Best guesses for 107.3

[Rusty Muck]

Thank you to the couple posters....

You're welcome!

They ( my format sugestions ) are no more absurd than 1/2 that suggestions that are posted here daily. ( ala "KNR needs an FM signal to survive" etc. )

I know you're deliberately targeting me with that cheap shot.

Face the facts. The AM band is dying. To say that WKNR will survive staying on an anemic AM signal for the long term is beyond absurd. No one under 18 knows that the AM band exists, and the few remaining listeners to AM (i.e., WKNR and WTAM's audience) are treated to non-stop blasts of buzz and hash from IBOC interference. What part of that is a good thing?

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

 

[Rusty Muck]

WNWV was a complete utter failure as a AAA. Gorman had them ( WNWV ) playing Bruce Springsteen bootlegs from 1974 complete with feedback. Talk about absurd.
That was absurd. They blew him out before a year expired.

Gorman was only a consultant to 107.3. He was never fired but left of his own volition. Get your 'facts' straight. What has aired over 107.3 is primarily Rocco and Brad Hanson's product. Want to throw blame at 107.3? Blame Rocco, who WAS the PD from day one.

A legitimate critique of 107.3 could be awkwardly mixing in alternative titles onto a clearly older-skewing playlist, as what Rocco and Brad did once 92.3 went bye-bye. And the proof is obvious that said tactic didn't work.

My format suggestion and station sales strategies are no more "absurd" than playing 40 year old bootleg Bruce Springsteen concert recordings as content a listener today
( 2010/11 ) would care about.

Like a limited 500-song playlist of aging classic rock that is beyond predictable, and will face certain extinction in 5-10 years as their audience dies off? There's a reason why classic rock is the ultimate "lather-rinse-repeat" format, and has zero upside. You can only go, "that was Pink Floyd; here's another by the Rolling Stones" for so long.

So now that Akron Rubber Radio has this signal, they really don't have many options.

None of us know what RCRG is going to do (especially YOU, 'Capulet'). Thom Mandel has kept this a tight secret. I know nothing of his ultimate plans; and for all we know, he may make up his mind at the last minute.

 

[vjm]

OK kids...let's play nice.

Nathan is dead on about KNR needing FM down the road. If in the next 3-5 years 92.3 The Fan snags some major PBP (Tribe, Browns, OSU) which they are no doubt gunning for, then WKNR on 850 is dead station walking.

If they go on FM and at least have a puncher's chance at some PBP, then it's another story.

V 107.3 was trying to get a few former "Radio 92.3" ears by adding in some alt-rock tunes (and "Inner Sanctum"), but it really turned into a mess. And be it Rocco or Gorman or whoever, the AAA format never had a chance.

WNWV will have a clean slate once RCR officially gets the keys, and what will become of a very solid full market FM signal is certainly good fodder for a forum like this.

 

[Capulet]

fodder for a forum like this.

Yep. WNWV under Rubber Radio should go Sports Talk for a few books........flip it...sell it...
Mel just may buy it.

Gorman was such a genius with his AAA consulting fiasco....blame his AAA failure on Rocco.....???? huh?????......what a joke...............never his fault.......R


Remember when he was trottimg around the TV morning shows...shilling his new project"? What joke. What a sham...now it's all Rocco's fault.?

 

[1sttimecaller]

With all due respect to Sue Wilson the PD at WQMX and Chuck Collins the OM of Rubber City, I'm betting $20 they won't have a say in the final product. Mandel will make the final call, but bottom line, Mark Bivanno has to sell it. If he's not behind it, forget it. Period. Biv is a fierce seller and will go after every dollar he can from the big boys in Cleveland. With the right product he'll get it too.

My thoughts on what you won't see:
You can forget news/talk or sports. Too expensive to operate and they had that opportunity with WAKR but stayed full service with good reason. They dumped talk before remember? There aren't going to run syndication.

What is possible?
AAA is possible, but not this pseudo college radio, freeform, and 1980s formatics they've got going now. Think KBCO.

