• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

1260 WAMS loud and clear and playing oldies

WHY SHOULD ANYBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

WAMS probably has more posts on this board than listeners. And except for some nostalgia for the Silver Age of AM Top 40 radio (the Golden Age was the era of Jack Benny and the Lone Ranger), why should anybody care?

OK, they've improved the signal. Now instead of a terrible signal, they have an adequate signal (but still unlistenable to all but radio fans over part of the Wilmington market). And it's still an AM signal. The Wilmington Market already has at least three FM Oldies stations (and probably any two of them can be received at any given location in the market area). This is a music station without local personalities. What does it matter if this station is in Wilmington? And why would anybody pick an AM station over an AM station playing essentially the same music?

WOGL 98.1 is the dominant Oldies station in Wilmington with better numbers than ANY AM station, and in the top 10. The next highest AM station (number 11) is WIP. We can expect WAMS to do even worse against OGL (poor AM signal v FM) than The Ticket does against WIP (decent local AM signal v out of town AM signal).

Wilmington has FM rim-shots that do OK in the market. Why doesn't WLVT 92.1 do more in Wilmington? The answer is: Why should they? Promotion in Wilmington costs money. Having a sales force in Wilmington costs money. They are making a profit in Cumberland County and that's a sure thing. Wilmington would be an expensive crap shoot. Even so, 92.1 has gone from nobody listens to hardly anybody listens. Their tiny audience is only significant as discussion fodder on this board.

The owner has demonstrated his inability to run a radio station. Why should anybody be rooting for him now? Some say he should promote the station. Promotion costs money and so far he has not been able or willing to spend money. Only one Wilmington radio station makes (or has made) any consistent or meaningful effort to promote itself. (Yes, THAT one!) So how is anybody, except for people on this board, going to know this station even exists?
 
Re: WHY SHOULD ANYBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

> WAMS probably has more posts on this board than listeners.
> And except for some nostalgia for the Silver Age of AM Top
> 40 radio (the Golden Age was the era of Jack Benny and the
> Lone Ranger), why should anybody care?
>
> OK, they've improved the signal. Now instead of a terrible
> signal, they have an adequate signal (but still unlistenable
> to all but radio fans over part of the Wilmington market).
> And it's still an AM signal. The Wilmington Market already
> has at least three FM Oldies stations (and probably any two
> of them can be received at any given location in the market
> area). This is a music station without local personalities.
> What does it matter if this station is in Wilmington? And
> why would anybody pick an AM station over an AM station
> playing essentially the same music?
>
> WOGL 98.1 is the dominant Oldies station in Wilmington with
> better numbers than ANY AM station, and in the top 10. The
> next highest AM station (number 11) is WIP. We can expect
> WAMS to do even worse against OGL (poor AM signal v FM) than
> The Ticket does against WIP (decent local AM signal v out of
> town AM signal).
>
> Wilmington has FM rim-shots that do OK in the market. Why
> doesn't WLVT 92.1 do more in Wilmington? The answer is: Why
> should they? Promotion in Wilmington costs money. Having a
> sales force in Wilmington costs money. They are making a
> profit in Cumberland County and that's a sure thing.
> Wilmington would be an expensive crap shoot. Even so, 92.1
> has gone from nobody listens to hardly anybody listens.
> Their tiny audience is only significant as discussion fodder
> on this board.
>
> The owner has demonstrated his inability to run a radio
> station. Why should anybody be rooting for him now? Some
> say he should promote the station. Promotion costs money
> and so far he has not been able or willing to spend money.
> Only one Wilmington radio station makes (or has made) any
> consistent or meaningful effort to promote itself. (Yes,
> THAT one!) So how is anybody, except for people on this
> board, going to know this station even exists?
>


Your posting to a small group of postees that are still building crystal radios.
And they still never sent me that WPEN antenna switch...Damn!~
 
Re: WHY SHOULD ANYBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

Reasons to care:

Wilmington area has 5 AM: (WDEL 1150, WAMS 1260 Newark DE, WWTX 1290,
DELDOT 1380, and WILM 1450).

