Is WABC’s new ownership squandering an opportunity?

[Lee LinwoodNYC]

WOR‘s surpassing WABC in recent ratings books, by sizeable margins, causes me to wonder if the new owner of WABC John Catsimatides is squandering an opportunity to remake the station into the powerhouse it once was. With unlimited resources as a billionaire, he seems to be cheaping out on programming, the foundation of any radio station, with quite uncompelling hosts, in my opinion, who will not attract a young audience, also my opinion: Such as Rudy Giuliani, “Judge” Jeanine Pirro, and former NYC police commissioner Bernie Kerick. All are well-known Trump supporters with much visibility on TV, making their radio shows less compelling, in addition to perhaps becoming increasingly irrelevant as the Trump presidency is coming to a close. Ratings for several Fox News programs have been plummeting, the well-known politically Conservative network, and so I don’t see big ratings from the afore-mentioned hosts. Cousin Brucie and Tony Orlando with Saturday night music shows, while nice guys, are quite “long in the tooth” and doubtlessly will not attract a young audience. No doubt, they are not expensive hosts. Same with Joe Piscopo, hosting a Sunday Frank Sinatra show. His daily radio show, oddly on rival radio station am970, is not a ratings success, so another seemingly squandered opportunity for WABC. Overnight, WABC has a new show hosted by Frank Morano, who sounds like he is better suited hosting a high school radio station program—He previously was Piscopo’s producer in addition to producing Mr. Catsimatides’ weekly show on am970, with no previous experience hosting a daily radio program, and it shows. Another squandered opportunity. Presumably, he, too, comes cheaply. If this is the “best” WABC can do, I see it continuing its downfall.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

What opportunity do you see, which WABC is squandering?

As far as I can tell, the dayside M-F programming on WABC is essentially the same as ever since Cats took over. Giuliani replaced an hour of Shapiro. The rest of the new programs are on weekends, and the overnight program that you mentioned with Frank Morano.

 

[Kevin]

It’s good to hear music on 770 again. I tuned in on Saturday evening to hear Bruce Morrow, Great memories. Thanks from Detroit.

 

[TheBigA]

WOR‘s surpassing WABC in recent ratings books, by sizeable margins, causes me to wonder if the new owner of WABC John Catsimatides is squandering an opportunity to remake the station into the powerhouse it once was.

I don't know that he's squandering anything. His hiring of Cousin Bruce was clearly aimed at bringing back past glory. Same with bringing back the mayor and his police chief. The problem is those changes haven't resonated with radio listeners. It's strange that WOR really hasn't changed a thing, and it's the #1 AM station in NYC.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

WOR‘s surpassing WABC in recent ratings books, by sizeable margins, causes me to wonder if the new owner of WABC John Catsimatides is squandering an opportunity to remake the station into the powerhouse it once was. With unlimited resources as a billionaire, he seems to be cheaping out on programming, the foundation of any radio station, with quite uncompelling hosts, in my opinion, who will not attract a young audience, also my opinion: Such as Rudy Giuliani, “Judge” Jeanine Pirro, and former NYC police commissioner Bernie Kerick. All are well-known Trump supporters with much visibility on TV, making their radio shows less compelling, in addition to perhaps becoming increasingly irrelevant as the Trump presidency is coming to a close. Ratings for several Fox News programs have been plummeting, the well-known politically Conservative network, and so I don’t see big ratings from the afore-mentioned hosts. Cousin Brucie and Tony Orlando with Saturday night music shows, while nice guys, are quite “long in the tooth” and doubtlessly will not attract a young audience. No doubt, they are not expensive hosts. Same with Joe Piscopo, hosting a Sunday Frank Sinatra show. His daily radio show, oddly on rival radio station am970, is not a ratings success, so another seemingly squandered opportunity for WABC. Overnight, WABC has a new show hosted by Frank Morano, who sounds like he is better suited hosting a high school radio station program—He previously was Piscopo’s producer in addition to producing Mr. Catsimatides’ weekly show on am970, with no previous experience hosting a daily radio program, and it shows. Another squandered opportunity. Presumably, he, too, comes cheaply. If this is the “best” WABC can do, I see it continuing its downfall.

Well, WABC is never going to be the powerhouse it once was by virtue of being on the AM band. Even against AM competition, WABC starts out at a big disadvantage since WOR has Rush and Hannity. That said, I'd like Mr. Catsimatides to bring in a live local host in afternoon drive (and I realize Rudy Guliani is live and local). The right host, if there is such a person, might attract some attention.

 

[semoochie]

It’s good to hear music on 770 again. I tuned in on Saturday evening to hear Bruce Morrow, Great memories. Thanks from Detroit.

You aren't really listening to WABC from Detroit, are you? Doesn't that pesky WJR get in the way?

 

[Don CT]

Well, WABC is never going to be the powerhouse it once was by virtue of being on the AM band. Even against AM competition, WABC starts out at a big disadvantage since WOR has Rush and Hannity. That said, I'd like Mr. Catsimatides to bring in a live local host in afternoon drive (and I realize Rudy Guliani is live and local). The right host, if there is such a person, might attract some attention.

Does Rudy really play in NY anymore, don't the majority of NY'ers hate him now.

 

[Greg Strickland]

Whose opportunity is the owner squandering? He is doing what many here say should happen more often, buying a station, and doing it his way. Maybe more significantly, if he had not bought it, what would have happened to WABC? I think his ownership is the best thing that could have realistically happened to WABC. A few stations across the land are operated as hobbies intentionally (not by business circumstances). These stations can reflect personal interests or views of the owner. I believe there is an AM station in the south that plays a eclectic list of music from the owner's massive collection in no particular order, commercial-free 24/7.