AC. A real AC too, not what WDOK and most acs have morphed into.

Oldies. Call it classic hits or oldies, it's the same thing. Old songs to listeners are called oldies. WMJI is vulnerable.

Country. It's a long shot because of WQMX, but WGAR is gone. It's not the same station without Chuck Collier.

And call me crazy: Mandel LOVES smooth Jazz.

I could be wrong, just pure speculation on my part. I'd also bet on 107.3 The River.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Gorman was such a genius with his AAA consulting fiasco....blame his AAA failure on Rocco...........what a joke...............

In reality, when something goes wrong at a radio station, who takes the rap? The program director, of course. Blaming a consultant - even a highly visible one - is just using an excuse. When a classic rock station fails, you never see people going after Lee Abrams.

Only people that have a clear and blatant hatred of John Gorman would think that he is to blame for what happened to V107.3.

 

[Capulet]

Gorman was such a genius with his AAA consulting fiasco....blame his AAA failure on Rocco...........what a joke...............

John Gorman is to blame for what happened to V107.3.

Yep. He was trotting around town shilling his book to TV morning shows along with his new project and to any 2 bit writer like Michael Heaton acting like HIS new project.... 107.3 (Boom) was such an innovative alternative station.....Huh? ........what a loser......station fails ( after playing Bruce Springsteen bootleg tapes from 1974 Agora shows ).... and he blames Rocco?...... guy with as much programming experience as Micky Mouse?

If Rocco hadn't worked Lonnie Gronek for a year, Gorman would have NEVER been invited to that dismal excuse of a party.

Rubber Radio should be smart. Strip it and flipit. Mel might buy it. No one else will.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Yep. He was trotting around town shilliing his book to TV morning shows along with his new project and to any 2 bit writer like Michael Heaton acting like HIS new project.... 107.3 (Boom) was such an innovative alternative station.....Huh? ........what a loser......station fails ( after playing Bruce Springsteen bootleg tapes from 1974 Agora shows ).... and he blames Rocco?...... guy with as much programming experience as Micky Mouse?

If Rocco hand't worked Lonnie Gronek for a year, Gorman would have NEVER been invted to that dismal excuse of a party.

Rocco and Gorman never worked together at WMMS pre-1986 for that long. And Gorman blew him out when the NextGen Buzzard came into fruition. And Gronek was promoted to GM of WMMS/WHK just a mere three days before Gorman and Sanders resigned.

Capulet, you did this same stupid anti-Gorman spiel when I kept thoroughly destroying you when you claimed that WMMS flipped to Top 40 in 1983, which never happened. And you knew it, but because you never wanted to say you were wrong, you then attacked me and everyone else on this board.

Quit this stupid game, and quit taking my words out of context.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Rubber Radio should be smart. Strip it and flip it. Mel might buy it. No one else will.

[EDIT]. Good Lord.

WNWV is a long-term investment for Thom Mandel. Why is that? He was in extensive negotiations with ELBC for over a year to get WNWV! If you think he's going to "strip it and flip it," then you truly are the dumbest person I've ever come in contact with. He's in the broadcasting business because he can afford it, and can take the inevitable revenue hit that a possible format change could incur - something that ELBC couldn't, let alone Craig K's investor-driven GKB.

When Thom buys a station, he's in it for keeps: even they held onto their Flint cluster for nearly a decade. He'll operate WNWV just like WQMX, WAKR and WONE - with care and constant attention. Hardly of whiff of your obscene "strip it and flip it" suggestion will ever come to play.

[EDIT]




[EDIT-inflammatory]

 

[Rusty Muck]

With all due respect to Sue Wilson the PD at WQMX and Chuck Collins the OM of Rubber City, I'm betting $20 they won't have a say in the final product. Mandel will make the final call, but bottom line, Mark Bivanno has to sell it. If he's not behind it, forget it. Period. Biv is a fierce seller and will go after every dollar he can from the big boys in Cleveland. With the right product he'll get it too.

