Here's one for the pattern experts. Now, when WWZN (at the time, WMEX) moved to its current location to add 50 kw at night, it was due to the need to protect the primary WLAC, and also WNLC in New London and the station in St. Jean, Quebec. Since the New London and St. Jean stations are gone now, and supposing the progressive format is fabulously successful, could WWZN conceivably diplex with some other station to get a less restrictive signal?
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aerie said:
What would diplexing with another station have to do with anything? If they could get a less restrictive pattern, they could do it from their own site... to some extent, they now have other stations then on just 1510 to protect.
Even though the 1510 in St. jean is gone, doesn't mean we have to stop protecting it.
aerie said:
WWZN did "let out" its mid-day pattern to the southwest some years ago when WNLC disappeared, but they still have to restrict in that direction in "critical hours" and even more at night due to WLAC, so WNLC going away only helped them significantly during mid-day. The Quebec frequency still has to be protected due to regulations reserving certain Canadian channels even if a station that had occupied them goes off the air.
radioguybroadcasting said:
Some time ago on this board, I speculated that, to save the exhorbitant rent on its Waltham site, WWZN could diplex with WMKI in Milton. That would require a drastic reduction in night power--to something in the neighborhood of 3 kW, I imagine. That would, in turn, require changing the CoL, presumably to Quincy. During non-critical daylight hours, 50 kW ND MIGHT work. I suspect (but don't know) whether the 3 kW night pattern could also be used at 50 kW during CH. For sure, though, the CH power could be higher than the night power. The effect would be to really emasculate the signal, especially at night, to reduce the operating expenses. Given the huge first-adjacent signals from WWKB and the former WTOP, the night signal would re relatively useless outside of Quincy, Dorchester, South Boston, and a few places on the North Shore that have a clear salt-water patyh from the Milton site.
Another possibility is a diplex with WEZE in Medford. That would require the addition of a couple of towers to WEZE's two-tower site and would essentially eliminate coverage of most of the market west of Medford during CH and at night. Coverage of the City of Boston would probably remain adequate to retain Boston as the CoL, however.
DanStrassberg said:
Couldn't 50KW ND on WWZN potentially cause some prohibitive overlap with WMRC, WFIF or WIZZ?
radioguybroadcasting said:
WFIF and WIZZ no. WMRC, maybe, but I seriously doubt it.
Santos debuted this morning on WWZN (and for some it was "turn your clock radios in one direction to get the signal better"). He talked with Robin Bergman, who said she had heard the rumors of WKOX/WXKS format change from prog talk to Rumba and began a messageboard which led to a 2-year movement to bring
the format back. He said later he'd be talking to Kevin White. Well, better to have left-talk back by way of
private enterprise rather than forced in by the government. (Had the Fairness Doctrine been in effect now,
would Santos be saying "Stay tuned for Glenn Beck"? Equal time...) In any time now they could be getting
the same lofty ratings Finneran's been getting!
the format back. He said later he'd be talking to Kevin White. Well, better to have left-talk back by way of
private enterprise rather than forced in by the government. (Had the Fairness Doctrine been in effect now,
would Santos be saying "Stay tuned for Glenn Beck"? Equal time...) In any time now they could be getting
the same lofty ratings Finneran's been getting!
raccoonradio said:
I listened from about 6:07 until 8:00. I did not expect to be impressed and I wasn't. OTOH, the program did seem to improve as the almost two hours went by. By the time I had to tune out, I would say that it had become almost OK. The first 15 or 20 minutes were pretty bad. But is almost OK good enough to compete in AM drive in this market? I don't think so. There was nothing very compelling and Santos himself doesn't offer any real insights into anything that's going on on the world. If he is going to leave the insights to the guests, he (or his producer) are going to need to line up better and better guests--a difficult assignment.
The first episode of any new show is probably not a good basis for judging the show's future, but my take is that Santos is going to have to reach out to more than just the Progressive-talk faithful if there is to be any hope for the show or for locally produced commercial Progressive talk in Boston. And he's got to LOSE the "y'know!"--an atrocious speech mannerism that gets really old really fast--especially when repeated as often as ten times a minute. That's not an exaggeration.
I would also suggest that Santos and/or his producer listen very closely to the commercials they've produced and re-record the majority of them. Sponsor names are mostly "swallowed" so that they are unintelligible. And the sponsor names, street and/or Web addresses, and products or services need to be mentioned one more time at the end of every message so the listeners understand what is being advertised and who is advertising it. The sponsors themselves should demand make-goods for such badly produced commercials as most of those I heard on today's show!
The WWZN webpage, which AFAIK hasn't been updated yet (it wasn't earlier today) lists Steve Sweeney as having a show 9-10 am. If that's the case, kind of ironic, as Sweeney was known years ago for his imitations of Kevin White (and White was on during Santos 8-9 am hour!) I had that on for just a minute or so--he
was asking the former mayor if he was keeping up on things with a computer, etc.
The idea of reaching out to others is interesting, not just to the progressive "base". One would think that this area is solidly progressive but the right-leaning shows in town have had some success, perhaps with some who might be conservative either socially or fiscally. There's the rub: only appeal to the hard left, or be inclusive?
The same goes with the political parties; right after the most recent election, those on the hard right said that McCain was mushy, Republican-in-name-only, and only a true conservative would be able to win instead of
someone trying to reach to other constituencies. Hmm. As for radio, I'd think it would have to reach out to some moderates at least, and maybe some of the other stations in town are at least throwing a bone to the left (Eagan and Braude? Leveille? Even "Democracy Now!" on some college stations) The thing is to make it entertaining and informative.
I would suggest that politics and politics only probably isn't a wise bet. Can a Santos do some hours on
general interest topics, as folks like Howie will do? HC doesn't just do local or national politics. He'll talk
TV with Max Robins, interview an Al Kooper or a Mike Love, talk about "things in Boston that are gone",
"what was your worst car", etc. Surely that would bring folks of all political stripes in--you can't live
by politics alone. You have to lighten it up a bit. I guess Stephanie Miller was doing some of that;
I know she did back in her days with a syndicated show that WRKO carried.
was asking the former mayor if he was keeping up on things with a computer, etc.
The idea of reaching out to others is interesting, not just to the progressive "base". One would think that this area is solidly progressive but the right-leaning shows in town have had some success, perhaps with some who might be conservative either socially or fiscally. There's the rub: only appeal to the hard left, or be inclusive?
The same goes with the political parties; right after the most recent election, those on the hard right said that McCain was mushy, Republican-in-name-only, and only a true conservative would be able to win instead of
someone trying to reach to other constituencies. Hmm. As for radio, I'd think it would have to reach out to some moderates at least, and maybe some of the other stations in town are at least throwing a bone to the left (Eagan and Braude? Leveille? Even "Democracy Now!" on some college stations) The thing is to make it entertaining and informative.
I would suggest that politics and politics only probably isn't a wise bet. Can a Santos do some hours on
general interest topics, as folks like Howie will do? HC doesn't just do local or national politics. He'll talk
TV with Max Robins, interview an Al Kooper or a Mike Love, talk about "things in Boston that are gone",
"what was your worst car", etc. Surely that would bring folks of all political stripes in--you can't live
by politics alone. You have to lighten it up a bit. I guess Stephanie Miller was doing some of that;
I know she did back in her days with a syndicated show that WRKO carried.
DanStrassberg said:
In the quoted post, I forgot to include what I believe to be the most important suggestion of all: To be financially viable, Progressive talk must have both a normal spot load AND listener contributions (Public Broadcasting style). The problem is the boycotts and threats of boycotts that the righties always seem able to muster against Progressive talk, especially if it achieves measurable ratings. That right-wing activism added to Progressive talk's usually mediocre (or worse) ratings makes the format very difficult and often impossible to sell. Listener contributions as well as "non-commercial" advertiser underwriting can serve a two-fold purpose for Progressive talk. The most obvious purpose is financial support. But at least equally important is the tangible evidence that listeners are willing to PAY to hear it. That evidence should open a lot of doors to the folks who try to sell time on Progressive-talk programs.
Once you admit to the possibility of such a business model (to my knowledge, it is used among Progressive-talk providers only by Nova-M), a few moments thought raises interesting possibilities. For example, suppose an advertiser renders a business-to-business service (Web-site design, for example). The advertiser could be offered a discount if s/he mentions the Progressive-talk station or program when placing the ad buy. The next words out of the sales-person's mouth should then be, "Would you like to contribute that discount to the station/program?" It might be in the advertiser's best interests to pay the full price (I believe that advertising costs are fully tax deductible; I don't believe that is true of contributions--at least not if they are considered to be political contributions) but the point is that contributions both from listeners and advertisers can become a marketing tool.
WWZN ran a promo with Santos about 5 pm yesterday and he urged listeners to tune in and hear
viewpoints that weren't what you'd get from the "corporate media". Does this mean the Left doesn't
have its own corporate media, though? Keith Olbermann--(MS)NBC, etc.
viewpoints that weren't what you'd get from the "corporate media". Does this mean the Left doesn't
have its own corporate media, though? Keith Olbermann--(MS)NBC, etc.
C
ciao99
Guest
Laurence Glavin said:
No one's listening to that radio station. Considering the coverage Boston Radio Watch gives WWZN, you'd think it was in the top 10.
On Dec 1, prog talk returned with local Jeff Santos and West-coast-regional Peter B. Collins on WWZN. It was
said that a third daily show (syndie) would be added in January. Well, Jan. almost over; no sign of it apparently.
Meanwhile Joe V wrote to WRKO asking the "vitriol" of Rush and Laura I. be taken off in favor of progressive
talk. (For the record, WRKO ranks as the most popular _all talk_ station in town (despite Finneran!) in the
12 plus and Howie is tied for #1 in his time slot in 25-54s. My guess is Wolfie would add progressive talk right around the same time the Detroit Lions make the playoffs, but who knows. Yes they can?
(Entercom does run prog talk in Buffalo though...)
Well, we'll see if 1510 continues to morph into prog talk radio (or just part time at least). There are some
left-leaning or partially left leaning hosts elsewhere, like Jim & Margery, and Steve Le---ooops, he's gone...
Oh, and Lovell Dy--- uh, he's gone too..
said that a third daily show (syndie) would be added in January. Well, Jan. almost over; no sign of it apparently.
Meanwhile Joe V wrote to WRKO asking the "vitriol" of Rush and Laura I. be taken off in favor of progressive
talk. (For the record, WRKO ranks as the most popular _all talk_ station in town (despite Finneran!) in the
12 plus and Howie is tied for #1 in his time slot in 25-54s. My guess is Wolfie would add progressive talk right around the same time the Detroit Lions make the playoffs, but who knows. Yes they can?
(Entercom does run prog talk in Buffalo though...)
Well, we'll see if 1510 continues to morph into prog talk radio (or just part time at least). There are some
left-leaning or partially left leaning hosts elsewhere, like Jim & Margery, and Steve Le---ooops, he's gone...
Oh, and Lovell Dy--- uh, he's gone too..
Government shouldn't be forcing stuff on the air--freedom of the press, freedom of speech.
The liberals dominate much of the media and want the government to force lib radio on the air.
It should be given a chance by program directors and if it succeeds, great; if not, replace it
with something that will. But leave it up to station owners and PDs. Entercom actually has prog talk
on a Buffalo station--it must be doing well because it's still on. Let the free market support it.
There must be a demand for it. Put it on, do a good job with it, but don't have the Feds force it on.
MATCH GAME TIME!
"I'm From The Government And I'm Here To (BLANK) You!"
The liberals dominate much of the media and want the government to force lib radio on the air.
It should be given a chance by program directors and if it succeeds, great; if not, replace it
with something that will. But leave it up to station owners and PDs. Entercom actually has prog talk
on a Buffalo station--it must be doing well because it's still on. Let the free market support it.
There must be a demand for it. Put it on, do a good job with it, but don't have the Feds force it on.
MATCH GAME TIME!
"I'm From The Government And I'm Here To (BLANK) You!"
sometimes, the Buffalo station comes in clearer than WWZN in the morning. I'm probably further to the left than anyone on this board (except for Radio Tony, perhaps) and I find Santos' show pretty boring although I still listen at times. I like Bill Press's show (on the Buffalo station) better... much more entertaining.
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