• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

CHWO, 740 AM sold

T

ThePickleReport

According to Radio & Records CHWO was sold to MZ Media, headed by Canadian media icon Moses Znaimer for $7.3 million.

I don't know anything about the buyer. We'll see if they keep the standards format that has been impacting even Buffalo.
 
Given that the CRTC awarded the 740 blowtorch signal based on a promise to program for an underserved segement of the community (50+ demographic), I'd think any new owners would have a tough time ditching the format.
 
The new owner, Moses Znaimer is actually in the age group the station targets and promised to not change a thing, He said he knew a go0d thing shouldn't be messed with.
 
I really hope that the new owners keep the standards format on AM740. CHWO is a rare and unique treasure in these days of radio.
I am in my 30's and I enjoy this station in Chicago at night over the air whenever I can. I sure hope you're right mimo.
 
He has bought 3 radio stations. 2 are FM simulcasts. The FM's are classical stations that are commercial, not public. The only thing he did was recently break the simulcasts for a few hours a day and find a way to air local commercials on each one, so each station got more of a local feel. As far as programming, they remained as they were before he bought them. The only reason the simulcast was broken during certain dayparts is because one of the stations is enough of a distance from Toronto and the station was originally licensed to that city (Coburg Ontario) and then "moved into" Toronto so Moses thought the station should sound like it was coming from Coburg instead of Toronto by having local hosts and commercials instead of just being piped in. Kind of like returning the station to it's ro0ts. I don't work for him (never have) or live in the area anymore. I'm only reporting here what I have read. I to0 was relieved to find out that there are no plans to change AM 740. I'm not one who tunes in that often but I believe the station is a national treasure and should be kept so. I used to sometimes listen to it when I lived in Iowa. Now I'm just barely in range of the AM 740 signal in Canada during the day. I once logged them in New Orleans to0 when I was there.
 
Moses Znaimer appears to know and have confidence in the product. Dick Greene might be wise to read this thread and study CHWO's impact on Western New York. WECK arguably has the ideal talent on board for a 50+ music format featuring Standards, The American Songbook or Oldies. No malice aforethought Mr. Greene, but why force a square peg into a round hole?

In 12+ ratings, according to Arbitron figures posted on Radio & Records, CHWO-AM has scored in the high 2 share range within the last year. Will WECK rate as highly with its present format? More importantly, will WECK generate greater revenue with News-Talk than it might with a Standards-Songbook-Oldies format? Whenever I hear CHWO, the commercial breaks seem to be full.
 
WECK vs. CHWO

Andrew, CHWO is in a much larger market than WECK, and is much more established with advertisers. I doubt that a single one commercial in those full commercial breaks comes from a Buffalo advertiser. Toronto is booming. Buffalo is not.

I don't disagree with all of your points, but I can understand Mr. Greene's attempt to go after a wider audience that is saleable to a wider variety of advertisers. Not only that, but a music format has costs (ASCAP & BMI licensing, for example) that exceed the costs of a talk format.

Perhaps we should let things evolve a bit. WECK may sound different after a full month or two of the format.
 
Could be that after KB crapped the bed with the oldies format, any thoughts of doing music on AM in Buffalo were tainted, HD or not.

-9-
 
ThePickleReport said:
According to Radio & Records CHWO was sold to MZ Media, headed by Canadian media icon Moses Znaimer for $7.3 million.

I don't know anything about the buyer. We'll see if they keep the standards format that has been impacting even Buffalo.
Click to expand...

Since this is the same gentleman that recently purchased Toronto's Classical 96.3 and 103.1 FM, it's just good business sense to move AM 740.

So, AM 740 will be moving into the Classical 96 building, leaving behind a multicultural station and a religious station for prime radio group to maintain in Oakville Ontario.

It will be strange knowing that the remaining stations in Oakville will be run by a company that maintains a name that *best* relates to the format they sold to Mr. Znaimer. :D Oh well...

It is to my understanding that there will be nothing new to notice outside of the usual classic oldies/standards sound on AM 740, but I believe there will be reason to refrain from duplication in the area of employment.

For example, *why keep an AM 740 news director if his sister, (former television journalist Libby Znaimer), currently serves as news director at Classical 96.3/103.1 FM?
Why not be the news director for all three stations?

Here's Moses Znaimer's website:

http://www.mosesznaimer.com/

And here's the Wikipedia on this Gentleman:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Znaimer

*added note: I realized after posting this that the news director of AM740 most likely will just stay with the two stations in Oakville, but I'm not sure...
 
I didn't realize that the new owner of CHWO is the owner of 96.3 and 103.1. This pair is a very high-quality and very listenable operation. They remind me of Classic FM in the UK. Not your father's stale classical music station. I predict a bright future for CHWO and its format.
 
CHWO is a unique radio station and quite a good one one at that, but comparitively speaking from the ears of this Western New York listener, it seems to be a well-liked station because it has no competition, especially from a station east and south of the Niagara river.

Yes, I periodically listen to CHWO and appreciate it. The professionalism of the air personalities and newscasters is evident. The station has a "warm feeling" about it. But musically speaking, CHWO plays too many Can-Con-Clunkers (sorry DB and Yezi, no slight intended) and songs that do not fit the context of a Standards-Oldies format. Rarely did any of these "B" and "C" rotation songs that CHWO plays get airplay on WECK during its "Music Of Your Life" days or last year or two as a Standards station.

After reading the posts in this thread and recalling some of the posts in previous WECK-Standards threads, it seems that if WECK were to offer a format comprised of local personalities like Harv and Tom D., with news in AM and PM drive and a library of HITS from Sinatra, Bennett the Drifters, as well as modern songbook wannabees like Manilow, Rod Stewart, Michael Buble and Celine Dionne, it would serve Buffalo and the near east-side 'burbs much better than CHWO.

I understand that WECK is a news station and for all intents and purposes, will stay the course. I'm not disputing this point as much as I am looking at CHWO more critically than most posters.
 
From my listening when I'm in the area on biz, or occasionally online, or at night via skywave here at home in Northern Illinois, it sounds to me like CHWO has some sort of waiver from the usual Can-con rules.  Maybe not a totally free pass, but the guidelines seem to be relaxed somewhat.  Perhaps I'm wrong and I stand to be corrected, but in any event, this is a very well programmed and listenable station.  Personally, I think the music mix is spot-on for its target demo. 

Incidentally, for the most part, I like Can-con.  In the case of taditional oldies station, it forces a welcome change from "great times....and eight oldies". What would David Eduardo do if he were forced by government regs to play all sorts of stuff that "doesn't test well"? (Tongue in cheek, and with all due respect).
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom