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1550 Returns to the air this Saturday 3/19

R

rcs

1550 khz, Radio Disney's old frequency in Bloomfield which has been silent since late last year will be coming back to life Sat, 3/19 under new owners Blount Communications. The station will sign on for the first time at 0830 Saturday with the call letters WSDK and a "Life Changing Radio" moto and religious format. Blount owns several other stations in New England including WFIF in Milford, CT. I put the new studios together for WSDK right across the hall from where Radio Disney used to be in Manchester. The new guys are true broadcasters and the station will be doing a good amount of local programming as time goes on.

For you history buffs, the 1550 has had the following call letters since it first went on in the early sixties: WEXT, WMLB, WGAB, WLVX, WRDM and WDZK. More 1550 history here: http://www.hartfordradiohistory.com/WSDK__WEXT_.html
 
rcs said:
Blount owns several other stations in New England including WFIF in Milford, CT. I put the new studios together for WSDK right across the hall from where Radio Disney used to be in Manchester. The new guys are true broadcasters and the station will be doing a good amount of local programming as time goes on.
Click to expand...

One could only hope for more local programming. A quick review of the site for WFIF shows only a fraction of local programming. It seems more and more stations are losing focus on their communities as they focus more on the bottom line.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
rcs said:
Blount owns several other stations in New England including WFIF in Milford, CT. I put the new studios together for WSDK right across the hall from where Radio Disney used to be in Manchester. The new guys are true broadcasters and the station will be doing a good amount of local programming as time goes on.
Click to expand...

One could only hope for more local programming. A quick review of the site for WFIF shows only a fraction of local programming. It seems more and more stations are losing focus on their communities as they focus more on the bottom line.
Click to expand...

It's a proselytizing Christian broadcaster. What difference does it make if the voice trying to convert you to its particular brand of religion (and possibly send in a "goodwill donation," the bigger the better) is from Manchester, Milford, Milwaukee or Manila?
 
CTListener said:
Bill DeFelice said:
One could only hope for more local programming. A quick review of the site for WFIF shows only a fraction of local programming. It seems more and more stations are losing focus on their communities as they focus more on the bottom line.
Click to expand...

It's a proselytizing Christian broadcaster. What difference does it make if the voice trying to convert you to its particular brand of religion (and possibly send in a "goodwill donation," the bigger the better) is from Manchester, Milford, Milwaukee or Manila?
Click to expand...

I think you missed the point. A local broadcaster should be required to serve their local community in some small way instead of non-stop syndicated programming. Funny how stations used to be licensed "... in the public interest" instead of somebody just there looking to shuck another buck.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
CTListener said:
Bill DeFelice said:
One could only hope for more local programming. A quick review of the site for WFIF shows only a fraction of local programming. It seems more and more stations are losing focus on their communities as they focus more on the bottom line.
Click to expand...

It's a proselytizing Christian broadcaster. What difference does it make if the voice trying to convert you to its particular brand of religion (and possibly send in a "goodwill donation," the bigger the better) is from Manchester, Milford, Milwaukee or Manila?
Click to expand...

I think you missed the point. A local broadcaster should be required to serve their local community in some small way instead of non-stop syndicated programming. Funny how stations used to be licensed "... in the public interest" instead of somebody just there looking to shuck another buck.
Click to expand...

If the station runs local news and talk, or even local high school sports, then yes it's serving the community. But if it merely brings Pastor Jones from the East Hartford Holy Roller Church into the studio to do a live preaching show rather than run Pastor Smith from the Fort Worth Holy Roller Church off the satellite, what's the difference? The poster said there'll be local programming; I just hope it's something more than a local voice saying the same things you can hear from thousands of other non-local voices. There's nothing at all local about a local preaching program except the mailing address you send the donations to.

Oh, and a very weak signal in Wallingford, barely above the noise level.
 
Interesting about the weak signal reports. The station came on with full, day power this morning. I did hear a good amount of critial hour(s) propagation on the channel prior to turning the transmitter on which is par for the course this time of year.

The day pattern protects 1560 in NYC so it it pulled in a bit to the south. Thankfully the main lobe shoots right over Hartford.

The signal is getting out great to the north . . . after signing it on I drove up to Brattleboro, VT and heard the signal on my Honda's stock radio until just past Greenfield, MA!

We will continue to evaulate the signal and would appreciate additional reports, especially from people who used to listen to Radio Disney and are familiar with the signal.
 