5 FM: WXHL 89.1 - Christiana DE (religious), WVUD 91.3 Newark DE(college), WMPH 91.7 (highschool), WSTW 93.7, and WJBR 99.5.

1 rim shot AM: WFAI 1510 Salem (their studio may now be in Wilmington, but their towers and city of license are Salem).

5 rim shot FM: 89.9 WOEL Elkton (Religious), 101.7 WJKS Canton/Bridgeton (their studio may now be in Wilmington, but their tower is in Bridgeton and city of license is Canton NJ), 92.9 WDSD Smyrna, DE, and 94.7 The River,(their studio may now be in Wilmington, but their tower and city of license is Dover DE, and 103.7 WXCY Havre de Grace MD.

So the only commercial radio stations directly in the Wilmington area boils down to WDEL, WAMS, WWTX, WILM, WSTW, and WJBR (4AM 2FM). Not a lot of stations for a metro population of over 500,000. At this point two of those six hasn't been doing much (WAMS and WWTX) in terms of serving the area according to the 12+ numbers by their programming. So for those of you out of the Wilmington area, it may not be of interest, but to us radio folks here, yes it is of interest. Many of you from out of town (Wilmington) on this board will discuss 560 WFIL, 950 WPEN, 610 WIP, WNTP 990, and 1210 WPHT about their programming, etc, and how to revive their ratings, etc. Why is that different, because they are in your city of Philly. So as radio folks who are from or live there you find that of interest to you. Granted you don't care or have any interest in 1260 WAMS, especially as you can't pick it up on your radio any more than I have any interest in WBUD 1260 Trenton.

As a radio person, I hate to hear about any radio station going silent. So when someone is trying to make a go of it and they are a regular "Joe" who's spending his own cash (vs the large mega corporations), yes I'll root for him. Even though I don't listen to Urban Gospel music I've rooted for his success as a Gospel station. Now he's going to air a format I do like, I'm even more inclined to root for his success.

I believe all of us believe that the so called "Silver Days" of radio are gone and won't return any more than expecting to hear "The Shadow" or "Fibber McGee and Molly" and such programming on the radio.

Whether or not I agree with how he's managed his station, etc, has nothing to do with my hopes that 1260 Newark, doesn't go silent. This owner has managed to get an improved signal for that station where as the two previous owners didn't have any success in doing so. Had the old WNRK had that signal who knows how the story might be different today. Same with 1380. Had the previous owner of the then WAMS 1380 had the signal today that DELDOT 1380 has, that waste of a radio frequency (DELDOT radio) might not have happened and the old owner might have continued on with a real radio station serving this market or some other enterprising person may have bought 1380 and we'd all be discussing what it too could be doing to pull in more listeners, etc.

So as they now seem to have a studio/tower near Christiana (near Newark) and are trying to make a go of it as an oldies station, darn right I'm excited and I hope he succeeds and that the next 12+ Wilmington ratings reflects this success. If it doesn't hopefully he'll continue to try, but at least he's trying with his own limited resources (money) to make a go of it in the quirky difficult business of radio.


> WAMS probably has more posts on this board than listeners.
> And except for some nostalgia for the Silver Age of AM Top
> 40 radio (the Golden Age was the era of Jack Benny and the
> Lone Ranger), why should anybody care?
>
> OK, they've improved the signal. Now instead of a terrible
> signal, they have an adequate signal (but still unlistenable
> to all but radio fans over part of the Wilmington market).
> And it's still an AM signal. The Wilmington Market already
> has at least three FM Oldies stations (and probably any two
> of them can be received at any given location in the market
> area). This is a music station without local personalities.
> What does it matter if this station is in Wilmington? And
> why would anybody pick an AM station over an AM station
> playing essentially the same music?
>
> WOGL 98.1 is the dominant Oldies station in Wilmington with
> better numbers than ANY AM station, and in the top 10. The
> next highest AM station (number 11) is WIP. We can expect
> WAMS to do even worse against OGL (poor AM signal v FM) than
> The Ticket does against WIP (decent local AM signal v out of
> town AM signal).
>
> Wilmington has FM rim-shots that do OK in the market. Why
> doesn't WLVT 92.1 do more in Wilmington? The answer is: Why
> should they? Promotion in Wilmington costs money. Having a
> sales force in Wilmington costs money. They are making a
> profit in Cumberland County and that's a sure thing.
> Wilmington would be an expensive crap shoot. Even so, 92.1
> has gone from nobody listens to hardly anybody listens.
> Their tiny audience is only significant as discussion fodder
> on this board.
>
> The owner has demonstrated his inability to run a radio
> station. Why should anybody be rooting for him now? Some
> say he should promote the station. Promotion costs money
> and so far he has not been able or willing to spend money.
> Only one Wilmington radio station makes (or has made) any
> consistent or meaningful effort to promote itself. (Yes,
> THAT one!) So how is anybody, except for people on this
> board, going to know this station even exists?
>
 
