's the antithesis of ain't broke, don't fix it. Radio management keeps trying to find ways to make do with less, to do it cheaper - they don't even care about maintaining quality. Radio is dying. Detroit is a war zone. And there's no electronics industry left in this country.

 

[hangman]

You all forgot when they were Skin Radio, with a good chancie Alternative format. They were doing quite well because their signal was great in the Manayunk/Rox area where there were plenty of Alternative listeners. Then came Radio 1045 which blew them away and they went Standards.

 

[TheBigA]

Wrong! They kept improving their products, little by little. And they ended up making better cars, better electronics. Not necessarily cheaper.

Cheaper is what "gave them the opportunity," as you put it. I was responding to that.

Sure they "ended up making better cars," but if you ever drove an early Datsun, you know just how bad they were.

And even with "constant improvement," the Japanese lost out to the Koreans. Sony Corporation is in terrible trouble.

 

[joebtsflk1]

Sure they "ended up making better cars," but if you ever drove an early Datsun, you know just how bad they were.

QUOTE]

I drove a used 71 Datsun 1200 for 5 years...they made great engines and transmissions. The Fred Flintstone braking system that developed at the end (it was 12 years old by then) spelled the end of the line. Datsuns tended to be real rustbuckets.

WHO was on first. I'm fairly sure that of the two, WHAT came on second.

Maybe if WHAT were to go super-local, such as what they can serve within 5 miles of the tower, they might be able to eke out a few more years...

 

[TheBigA]

Maybe if WHAT were to go super-local, such as what they can serve within 5 miles of the tower, they might be able to eke out a few more years...

A station like that can only afford to go "super-local" if everyone works for free. The operating costs of the transmitter, tower, and the studio eats up just about every dollar they bring in.

 

[davideduardo]

Maybe if WHAT were to go super-local, such as what they can serve within 5 miles of the tower, they might be able to eke out a few more years...

That is exactly what the station is doing... serving the Hispanic population that still tends to be quite concentrated in the ares that WHAT and its direct competitor both serve.

But again, if the station is making a profit with its current format, why would it need to find another?

 

[atrainradio]

I like the idea of it going even more local. Might as well, because I doubt anyone in South Philly or Camden are listening. Probably because WEMG 1310 has a much better coverage area than WHAT. Hey you know sometimes stations like WHAT don't need to have great ratings. It is just doing fine as it is.

 

[davideduardo]

I like the idea of it going even more local. Might as well, because I doubt anyone in South Philly or Camden are listening. Probably because WEMG 1310 has a much better coverage area than WHAT. Hey you know sometimes stations like WHAT don't need to have great ratings. It is just doing fine as it is.

WEMG and WHAT have nearly identical coverage areas. WHAT and WEMG both put 5 mV/m signals over Camden and South Philadelphia, and both cover approximately the same number of Hispanics.

 

[hangman]

There is no way 1340 has the same coverage as 1310, especially at night. WEMG blows them away with signal reception, there is no comparison, I don't care what coverage maps and technical info states, 1310 is much clearer and stronger 24/7, and that is with 250w at night. I remember years back when Pat Delsi owned it and it was 1kw Omni all the time with the stand alone old tower in PPPark, they were gangbusters at night. But it seems with 250 at night they have now, they still get out. I wondered how a one tower set up can have different directional patters day and night, I thought you had to have more than one tower for an AM to be directional, and why the power reduction to 250 watts the new tower is a bit smaller than the old one. About WHAT doing OK and serving a certain population, why couldn't that be done with Standards, why with a foreign format and not a Standards one.

 

[davideduardo]

There is no way 1340 has the same coverage as 1310, especially at night.

Very little radio listening is done at night. And in any case, both signals are pretty decent in the areas where the Spanish Dominant Hispanic population is to be found.

I thought you had to have more than one tower for an AM to be directional,

In certain cases, tuning one of the guy wires can be used to directionalize a station.

and why the power reduction to 250 watts the new tower is a bit smaller than the old one.

I did a spot check once per decade going back to 1960 and the 1310 station has always been 1 kw d 250 w night. Are you saying that there is a period when it was 1 kw at night?

About WHAT doing OK and serving a certain population, why couldn't that be done with Standards, why with a foreign format and not a Standards one.

Please tell the mostly Puerto Rican audience of WEMG that they are foreigners in their own country.

The fact is that, given the coverage of 1340, the selection of a Spanish language format is likely the most viable and profitable. Standards appeals to an audience that is almost entirely over 70; what advertiser wants to reach that group?

 

[FredLeonard]

Standards appeals to an audience that is almost entirely over 70; what advertiser wants to reach that group?

Apparently there are lots of them. They are all over certain cable channels and HD sub-channels. Even main HD channels at times. Drug companies. Lawyers who sue drug companies. Insurance companies. Medical supply companies. Reverse mortgage companies. ...

It seems the advertisers are there but they don't buy radio. Oldies TV, yes. Oldies radio, no. Maybe you can shed some light on why not.

 

[TheBigA]

Didn't this station do Standards for 5 years? Wasn't that the format they had when they went under a couple years ago? Doesn't that tell you something?

If it hurts when you do that, don't do that.

 

[davideduardo]

Apparently there are lots of them. They are all over certain cable channels and HD sub-channels. Even main HD channels at times. Drug companies. Lawyers who sue drug companies. Insurance companies. Medical supply companies. Reverse mortgage companies. ...

It seems the advertisers are there but they don't buy radio. Oldies TV, yes. Oldies radio, no. Maybe you can shed some light on why not.

Many if not most of those TV spots targeting ultra-seniors are PI spots.

Unlike music radio, TV shows have specific amounts of commercial break time that has to be filled, so if you have unsold inventory, why not run a PI and see if you pick up a few dollars more each month?

Beyond that, much senior targeted TV advertising that does not fall under the PI banner requires visual appeal. A drug ad with audio only seems to leave the impression that the chances of side effects are huge... while on TV, you see pictures of handsome seniors walking with pretty dogs on the beach or driving vintage cars on scenic highways and that masks all the disclaimers and nonsense in the audio portion. Other categories also use "eye candy" or "appetite appeal" aspects of TV to enhance the message for older people.

 

[hangman]

Beg to differ with you; but my buddie Hector, who lives in South Philadelphia around 5th and Mifflin Streets, cannot pull in WHAT at night, so he listens to WEMG, and WHAT is only about 6 miles from him as the crow flies, WEMG is 4 miles. There is a large influx of Hispanic peoples moving into that area, mostly of Mexican decent, so as I stated, WHAT does not serve them, but WEMG does, signal wise. WHAT would better serve the older Caucasian peoples who remember the Standards when they were just released, I am talking the Main Line, Bala, Bryn M, Ardmore, Pennwynn, Narberth, Havertown, Overbrook and points Southwest, where their signal is decent and the Hispanic population is very low.