Imus, WWDB, WHAT, and is this legal?

[musicrrrr]

Does anyone listen? I almost forgot about him until I saw him on MSNBC today and remembered that he was on 860 WWDB. I thought it was ironic that he is on a successful network such as MSNBC, and here in Philly, WWDB doesn't even put a dent in the ratings.

Any thoughts on this? I missed the ancient speculation about why he was bounced from 1210. Ratings perhaps? Even though he looks like he has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, I think he still has a decent show. He talks about news and entertainment, and some of his bits are still pretty funny.

Does Beasley still own WWDB? If so, they should be embarrassed. Aside, from Imus, 860 is a complete waste of airtime...especially since where I live in Montgomery County, 860 is as strong as any other station.

How well is their coverage overall, and why don't they even show up on arbitron? Understood, it is an AM station, but even WPEN still shows up on the ratings chart as a bottom feeder right above WHAT.

(WHAT sounds like it has about as much power as my own AM transmitter that I use to cover my neighborhood so that I can listen to my MP3s when I'm working outside and when I drive to WAWA. I don't think it's illegal. It only covers about a square mile, and no one has ever come knockin' on my door about it. Admittedly, sometimes I re-broadcast Sirius on AM so I don't have to carry the unit from my house to the car on short drives, and the quality is a hell of a lot better than WPEN used to be.)

I think if they kept Imus and added some decent programming to the line-up, WWDB might actually show up on the chart.

Any thoughts?

 

[zoey]

MSNBC successful? Not quite. They fall way behind Fox and CNN in audience numbers.

Somebody at WPHT apparently woke up one morning and decided it was unseemly for a 50,000 watt class 1-A station in the number six market not to have local programming in morning drive. Unfortunately, they did not go out and hire a real morning drive talk radio host, so we have Michael Smerconish. Westwood One paid Beasley to put the show on WWDB, but Imus probably gets more listeners in this market on WFAN 66AM than on 'DB.

DB's coverage is lousy. In the winter, it's non-existant during much of AM and PM drive. They don't show up in the Arbitron's because hardly anybody listens. WPEN has an OK signal, they have just managed to drive away their audience twice in little more than a one year period. They have not gotten a new audience because they compete directly in the sports format with one of the more successful sports talk stations in the US (based on AQH share).

DB is running brokered programming, which is the easiest money to be made in radio. What else is available for them to do? Talk? All the good conservative talk shows are taken; they'd end up with what WPHT and WNTP turned down. Liberal Talk. As you point out, they have an even worse signal than WHAT, where liberal talk failed last year. And whatever they tried, they'd have to hire more sales people and go out and sell it, as the number two or three station in their format. Even if they managed to show up on the chart, they still wouldn't make money. And there's no way they could get decent numbers to sell as a daytimer with a lousy signal.

Yes, your AM transmitter is illegal from your description. You better hope the FCC does not read this board.

 

[radiophile]

> DB is running brokered programming, which is the easiest
> money to be made in radio. What else is available for them
> to do? Talk? All the good conservative talk shows are
> taken; they'd end up with what WPHT and WNTP turned down.
> Liberal Talk. As you point out, they have an even worse
> signal than WHAT, where liberal talk failed last year. And
> whatever they tried, they'd have to hire more sales people
> and go out and sell it, as the number two or three station
> in their format. Even if they managed to show up on the
> chart, they still wouldn't make money. And there's no way
> they could get decent numbers to sell as a daytimer with a
> lousy signal.

What if DB ran Imus in the morning and non political talk the rest of the day? Examples: Dr. Joy, Dave Ramsay, Clark Howard, Westwood One's Troubleshooter program, Dr. Dean, etc. Maybe even put on a local host who is not conservative.

And Philly still doesn't have a liberal talker. I know, results vary greatly by market and they'd probably just make more money with their brokered talk.

But what a waste of a signal.

 

[musicrrrr]

> MSNBC successful? Not quite. They fall way behind Fox and
> CNN in audience numbers.

Maybe so. I myself like Fox, (except for their idiotic morning team). Having somewhat agreed with you, they are somewhat successful.
>
> Somebody at WPHT apparently woke up one morning and decided
> it was unseemly for a 50,000 watt class 1-A station in the
> number six market not to have local programming in morning
> drive. Unfortunately, they did not go out and hire a real
> morning drive talk radio host, so we have Michael
> Smerconish.

Hmmm. It only took the 1210 frequency about 20 years to actually do something with it. Remember the sports thing they tried? Failure. How about Oldies 1210? Failure. Of course that was back in the days that 98.1 played 50's and we had WPGR! As far as Smerconish is concerned, he was much better when he followed DeBella in the afternoons. Somehow between then and now, he transformed into a whining, waterdowned, Montella or Maury type.

> DB's coverage is lousy. In the winter, it's non-existant
> during much of AM and PM drive. They don't show up in the
> Arbitron's because hardly anybody listens. WPEN has an OK
> signal, they have just managed to drive away their audience
> twice in little more than a one year period. They have not
> gotten a new audience because they compete directly in the
> sports format with one of the more successful sports talk
> stations in the US (based on AQH share).

Greater Media should be embarrassed.
>
> DB is running brokered programming, which is the easiest
> money to be made in radio. What else is available for them
> to do? Talk? All the good conservative talk shows are
> taken; they'd end up with what WPHT and WNTP turned down.
> Liberal Talk. As you point out, they have an even worse
> signal than WHAT, where liberal talk failed last year. And
> whatever they tried, they'd have to hire more sales people
> and go out and sell it, as the number two or three station
> in their format. Even if they managed to show up on the
> chart, they still wouldn't make money. And there's no way
> they could get decent numbers to sell as a daytimer with a
> lousy signal.

You have said what I have suggested in other posts...all of the viable AM formats are already taken by WIP, KYW, and WPHT. This is why I believe KYW would never switch to FM. Why ruin one of the only formats that works on AM? If they simulcasted on FM, they would be throwing away a perfectly fine, money-making frequency. All other formats are doomed to fail. Standards have the ability to be popular, but apparently they are harder to sell.

> Yes, your AM transmitter is illegal from your description.
> You better hope the FCC does not read this board.

I think the FCC would have to actually hear it first. I'm not a pirate! Pirates usually cover several miles. I only cover about a one foot square mile with mine in order to hear it easily while working outside or driving through my neighborhood. Aren't you allowed to transmit up to a certain range? I forget what the range is. Remember, people use transmitters for Ipods and Satellite Radio. Mine has just a little more juice.

 

[Bill_W]

> > MSNBC successful? Not quite. They fall way behind Fox
> and
> > CNN in audience numbers.
>
> Maybe so. I myself like Fox, (except for their idiotic
> morning team). Having somewhat agreed with you, they are
> somewhat successful.
> >
>
MSNBC is not sucessful. They are a distant 3rd in a 3 way race. Fox & Friend is GREAT!

 

[musicrrrr]

> MSNBC is not sucessful. They are a distant 3rd in a 3 way
> race. Fox & Friend is GREAT!

They are an all news cable channel. They are more successful than I am. As far as Fox & Friends is concerned...E.D. is a pretty TV version of Kim "Jug A Lugs" on Free FM. Of course with her age being a topic of conversation, she will soon be known as Kim "Sags and Bags" Douglas. And Steve? Come on. He's a goof, and he's far from funny. His personality reminds me of Pee Wee Herman. The only thing missing is a quiet, dark movie theatre and the laugh. He should have taken over for Captain Kangaroo.

I'd rather watch Donny and Marie sing horrible Partridge Family type songs through the news.

 

[crisisbroadcast]

> Yes, your AM transmitter is illegal from your description.
> You better hope the FCC does not read this board.


You're good! If you can come to this conclusion without knowing the height/strength of his transmitter, location, etc. you should sign up for the FCC yourself!

Really though, depending on atmospheric conditions and how you have the transmitter mounted, the weakest signal can have a surprising coverage area. I would check your specs against Part 15 regulations and ask around at the Community Radio board.

A square mile sounds about right for Part 15 though, so you should be all right!<P ID="signature">______________
FPXMedia: TV, Radio, and Anything Else
FPX Radio - Coming Soon!
Be Mused...</P>

 

[JerseyShor]

> Does Beasley still own WWDB? If so, they should be
> embarrassed. Aside, from Imus, 860 is a complete waste of
> airtime...especially since where I live in Montgomery
> County, 860 is as strong as any other station.
>
> How well is their coverage overall, and why don't they even
> show up on arbitron? Understood, it is an AM station, but
> even WPEN still shows up on the ratings chart as a bottom
> feeder right above WHAT.

WWDB has a great 10,000 watt signal on a rather clear frequency. 860 comes in crystal clear everywhere from Trenton to Vineland to Toms River to Atlantic City.

From my own personal experience 860 even puts a decent signal into Staten Island NY.

 

[zoey]

>
> You have said what I have suggested in other posts...all of
> the viable AM formats are already taken by WIP, KYW, and
> WPHT. This is why I believe KYW would never switch to FM.
> Why ruin one of the only formats that works on AM? If they
> simulcasted on FM, they would be throwing away a perfectly
> fine, money-making frequency. All other formats are doomed
> to fail. Standards have the ability to be popular, but
> apparently they are harder to sell.
>

WTOP, Washington ADDED FM and then a second AM to 1500 AM.

Since then, they have added a news station aimed at Federal Employees and switched their original 1500 AM to a new service (produced with the Washington Post) targeting younger listeners.

KYW should expand the brand. They should simulcast KYW on AM and FM for two or three years and then develop a second news service for AM. Possibly one service could be a tight-news cycle (like 1010 WINS or Headline News) and the second a longer form service with expanded coverage of breaking stories and possibly some news oriented talk programming (like Newsradio 88, WBZ in Boston or CNN). Alternatively, they could target different demographics. Along the same lines, they should dump UPN57 WakeUPNews and bring back KYW Newsradio on TV, possibly even develop a 24/7 local cable news channel like NY1 or Channel 12 in NJ and Long Island.

 

[musicrrrr]

>KYW should expand the brand. They should simulcast KYW on AM and FM for two or three years and then develop a second news service for AM. Possibly one service could be a tight-news cycle (like 1010 WINS or Headline News) and the second a longer form service with expanded coverage of breaking stories and possibly some news oriented talk programming.

I don't think it would work. Remember, perception is reality. If people perceive there is an FM version of an AM format, the AM will lose, even if it is programmed differently, or even in some respects, programmed better.

When WWDB was on 96.5, WCAU 1210 was in the toilet, and back in the early 90's, we had WOGL-FM, and Oldies 1210. Oldies 1210? Yup, another bottom feeder.

AM will almost definitely always lose to FM. I think this is why successful AMs usually don't move to FM. If you were the PD of a succesful AM, what the hell would you program on your AM after you switched your successful format to FM? There is nothing! Why throw away a perfectly good spot on the AM dial that is making good money if there is no profitable format to replace it?

 

[trolleyk]

IMUS was dropped by WPHT 1210 a couple of years ago in favor of the the BAG OF WIND Michael Smerconish. Listen to WFAN 660AM out of New York to hear the full 4 and half hours of his radio show. WWDB as bastardized INUS in Philly by cutting the fourth hour.
>

 

[deepstblu]

> > Does Beasley still own WWDB? If so, they should be
> > embarrassed. Aside, from Imus, 860 is a complete waste of
>
> > airtime...especially since where I live in Montgomery
> > County, 860 is as strong as any other station.
> >
> > How well is their coverage overall, and why don't they
> even
> > show up on arbitron? Understood, it is an AM station,
> but
> > even WPEN still shows up on the ratings chart as a bottom
> > feeder right above WHAT.
>
> WWDB has a great 10,000 watt signal on a rather clear
> frequency. 860 comes in crystal clear everywhere from
> Trenton to Vineland to Toms River to Atlantic City.
>
> From my own personal experience 860 even puts a decent
> signal into Staten Island NY.

A great signal in NJ and in the city, but in some parts of PA they have problems...their pattern protects the 860 in Baltimore and the old 850 allocation for WEEU in Reading.

Aside from being a daytimer, their big problem is that hardly anybody knows that Philadelphia even has a station on 860! 70 years as foreign language station WTEL produced no usable heritage. People know where to find WIP and KYW (and "WCAU," but that's another story...)

 

[Jim_Hicks]

WWDB did show in the ratings last summer. From now until the end of August is the only time that Imus can be heard from 6-9. In January, he doesn't come on until 7:15 or 7:30. In this area, Imus fans are going to tune in to WFAN.



> Does anyone listen? I almost forgot about him until I saw
> him on MSNBC today and remembered that he was on 860 WWDB.
> I thought it was ironic that he is on a successful network
> such as MSNBC, and here in Philly, WWDB doesn't even put a
> dent in the ratings.
>
> Any thoughts on this? I missed the ancient speculation
> about why he was bounced from 1210. Ratings perhaps? Even
> though he looks like he has one foot in the grave and the
> other on a banana peel, I think he still has a decent show.
> He talks about news and entertainment, and some of his bits
> are still pretty funny.
>
> Does Beasley still own WWDB? If so, they should be
> embarrassed. Aside, from Imus, 860 is a complete waste of
> airtime...especially since where I live in Montgomery
> County, 860 is as strong as any other station.
>
> How well is their coverage overall, and why don't they even
> show up on arbitron? Understood, it is an AM station, but
> even WPEN still shows up on the ratings chart as a bottom
> feeder right above WHAT.
>
> (WHAT sounds like it has about as much power as my own AM
> transmitter that I use to cover my neighborhood so that I
> can listen to my MP3s when I'm working outside and when I
> drive to WAWA. I don't think it's illegal. It only covers
> about a square mile, and no one has ever come knockin' on my
> door about it. Admittedly, sometimes I re-broadcast Sirius
> on AM so I don't have to carry the unit from my house to the
> car on short drives, and the quality is a hell of a lot
> better than WPEN used to be.)
>
> I think if they kept Imus and added some decent programming
> to the line-up, WWDB might actually show up on the chart.
>
> Any thoughts?
>

 

[Jim_Hicks]

The legal power is 100mw and a 10' antenna. Or you can plug into the power line and run carrier current (on AM at least). If the transmitter is high enough so you have little lead-in to the transmitter, you can cover a good area. But its the power and antenna length that determines whether or not its legal.

> > MSNBC successful? Not quite. They fall way behind Fox
> and
> > CNN in audience numbers.
>
> Maybe so. I myself like Fox, (except for their idiotic
> morning team). Having somewhat agreed with you, they are
> somewhat successful.
> >
> > Somebody at WPHT apparently woke up one morning and
> decided
> > it was unseemly for a 50,000 watt class 1-A station in the
>
> > number six market not to have local programming in morning
>
> > drive. Unfortunately, they did not go out and hire a real
>
> > morning drive talk radio host, so we have Michael
> > Smerconish.
>
> Hmmm. It only took the 1210 frequency about 20 years to
> actually do something with it. Remember the sports thing
> they tried? Failure. How about Oldies 1210? Failure. Of
> course that was back in the days that 98.1 played 50's and
> we had WPGR! As far as Smerconish is concerned, he was much
> better when he followed DeBella in the afternoons. Somehow
> between then and now, he transformed into a whining,
> waterdowned, Montella or Maury type.
>
> > DB's coverage is lousy. In the winter, it's non-existant
> > during much of AM and PM drive. They don't show up in the
>
> > Arbitron's because hardly anybody listens. WPEN has an
> OK
> > signal, they have just managed to drive away their
> audience
> > twice in little more than a one year period. They have
> not
> > gotten a new audience because they compete directly in the
>
> > sports format with one of the more successful sports talk
> > stations in the US (based on AQH share).
>
> Greater Media should be embarrassed.
> >
> > DB is running brokered programming, which is the easiest
> > money to be made in radio. What else is available for
> them
> > to do? Talk? All the good conservative talk shows are
> > taken; they'd end up with what WPHT and WNTP turned down.
>
> > Liberal Talk. As you point out, they have an even worse
> > signal than WHAT, where liberal talk failed last year.
> And
> > whatever they tried, they'd have to hire more sales people
>
> > and go out and sell it, as the number two or three station
>
> > in their format. Even if they managed to show up on the
> > chart, they still wouldn't make money. And there's no way
>
> > they could get decent numbers to sell as a daytimer with a
>
> > lousy signal.
>
> You have said what I have suggested in other posts...all of
> the viable AM formats are already taken by WIP, KYW, and
> WPHT. This is why I believe KYW would never switch to FM.
> Why ruin one of the only formats that works on AM? If they
> simulcasted on FM, they would be throwing away a perfectly
> fine, money-making frequency. All other formats are doomed
> to fail. Standards have the ability to be popular, but
> apparently they are harder to sell.
>
> > Yes, your AM transmitter is illegal from your description.
>
> > You better hope the FCC does not read this board.
>
> I think the FCC would have to actually hear it first. I'm
> not a pirate! Pirates usually cover several miles. I only
> cover about a one foot square mile with mine in order to
> hear it easily while working outside or driving through my
> neighborhood. Aren't you allowed to transmit up to a
> certain range? I forget what the range is. Remember,
> people use transmitters for Ipods and Satellite Radio. Mine
> has just a little more juice.
>

 

[Bill_W]

> > MSNBC is not sucessful. They are a distant 3rd in a 3 way
>
> > race. Fox & Friend is GREAT!
>
> They are an all news cable channel. They are more
> successful than I am. As far as Fox & Friends is
> concerned...E.D. is a pretty TV version of Kim "Jug A Lugs"
> on Free FM. Of course with her age being a topic of
> conversation, she will soon be known as Kim "Sags and Bags"
> Douglas. And Steve? Come on. He's a goof, and he's far
> from funny. His personality reminds me of Pee Wee Herman.
> The only thing missing is a quiet, dark movie theatre and
> the laugh. He should have taken over for Captain Kangaroo.
>
>
> I'd rather watch Donny and Marie sing horrible Partridge
> Family type songs through the news.
>
I personally listen to Preston & Steve in the morning. I usually watch Fox & Friends Weekend. I especially liked it when it was Mike, Julian and Juliet Huddy.