We have a station in Connecticut similar to WAMS. Like WAMS they seem to change formats at least once a year. The following is the CT Station's list of formats for the past 7 years:

July 1999-September 2000: Brokered Spanish. (Also foreign language programming on Sundays that had been on the station for years)

Mid September 2000-October 1, 2000: Dark. (transmitter/board destroyed after the Spanish programmers were evicted)

October 1 2000-Mid October: They played a mix of R&B Oldies, Regaee, and Disco to keep the station on the air while they waited for someone to lease the station.

Mid October 2000-August 2001: Brokered Hip-Hop. And Sundays (The Foreign Language Programming that had been on the station for years)

August 2001-October 2001: Hip-Hop (programmed in-house rather than brokerd)/Brokered Spanish Religion.

October 2001-December 2001: Hip-Hop (Monday-Friday 6AM-9PM), FOX News Channel (Monday-Friday 9PM-6AM), Sports (Saturdays. Included syndicated Football Talk, and NCAA Football). Sundays (The Foreign Language Programming that had been on the station for years and NFL Football at 4PM)

December 2001-February 2002: FOX News Channel 24/7 except for NCAA Football on Saturdays, The Foreign Language Programming on Sundays and the NFL on Sundays at 4PM).

February 2002-May 2004: News/Talk. (syndicates and local)

May 2004-August 15, 2004: Brokered Spanish (6AM-6PM Mon-Sat)/English Brokered Programming 6PM-6AM Mon-Sat). (The Foreign Language Progamming on Sundays too)

August 2004-Feb. 2005: Brokered Spanish 24/6. Sundays (Foreign Langauage Progamming 7AM-4PM/Two local English Language Talk Shows 4PM-9PM. Spanish 9PM-6AM)

February 2005-July 2005: Brokered Spanish 24/7 (except 7AM-3PM Sundays)

July 2005-October 2005: Spanish (Programed in house) 24/7 except for 830AM-3PM Sundays.

October 2005-End of December 2005: Talk. (Spanish programming 10AM-2PM Saturdays/3PM-5PM Sundays). Foreign Lang. Sundays Programming 830AM-3PM.

End of December 2005-Present Talk. (Foreign Lang. 830AM-3PM on Sundays)

Counting all the different versions of the Spanish and Talk formats I think that's 14 formats in 7 years.
 
Sounds like this station in Connecticut has WAMS beat for format changes. Hopefully, this new oldies format will work for WAMS. Good luck with that station in CT. The calls for that station should be WCFM (We Change Formats Monthly).

