I am wondering why there is not a CCM Station in the Boston Market? We are covered by Salem Radio's WEZE with Christian "talk". We currently do not have a Contemporary Christian Music Station within an hour's drive of Boston. What's up with that?
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CCM radio in Boston
- Thread starter chrisfuccione
- Start date
chrisfuccione said:
I noticed the same thing when I went to Boston on business about a month back -- I was kind of disappointed -- (Glad I had my iPhone for listening to my own web stream remotely)...
My guess is New England area is generally very liberal and not necessarily what one would consider the "Bible Belt" ... My guess is no one has tried a CCM format in that market due to that.
--
Matt
http://XmusicOnline.com
So how can I convince K-Love, Salem or another programer to try to come to the Boston market?
Just like how, until a month ago, there was ABSOLUTELY ZERO CCM on the radio in the Fairfield County area of CT for about TWENTY YEARS! With the $15.5 million purchase of WCTZ, K-Love put their ministry on the air in the New Rochelle area, to target NYC. Their signal reaches to approximately Bridgeport/Stratford along I-95 and the Merritt Parkway, then fades significantly. At least this gives SOME of Fairfield County SOME Christian music on the air.
As someone else mentioned, New England ain't exactly "The Bible Belt"... but there ARE enough Christians here, that there IS a NEED for CCM on the air! One of the biggest hurdles to getting stations up in this area, (especially the VERY DENSELY populated major cities like NYC or Boston, etc.) is the EXPENSE! Radio stations are PRICEY! The new K-Love station is only a "Class A" FM, with 3100 watts. "Average" describes the coverage. They paid 15.5 megabux for it! A station in Boston is likely going to be a little less than that, but still north of $10 million.
As someone else mentioned, New England ain't exactly "The Bible Belt"... but there ARE enough Christians here, that there IS a NEED for CCM on the air! One of the biggest hurdles to getting stations up in this area, (especially the VERY DENSELY populated major cities like NYC or Boston, etc.) is the EXPENSE! Radio stations are PRICEY! The new K-Love station is only a "Class A" FM, with 3100 watts. "Average" describes the coverage. They paid 15.5 megabux for it! A station in Boston is likely going to be a little less than that, but still north of $10 million.
I'm going to give the opinion of someone who's a native New Englander & went to school in St. Augustine. I had never been exposed to "CCM" before. All we had in R.I. was WARV. They were & are a teaching/preaching station. I found CCM to be weak, musically speaking. It's dreadful. Southern New England is typically a blue collar union area which is fond of rock. The harder the better. I don't think religious heavy metal would fly up here. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic & CCM seems to be rooted in the south/Southern Baptist. Again, musically it's too much like soft A.C.. This area isn't even able to support more than 1 country station in most markets.
As for Boston itself, I don't really see any stations that are "excess". I imagine EMF would've tried to put a bid in on 99.5 years ago but that went Classical. On the outskirts there's 1410 from the ghetto of Brockton, Ma.. In Providence you may get a weak signal from 91.1 near New Bedford or from 1220 but that was a fiasco in & of itself. Plus, 1220 has been getting more like WARV.
You can hear Reggae here but not CCM. You can hear teaching/preaching but not Christian religious modern music. I personally think up here it'd be a waste of money.
I feel your longing for formats. I can't get Beach Music up here!
73!
As for Boston itself, I don't really see any stations that are "excess". I imagine EMF would've tried to put a bid in on 99.5 years ago but that went Classical. On the outskirts there's 1410 from the ghetto of Brockton, Ma.. In Providence you may get a weak signal from 91.1 near New Bedford or from 1220 but that was a fiasco in & of itself. Plus, 1220 has been getting more like WARV.
You can hear Reggae here but not CCM. You can hear teaching/preaching but not Christian religious modern music. I personally think up here it'd be a waste of money.
I feel your longing for formats. I can't get Beach Music up here!
73!
D
davidadein
Guest
I went to college at Eastern Nazarene College in The Boston Suburbs in the late 90's early 2000's and what I was always blown away by was Boston's thriving indie Christian scene. Mark Heard's Fingerprint Records had it's home in the area so names like Ramona Silver and B.O.B. really stick out. Plus for an area with little exposure to CCM the live concert scene was pretty impressive. One highlight was seeing a Derek Webb era Caedmon's Call on campus at Harvard.
