Losing An Affiliate for America's Best Music

[vchimpanzee]

I was listening to WNAM in the car this afternoon (California Time) and I heard Jimmy Cliff's version of "I Can See Clearly Now." (1993, the newest song I've personally heard on their playlist)....RIP Jimmy Cliff (died last month).

That could pass for a 60s song.

Wouldn't they have Michael Buble and other artists who have recorded 40s style music?

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Agreed! MOYL has a stream, I know. Why ABM doesn't is beyond me. It's not like it's proprietary or anything.

MOYL's audience is mostly online these days, they have very few over the air affiliates.

ABM From WW1 doesnt have a stream because that would mean music licensing costs for them and their product is for radio stations, a stream wouldnt benefit them.

 

[cc333]

ABM From WW1 doesnt have a stream because that would mean music licensing costs for them and their product is for radio stations, a stream wouldnt benefit them.

That makes sense.

c

 

[cc333]

Wouldn't they have Michael Buble and other artists who have recorded 40s style music?

I don't see why not?

Last night, WNAM played that Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole duet version of "Unforgettable", which I think was done in the 80s?

You'd never know it, though.

c

 

[publisher]

I was listening to WNAM in the car this afternoon (California Time) and I heard Jimmy Cliff's version of "I Can See Clearly Now." (1993, the newest song I've personally heard on their playlist)....RIP Jimmy Cliff (died last month).

Most of the "new" stuff is standards recorded by contemporary artists (Buble, in particular), but there are also some head scratchers on the list like Adele's "Hello" and "Skyfall" (though I personally have no problem with any James Bond title being included EXCEPT Sam Smith's!). They've also been leaning in lately to more 80s pop from Madonna and Fleetwood Mac. Again, its lighter tures from those artists and fits well, Ii think.

 

[publisher]

@publisher I, too am recording the stream.

I caught roughly the same timeframe as you (after a couple false starts due to technical glitches, I started at 9 PM on the 26th, and I sort of just let it go. I'm in almost 48 hours (!!) so far.

Why? Well, it takes next to no space and I've got plenty of bandwidth, so I see no reason to attempt to capture WNAM's last week in its entirety as a compete record of its sound.

I'm going to try to see if I can let it go until the 31st, but I may need to restart it at least once if it goes down for any reason.

c

I've never recorded for two days, but I did inadvertently leave the recorder on for a solid 20+ hours a few days before Christmas on WNAM. So have nearly a day's worth of the Christmas playlist on hand.

 

[publisher]

So, I’m 41 and have been a standards/Soft AC listener for most of my life, The pattern I’m seeing is we’re losing a good station about every 2 / 2.5 years. Since I’ve been listening we lost…WJAS…KJUL…KCEE…KAAM…KBVA in Bella Vista Arkansas was locally programmed and fantastic before they were bought out and air a classic hits format now…WDEA flipped to a classic hits format instead of picking up ABM and now we’re about to lose WNAM…I’ll be streaming Gold Rush Radio out of Alaska but it’s getting harder and harder to find a station that primarily plays just music and TOH news. Personally, I thought the Adult Standards format that Local Radio Networks (LRN) aired was far superior to ABM, especially because they played a good bit of 50s and 60s instrumentals, but they recently killed off that format, which forced WDEA’s hand.

It would be nice if LRN or Westwood One just allowed you to stream the format. It also boggles my mind that this format with songs from the 50s to early 90s is not on Sirius/XM. One thing I’m glad I did, was keep a detailed playlist of WDEA for about a month before they flipped formats…this allowed me to download most of the LRN standards format and download them onto my phone so if this format ever does completely fall off I’ll be able to stream the classics on my phone. It turned out to be close to 1,000 different songs including the seldom heard 1951 version of “Because of You” by Tony Bennett, 1945’s “Rum & Cola-Cola” by the Andrews Sisters, all the way to more recent songs such as “All I have” by Beth Neilsen Chapman.

When WILE-FM is (presumably) back to playing ABM after going to their own all-Christmas playlist the week of Thanksgiving, their website will list the last couple of hours of the playlist. It's how I've been able to get a pretty complete playlist recreation built in iTunes over the past few years. The station does air local news during drive time, including a 30-minute noon EST program (and local obituaries in the morning!) but goes wall-to-wall ABM playlist pretty much overnight and on the weekends except when they carry college sports.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't see why not?

Last night, WNAM played that Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole duet version of "Unforgettable", which I think was done in the 80s?

You'd never know it, though.

c

1990 or 1991.

 

[cc333]

1990 or 1991.

Ah, OK. Even later than I thought!

But the way they blended the newness of Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole's recording is actually quite good. It sounds almost seamless, like they actually were singing together. Indeed, looking up some reviews from 1991 when it was released, many critics said similar things about it (both the song and the album from which it came, Unforgettable... with Love, were among her biggest successes).

That said, I like Nat's original, un-doctored versions of "Unforgettable" from 1951 and 1961 best.

c

 

[powers]

That could pass for a 60s song.

Wouldn't they have Michael Buble and other artists who have recorded 40s style music?

It's funny you said this. I was listening to WNAM for a time this evening and they played Michael Buble. I thought to myself "well, THERE'S a song and artist that is newer than 1993!" So, I do stand corrected.

 

[powers]

The station (WILE) does air local news during drive time, including a 30-minute noon EST program (and local obituaries in the morning!) but goes wall-to-wall ABM playlist pretty much overnight and on the weekends except when they carry college sports.

So, obituaries in the morning and ABM music all day.....so they count down the ratings points as they lose their audience each morning? (I'm sorry....VERY bad taste, but I couldn't resist. I do love the format and at 56, hope I won't be part of those obituaries anytime soon.)