CTListener said:
If the station runs local news and talk, or even local high school sports, then yes it's serving the community. But if it merely brings Pastor Jones from the East Hartford Holy Roller Church into the studio to do a live preaching show rather than run Pastor Smith from the Fort Worth Holy Roller Church off the satellite, what's the difference? The poster said there'll be local programming; I just hope it's something more than a local voice saying the same things you can hear from thousands of other non-local voices. There's nothing at all local about a local preaching program except the mailing address you send the donations to.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I meant. I really didn't mean it in the context that "local XYZ church" was on in place of "Pastor 123" from East Tumbleweed, Colorado, but really local community focused programming. Does anybody need yet another satcaster?
 
Well I just moved my AM antenna around some to check for 1550's signal and still, virtually nothing. In fact, even WDRC-AM 1360 is only so-so at best in my part of New Britain.
 
Maybe you should've shelled out the 500 Gs to buy the place. There's not much to do with an AM station. Especially a station at the high-end of the dial that's 5KW day and 2.4 KW at nite. Radio Disney was the longest lasting format on 1550 in years. It was on 1997-2010, which was 13 years. Previous formats included Country Western, Talk, Spanish Christian, Spanish, Spanish/Italian (They were Spanish/Italian before Hibernia bought the place and flipped it to Disney. Hibernia was later bought outright by Disney).
 
If I had the 500G's I would have. There are now three religious stations in the market, (WSDK, WCTF and WIOF. Add WACE in Chicopee, Mass, whose signal booms from Greenfield to Hartford daytime,and you get four). I saw WSDK's lineup and it is full of political/religious hucksters such as Jay Sekulow, Hugh Hewitt, Janet Parshall, "DR" Dobson and Chuck Swindoll. I'm surprise that Chuck Colson isn't on the station. I'm not sure how many times you can hear the world is coming to an end and send us money or else??? Can this area support four religious stations?? I doubt it,but you know about fools and their money!! Hartford is fast becoming the dregs of the radio world.

BTW, as for the signal, I live north of Hartford and last night, the signal was decent,although at times, was getting stepped on by both 1540 and 1560 which is expected. The daytime signal is adequate.
 
progressivetalk said:
If I had the 500G's I would have. There are now three religious stations in the market, (WSDK, WCTF and WIOF. Add WACE in Chicopee, Mass, whose signal booms from Greenfield to Hartford daytime,and you get four). I saw WSDK's lineup and it is full of political/religious hucksters such as Jay Sekulow, Hugh Hewitt, Janet Parshall, "DR" Dobson and Chuck Swindoll. I'm surprise that Chuck Colson isn't on the station. I'm not sure how many times you can hear the world is coming to an end and send us money or else??? Can this area support four religious stations?? I doubt it,but you know about fools and their money!! Hartford is fast becoming the dregs of the radio world.

BTW, as for the signal, I live north of Hartford and last night, the signal was decent,although at times, was getting stepped on by both 1540 and 1560 which is expected. The daytime signal is adequate.
Click to expand...

You mean WFIF.anyway I.m glad the station is back on the air.also its not big corp radio and local.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
One could only hope for more local programming. A quick review of the site for WFIF shows only a fraction of local programming. It seems more and more stations are losing focus on their communities as they focus more on the bottom line.
Click to expand...

There's gonna be at least 10 hours a week of local programming. I heard a promo during Focus on the Family today for a local morning show hosted by Al Kim and including local news, weather, and traffic reports airing Monday-Friday 6AM-8AM.

WPPCProductions said:
You mean WFIF.anyway I.m glad the station is back on the air.also its not big corp radio and local.
Click to expand...

Actually he means 104.9 WIHS. WFIF is a New Haven market station. And I can't believe he has the gall to count WCTF as a Hartford market station. They're a 1KW daytimer Northeast of Hartford.
 
MarcB said:
And I can't believe he has the gall to count WCTF as a Hartford market station. They're a 1KW daytimer Northeast of Hartford.
Click to expand...

True, but WCTF is highly directional to the southwest, with a serious portion of Hartford within it's 2 mV/m contour.
 
While it is true that Vernon/Rockville is actually in Tolland County, its signal is quite strong (relatively speaking), but directional where I live in the Windsor Locks area and through most of Northern/Central Hartford County, thus being included by me as a Hartford area station. WFIF is in Milford and too far away. Took a walk tonight and brought a small pocket radio with me and WSDK's signal did come decently but its daytime signal is not as strong as when they tested the signal last month.
 
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