My thoughts on what you won't see:
You can forget news/talk or sports. Too expensive to operate and they had that opportunity with WAKR but stayed full service with good reason. They dumped talk before remember? There aren't going to run syndication.

What is possible?
AAA is possible, but not this pseudo college radio, freeform, and 1980s formatics they've got going now. Think KBCO.

AC. A real AC too, not what WDOK and most acs have morphed into.

Oldies. Call it classic hits or oldies, it's the same thing. Old songs to listeners are called oldies. WMJI is vulnerable.

Country. It's a long shot because of WQMX, but WGAR is gone. It's not the same station without Chuck Collier.

And call me crazy: Mandel LOVES smooth Jazz.

I could be wrong, just pure speculation on my part. I'd also bet on 107.3 The River.

John, you have nailed it 100%.

I totally agree with you on all points, and the format possibilities are all plausible in my eyes as well (maybe less so with country because of WQMX, but it still is possible).

Your mentioning of smooth jazz piques my interest. That's a big-time risk. Could smooth jazz really fly in the market again? It could get a lot of goodwill from former listeners, but can it but the unfriendly-to-PPM trend the format has taken? Not to mention that WNWV suffered mightily after Bernie Kimble was removed as PD in late 2008. But remember that Thom did flip WAKR from a talk format back to full-service after taking control of the station in 1993, so there is some precedent.

There's also a Hispanic format hole, but there's not close to enough of an audience outside of Lorain and parts of Cleveland to support a format like that, let alone making the aforementioned Mark Bivanno's job any easier.

If or when they change formats, it will be a very clean break. There was no LMA with the purchase, so 107.3 has to flee from Elyria to temporary studios at the Akron Radio Center once the deal closes: they have to per terms of the purchase. So there will be no stunting. It will be a straight-up flip.

Methinks that Thom is close to making up his mind.

 

[74WIXYGrad]

WIXY guy...wish I knew who you are. There are many people on this (and other) boards using the same name I use. Hmmm.

Sorry Tim, the Tim I was referring to was Tim Daugherty, morning host and program director at WONE. And my post was tongue in cheek. Daugherty has heard me as a high school marching band announcer. He announces for St. Vincent-St. Mary, his daughter plays there. I announce for Rittman, have now for 12 years. I also do the intro and outro for my church radio program. Took me about 45 minutes to do that one Sunday evening last year.

I'm really just a radio geek and apologize for any misunderstanding.

 

[Tim]

74WIXY Grad...no worries at all, guy. Maybe we'll meet some day! Many of us know each other...just not always able to go public on these boards....sorry.

 

[zrl]

I'm expecting an AC format, but like everyone I have NO IDEA what will actually happen.

As for the thought of re-selling the station, Thomas Mandel is a businessman first, and a good one. He bought WNWV with the belief he'll be running it for the foreseeable future.

I believe if he were able to sell 107.3 for a big profit quickly he would-- but let's get real, who is buying a stand-alone station in a market like Cleveland?

Small-time operators couldn't afford the $10 million or more Rubber City would want to sell it & big time operators would want to buy a cluster, not one signal. (And of course Clear Channel & CBS are maxed out on FM sticks in Cleveland).

And Good Karma/ Craig K? Forget it. The Mandel family has the same financial resources, perhaps more than Karmazin. (If you're not familiar, google Morton Mandel, who owns 52% of Rubber City's shares). Craig wouldn't be able to pay whatever Rubber City would ask.

 

[Tim]

How about bringing back WXEN's nationality programming? Simulcast with the 830AM north of Warren. LOL.

 

[zrl]

How about bringing back WXEN's nationality programming? Simulcast with the 830AM north of Warren. LOL.

Only if they can timeshare with a few polka shows from WELW

 

[MarkW]

V 107.3 was trying to get a few former "Radio 92.3" ears by adding in some alt-rock tunes (and "Inner Sanctum"), but it really turned into a mess. And be it Rocco or Gorman or whoever, the AAA format never had a chance.

Agreed. The originally format choice was poorly selected. A Jack-style Variety Hits station would've been a much better choice at the time, IMO. A "Rewind"-branded Classic Hits station may have also been a decent choice.

As soon as Radio 92.3 went away, 107.3 should've flipped to Adult Modern Rock.

 

[DrC]

As soon as Radio 92.3 went away, 107.3 should've flipped to Adult Modern Rock.

Exactly. I've heard WEQX in Albany (actually VT) and CD101 in Columbus recently, and I wish 107.3 would do that kind of alternative format. Those stations aren't top-billing, but they've been around for 20+ years each and I'd guess that a lot of their listeners don't surf far from those stations. If 107.3 was doing gangbusters as a CHR or AAA or whatever, I'd say why bother, but those listeners who ditched 92.3 probably aren't listening to 'MMS or 'NCX or 107.3's AAA format, for that matter. They're probably on Pandora or their Ipods. I could be wrong, and maybe it's a personal taste thing, but I think there's more of an upside there than trying to compete with a format that already serves listeners in the Cle metro.

 

[Rusty Muck]

As soon as Radio 92.3 went away, 107.3 should've flipped to Adult Modern Rock.

Exactly. I've heard WEQX in Albany (actually VT) and CD101 in Columbus recently, and I wish 107.3 would do that kind of alternative format. Those stations aren't top-billing, but they've been around for 20+ years each and I'd guess that a lot of their listeners don't surf far from those stations. If 107.3 was doing gangbusters as a CHR or AAA or whatever, I'd say why bother, but those listeners who ditched 92.3 probably aren't listening to 'MMS or 'NCX or 107.3's AAA format, for that matter. They're probably on Pandora or their Ipods. I could be wrong, and maybe it's a personal taste thing, but I think there's more of an upside there than trying to compete with a format that already serves listeners in the Cle metro.

The sad thing is, WWCD can't afford the license to a radio station, let alone a webstream.

They recently claimed that they stubbornly (and stupidly) kept the obsolete "CD101" brand alive for nearly 18 months after moving to a leased 102.5 in tribute to longtime program director Andy "Andyman" Davis. But it's painfully obvious that they were unable to afford a proper re-brand in the first place.

And still...

 

[DrC]

The sad thing is, WWCD can't afford the license to a radio station, let alone a webstream.

They recently claimed that they stubbornly (and stupidly) kept the obsolete "CD101" brand alive for nearly 18 months after moving to a leased 102.5 in tribute to longtime program director Andy "Andyman" Davis. But it's painfully obvious that they were unable to afford a proper re-brand in the first place.

And still...

Yeah, they've been releasing press releases via Facebook and their web site trying to convince people that they aren't going away. Guess they aren't the best example for me to use if I'm attempting to support the premise that alternative radio is financially viable. :-D

Got to listen to 102.5 while driving thru Columbus this past weekend. Financial problems or not, I quite enjoy what that station plays. A lot of "stuff you don't hear every day", to quote their early 2000s ad slogan...

 

[AllMightyVoice]

WWCD is a good station, always tune in when I'm going through C-bus, but at times I feel like they go a bit too far out of the box for their own good.....kind of the same way I feel about V1073. And as far as their imaging, I mean geez, how hard would it have been to change it to CD102?? I understand its a bit of a heritage station down there, but sheeesh. Anyways, as much as I'd love to see it, I doubt V1073 flips to a 2012 version of The End or NextGenBuzzard, which is a shame because there really is a lot of good alt rock out there right now that would play well on radio.

Best I think we can hope for is for 1073 to go with a heavy 90s alt rock slant with some good fitting newer titles sprinkled in to keep it fresh. People who grew up in the grunge era are now in their late 30s and early 40s, more profitable then aiming at the 20 somethings who would dig a more CD101-ish station. Fingers crossed they stay away from Soft AC (yuck).