> We have a station in Connecticut similar to WAMS. Like WAMS
> they seem to change formats at least once a year. The
> following is the CT Station's list of formats for the past 7
> years:
>
> July 1999-September 2000: Brokered Spanish. (Also foreign
> language programming on Sundays that had been on the station
> for years)
>
> Mid September 2000-October 1, 2000: Dark. (transmitter/board
> destroyed after the Spanish programmers were evicted)
>
> October 1 2000-Mid October: They played a mix of R&B Oldies,
> Regaee, and Disco to keep the station on the air while they
> waited for someone to lease the station.
>
> Mid October 2000-August 2001: Brokered Hip-Hop. And Sundays
> (The Foreign Language Programming that had been on the
> station for years)
>
> August 2001-October 2001: Hip-Hop (programmed in-house
> rather than brokerd)/Brokered Spanish Religion.
>
> October 2001-December 2001: Hip-Hop (Monday-Friday 6AM-9PM),
> FOX News Channel (Monday-Friday 9PM-6AM), Sports (Saturdays.
> Included syndicated Football Talk, and NCAA Football).
> Sundays (The Foreign Language Programming that had been on
> the station for years and NFL Football at 4PM)
>
> December 2001-February 2002: FOX News Channel 24/7 except
> for NCAA Football on Saturdays, The Foreign Language
> Programming on Sundays and the NFL on Sundays at 4PM).
>
> February 2002-May 2004: News/Talk. (syndicates and local)
>
> May 2004-August 15, 2004: Brokered Spanish (6AM-6PM
> Mon-Sat)/English Brokered Programming 6PM-6AM Mon-Sat). (The
> Foreign Language Progamming on Sundays too)
>
> August 2004-Feb. 2005: Brokered Spanish 24/6. Sundays
> (Foreign Langauage Progamming 7AM-4PM/Two local English
> Language Talk Shows 4PM-9PM. Spanish 9PM-6AM)
>
> February 2005-July 2005: Brokered Spanish 24/7 (except
> 7AM-3PM Sundays)
>
> July 2005-October 2005: Spanish (Programed in house) 24/7
> except for 830AM-3PM Sundays.
>
> October 2005-End of December 2005: Talk. (Spanish
> programming 10AM-2PM Saturdays/3PM-5PM Sundays). Foreign
> Lang. Sundays Programming 830AM-3PM.
>
> End of December 2005-Present Talk. (Foreign Lang. 830AM-3PM
> on Sundays)
>
> Counting all the different versions of the Spanish and Talk
> formats I think that's 14 formats in 7 years.
>
 
WHY SHOULD NOBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

Mike, please make up your mind. Above you buy into KK's drivel about the differences in the music on WAMS on WOGL, but down here you provide a directory of Wilmington market radio stations.

Reasons not care:
Hardly anybody else cares. Most people don't listen to any of those Wilmington radio stations. Two out of three listeners at any given time are listening to Philly (or rimshots). You also mention Trenton where three out of four listeners are listening to out of market radio.

Based on listener response (free market choice - the purest form of democracy) Wilmington has too many radio stations. On top of that, only two are doing anything approaching local content. The rest play satellite delivered programming or standardized formats. From a listener viewpoint, it doesn't matter whether they are in Wilmington or not.

I see no reason to root for Regular Joe and his "hobby station." It wasn't that long ago he dropped standards, then Gospel, now Oldies. All of which appear to be formats in which you have some interest. But he has done nothing to sell time or promote the station with any format. He finally has kept the station technically functional. But basically, he has been having a good time running this station into the ground (and it was never much of a station to begin with). But you used to root for the Hawkins', too, despite their mismanagement and treatment of employees. The reason why major group broadcasters have been successful in most (other) markets is because most people would rather listen to adequate radio than something incompetent but local, and local radio outside the major markets has generally been incompetent and horrible to listen to.

Except for a handful of radio hobbyists on this board (who lack the money to buy their own radio station to play with, so they post here instead), nobody is listening. Nobody knows about WAMS. Nobody cares. And the time for any music format on AM has long passed.

If this guy were serious about running his radio station, he'd pick up syndicated progressive talk or Radio One's Urban Talk; something unique that would generate some buzz (since he won't pay for billboards). Or take some of the also-ran talk hosts that will pay for clearances. Failing that, take brokered programming. Almost anything but what he's been doing.
 
Re: WHY SHOULD ANYBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

> Reasons to care:
>
> Wilmington area has 5 AM: (WDEL 1150, WAMS 1260 Newark DE,
> WWTX 1290,
> DELDOT 1380, and WILM 1450).