 

[CTListener]

Does Rudy really play in NY anymore, don't the majority of NY'ers hate him now.

Doesn't really matter. The guy who owns the station is a Trump backer. And besides, conservative talk, even in New York, attracts listeners to commercial radio stations. Liberal talk doesn't. Should there be a non-political talk alternative other than self-help and financial advice hucksters? There used to be, but no success stories for many decades.

 

[Kevin]

You aren't really listening to WABC from Detroit, are you? Doesn't that pesky WJR get in the way?

Yes, I listen a lot to WABC on old fashioned radio. I generally listen to Bill O’Reilly in the evening. WJR doesn’t cause a problem with a GE SuperRadio.

 

[Lee LinwoodNYC]

Does Rudy really play in NY anymore, don't the majority of NY'ers hate him now.

Rudy’s controversial behavior has unfortunately diminished his reputation throughout the country.

 

[TheBigA]

These stations can reflect personal interests or views of the owner. I believe there is an AM station in the south that plays a eclectic list of music from the owner's massive collection in no particular order, commercial-free 24/7.

I keep reading these posts from people wishing for corporations to sell off their radio stations at fire sale prices so that small local owners can come in and make radio great again. Isn't that what happened at WABC?

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Doesn't really matter. The guy who owns the station is a Trump backer. And besides, conservative talk, even in New York, attracts listeners to commercial radio stations. Liberal talk doesn't. Should there be a non-political talk alternative other than self-help and financial advice hucksters? There used to be, but no success stories for many decades.

Non-political talk that is not financial advice and self-help does exist but it's in the Podcast venues or on NPR News/talk venues. WABC-AM and any other AM station then that's questionable in the current radio environment.

 

[Don CT]

Non-political talk that is not financial advice and self-help does exist but it's in the Podcast venues or on NPR News/talk venues. WABC-AM and any other AM station then that's questionable in the current radio environment.

It's called sports talk.

 

[Greg Strickland]

Re: WJR and WABC, yes, someone north or south of WJR could probably null WJR by rotating the radio, and hear WABC without too much difficulty. I just got out my Superadio and its nulling ability is pretty good, but not the best I've heard. That could be an illusion because sensitivity is excellent, in the null AGC picks up the RF and you still hear the station in the noise. Here near Washington DC, tuned around and heard everyone just like that. WSM was wide and easy to tune, WABC was right there, all the other usual suspects coming right in. The dial was full, albeit hard to tune on the top half of the dial. Easy to see how years ago with less electrical noise and fewer entertainment choices, the magic of night time AM radio, especially in rural areas.

 

[Kevin]

Re: WJR and WABC, yes, someone north or south of WJR could probably null WJR by rotating the radio, and hear WABC without too much difficulty. I just got out my Superadio and its nulling ability is pretty good, but not the best I've heard. That could be an illusion because sensitivity is excellent, in the null AGC picks up the RF and you still hear the station in the noise. Here near Washington DC, tuned around and heard everyone just like that. WSM was wide and easy to tune, WABC was right there, all the other usual suspects coming right in. The dial was full, albeit hard to tune on the top half of the dial. Easy to see how years ago with less electrical noise and fewer entertainment choices, the magic of night time AM radio, especially in rural areas.

Love my GE SuperRadio, I have two of them. Who needs HD Radio with stations in between stations, not me.

 

[semoochie]

Re: WJR and WABC, yes, someone north or south of WJR could probably null WJR by rotating the radio, and hear WABC without too much difficulty. I just got out my Superadio and its nulling ability is pretty good, but not the best I've heard. That could be an illusion because sensitivity is excellent, in the null AGC picks up the RF and you still hear the station in the noise. Here near Washington DC, tuned around and heard everyone just like that. WSM was wide and easy to tune, WABC was right there, all the other usual suspects coming right in. The dial was full, albeit hard to tune on the top half of the dial. Easy to see how years ago with less electrical noise and fewer entertainment choices, the magic of night time AM radio, especially in rural areas.

It's hard to fathom nulling out a local 50KW clear, enough to get anything listenable on a first adjacency but it's been about 40 years since I've tried!

 

[gr8oldies]

It's hard to fathom nulling out a local 50KW clear, enough to get anything listenable on a first adjacency but it's been about 40 years since I've tried!

WABC is crystal clear online.

 

[davideduardo]

It's hard to fathom nulling out a local 50KW clear, enough to get anything listenable on a first adjacency but it's been about 40 years since I've tried!

Years ago in Cleveland, OH, about 16 miles from the (then) WKYC transmitter site (50 kw non-directional on 1100) I was able to do a 90° angle null with a loop antenna and pick up a 10 kw station from Venezuela's interior on the same frequency... about 2500 miles... during an evening when Northern Lights were reported just north of me in southern Ontario.

With a good loop, that kind of reception is totally possible.

 

[Yabadabado1]

Also years ago in Akron Ohio, shortly after sunrise, I managed to pull in a TV station from Denver, CO for about 10 minutes......and I was just using rabbit ears. [yeah, I know TV, not radio] but in my first car, a 1962 Chevy II Nova [OEM AM radio] I had around 1974, I was sitting in my driveway DXing and managed to pick up a station from Denver and two stations from California fairly well for a few minutes. I wish I could remember their call letters but I was floored I picked them up from so far away. No AM radio I have had since then has been able to pick up any station that far away. In the early 80s I bought a vehicle that had a combo Craig AM/FM 8-track player. The FM section was fantastic, I could dial in and get stations from well out of state and once while driving in the middle of West Virginia I picked up WMMS out of Cleveland.