MORE NONSENSE AT ONE UTICA STATION???

[WaldoWarren]

Hi all.

I've been reading this forum now for about two weeks, and wanted to pipe up and say a few things:

Foremost, Utica/Syr is like a big family, and at the same time a pack of snakes.

On all these threads i noticed something. (Tho I didn't read up on 'out of market' threads.) You guys consistantly are extremely civil to one-another, even in cases where you speak of 'less-than-impressive people.' Yeah sure, there's obvious axe grinders here, but those are way easy to spot. (More on this in a sec). I notice you are even usually polite about people we all know cause some grief in this market. (no names).

Its great to know that there's a few places on the web you can still go and people discuss rather than get stupid. And if you can't say something nice.... still means something. That's why I read. Thanx guyz.


Now for FredFriendly there...

Its clear by your tone and fabricated family tales you have been spending quite some time thinking about Keeler.

You can't "win" with Bill in your game here, thanqu for trying. There is no "win". You can dream up the worst and post it, but I have a funny feeling these guys ain't buying; Bill is often the first one to extend an olive leaf... even to a "hurt-to-the-point-of-mean" person such as yourself.

As for the lawsuit, wrong again. The delaying party is usually the one with worries... and we know who's doin' the foot-dragging shuffle don't we? I've seen that suit, and discussed it with both sides.... without saying too much, Keeler has a suprise, and Galaxy knows and is looking for an out, percieving the suit as too much exposure. My money says don't bet against Keeler... we've seen what usually happens when you do.

You bring the rain... Bill will always bring the parade.

 

[BobRoss]

Welcome Waldo. I'm glad you enjoy our little board here. It's nice to talk productively, rather than everything being a name-calling war. (Though somehow, my complaint about that got deleted ... messages are rarely deleted here. Hmm.)

So until Keeler decides to pack up and leave WXUR, he's pretty much old news now. What's the deal with KISS-FM? Beyond Keeler leaving (for reasons I'd still be interested to hear), I haven't really heard much of anything in the way of changes there. Just noticed the ClearChannel cookie-cutter website has been replaced with a rather cluttered looking "under construction" page with a crappy new logo that probably took all of 10 minutes to slap together in Photoshop. I hope that's not the permanent look.

It's actually kinda nice to see stations go through an ownership change without making massive, obvious changes to the on-air product. But I still have a feeling they must be planning something over there. After all, how long can a CHR station go without a morning show? Especially during this time of year when school closings are probably more important to your target demo listeners than ANY song or any other topic the jocks could possibly come up with.

Who's running the ship under Roser management? I think I lost track of who was the PD/MD after Roadrunner left.

 

[probuttonpusher]

Do you think Roser will hire Linda Rae back as PD/MD, they have history dont they?

 

[funnyman]

Shaun Andrews is PD of the station.

 

[BobRoss]

Do you think Roser will hire Linda Rae back as PD/MD, they have history dont they?

Yes, they have history, from when "Vic and Linda Rae" were co-hosting the WOW-FM morning show... back when WOW was 97.9/105.5 and Kiss was still on 102.5 Ironic how things play out in the long run.

However, a few things come into play. One, what's Roser's financial situation? Being a small, independent owner, I can't imagine he's got a ton of cash in the bank, especially after paying over a million for Kiss. In other words, could he afford to hire Linda Rae? Not that she was making huge money, but I've often heard she was at the upper end of the scale as far as U-R personalities go.

I would also wonder if Linda Rae would even want to go back to Kiss. It was kinda painful to hear her and Kuchenbacher grow old and stale on the air, while the music on Kiss remained young. By the time management realized it, Kiss was already sliding fast. She was definitely a better fit for Mix 102.5, but they might have had even better numbers if they put her on mornings instead of middays.

 

[FredFriendly]

Old names, old "talents"...is anyone really surprised that they're getting the same old results? A little birdy says that a certain female talent has already given up on radio and is returning to teaching. Those that can, etc, etc...

Word on the street is that her talentless hack ex-partner finagled another gig down south with his former CheapChump masters...good riddance to bad rubbish...

 

[probuttonpusher]

she could teach either........so he is out of town now? I bet he'll be back in 3 years.

 

[funnyman]

Word has it el captain from CC has moved South. On Linda, you are right she isn't the right fit on KISS and won't be there. I can tell you my sources at the old CC regime told me the plan was to put Linda and Kook on in the morning but the captain wouldn't do it for budget reasons. Whoopi on trade or pay a salary. You can see where it got them.

On another note: nobody has commented on 92.7 The Drive. Tough to get the signal down here in the Waterville/Hamilton area. Who are the jocks besides Imus and Keeler? Music transitions have been wierd. I listened on my way to the mall on Sunday and heard two obscured 70's songs into Creep by Radiohead. Yesterday I heard Dave Matthews followed by Sledgehammer and some random track. Station cuts in and out on Route 20. Curious on what others think.