 

[powers]

It also boggles my mind that this format with songs from the 50s to early 90s is not on Sirius/XM.

I know, I'm posting a lot today. I would love to have more options to stream ABM or an ABM-type format. I preferred the mid 2000-early 2010s version, before they got rid of the personalities. I felt it was a good mix of a unique format. Standards from the 50s to soft pop from the 80s or even a few 90s. It was close to a 50/50 mix of older and newer classics. You could "set it and forget it" and listen for hours. While there is not an exact match today, the truth is that nearly all of that music can be found on Sirius XM, iHeartRadio, and streaming music services. It just requires the listener to listen to a set of channels to get it all, or build their own sets of songs. While it is not exactly car interface friendly, I love the Accuradio website and app. They have hundreds of different variations on formats and the great part is that you can build your own Mix channels (as many as you'd like) by mixing any of the channels together to make custom blends. I have made several custom formats this way and you can even ban songs and/or artists that don't fit your channel, allowing you to ultimately format it exactly as you want.

Like I said, it doesn't seem to be car interface friendly (no way to put it on Android Auto or Apple Carplay - if somebody knows how to do it, PLEASE tell us!) but you CAN start the Accuradio channel of your choice before you drive, and if you don't mind staying with it, the channel WILL play. Maybe with AI, you can add personalities between the songs. 😄

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

So, obituaries in the morning and ABM music all day.....so they count down the ratings points as they lose their audience each morning? (I'm sorry....VERY bad taste, but I couldn't resist. I do love the format and at 56, hope I won't be part of those obituaries anytime soon.)

Obituaries are popular, so is the hospital report. When i worked at an ABM affiliate, we ran both... and one day when we didn't because the computer barfed things up, we got a complaint call from an elderly listener who was blind, who said she depended on them to make sure her friends were ok.

 

[radiofan2023]

I don't know if this is an ABM station, but for anyone who just wants to listen to standards after WNAM goes off air, like @powers, Legends WKSN in New York streams:

WKSN - 1340 AM - Media One Radio Group (WWSE | WJTN | WHUG | WKSN | WQFX | WKZA)

Each weekday morning our listeners enjoy legendary songs, local and national news, weather and a daily dose of Intelligence For Your Life! After more than

se933.com

I only found out about the station this morning from this article on Lance's site:

Lilly Broadcasting Acquires Media One Clusters In Ashtabula OH & Jamestown NY

Lilly Broadcasting is acquiring Media One’s properties in Ashtabula OH and Jamestown NY. Lilly, which owns television stations in Erie PA, Elmira NY, Marquette MI, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, and Guam, currently owns CHR “Happi 92.7” WICU-FM Erie and three stations in Warren PA: WICU-FM...

radioinsight.com

 

[vchimpanzee]

While there is not an exact match today, the truth is that nearly all of that music can be found on Sirius XM,

I suggested Sirius/XM contact WAVO in Charlotte when they gave up their music format but of course they won't bother with trying do a format like that.

WAVO was more standards than oldies. When the music came back so WHVN could be sold after being silent, this thread was started. someone asked to hear what songs were being played.

https://radiodiscussions.com/threads/1240-whvn-is-back.730411/

 

[powers]

Legends WKSN in New York streams:

Their website works but the stream does not. I tried another station in the group and they do stream so maybe WKSN has a temporarily broken stream.

 

[KilowattKat]

K-Star has been around for at least 25 years. They used to be an ABM affiliate, but went their own way, except the music, which is as close to ABM as I've heard. No news, except updates in the morning, and John Tesh mornings. KFLG-AM plus 3 translators. Kingman, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, AZ.

From the recently played:

Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
Neil Diamond - Yesterday's Songs
Toto - Africa
Bob Welch - Sentimental Lady
Dusty Springfield - The Look of Love
Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love

Star Radio | There's a familiar STAR in town!

 

[Gregg.]

Thanks for the tips to get ABM on the iHeartRadio app. The funny thing is, you have to know what you're looking for. Typing in "America's Best Music" will only get you WNAM.

-- Gold Rush Radio -- This is 590 KHAR Anchorage although putting in those call letters won't find the station for you. You need at least "Gold Rush." No newscasts. It does carry traffic reports during drive time in Anchorage.

-- 94.5 Glass-FM -- This is WXKR-FM-HD2 Toledo. Those call letters will help you find it in the search engine, although you've got to know to click "Glass-FM." Clicking the call letters will get you the Classic Rock station on HD1. I don't think this station runs news. Why they call themselves "Glass-FM" is unclear to me.

-- 92.9 KVRE -- Uses the slogan "Central Arkansas' Best Music." Located in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. It runs ABM nights and weekends but has local programming weekdays. I think they also play a classic country song, maybe once an hour, that isn't from ABM. Maybe they insert it where a commercial break would go? They just played a Kitty Wells song that I am unfamiliar with. You can find KVRE on iHeartRadio using the call letters.

 

[CTListener]

-- 94.5 Glass-FM -- This is WXKR-FM-HD2 Toledo. Those call letters will help you find it in the search engine, although you've got to know to click "Glass-FM." Clicking the call letters will get you the Classic Rock station on HD1. I don't think this station runs news. Why they call themselves "Glass-FM" is unclear to me.

Toledo has been known as the Glass City for generations. It has a long history in the manufacture of glass products.

 

[Gregg.]

Toledo has been known as the Glass City for generations. It has a long history in the manufacture of glass products.

Maybe Corning NY would also like to run an HD2 station playing ABM and calling itself Glass-FM.