So what? It's a city that has access to millions of internet stations, satellite, and XM. IPOD availability. There not only stuck with just 5 AM 2 FM stations.
>
> 5 FM: WXHL 89.1 - Christiana DE (religious), WVUD 91.3
> Newark DE(college), WMPH 91.7 (highschool), WSTW 93.7, and
> WJBR 99.5.
>
> 1 rim shot AM: WFAI 1510 Salem (their studio may now be in
> Wilmington, but their towers and city of license are Salem).
>
>
> 5 rim shot FM: 89.9 WOEL Elkton (Religious), 101.7 WJKS
> Canton/Bridgeton (their studio may now be in Wilmington, but
> their tower is in Bridgeton and city of license is Canton
> NJ), 92.9 WDSD Smyrna, DE, and 94.7 The River,(their studio
> may now be in Wilmington, but their tower and city of
> license is Dover DE, and 103.7 WXCY Havre de Grace MD.

You think everone who owns a radio are DXer's. They can get more entertainment on Live 365 then what those stations provide.
>
> So the only commercial radio stations directly in the
> Wilmington area boils down to WDEL, WAMS, WWTX, WILM, WSTW,
> and WJBR (4AM 2FM). Not a lot of stations for a metro
> population of over 500,000. At this point two of those six
> hasn't been doing much (WAMS and WWTX) in terms of serving
> the area according to the 12+ numbers by their programming.
> So for those of you out of the Wilmington area, it may not
> be of interest, but to us radio folks here, yes it is of
> interest. Many of you from out of town (Wilmington) on this
> board will discuss 560 WFIL, 950 WPEN, 610 WIP, WNTP 990,
> and 1210 WPHT about their programming, etc, and how to
> revive their ratings, etc. Why is that different, because
> they are in your city of Philly. So as radio folks who are
> from or live there you find that of interest to you.
> Granted you don't care or have any interest in 1260 WAMS,
> especially as you can't pick it up on your radio any more
> than I have any interest in WBUD 1260 Trenton.
>

That's just as bad. Most people are living their lives not depending on rim shot or lower power AM stations that are becoming outdated for entertainment.


> As a radio person, I hate to hear about any radio station
> going silent. So when someone is trying to make a go of it
> and they are a regular "Joe" who's spending his own cash (vs
> the large mega corporations), yes I'll root for him. Even
> though I don't listen to Urban Gospel music I've rooted for
> his success as a Gospel station. Now he's going to air a
> format I do like, I'm even more inclined to root for his
> success.
>

Hey, get with it....it's the times. No one's monitoring these signals except a few of you.

> I believe all of us believe that the so called "Silver Days"
> of radio are gone and won't return any more than expecting
> to hear "The Shadow" or "Fibber McGee and Molly" and such
> programming on the radio.
>
> Whether or not I agree with how he's managed his station,
> etc, has nothing to do with my hopes that 1260 Newark,
> doesn't go silent. This owner has managed to get an
> improved signal for that station where as the two previous
> owners didn't have any success in doing so. Had the old
> WNRK had that signal who knows how the story might be
> different today. Same with 1380. Had the previous owner of
> the then WAMS 1380 had the signal today that DELDOT 1380
> has, that waste of a radio frequency (DELDOT radio) might
> not have happened and the old owner might have continued on
> with a real radio station serving this market or some other
> enterprising person may have bought 1380 and we'd all be
> discussing what it too could be doing to pull in more
> listeners, etc.

Your the only few that would jump off a bridge it went silent. Then I would read about it on the internet.


>
> So as they now seem to have a studio/tower near Christiana
> (near Newark) and are trying to make a go of it as an oldies
> station, darn right I'm excited and I hope he succeeds and
> that the next 12+ Wilmington ratings reflects this success.
> If it doesn't hopefully he'll continue to try, but at least
> he's trying with his own limited resources (money) to make a
> go of it in the quirky difficult business of radio.

I respect his effort....but there's alot people like you wondering what if or how to still keep the Expos in Montreal.