EMF does have a small signal that covers the South Coast fairly well, reaching to Pawtucket, Taunton, and Wareham. Plus, you have Calvary Chapel broadcasting on the South Shore on 90.5 (and, parts of the North Shore on a good day)--although CSN tends to be more Vineyard-like, rather than Christian CHR.
WEZE did have music on Saturdays in the early-to-mid 90s, but block programming brought in more revenue. For about a year or so around that time, 1510 (then WNRB) tried a Christian format with a strong CCM block, followed by the less-successful "J-Light" on 1060 (and, later, on 650). I doubt Salem would be interested in looking at an FM in New England for their "Fish" format unless they can get a signal for a steal-of-a-deal.
WMSJ (89.3, Freeport ME) had been trying for a long time to put their CCM format on a translator at 99.9 in Lawrence, MA. . . don't know if they ever did.
My guess is. . . unless EMF can score a good signal in Boston or a group like WMSJ can get a lot of donations to buy something, you're not going to see CCM in Boston--at least, not on FM. (Then again, there's always the possibility of leasing an HD signal from someone else that's willing to LMA. . .)
WEZE did have music on Saturdays in the early-to-mid 90s, but block programming brought in more revenue. For about a year or so around that time, 1510 (then WNRB) tried a Christian format with a strong CCM block, followed by the less-successful "J-Light" on 1060 (and, later, on 650). I doubt Salem would be interested in looking at an FM in New England for their "Fish" format unless they can get a signal for a steal-of-a-deal.
WMSJ (89.3, Freeport ME) had been trying for a long time to put their CCM format on a translator at 99.9 in Lawrence, MA. . . don't know if they ever did.
My guess is. . . unless EMF can score a good signal in Boston or a group like WMSJ can get a lot of donations to buy something, you're not going to see CCM in Boston--at least, not on FM. (Then again, there's always the possibility of leasing an HD signal from someone else that's willing to LMA. . .)
freddyb590 said:
It took them quite a LONG time to acquire the station for New York. Now that it is on the air, listener comments are pouring-in... comments like "Thank you for bringing this LIGHT into this dark and forsaken place!". Believe me, people in this area are very definitely hungry for Christian music! I am sure that it WOULD succeed in Boston, with an FM. Music on AM is just about a non-starter, unless it is targeting Seniors.
FWIW, stranger things have happened. Like Boston, you wouldn't mistake Portland, Oregon for the Bible Belt. Yet I've heard the Fish, K-LOVE, Air1, Way-FM, multiple CSN outlets, talker KPDQ, Hope 107.9 reaching southern Portland, and a Spanish speaking Christian station.
Around Boston there's 590, 950, 1060, 1150, 1230, 1300 & 1410 doing some form of religion (although I forget if 950 is doing religion or business but it's owned by Salem). If some operator were to try religious hit music in Boston, please: BUY UP ONE OF THE N.P.R. AFFILIATES! LEAVE THE COLLEGE STATIONS ALONE! Maybe 1510 could be had for a song. It used to be religious hit music, I believe.Just Another Idiot on the Radio said:
Music was tried in the Boston area before. The problem is most stations that come in only want to do the block programming. Salem's last major threat was back in the 90's when Communicomm had 1510 WNRB on the air. Of course this made Salem competitive. WNRB was finally sold to One on One Sports instead.
I doubt that Boston (or most areas') listeners today will seek Christian music on AM.
I remember WNRB quite well, as they came into CT well enough to listen at night! Because WFIF is on 1500, I discovered WNRB when it signed-off... and the splatter sounded familiar! Sure enough, when I nudged the dial, it was a Christian song that I liked. (I forget what it was, now.)
I do remember tuning in to them for the music more than a few times, after sunset. I missed it when it was gone. I also remember a 1540 out of northern NY State coming in with a good signal, playing Inspo! I haven't tried to pick that one up, lately... it was a Crawford station. It dropped the music for a while, then brought it back. Not sure what they are up to these days.
Now that I have that antenna pointed at WKLV-FM in Port Chester, I am enjoying K-love almost 24/7 as weather conditions permit.
(I forget what it was, now.) I do remember tuning in to them for the music more than a few times, after sunset. I missed it when it was gone. I also remember a 1540 out of northern NY State coming in with a good signal, playing Inspo! I haven't tried to pick that one up, lately... it was a Crawford station. It dropped the music for a while, then brought it back. Not sure what they are up to these days.
Now that I have that antenna pointed at WKLV-FM in Port Chester, I am enjoying K-love almost 24/7 as weather conditions permit.
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