WILD has a lot of things going against it, being AM Daytime only is one of them, but for years and years it managed to have a faithful following, even when it was off the air at 4:15PM.
Technology has changed, with IPods and internet streaming potentially taking listeners away, along with bigger fish stealing what was traditionally their audience.
In my opinion, the one thing that will keep WILD from regaining even a percentage point of it's former glory is lack of revenue. With 24/7 pirate operations out there selling ads targeting the same audience, probably for less money, and certainly with less overhead (those pesky taxes, filing fees, workman's comp, FICA contributions, transmitter site leases, ASCAP/BMI fees, etc) how do you expect a small legitimate station to compete with the pirate radio stations you are so supportive of?
The same argument can be made for why Greater Media,Entercom or anyone else won't flip to the urban format you desire so much. The target advertisers are already being courted by someone else, or many someone elses, without the same costs and delivering the same audience.
You can't have it both ways. The costs of playing by the rules are brutal. I don't know what Radio-One paid to move onto the 1430 tower at Wellington Station when they lost their tower site up the street to "Telecom City" or what ever they are calling it this week. I don't know what they are paying CC for rent for tower space and a spot for the transmitter, engineering services, keeping a phone line in the C.O.L., maintaining a main studio staffed during normal business hours as required by F.C.C. regulations, etc etc etc.
I don't divulge much about where I work, but it is small operation, our numbers are down, just like everyone elses. My hours have been reduced. We pay commercial rates for studio's in a commercially zoned building. We pay for tower space, phone and data lines to transmitter sites, phone lines to comply with FCC requirements, staffing levels as required by the F.C.C., also they paid for engineering to move the transmitter site and all the legalese to move the C.O.L. for one station, then there was the check they wrote Alex Langer to buy the license.
Sometimes I wonder how the people in NYC who own the place manage to keep the lights on. I can't imagine that Radio-One is in better shape than MRBI. Why Radio-One doesn't just walk away from 1090 and let it go dark is beyond me.
