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107.7

Radio_bored-Op said:
wben isnt reeely any more exciting on FM at the late hours , lol

I don't think that's the point. It may have something more to do with all those iPods that come with only FM as a radio option...or it could simply be that teens today don't even know what AM is!
 
Yeziknoradio said:
Radio_bored-Op said:
wben isnt reeely any more exciting on FM at the late hours , lol

I don't think that's the point. It may have something more to do with all those iPods that come with only FM as a radio option...or it could simply be that teens today don't even know what AM is!

For as long as I can remember as soon as the music stops most teens hit the button in search of another station. Do you really think they're going to stay around and listen to somebody talking about politics?

I'd like to know how many ever use the FM radio in their iPod?
 
Quite a few do use the FM on their iPod for change. Not sure how long they tune in though.

Just tell them FM uses up less battery. That might still work today.
 
Gotta say, I've never used the FM feature on my MP3 player. But then again, I'm old and it doesn't matter.
I have a MP3 player so I don't have to listen to the radio.
 
I use the FM on my MP3 player all the time. Sometimes just for a change of music, or specialized programming like the Blues on WBFO on the weekend, or to tune in NPR to find out what's going on in the rest of the world while I'm busy with chores. If my cell phone had FM, and a bit more memory for music, I'd do it all on the cell.
 
Just tuned in to 107.7...just in time to hear the host breathlessly intervieiwng, of all people, THE birther herself, Orly Taitz.

Explain again how being on FM helps WBEN? Is it that it'll be so much easier for the younger demos to find the station? And after they find it, how long do you think they'll stay?

LOL.
 
jas2525 said:
Explain again how being on FM helps WBEN? Is it that it'll be so much easier for the younger demos to find the station?

LOL.

Yes, believe it or not, that is part of the reason news-talk AMs have begun to simulcast on FM, or move to FM entirely. With far more younger listeners available on FM, the move does, in fact, bump the station's younger demos. Perhaps not dramatically, but enough so that the station can avoid sliding into the supposedly dreaded 55+ wasteland.

One of the first companies to do this was Bonneville with their historic clear channel news talk 1160 in Salt Lake City which began simulcasting on 102.7 a while ago. They now promote 102.7 as their primary frequency in the city itself, with 1160 suggested for listening in outlying areas.

More significantly, KSL now airs a very hip, youth-oriented talk show from 7 - 12 Midnight called "The Nightside Project." So, they're not only on FM, they're also offering programming specifically for younger folks.

Their long time news-talker in Phoenix has moved to FM, as has WTOP in D.C. (no longer owned by Bonneville, but they made the leap to the FM band). WTOP-FM is the #1 station in Washington.

Certainly 107.7 isn't the best frequency to be on in Western New York, at least it's a start.

Nick Seneca
 
Nick Gerard said:
More significantly, KSL now airs a very hip, youth-oriented talk show from 7 - 12 Midnight called "The Nightside Project." So, they're not only on FM, they're also offering programming specifically for younger folks...

The Nightside Project is a fun listen, but the local news during the show is done by a guy who sounds like a teenager whose voice is changing, and is full of "comedic" movie clips and sound effects. (Quotes used to reflect intent, not necessarily outcome.)

They've also added a midday show from 1-3pm called "The Browser" which is driven by social media and alternative news. It's done decently, especially compared to Hannity, which it replaced, but I can't say it speaks to me. Then again, I'm now 55+, and have fallen off the outer ring on anyone's demographic target.

Shifting to FM and to content which appeals to younger demos is something which has to be done. Expecting it all to be graceful is probably an unrealistic expectation. My hat's off to those taking the risks.

Regarding WBEN and 107.7, it won't prove much about talk's viability on FM given the marginal signal. If the price of the stick hadn't been so overinflated, that signal's best role might have been to super-serve Washington and Genesee Counties.
 
jas2525 said:
Just tuned in to 107.7...just in time to hear the host breathlessly intervieiwng, of all people, THE birther herself, Orly Taitz. Explain again how being on FM helps WBEN? Is it that it'll be so much easier for the younger demos to find the station? And after they find it, how long do you think they'll stay? LOL.
Precisely. A 32 year old listener who doesn't listen to talk programming on AM isn't going to find it appealing simply because it's on FM. Content rules. It sounds as if KSL understands this fact. BTW, were you referring to "the doctor's wife," Kathy From Williamsville? If I'm listening to WBEN and hear her voice the SCAN button is pressed before the shrew can finish her first sentence. Brutal.
 
Kathy from Williamsville was a fun little experiment that has expired. Why not give that two-hour time slot to someone else (Ron Dobson, Sandy Beach's weekly guest from Niagara Falls, Alan Harris, Dave Debo) who is more qualified to host a show and has some kind of on-air broadcast professionalism that WBEN can hang their hat on instead of dreading what Mrs. Weppner is going to spew from her mother for 120 nauseating minutes?
 
I've been listening the Lake online the last few nights, and it seems like the cuts are way deeper than when they had a regular signal.........I've always liked it about the Lake, but this may be a little too deep, when I haven't heard of 3 songs in a row.
 
Interesting. Makes you wonder who's programming "The Lake" these days. The player does list the last 20 songs played. Quite the "variety", and some juxtapositions that no human would ever program.
 
When a station isn't part of the AM or FM revenue, there's a lot more breathing room to play songs no one has ever heard of.
 
I noticed that they also essentially killed the website. Too bad. You'd think that they could put up something that would derive a little income from banners or other advertising. Simply linking to the stream player seems like a waste.
 
SirRoxalot said:
I noticed that they also essentially killed the website. Too bad. You'd think that they could put up something that would derive a little income from banners or other advertising. Simply linking to the stream player seems like a waste.

I was surprised to see that, too. It makes no sense to not try to make some money from it. In fact, when I googled 107.7 the lake to get to the site, one of the results was something that sounded interesting - a list of greatest something or others. I clicked the result and it just got me that big blank website with just the player. You'd think they'd at least keep the old content up, too.

And, yeah - that is not a human doing the programming!
 
So I'm in the Bank the other day making the regular deposit, and the young teller-guy (who obviously knows what I do for a living) demands to know, "hey, what happened to The Lake 107.7? Did they go bankrupt or something? All I get on that channel now is news and stuff."

I explained that The Lake was the victim of the industry trend to simulcast heritage news and talk AM stations on co-owned FMs, assuring him that the station had certainly not gone bankrupt or off the air. He's mid-20s-ish, has a Droid phone in his carrel and I saw him pulling out of the lot in an expensive cool Nissan something. Looked like a pretty tech-savvy guy to me. So I helpfully suggested he could still get The Lake on the station's HD-2 sub.

He asked: "What's HD Radio??"
 
Savage said:
So I'm in the Bank the other day making the regular deposit, and the young teller-guy (who obviously knows what I do for a living) demands to know, "hey, what happened to The Lake 107.7? Did they go bankrupt or something? All I get on that channel now is news and stuff."

I explained that The Lake was the victim of the industry trend to simulcast heritage news and talk AM stations on co-owned FMs, assuring him that the station had certainly not gone bankrupt or off the air. He's mid-20s-ish, has a Droid phone in his carrel and I saw him pulling out of the lot in an expensive cool Nissan something. Looked like a pretty tech-savvy guy to me. So I helpfully suggested he could still get The Lake on the station's HD-2 sub.

He asked: "What's HD Radio??"

I've noticed that the ongoing HD debates really are a fine tool to seperate the men from the boyz where "in touch-ness" is concerned.

How anybody ever thought this would catch on is beyond me.
It was a failed model from it's inception. When I think of the amount of financial resources channeled to this nonsense, while the primary signals had their corners cut, I wanna choke the nearest CEO.
 
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