>
>
> > WAMS probably has more posts on this board than listeners.
>
> > And except for some nostalgia for the Silver Age of AM Top
>
> > 40 radio (the Golden Age was the era of Jack Benny and the
>
> > Lone Ranger), why should anybody care?
> >
> > OK, they've improved the signal. Now instead of a
> terrible
> > signal, they have an adequate signal (but still
> unlistenable
> > to all but radio fans over part of the Wilmington market).
>
> > And it's still an AM signal. The Wilmington Market
> already
> > has at least three FM Oldies stations (and probably any
> two
> > of them can be received at any given location in the
> market
> > area). This is a music station without local
> personalities.
> > What does it matter if this station is in Wilmington?
> And
> > why would anybody pick an AM station over an AM station
> > playing essentially the same music?
> >
> > WOGL 98.1 is the dominant Oldies station in Wilmington
> with
> > better numbers than ANY AM station, and in the top 10.
> The
> > next highest AM station (number 11) is WIP. We can expect
>
> > WAMS to do even worse against OGL (poor AM signal v FM)
> than
> > The Ticket does against WIP (decent local AM signal v out
> of
> > town AM signal).
> >
> > Wilmington has FM rim-shots that do OK in the market. Why
>
> > doesn't WLVT 92.1 do more in Wilmington? The answer is:
> Why
> > should they? Promotion in Wilmington costs money. Having
> a
> > sales force in Wilmington costs money. They are making a
> > profit in Cumberland County and that's a sure thing.
> > Wilmington would be an expensive crap shoot. Even so,
> 92.1
> > has gone from nobody listens to hardly anybody listens.
> > Their tiny audience is only significant as discussion
> fodder
> > on this board.
> >
> > The owner has demonstrated his inability to run a radio
> > station. Why should anybody be rooting for him now? Some
>
> > say he should promote the station. Promotion costs money
> > and so far he has not been able or willing to spend money.
>
> > Only one Wilmington radio station makes (or has made) any
> > consistent or meaningful effort to promote itself. (Yes,
> > THAT one!) So how is anybody, except for people on this
> > board, going to know this station even exists?
> >
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by apco25 on 01/30/06 07:20 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: WHY SHOULD ANYBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

I only take exception to one point you are making. What kind of radio are you using? When AM1260 was Gospel, it had a very listenable signal from The Philly Airport, Claymont through Wilmington (except at the I-95/I-295 split where the WWTX tower is), even New Castle (which is supposed to be nulled out) and on down to Middletown. And this on a standard 2003 Buick radio. Its even better on the standard issue Ford Windstar radio.

Since it has gone back to oldies the signal is not as strong and the audio is not good at all. But while it was Gospel, it was right up there with the WWTX signal.

> WAMS probably has more posts on this board than listeners.
> And except for some nostalgia for the Silver Age of AM Top
> 40 radio (the Golden Age was the era of Jack Benny and the
> Lone Ranger), why should anybody care?
>
> OK, they've improved the signal. Now instead of a terrible
> signal, they have an adequate signal (but still unlistenable
> to all but radio fans over part of the Wilmington market).
> And it's still an AM signal. The Wilmington Market already
> has at least three FM Oldies stations (and probably any two
> of them can be received at any given location in the market
> area). This is a music station without local personalities.
> What does it matter if this station is in Wilmington? And
> why would anybody pick an AM station over an AM station
> playing essentially the same music?
>
> WOGL 98.1 is the dominant Oldies station in Wilmington with
> better numbers than ANY AM station, and in the top 10. The
> next highest AM station (number 11) is WIP. We can expect
> WAMS to do even worse against OGL (poor AM signal v FM) than
> The Ticket does against WIP (decent local AM signal v out of
> town AM signal).
>
> Wilmington has FM rim-shots that do OK in the market. Why
> doesn't WLVT 92.1 do more in Wilmington? The answer is: Why
> should they? Promotion in Wilmington costs money. Having a
> sales force in Wilmington costs money. They are making a
> profit in Cumberland County and that's a sure thing.
> Wilmington would be an expensive crap shoot. Even so, 92.1
> has gone from nobody listens to hardly anybody listens.
> Their tiny audience is only significant as discussion fodder
> on this board.
>
> The owner has demonstrated his inability to run a radio
> station. Why should anybody be rooting for him now? Some
> say he should promote the station. Promotion costs money
> and so far he has not been able or willing to spend money.
> Only one Wilmington radio station makes (or has made) any
> consistent or meaningful effort to promote itself. (Yes,
> THAT one!) So how is anybody, except for people on this
> board, going to know this station even exists?
>
 
Re: WHY SHOULD ANYBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

Mike, you missed another rim shot. AM1550 in Elkton, the old WSER/WXHL-AM. It is now ESPN. And I believe Steve Hare sold it. I will not listen to any radio station that he owns.


> Reasons to care:
>
> Wilmington area has 5 AM: (WDEL 1150, WAMS 1260 Newark DE,
> WWTX 1290,
> DELDOT 1380, and WILM 1450).
>
> 5 FM: WXHL 89.1 - Christiana DE (religious), WVUD 91.3
> Newark DE(college), WMPH 91.7 (highschool), WSTW 93.7, and
> WJBR 99.5.
>
> 1 rim shot AM: WFAI 1510 Salem (their studio may now be in
> Wilmington, but their towers and city of license are Salem).
>
>
> 5 rim shot FM: 89.9 WOEL Elkton (Religious), 101.7 WJKS
> Canton/Bridgeton (their studio may now be in Wilmington, but
> their tower is in Bridgeton and city of license is Canton
> NJ), 92.9 WDSD Smyrna, DE, and 94.7 The River,(their studio
> may now be in Wilmington, but their tower and city of
> license is Dover DE, and 103.7 WXCY Havre de Grace MD.
>
> So the only commercial radio stations directly in the
> Wilmington area boils down to WDEL, WAMS, WWTX, WILM, WSTW,
> and WJBR (4AM 2FM). Not a lot of stations for a metro
> population of over 500,000. At this point two of those six
> hasn't been doing much (WAMS and WWTX) in terms of serving
> the area according to the 12+ numbers by their programming.
> So for those of you out of the Wilmington area, it may not
> be of interest, but to us radio folks here, yes it is of
> interest. Many of you from out of town (Wilmington) on this
> board will discuss 560 WFIL, 950 WPEN, 610 WIP, WNTP 990,
> and 1210 WPHT about their programming, etc, and how to
> revive their ratings, etc. Why is that different, because
> they are in your city of Philly. So as radio folks who are
> from or live there you find that of interest to you.
> Granted you don't care or have any interest in 1260 WAMS,
> especially as you can't pick it up on your radio any more
> than I have any interest in WBUD 1260 Trenton.
>
> As a radio person, I hate to hear about any radio station
> going silent. So when someone is trying to make a go of it
> and they are a regular "Joe" who's spending his own cash (vs
> the large mega corporations), yes I'll root for him. Even
> though I don't listen to Urban Gospel music I've rooted for
> his success as a Gospel station. Now he's going to air a
> format I do like, I'm even more inclined to root for his
> success.
>
> I believe all of us believe that the so called "Silver Days"
> of radio are gone and won't return any more than expecting
> to hear "The Shadow" or "Fibber McGee and Molly" and such
> programming on the radio.
>
> Whether or not I agree with how he's managed his station,
> etc, has nothing to do with my hopes that 1260 Newark,
> doesn't go silent. This owner has managed to get an
> improved signal for that station where as the two previous
> owners didn't have any success in doing so. Had the old
> WNRK had that signal who knows how the story might be
> different today. Same with 1380. Had the previous owner of
> the then WAMS 1380 had the signal today that DELDOT 1380
> has, that waste of a radio frequency (DELDOT radio) might
> not have happened and the old owner might have continued on
> with a real radio station serving this market or some other
> enterprising person may have bought 1380 and we'd all be
> discussing what it too could be doing to pull in more
> listeners, etc.
>
> So as they now seem to have a studio/tower near Christiana
> (near Newark) and are trying to make a go of it as an oldies
> station, darn right I'm excited and I hope he succeeds and
> that the next 12+ Wilmington ratings reflects this success.
> If it doesn't hopefully he'll continue to try, but at least
> he's trying with his own limited resources (money) to make a
> go of it in the quirky difficult business of radio.
>
>
> > WAMS probably has more posts on this board than listeners.
>
> > And except for some nostalgia for the Silver Age of AM Top
>
> > 40 radio (the Golden Age was the era of Jack Benny and the
>
> > Lone Ranger), why should anybody care?
> >
> > OK, they've improved the signal. Now instead of a
> terrible
> > signal, they have an adequate signal (but still
> unlistenable
> > to all but radio fans over part of the Wilmington market).
>
> > And it's still an AM signal. The Wilmington Market
> already
> > has at least three FM Oldies stations (and probably any
> two
> > of them can be received at any given location in the
> market
> > area). This is a music station without local
> personalities.
> > What does it matter if this station is in Wilmington?
> And
> > why would anybody pick an AM station over an AM station
> > playing essentially the same music?
> >
> > WOGL 98.1 is the dominant Oldies station in Wilmington
> with
> > better numbers than ANY AM station, and in the top 10.
> The
> > next highest AM station (number 11) is WIP. We can expect
>
> > WAMS to do even worse against OGL (poor AM signal v FM)
> than
> > The Ticket does against WIP (decent local AM signal v out
> of
> > town AM signal).
> >
> > Wilmington has FM rim-shots that do OK in the market. Why
>
> > doesn't WLVT 92.1 do more in Wilmington? The answer is:
> Why
> > should they? Promotion in Wilmington costs money. Having
> a
> > sales force in Wilmington costs money. They are making a
> > profit in Cumberland County and that's a sure thing.
> > Wilmington would be an expensive crap shoot. Even so,
> 92.1
> > has gone from nobody listens to hardly anybody listens.
> > Their tiny audience is only significant as discussion
> fodder
> > on this board.
> >
> > The owner has demonstrated his inability to run a radio
> > station. Why should anybody be rooting for him now? Some
>
> > say he should promote the station. Promotion costs money
> > and so far he has not been able or willing to spend money.
>
> > Only one Wilmington radio station makes (or has made) any
> > consistent or meaningful effort to promote itself. (Yes,
> > THAT one!) So how is anybody, except for people on this
> > board, going to know this station even exists?
> >
>
 
