Albany Radio Predictions for 2012

[danikayser84]

Made a thread a while ago, with early predictions for late 2011 and 2012... now that we're actually close enough to 2012, here goes...

- Who will go Christmas in 2011 in Albany? B95.5, Star 101.3, 99.5 the River, someone else? I'm starting to doubt WTRY going Christmas this year, especially with new competition in WPTR... Pamal made a mistake by flipping WROW instead of WYJB last year, at least IMO
- With cuts in Clear Channel, expect any changes at any of their stations? Crawford's WPTR might gain some share due to WTRY maybe going Christmas and automated/syndicated, and WKKF might tweak towards a different direction (Adult CHR perhaps?)... stations like PYX and River might add more syndicated/automation?
- What about Townsquare? Which flavor of CHR does Crush 105.7 end up with, Rhythmic, Urban, Mainstream? Rhythmic/Urban would make sense to go after Jamz and fill the void for a second Rhythmic... not expecting any changes at Q for now (maybe dropping FBHW as rumored), and GNA and ESPN/104.5 are pretty safe
- What kind of changes are to be expected at Pamal? I'd expect Jamz, and the new Rock 100.9 to stay the same for now, but with all the rumored changes at Fly and B95, could B95 actually be heading towards a more Hot AC direction? Of course, they can't be too close to Fly in terms of playlist Maybe 104.9 spins their wheel of formats again? Who knows...
- As for WDDY 1460, who might buy that station? Crawford or Anastos seem like great choices to buy the signal from ABC, especially if the latter puts True Oldies on it (or maybe The Touch? I don't know which one would work better on that signal); but of course, don't rule out the possibility of an ethnic or religious broadcaster buying the signal
- Could WVCR or WRPI be a target of a buyout by some NPR network? It's a sad but true trend for college radio stations...

 

[radio101]

if anyone goes christmas it's B95.5 or Crush FM, Star 101.3 could also but 99.5 the River is doing good enough I don't think they need to. WTRY and WPTR will stay the same since there in competiton I love WPTR they do more songs in 1 hour with less talk however they don't make enough money to hire air personality's locally, all there on air personality's are from rochester and there voicetracked via WLGZ-FM Legends 102.7 and coverted over to Legends 96.7 WPTR so don crawford is saving money with no active DJ's in the albany area, less advertisers no promoting done, I got interviewed for a part time on-air position by don crawford he hates spending money they used to have 1 local on-air host from albany but she left. this might be a disadvantage, but this could be why there liked because they play more music less talk. but WTRY does promote they have an advantage because they hate doing voice track, my opinion live is much better then recorded.

Most radio stations these days voice track with all the new computer technology being live on-air is almost the thing of the past kinda scary. it's sometimes hard to tell if someone is live or not. but if they do contests they must be live at all times.

most commercial radio stations save money by hiring less DJ's or using there sister stations to do voicetracking for each other. radio world is changing Rapidly

 

[radio101]

I think cidatel or cumulus broadcasting should target albany as well like like they do in the surrounding areas of nyc and mass, lower hudson valley. I mean at least have 1 or 2 stations in this market area. We only have like 5 companies right?

clear channel,TSM, Albany Broadcasting, DJRA, Anastos Media

 

[Channel Surf]

WTRY is only live weekday mornings. Mid-days and afternoons are voice tracked...Evenings are syndicated....and overnights are Premium Choice repeater radio.....

if anyone goes christmas it's B95.5 or Crush FM, Star 101.3 could also but 99.5 the River is doing good enough I don't think they need to. WTRY and WPTR will stay the same since there in competiton I love WPTR they do more songs in 1 hour with less talk however they don't make enough money to hire air personality's locally, all there on air personality's are from rochester and there voicetracked via WLGZ-FM Legends 102.7 and coverted over to Legends 96.7 WPTR so don crawford is saving money with no active DJ's in the albany area, less advertisers no promoting done, I got interviewed for a part time on-air position by don crawford he hates spending money they used to have 1 local on-air host from albany but she left. this might be a disadvantage, but this could be why there liked because they play more music less talk. but WTRY does promote they have an advantage because they hate doing voice track, my opinion live is much better then recorded.

