Mid Maine's 93.5 loses its Edge

[Maine-i-ac]

93.5 "The Edge" has flipped to an oldies format. Heard "American Top 40 - The 70's" last night. It was formerly heard on their sister station Mix 107.9. Mix mid-day host Paul DeFrancisco was hosting this morning. Looks like Mountain Wireless has mid Maine covered with music from the 1950's to today with it's 3 stations.

I'll definitely give them a good listen since they come in well at my house and somewhat decent in the car. I'm living in the oldies void Bangor market and since K-Love bought the 102.1 frequency in 2009, oldies have been scarce up here.

 

[Maine-i-ac]

OK, since I've gotten to some computer time, it's the "True Oldies" format from the bird. You too can listen on line at : http://radiotime.com/WebTuner.aspx?StationId=65618&

 

[JIBGUY]

You have zillions of stations in the Bangor area, and none of them can play oldies? What's wrong with that. Or are half the stations up there doing the Cash4Christ format?

 

[Mainedude2007]

You have zillions of stations in the Bangor area, and none of them can play oldies? What's wrong with that. Or are half the stations up there doing the Cash4Christ format?

You have WABK out of Augusta which was 60s/70s and has morphed into a tame classic hits/classic top 40 60s/70s/80s format, WSKW Legacy 1160 has been oldies for the past year or so, but it is now simulcasting 93.5 WCTB's newly installed oldies format and you have Citadel's AMs in Augusta that is pretty MOR from the 40s through the 70s from what I understand. Other than that, you had WGUY 102.1 until EMF bought it, and WWMJ 95.7 that had oldies until a couple years ago when it morphed in to classic hits.

 

[amguy]

Add to that AM 1370 WDEA in Ellsworth playing "The Best Music On The Radio"--4 or 5 decades worth.

 

[rjoc]

Add to that AM 1370 WDEA in Ellsworth playing "The Best Music On The Radio"--4 or 5 decades worth.

Unfortunately WDEA does not get to Augusta/Waterville/Skowhegan area well.. WDEA does come in well along I-95 from Bangor to Newport/Palmyra, then fades out rapidly. If driving Routes 1/3 south from Ellsworth the signal is gone right after you head west onto Route 3 in Belfast towards Augusta. Their signal is fair down Route 1 to Camden and Rockland, then vanishes as you continue south towards Damariscotta.

You would be surprised at how good their signal can be in Bangor. But, you need a good selective radio, as both the Brewer/Veazie stations on 1340 and 1400 can splatter onto 1370 on a cheap radio.

Still, for 5000 watts, WDEA does send out an impressive signal from Penobscot Bay all along the DownEast coast into the Bay of Fundy to NB and over to NS.. They have a very impressive set of twin towers on Blue Hill Bay, just south of Ellsworth.

 

[Maine-i-ac]

When I referenced my post about the lack of oldies in the Bangor area, I wasn't counting Augusta/Skowhegan. Will 93.5 fill that niche? Maybe. Their signal is just about strong enough to be viable. But locals stick with what they know.

To answer JIBGUY's question. I live in western coastal Hancock County and when 102.1 WGUY went away, a true rock 'n' roll oldies format went with it.

In my garage, I have a cheap fair midline Yamaha receiver with just a 5 foot length of flat antenna lead. Blueberry Broadcasting has cheapened the dial with its programming. Three frequencies are devoted to their new country Bear 99.1, 103.3 and 104.7. All of these push a 4 or 5 on the signal meter. 96.7, 105.1 and 101.1 are WTOS. 101.3 (which came in booming until they put 101.1 on) and 103.9 are WVOM. While simulcasts are cost saving, they don't really make for great listening.

And while I'm mini-ranting, simulcasts with a poor product (the all NEW Bear - geez, how long have they been all new????) makes me reach for my mp3 player a lot quicker. At least when the Bear frequencies used to be 3 distinct stations, I believe they used to reach more people overall.
Just a few years back, a lot of the older 50-55+ people used to listen to 103.3 with their classic country. 99.1 was a good little downeast station with a mix of both old and new started up by Mark Osborne (who knows a thing or two about programming) and 104.7 was the new country. They used to have a morning person live and an afternoon person live with 103.3 and 104.7. I still remember their names on 99.1 (RIP Billy Charles) and 103.3 (DJ McCoy and Dutch Heiser).

104.7 has always had a troubled history. (Mark Osborne sold it too soon). I think I can count on two hands the number of NEW morning shows they've had, live, voice tracked and syndicated. The current show with Paul and Kat is fairly decent and the rest is VT'ed and syndicated. Ho-hum.

I try to listen to the Bangor stations for at least a couple of hours every month, just to listen for new positioners and liners, etc. There is absolutely nothing that grabs me anymore and makes me want to "lock in". The closest I've come to is Mix 107.9. They mix it up a lot (although they could go deeper in their selection, just my opinion). Plus I do enjoy hearing AT40 (the 80's and particularly the 70's!). I try to give the morning show a good listen, but it ain't the "more music" show anymore. I think Jay Hanson has done well with the station but the morning chatter goes on too long at times.

How did I get here? Anyway, here is what I get on my Yamaha receiver at my location. Sorry that I might not know all the call letters.

88.1 - CBC, Canada
88.5 - WHCF, religious, Bangor
88.9 - God's Country
89.3 - WHSN, alt. rock, Bangor
89.9 - WERU, community, Blue Hill
90.1 - MPBN, Portland
90.5 - MPBN, Camden
90.9 - MPBN, Bangor
91.3 - MPBN, Waterville (don't get me going about the MPBN mega network)
91.9 - University of Maine
92.3 - 92 Moose, CHR, Augusta
92.9 - WEZQ, AC, Bangor
93.5 - WCTB. Oldies, Waterville
93.9 - Air1, religious, Lewiston/Auburn
94.5 - WKSQ, AC? CHR?, who the hell knows - Ellsworth
94.9 - WHOM, AC, Mount Washington
95.3 - Christian, Augusta
95.7 - WWMJ, classic hits, Ellsworth
96.3 - Sports, Rumford
96.7 - WTOS translator, Boothbay Harbor
97.1 - Sports, Bangor
97.5 - Sports, ?
97.7 - WNSX, one of the best stations for AC/lite rock, Winter Harbor
98.5 - B98.5, country, Waterville
99.1 - WLKE, country, Bar Harbor
99.5 - WJCX, Calvary Chapel, Pittsfield
99.9 - The Wolf, country, Portland
100.3 - WKIT, rock, Brewer
101.1 - WTOS translator, Gouldsboro
101.7 - K-Love, Searsport
102.1 - K-Love, Newport
102.5 - WQSS, AC, Camden (another station destroyed by Blueberry)
102.9 - WBLM, Rock, Portland
103.1 - WDME, progressive talk, Dover Foxcroft
103.3 - WMCM, country, Rockland
103.7 - The Peak, country, Mount Washington
103.9 - WVOM, talk, Howland
104.3 - WABK, oldies/classic hits, Augusta
104.7 - WBFB, country, Belfast
105.1 - WTOS, rock, Skowhegan
105.5 - WBYA (ugh), classic hits, Islesboro
105.9 - religious, Bath/Brunswick
106.5 - WQCB, country, Bangor
106.9 - classical, Rockland
107.3 - WBZN, CHR, Old Town
107.5 - WFNK (Frank again!), classic hits, Portland
107.7 - classical, Bar Harbor
107.9 - WFMX, AC/CHR/oldies, Skowhegan

Wow! 48 stations fighting for my attention and I listen to 6 of them with any regularity.

Oh and Rick, AM1370 is my #1 preset on AM in the car. I can't forget you my friend.

 

[freightliner]

When in Maine, I catch WDEA. Back in Connecticut, it's usually WFEA that most-often comes in at night on 1370....but while DX'ing (while waiting for a train to arrive late one night in March), it was 'DEA not 'FEA making the trip to New London. At first, I thought--maybe Day pattern.... But flipped to 910 and there was Bangor's WAEI and there IT was...over New Britian's WLAT. Guess it was Maine's night for some AM directionals to visit here. Doesn't happen often. However, about a decade ago, I remember hearing 'ZON on 620 in Norwich with no sign of Newark or Burlington.

 

[True Grit]

When I referenced my post about the lack of oldies in the Bangor area, I wasn't counting Augusta/Skowhegan. Will 93.5 fill that niche? Maybe. Their signal is just about strong enough to be viable. But locals stick with what they know.

To answer JIBGUY's question. I live in western coastal Hancock County

I'm as western coastal Hancock County as you can get. We might be a stone's throw away from each other.