Re: WHY SHOULD NOBODY CARE ABOUT WAMS?

That GUY never broadcast standards. The standards stopped in early 1993, at which time the listeners left. Then after a time, the oldies started. The station died in 2001. That GUY bought it, thinking he could bring a dead radio station back to life not only bring 1260 back but using call letters that had been dead for nearly 10 years). The last time I checked my Bible, only Jesus and Lazarus are named as actually rising from the dead. Radio stations don't!

> Mike, please make up your mind. Above you buy into KK's
> drivel about the differences in the music on WAMS on WOGL,
> but down here you provide a directory of Wilmington market
> radio stations.
>
> Reasons not care:
> Hardly anybody else cares. Most people don't listen to any
> of those Wilmington radio stations. Two out of three
> listeners at any given time are listening to Philly (or
> rimshots). You also mention Trenton where three out of four
> listeners are listening to out of market radio.
>
> Based on listener response (free market choice - the purest
> form of democracy) Wilmington has too many radio stations.
> On top of that, only two are doing anything approaching
> local content. The rest play satellite delivered
> programming or standardized formats. From a listener
> viewpoint, it doesn't matter whether they are in Wilmington
> or not.
>
> I see no reason to root for Regular Joe and his "hobby
> station." It wasn't that long ago he dropped standards,
> then Gospel, now Oldies. All of which appear to be formats
> in which you have some interest. But he has done nothing to
> sell time or promote the station with any format. He
> finally has kept the station technically functional. But
> basically, he has been having a good time running this
> station into the ground (and it was never much of a station
> to begin with). But you used to root for the Hawkins', too,
> despite their mismanagement and treatment of employees. The
> reason why major group broadcasters have been successful in
> most (other) markets is because most people would rather
> listen to adequate radio than something incompetent but
> local, and local radio outside the major markets has
> generally been incompetent and horrible to listen to.
>
> Except for a handful of radio hobbyists on this board (who
> lack the money to buy their own radio station to play with,
> so they post here instead), nobody is listening. Nobody
> knows about WAMS. Nobody cares. And the time for any music
> format on AM has long passed.
>
> If this guy were serious about running his radio station,
> he'd pick up syndicated progressive talk or Radio One's
> Urban Talk; something unique that would generate some buzz
> (since he won't pay for billboards). Or take some of the
> also-ran talk hosts that will pay for clearances. Failing
> that, take brokered programming. Almost anything but what
> he's been doing.
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Jim_Hicks on 01/30/06 12:22 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom