Alt 92.3 to Become WINS Simulcast

[AceBiscuits]

Think about the FM dial in NYC. We have News on 92.3, sports on 98.7 and 101.9, we have Christian Contemporary on 95.5, 96.7, and 99.1. K-Love is buying out stations left and right on the FM dial.

So what? The majority of the stations on the FM band are music. The top performing stations in the city are music stations. What point are you trying to make?

P.S. 99.1 is not owned by EMF, and is a rimshot at best. Its signal is barely listenable in the city.

 

[CassChopper96]

This has been discussed for many, many years that 92.3 would be the one to do it, even before 94.7 was in the picture. Again, this move was not surprising that it happened, but it was the fact it was happening now and not years down the road.

I seen many people say than Alt 92.3 was safe. The NYC radio markets sucks though

 

[AceBiscuits]

What *does* surprise me, though, is the fact Audacy successfully kept this change under wraps. To the best of my knowledge, there was literally no rumor mill that such a change was imminent until the official announcement was actually made!

When they fired Cane & Corey, the duo posted a podcast saying that management (alluding to Kaplan) was threatening that they'd put "the news station" on 92.3 if ratings did not improve. So there was an inkling, but again, a matter of when not if.

 

[AceBiscuits]

I seen many people say than Alt 92.3 was safe. The NYC radio markets sucks though

It was safe in the prospect that many did not expect Audacy to give up on music on 92.3, and wanted to keep the separate revenue stream. They have exhausted the possible formats that they could've went with, and even if they stuck out with the status quo, the pressure from upper management was to bring more all-news to the FM side.

 

[TheBigA]

What *does* surprise me, though, is the fact Audacy successfully kept this change under wraps. To the best of my knowledge, there was literally no rumor mill that such a change was imminent until the official announcement was actually made!

The hint was the retirement of the WCBS News Director, who mentioned the new union deal that combined the staffs. Once that was done, this became easier to accomplish.

 

[NYRadioFan22]

That’s exactly what happened with KYW 1060 in Philadrlphia. They updated the jingle to only refer to 103.9 FM, for a while they mentioned both AM and FM frequencies but I don’t remember the last time I heard a reference to 1060 AM except during legal station ID. Guess they realize any long term listener doesn’t need to reminded of AM frequency. Exception is t

Think about the FM dial in NYC. We have News on 92.3, sports on 98.7 and 101.9, we have Christian Contemporary on 95.5, 96.7, and 99.1. K-Love is buying out stations left and right on the FM dial.

I'll be switching to 105.5 WDHA

 

[CTListener]

I seen many people say than Alt 92.3 was safe. The NYC radio markets sucks though

The city itself is "majority minority" or nearly so. Millions of people who have never listened to or will ever listen to rock.

 

[Loverofradio]

I feel bad for the man 92.3 just hired from New Orleans to program the station. After a few months, now he’s out of a job? For a format that only attracts those with aarp cards?

 

[AceBiscuits]

I feel bad for the man 92.3 just hired from New Orleans to program the station. After a few months, now he’s out of a job? For a format that only attracts those with aarp cards?

Howard Stern was hired at a rock station early in his career, and then it flipped to country not long after. Welcome to the radio business.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

This has been discussed for many, many years that 92.3 would be the one to do it, even before 94.7 was in the picture. Again, this move was not surprising that it happened, but it was the fact it was happening now and not years down the road.

If Audacy intends to continue both news brands in New York then 94.7 will nave to be next. Leaving one on AM while the other gets that massive FM advantage will ensure a steep and fast decline in tuning to 880.

 

[TheBigA]

If Audacy intends to continue both news brands in New York then 94.7 will nave to be next. Leaving one on AM while the other gets that massive FM advantage will ensure a steep and fast decline in tuning to 880.

They've already addressed this when they said they are combining news staffs of the two AMs.

 

[AceBiscuits]

If Audacy intends to continue both news brands in New York then 94.7 will nave to be next. Leaving one on AM while the other gets that massive FM advantage will ensure a steep and fast decline in tuning to 880.

My hot take is that they don't need to, and that we are reaching a point where two all-newsers, on FM or otherwise, is not viable. The audience just isn't nere. WCBS is the weaker product and was already showing signs of decline, even on AM. Consolidating the resources of the two stems the bleeding, but in the long term, it's clear that putting the resources towards WINS is the smarter move.

 

[CassChopper96]

The city itself is "majority minority" or nearly so. Millions of people who have never listened to or will ever listen to rock.

That's not always true. LA and Chicago has multiple rock stations that do well.

 

[AceBiscuits]

That's not always true. LA and Chicago has multiple rock stations that do well

And what works in one market does not necessarily work in another. You've been here a while, you should know this by now.

 

[atthestars]

That's not always true. LA and Chicago has multiple rock stations that do well.

Define "well."

Getting by? Sure. Ratings & revenue juggernauts? Nah.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

They've already addressed this when they said they are combining news staffs of the two AMs.

I would not be surprised to see 880 evolve into more of a News-Talk format like a KMOX. Audacy has a few of those stations that take a more centrist approach to N/T than the usual hard-right WOR, WABC and Salem-type stations, and it could be a good fit in the more liberal-leaning NYC.

880 already has a very personality driven morning show, longer form features, (the poor) Mets and an established heritage brand. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to gradually start adding some long form talk to distinguish the station from all news and give it a unique reason to exist when WINS will have the FM signal advantage for all news.

The other possibility is obviously sports betting. If they must, I think it would be a better flip for 660 which has the sports heritage but who knows?

 

[tvk5195]

What's ironic is the other day (before learning about the format change) I was listening to Alt 92.3 on the way to a concert in Asbury Park. I thought about how I enjoyed the station but it was odd in a city like NYC. Sure, I like the station, but I'm from a rural area of Pennsylvania. My friend from NYC and I are polar opposites. If figured if I liked Alt 92.3, most of NYC probably did not.

 

[Marcos_C]

I would not be surprised to see 880 evolve into more of a News-Talk format like a KMOX. Audacy has a few of those stations that take a more centrist approach to N/T than the usual hard-right WOR, WABC and Salem-type stations, and it could be a good fit in the more liberal-leaning NYC.

880 already has a very personality driven morning show, longer form features, (the poor) Mets and an established heritage brand. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to gradually start adding some long form talk to distinguish the station from all news and give it a unique reason to exist when WINS will have the FM signal advantage for all news.

The other possibility is obviously sports betting. If they must, I think it would be a better flip for 660 which has the sports heritage but who knows?

WEVD, WLIB, and WWRL tried the liberal news/talk format, and it didn't work for any of them.

 

[radiodx10]

Okay, here's my $.02.

Having at least one all-news outlet on FM is a great move for a market as large as NYC. WNYC 93.9 offers NPR, which is slightly different than all-news. Putting WINS on 92.3 is a great decision even though I personally like Alt Rock, but the alt that 92.3 played wasn't exactly the mix I like. I'm more of a classic alt guy.

EDIT: Since I'm originally from Philly, I grew up listening to Radio (now ALT) 104.5, which has been alternative rock since 2008. It's got an established audience, very loyal to the station. It's not a ratings powerhouse, but it remains alt rock I think because Philly's more kind to rock formats and most everyone my age (mid 20s) knows alt rock is on 104.5. I have to imagine that ALT 92.3 didn't have the legacy of being the alt rock outlet for New York.

But here's what does make me confused. New York is literally the birthplace of punk rock. CBGBs for christ sake. Rock, and especially alt rock, have a long and fruitful history in this city. I'm guessing not big enough though to sustain a major-market outlet for it. College stations cover that well enough.

Additional edit: I guess one strategy moving forward for WCBS 88 is they could do top of hour news from "our sister station WINS" and then move on to longer-form segments and talk shows. Get their breaking news from WINS, too. Something like that maybe?

 

[TheBigA]

I would not be surprised to see 880 evolve into more of a News-Talk format like a KMOX.

As I said earlier in this thread, the relationship with The Mets is my indication of the future of this station. But sure, Audacy has several news/talkers that are successful (WBEN Buffalo) but a few that aren't (WPHT). So they could go either way.