"AM Radio, What's That?" Moving talk AM signals to FM

[raccoonradio]

In another thread about WRKO I mentioned how WGY is now simulcasting on FM 103.1 in the Albany area. We are seeing some talk stations in our area (Worc., Prov) simulcasting on FM, too and I guessed whether or not WRKO, WEEI, or WBZ would simulcast on FM (in Boston area; yup I know
about that station in Westerly). And yes, WEEI and WBZ _are_ available on HD radio, for the few
who own them...and if you can get the signal longer than one minute. (But hey, that was at my workplace. Maybe it's not that bad overall.)

That may never happen (esp on WBZ which is VERY powerful) but the webpage about WGY's action has an interesting sentence or two:

http://www.wgy.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=312698&article=7614384

>>Despite the huge audience we currently enjoy, the fact is a significant portion of the Capital Region audience never thinks to visit the AM dial...We know there are thousands of potential listeners who will be hungry for our stimulating talk shows..."

Never thinks to visit the AM dial? Horrors-- "AM Radio, what's THAT???" Maybe the young
certainly wouldn't think (and I don't mean the kiddos who listen to Radio Disney, maybe slightly
OLDER people) to visit AM--but since they happen to be perusing the FM dial, maybe they will
stumble across talk and like it. This has happened to WTKK--which does do half decently. Some
people might stumble across 96.9 and start getting into it.

Now as I said in the other thread, Entercom and CBS probably wouldn't flip one of their FMs to
talk or sports talk (CBS of course _does_ have sports talk on FM!) and I can't see WBZ doing that with their news/talk given just how powerful 1030 is. But you wonder.

--"No static, no static at all". No losing the signal when you go under an overpass. No
interference making WRKO unlistenable nr Centennial Drive in Peabody.

--People who have mp3 players with radios; to the best of my knowldge all or most have
_FM only_. Listen to your tunes, then switch to a talk or sports talk FM (and again, we DO
have the latter with BZ-FM)

Now, if Entercom somehow got a good-signal-but-so-so ratings FM somehow like WBOS,
_then_ you could see WRKO or WEEI landing there, but I kind of doubt they can pick up
another FM. (Though Entercom DID get WKAF not all that long ago)

It may not happen in Boston but the sentence about people who wouldn't think of
checking out the AM dial...Hmm.

Insert "there's too much talk on FM already! FM should be for music!" comments here. I'm not necessarily advocating talk moving to FM, just pointing out it could eventually happen.

Howie Radio 93.7 (and Mike 97.7)- Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?

 

[raccoonradio]

I will add that WGY's page does stress that their WGY signal is huge and they are successful so it's not like they're a dinky AM station with signal problems, etc. They're trying to make it even bigger.

 

[TheBigA]

Insert "there's too much talk on FM already! FM should be for music!" comments here.

My view on that is the public will decide. Right now, it seems as though a growing segment of the audience wants to get their music from places that give them more choice in terms of personalization, hearing their favorite songs when they want, without commercials. I think we're seeing that some formats, like rock and alternative, are not doing well. I think more formats will struggle, in terms of audience size or demographics. They will be replaced by talk formats.

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Talk on FM? Not the "highest and best use" of the medium...

 

[raccoonradio]

But if people shun AM either because they don't think to try the AM dial once in awhile ("oh there's nothing but religious and ethnic stations on there") or interference issues, then maybe broadcasters think, hey, if FM talk can work, we'll try it.

Scenario:
Imagine Greater Media still owns 1150 (they used to, right?) They have smooth jazz on 96.9, crappy ratings, and decide to start
"WTKK AM 1150" with talk--Severin, etc.. What kind of ratings do they get on 1150?...vs. what they DO have with 96.9?
Not that 96.9 is a huge success but it can do OK.
1150's signal is not the best. But 96.9 does well in that respect.

 

[TheBigA]

Talk on FM? Not the "highest and best use" of the medium...

That's subjective. I'm sure there are those in Congress and the FCC who would say that information is a higher and better use than another 10 in a row.

 

[raccoonradio]

From Fybush's update of his NERW:

>>As a class A FM signal transmitting from Rensselaer County, across the Hudson from Albany, the new WGY-FM covers only a fraction of the territory served by WGY's mighty 50 kW clear-channel signal, but it brings WGY's programming to the younger FM audience - and gives WGY an edge that, for now, AM-only standalone competitor WGDJ (1300 Rensselaer) can't match. Much more next week...

http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html

 

[raccoonradio]

>>information is a higher and better use than another 10 in a row.

and they'd have no problem with the fact that several "listener supported" stations (WGBH, WBUR)
are doing this, too.

 

[TheBigA]

but it brings WGY's programming to the younger FM audience

And that audience wasn't interested in the rock format on 103. One poster complained "I think it was automated." So there's no downside, and it's all upside.

The music audience complains about playlist size, song selection, and live vs. syndicated. Talk audiences complain about Obama. If you own a station, which do you prefer?

 

[RedWingCJS278]

It’s funny, because while 98.5.3 is always consistent here, WBZ actually sounds far better in HD on 1030 than on the FM. For one thing, there’s the whole one minute or so delay. However, there’s something in the audio processing on HD 3 where I have to turn up the volume up quite a bit just to make out what is being said. No such problems on 1030 HD. In fact, it’s the same deal with 93.7.3 - which is less consistent than WBZ’s FM HD, but still shows about 80% of the time - where the audio is just off. Now, I know HD 3 stations are in mono, but isn’t 1030 AM mono? So, why the huge discrepancy in sound quality? But I digress...

Blow up WAAF/WKAF, put WRKO on one of the frequencies and WEEI on the other, while keeping the AMs. 680/107.3 WRKO and 850/97.7 WEEI. Or vice versa. I guess WAAF still does sort-of-okay ratings, but the station just sounds dreadful and all over the map these days. The morning show - which doesn't play any music - is the only thing they've got going for them. Well, easy solution there: Kick Finneran to the curb and put Hillman on WRKO. I'd bet anything that they'd get better ratings and revenue than the two WAAF frequencies do now. 93.7 is always an option, but that's a station run on the cheap that gets decent ratings, so I don't see that happening.

 

[raccoonradio]

Finn's contract renewed, so they may have him till next Feb or the Feb after that. Poss. solution would be pairing him and/or Feinburg with Manning. (Or they could put two hosts together who despise each other, not that they'd do it: Tommy and Howie! )

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

The same problem in Boston is what we have in Cleveland - which FMs are floundering enough (or not successful enough $ wise) to blow up for an FM simulcast of an AM talker?

 

[Laurence Glavin]

The former WHRL (although the WHRL call letters STILL appear at fcc.gov) is a class-A with just under 6,000 watts at slightly higher than 100 m. There are two class As in or near Boston: WBOQ 104.9 and WHRB 95.3 (the latter atop an office building INSIDE the city limits.) Is Harvard so wedded to terrestrial radio in an era when college students are more at home with other platforms? Would they be comfortable with an offer from Entercomm for 95.3? Could they talk Northeastern into silencing WRBB, then buying WBOQ and putting it on the WMKK stick? If class A FMs are considered worthy depositories for simulcasting AM news or sports talk, then why not 95.3 or 104.9?

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Talk on FM? Not the "highest and best use" of the medium...

That's subjective. I'm sure there are those in Congress and the FCC who would say that information is a higher and better use than another 10 in a row.

What the FCC might claim as a "higher and better" use is irrelevant, since the First Amendment and Section 326 of the Communications Act prohibits them from dictating programming. And any attempt by Congress to regulate programming or dictate what band it appears on would likely run afoul of those same laws.

Also, with (last figures I saw) 87% of the under-54 demo listening exclusively to FM, whether talk is FM's highest and best use is also irrelevant. A station that doesn't go where its audience is will die sooner or later. Putting AMs on HD or FM-HD secondaries is too little, too late.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Blow up WAAF/WKAF, put WRKO on one of the frequencies and WEEI on the other, while keeping the AMs. 680/107.3 WRKO and 850/97.7 WEEI. Or vice versa. I guess WAAF still does sort-of-okay ratings, but the station just sounds dreadful and all over the map these days. The morning show - which doesn't play any music - is the only thing they've got going for them. Well, easy solution there: Kick Finneran to the curb and put Hillman on WRKO. I'd bet anything that they'd get better ratings and revenue than the two WAAF frequencies do now. 93.7 is always an option, but that's a station run on the cheap that gets decent ratings, so I don't see that happening.

"Sort of okay?" Tied for first place in males 25-54 with WBZ-FM is "sort of okay?" I know PDs who would kill for that kind of "sort of okay."

Putting programming on FM that appeals to the 55+ demo would be classified as suicidal. Don't put too much money on that bet of yours.

 

[TheBigA]

What the FCC might claim as a "higher and better" use is irrelevant, since the First Amendment and Section 326 of the Communications Act prohibits them from dictating programming.

Huh? Prohibits? The FCC has made programming demands of radio in the past. You can ask Howard Stern and Justin Timberlake about the FCC and 1st amendment.

But I didn't use the words "dictating programming." Neither Congress nor the FCC need to pass laws or regulations in order to influence programming, and they do it in various subtle ways all the time.

 

[RedWingCJS278]

Sorry, 'dumber than a box of hair,' that station, to put it bluntly, sucks, I don't care what the ratings - which may or may not be accurate - say in one particular demographic. It's a tired, washed-up, pitiful excuse for a rock station that needs to be out to pasture. WZLX is the only rock station in Boston worth listening to, and the only one that we need. I could be wrong about the prospect of WRKO succeeding on FM (WEEI would be a no-brainer), especially considering their weekday line-up needs some tweaking. Still, I think Howie Carr alone brings a station more listeners and revenue than Slipknot, followed by fart jokes, followed by J. Geils followed by Weezer, followed by ten minutes of commercials for strip clubs and the like, followed by Dropkick Murphys, followed by some God-awful new band nobody has ever heard of, followed by more inane chatter, etc. etc. etc. So, maybe you sacrifice some 25-54 males for a larger gain in the overall ratings (which, again, may or may not be accurate.) There are some people under 55 that aren't shallow morons and do care about the issues of the day. Yeah, I could be wrong, but why doesn't Entercom try this and we can all find out for sure. Of course, I'm only a listener, who cares what a peon like me thinks, right?

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

When I say "highest and best use" - I am talking
about a business standpoint, not an editorial
commentary. For instance - putting a residential home
next to a railroad siding would not be "highest and best use"
for a property of that type. That would be, for example, best
served by an industrial user, who gets large material shipped
to them directly, by rail. The Bayside Expo Center, I believe, is due to
be torn down soon. Blank walls with no windows that face the ocean
are not the best use of that particular piece of property.
Residential use with marinas, etc. would be a much
better fit...

 

[TheBigA]

When I say "highest and best use" - I am talking
about a business standpoint, not an editorial
commentary.

I'm glad you explained it.

I'm also talking about from a business standpoint. We're talking about content that you own vs. content that belongs to a record label. Assuming that the talk programming you run isn't syndicated. The whole business today is about selling content across multiple platforms, of on air, online, and mobile. You can't do that with content you don't own. Non-music radio (news, talk, and sports) requires a larger investment than music radio. But it provides content that can be sold at maximum profit across multiple platforms. In the case of stations like WEEI in Boston, it makes perfect business sense.

In my view, the days of music formats on traditional radio are numbered. That will be accelerated if the labels put an additional royalty on their music. But regardless, the audience prefers to get its music from other sources. There's nothing radio can do about that. The public has made its mind up. So the next step is for radio stations to decide what they can do with their expensive towers and transmitters. I think a good answer is using high quality and unique non-musical content that they can distrubute across multiple platforms. That to me makes the highest and best use of a public resource.

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

I think that is a bit simplistic. Drive around anywhere, for
example, and listen to how many times you hear a radio
station ID. There has been music recorded in a number of different
formats available to consumers for a long time now.
(be it 78 rpm vinyl records, 8-track, .mp3 players,
or anything in between) Broadcast radio did not go away
- but it did adapt. TV did not kill the movie business -
but it did adapt. That said, I would contend the biggest difference
now, is that most of the current/more recent music
just plain sucks.... What is really needed is better content...