Most radio stations these days voice track with all the new computer technology being live on-air is almost the thing of the past kinda scary. it's sometimes hard to tell if someone is live or not. but if they do contests they must be live at all times.

most commercial radio stations save money by hiring less DJ's or using there sister stations to do voicetracking for each other. radio world is changing Rapidly

 

[radio101]

that's what i thought channel surf but still I Think WTRY AND WPTR will battle it out

 

[AMonFM]

Reply & rants

Cumulus/citadel in Albany? Why? Are you craving more homogenized corporate radio? Silliest thing I've ever heard.

Crawford doesn't like to spend money because his stations barely make any in the first place. Honestly, DJRA/Crawford would only do this area a favor by selling and moving on. Legends is OK - but listening to jocks piped in from Colorado and western NY mispronouncing local names and having no local connection is not a public service. Then again, I could say the same about CC but at least they have local programming & staff as well. Just think about how 1540 would flourish in Vandenberg's hands. Crawford's Albany stations are a classic example of 'you get out of your business what you put into it'. Not 1-10th the effort or resources was ever put into Albany like their holdings in ROC or BUF.

Dear WGY,
First off, your traffic report sounder sucks balls. Yes, the new one. Seriously, who picked that? lol I find it hard to believe that with the vast resources of the almighty Clear Channel at your fingertips, the imaging of WGY winds up sounding so ... um, small market. The liners are laughable (as in really really bad), no ID jingle, nothing upbeat or fun at all. It's just all so frikkin blah and depressing. FM only makes it blah and depressing on another frequency. Note to WGY's PD & GM: Take a lesson... sit down and listen to KFI sometime. They know what they're doing. Cripes, even WWVA sounds more modern, and they're down in sister-wife country!

Crush 105.7 - yet another female-centric format goes swirling down the radio toilet. Sorry, but the nostalgic value of 90s pop music is just limited to too small a demo, and it fatigue's too easily. 105.7 is an urban signal... good choice for a true urban format targeted toward blacks (not suburban whites). That of course would mean hiring someone from out of the area to come in, since the locals have no clue how to do it properly.

If B95.5 were to move toward Hot-AC, then i could logically see a Light AC format returning to fill the void for those who hate the auto-tune clicktrack noise that passes as pop music these days. Since Rock 100.9 seems a bit redundant, perhaps a resurrection of K-Lite would be possible? (I still think sending Magic to 590 was a huge faux pas that alienated many a listener. Bringing back K-Lite - only if 95.5 goes uptempo - could certainly be redeeming). And don't throw money in as an excuse not to.. as AB is already saturated with those annoying-as-hell Kooky for Suzuki ads that make zero cash for AB now anyway. All that being said... a Hot AC format would only compete with another equivalent station (which really there isnt one here), or CHR, which i don't think AB would want since FLY92 is in the house. Then again, B95 cant hold a morning show for more than a few years at best, which is actually rare for such a heritage station. Goes to show how badly AB is managed. Car dealers should stick to selling cars.

Oy - why bother with predictions? It's just gonna be more suckage week after week. Thank the good lord for the independent broadcasters, the interwebs and Sirius.

 

[disney fanatic]

Re: Reply & rants

Crush 105.7 - yet another female-centric format goes swirling down the radio toilet. Sorry, but the nostalgic value of 90s pop music is just limited to too small a demo, and it fatigue's too easily. 105.7 is an urban signal... good choice for a true urban format targeted toward blacks (not suburban whites). That of course would mean hiring someone from out of the area to come in, since the locals have no clue how to do it properly.

