That's what Dave Hughes is saying at DCRTV.com. He says Entercom sees an opening once WRQX goes to EMF. Salem has owned WAVA-FM 105.1 since the 90s. At one time, it was a Top 40 station featuring Don Geronimo. The station boasts a huge signal that blankets the metro. What would Salem want for such a signal?
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Entercom Eying WAVA?
- Thread starter TheBigA
- Start date
One could only hope!!! This would be great, if it were to ever materialize.
I've written before about how horrible the Washington area FM dial is for folks seeking mass appeal, non-Urban music.
I'd also love to see Entercom take 99.1 MHz under its wing, but I suspect the chances of *that* occurring anytime soon are much less. Does anyone know when the lease to Bloomberg expires? (If that lease is due to expire soon, then one realistic theory would be using WDCH-FM as trade bait to pry 105.1 WAVA away from Salem.)
Hughes talks about the "AMP" and "NOW" brands being possibilities. That piece of his speculation is misplaced, especially given the fact the former is almost always associated with CHR/Pop stations (most of which have undergone format changes away from CHR/Pop to something completely different). The best move would be to pick up the "Mix" branding from Cumulus or simply use the "WAVA" branding with which the station has long been associated.
I'll float a more radical possibility - would either WMAL AM & FM or WHUR-FM be on the selling block? WMAL AM & FM perform well (let's face it - nearly all listening is to the FM station), and functions as a feeder station for programming Cumulus now syndicates nationally, so I'm hard pressed to see them dumping 105.9. But, for the right price, might Howard University be willing to exit the radio business and sell WHUR to Entercom?
I've written before about how horrible the Washington area FM dial is for folks seeking mass appeal, non-Urban music.
I'd also love to see Entercom take 99.1 MHz under its wing, but I suspect the chances of *that* occurring anytime soon are much less. Does anyone know when the lease to Bloomberg expires? (If that lease is due to expire soon, then one realistic theory would be using WDCH-FM as trade bait to pry 105.1 WAVA away from Salem.)
Hughes talks about the "AMP" and "NOW" brands being possibilities. That piece of his speculation is misplaced, especially given the fact the former is almost always associated with CHR/Pop stations (most of which have undergone format changes away from CHR/Pop to something completely different). The best move would be to pick up the "Mix" branding from Cumulus or simply use the "WAVA" branding with which the station has long been associated.
I'll float a more radical possibility - would either WMAL AM & FM or WHUR-FM be on the selling block? WMAL AM & FM perform well (let's face it - nearly all listening is to the FM station), and functions as a feeder station for programming Cumulus now syndicates nationally, so I'm hard pressed to see them dumping 105.9. But, for the right price, might Howard University be willing to exit the radio business and sell WHUR to Entercom?
But, for the right price, might Howard University be willing to exit the radio business and sell WHUR to Entercom?
As long as the station makes money (and it does) I see no reason why they'd sell. It gets a better return than just about any other investment they could make.
The schools getting rid of stations are the ones that own student-run free form stations with no audience. That's not WHUR.
As much as I'd like to see Entercom buy WAVA-FM and do something else with it, the days of WAVA as a market-leading, flame-throwing CHR are closer to Neil Armstrong's moon landing than to today. If Entercom does buy it from Salem and launches a hot AC/CHR on it, the vast majority of the target audience wouldn't have even been alive, let alone actively listening to the radio, when WAVA was a top-40.
Should something like this happen, seems to me that Entercom would be smarter to move WIAD's classic hits format to 105.1 and bring back the WAVA sound (and for hot AC to go to 94.7) than to launch that format on 105.1.
Should something like this happen, seems to me that Entercom would be smarter to move WIAD's classic hits format to 105.1 and bring back the WAVA sound (and for hot AC to go to 94.7) than to launch that format on 105.1.
If Entercom does buy it from Salem and launches a hot AC/CHR on it, the vast majority of the target audience wouldn't have even been alive, let alone actively listening to the radio, when WAVA was a top-40.
Should something like this happen, seems to me that Entercom would be smarter to move WIAD's classic hits format to 105.1 and bring back the WAVA sound (and for hot AC to go to 94.7) than to launch that format on 105.1.
Worth noting that WAVA was a top-40 for 9 years, but has been a Christian talk/teaching station for 27 years. Even if Entercom aimed to acquire the 105.1 frequency, at this time there's no reason to believe that the WAVA intellectual property -- including callsign -- wouldn't stay with Salem.
(The same situation plays out in Houston, where despite fond memories of KKBQ's 9-year top-40 run, KKBQ has used the same brand as a country outlet for now 28 years.)
Should something like this happen, seems to me that Entercom would be smarter to move WIAD's classic hits format to 105.1 and bring back the WAVA sound (and for hot AC to go to 94.7) than to launch that format on 105.1.
The end result would be the same as blowing up two stations at the same time.
I get that there’s definitely a business reason not to move classic hits to 105.1.
My point, more than anything, is that a new WAVA wouldn’t be anything like the old one unless Entercom does something like make it classic hits. There’s really no other way to take advantage of the heritage there. It may or may not be worth doing. The Drive seems to be performing respectably, though it’s definitely not setting the world on fire.
A lot of people, myself included, pine for some of the late 80’s/early 90’s CHR’s, but they’ve moved on, and the current target audience has a different frame of reference. Like I said, those days are now closer to the moon landing than to today, and, at 44, I’m one of the youngest of those listeners. I aged out of the target demo for CHR a decade ago.
My point, more than anything, is that a new WAVA wouldn’t be anything like the old one unless Entercom does something like make it classic hits. There’s really no other way to take advantage of the heritage there. It may or may not be worth doing. The Drive seems to be performing respectably, though it’s definitely not setting the world on fire.
A lot of people, myself included, pine for some of the late 80’s/early 90’s CHR’s, but they’ve moved on, and the current target audience has a different frame of reference. Like I said, those days are now closer to the moon landing than to today, and, at 44, I’m one of the youngest of those listeners. I aged out of the target demo for CHR a decade ago.
There’s really no other way to take advantage of the heritage there. It may or may not be worth doing.
What makes you think they want to take advantage of heritage? The article in the OP talks about replacing WRQX.
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