Thanks for the info, and you're right! "Crush-FM" at 105.7 goes down the radio toilet, you know why, if I'm living in Kingston and if you are in the Catskill, Hudson, Red Hook areas, it is continue to interfere with WKZE's translator at 105.9 in Red Hook which is W290BZ and it is 2 kcs down from 105.7. That is a dumbest move in radio history. WQSH had a good signal reaching towards Kingston in the first two months of 2011, but when WKZE moved its W290BZ's translator in Red Hook from 99.1 to 105.9, it gets splattered by "Crush-FM". It's a waste! I hope maybe the FCC would get rid of WKZE's translator and keep it off the air if my predictions will be in the next year.

 

[radio101]

from what I am hearing Crush Fm will not change it's format but Terry might tweak it a bit to add more of a variety in Music. The "All New" saying will end by next year, I totally forgot that this station began on january 3, 2011 not even a year old yet.

as far as the on-air hosts not sure who is coming and going but they will be adding new on-air personality's slowly through the new year.

 

[radio101]

too replace ellen Rockwell's spot but not sure who will leave next or stay this is yet to be seen will have to wait and see

 

[Johnny_45]

Nothing new under the sun!

The same old arguments, cutbacks and cheap shots we've been seeing on this board year after year. Nobody cares who starts Christmas music when anymore. Even the Clear Channel cuts, an old dead topic, has come back to haunt us in time for Halloween!

The Albany Commercial Radio Market has been, is and will be, boring and broken! Somebody did say something interesting: imagine talk1300 on 1540 - now THAT would shake things up!

 

[radeoduude]

No way no how cc doesn't flip WTRY to all Xmas....must a matter of when...

 

[radio101]

ok radeoduude clear channel is cutting back big time it seems so the only people left is the morning show john and jamie? as you stated John Gabriel walked out on his own or was he forced out?

 

[radio101]

ok now iam hearing he was laid off because of the budget cuts

 

[radio101]

well jamie is the only person left on the morning show will they get a replacement or no i wonder? John was the PD , there not getting rid of morning shows too are they at clear channel?

 

[radeoduude]

I think that John cooper is technically the pd, not John Gabrriel. Should give Jamie a listen in the morning and see how she holds up. Strictly dollars here, no sense.

 

[radio101]

john cooper oh ok will he be next? it's funny i didn't hear anything about morning show layoffs at clear channel, but i see a trend here from alot of radio station companies using only 1 morning show host , now that john gabriel is gone

elvis duran is by himself at kiss

the river has 2 hosts on there morning show?

pyx only has the wolf

ok so clear channel is cutting down to 1 morning show host , cutting back there traffic and some production.

will they layoff some PD's next though ????

 

[radio101]

Clear Channel has laid off other pd's in other states I am wondering if clear channel will still layoff pd's here in this market.... more layoffs to come I am sure the wonders of radio land.

 

[danikayser84]

What about WRVE's format? I'm hoping it doesn't become yet another cookie-cutter AC or Adult CHR as their take on the Hot AC format is quite unique, at least IMO

 

[radeoduude]

Hot ac? Not sure that's what Id call it. Music is ok but the packaging isnprettynsimilar to river stations across the country. John cooper should be ok. I think he was just given a regional job wasn't he?

 

[Interlocutor]

1540 WDCD becomes a Dial Global Classic Country affiliate. The station shows up solidly in the ratings after making the switch. Mornings and Afternoon Drive are live and local.
1460 WDDY is sold and features the True Oldies Channel. Prior to the sale/change, Chartok tries to buy it, but the FCC says " BASTA !"
980 WOFX becomes a locally programmed Adult Standards Station.
Someone, somewhere decides that a "motivational" radio format deserves a chance. The format is locally programmed and attracts an audience.
590 WROW taylors the echo so that it is only on the studio microphone, not every element. They also reduce the level of the echo, and jettison the weekend talk programming to focus on their core format.
100.9 decides after doing a "Jack FM" Style format and a Rock format in a market littered with Rock stations, to compete directly with 99.5 as a Hot A/C. It hires known local talent and goes full tilt.
560 goes dark, again. No one misses it, from it's most recent incarnation.