 

[Adman4120]

Hello...I've also been tuning in to the Drive. I do know that Jack Moran is also at the station. Rumor had it that he was programming the station. If that is true, I would think, he was smart enough to have the former River playlist in his possession. I know the liners and voice talent they are using is the same person that did the River ID's, etc.

Their signal is not that great, but I was told that they were approved to increase to 25,000 watts. Again, if true, I would think it would make a difference.

The station has invited by invitation a number of guests to a dinner tomorrow at 5-PM to explain and introduce their new station, and to also give people a chance to meet Keeler. Maybe I will be able to learn more about the station and it's direction at that time.

As far as the music selection goes, I have not listened enough to offer any opinion. I thought The River's music mix was bad at all. I do know a lot of people that listened to it, when they could pick it up. I'm sure we will all have some interesting comments after the new format runs for a few weeks.

 

[BobRoss]

I do know that Jack Moran is also at the station. Rumor had it that he was programming the station. If that is true, I would think, he was smart enough to have the former River playlist in his possession.

A recent Utica O-D article had him titled as Operations Manager... but at tiny WXUR, it's probably safe to assume that title includes PD, MD, some production duties, and maybe even janitor. With the sale of CC announced so far in advance, I'm sure you're right about people getting their hands on things like playlists. But two obscure 70s songs followed by Radiohead? Maybe Jack should have printed himself copies of the programming clocks too!

I just heard two songs I've never heard of before (but they had 70s written all over them) followed by Seal, and now "Look After You" by The Fray. Actually, tonight's the first chance I've been able to hear the station from this neck of the woods... so I can't really form much of an opinion yet either. But so far, the wide gap between the decades makes me wonder what their target audience is supposed to be... and how well they expect to compete with more music-intensive stations when they've got Imus gabbing all morning and Keeler gabbing all afternoon.

Meantime, Mix 102.5's website simply shows a "new website coming soon" message with a slightly-revamped logo... most notably the slogan changed to "Today's Best Music" (yes, with the word "Today's" underlined). Will they come back from 24/7 Christmas as more of a CHR than a Hot AC? It certainly leads you to believe they won't be simply simulcasting Sunny from Syracuse... unless Ed is just trying to bluff everyone.

Update: Just heard the top of the hour ID... preceded by a couple minutes of dead air. So they're definitely automated... likely out of some new system they're still getting used to since playing your own local music can be a little more complicated than just setting up automation to fire liners triggered by a satellite feed. Sounds as if the hour of music "runs out" before the top of the hour, the system just sits there and waits until it's literally the next hour before it begins playing the next hour, even if that means dead air. Only other stations I've ever heard that on were CC properties... I wonder if 'XUR went with NexGen or even a used Prophet system.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Update: Just heard the top of the hour ID... preceded by a couple minutes of dead air. So they're definitely automated... Sounds as if the hour of music "runs out" before the top of the hour, the system just sits there and waits until it's literally the next hour before it begins playing the next hour, even if that means dead air.

The simple solution is to slightly "over-load" the hour with music and strategically place one or two soft-syncs in the hour that allow the automation to drop songs while progressing through the hour. Just about every automation package allows for this. Enco calls them "soft branches" while most other systems, like Scott Studios, call them "soft syncs."

Their signal is not that great, but I was told that they were approved to increase to 25,000 watts. Again, if true, I would think it would make a difference.

WXUR is on a class A channel (224A), maximum power, 6kW ERP. It would have to move to 92.5 (223B) or 92.9 (225B) before getting the FCC's blessing for a power boost. That's a major change, requiring plenty of paperwork, technical research and processing. Oh, and mega-dollars.

 

[onthemarks]

The new Kiss logo has "Wow" written all over it in design in that it looks put together really quickly. That's disappointing. If they were smart they'd take the Kiss logo from Norma and/or Dame Media days and modify that. At least there's some familiarity with that logo.

Linda and Vic were never on Wow-FM together - it was Jack Baxter (train wreck) and Linda Rae, then Linda Rae and Kookinbocker (reunited after WRCK stint for a month or two) then Tracey James (Annie on Frog) and Kookinbocker before the whole morning show imploded when Tracey went to Frog and Kook went to Kiss to be with Linda again.

I can't see Linda going back to Roser.

Thank god Movin's signal gets into U/R

 

[probuttonpusher]

yes but desparate times and people do desparate things!

 

[funnyman]

omthemarks, you are right the logo is lame and I saw their banner at the mall when I was there with the kids last weekend. What a crowded mess!

Adman: anything to report on your dinner with The Drive people?

 

[funnyman]

oops hit this 2x

 

[Sassy Dj]

Well nothing like saying it like it is. The NEW AND UNIMPROVED WXUR has a HORRID FORMAT!!!!!!!! :-[ As for Jack Moran or is it Jack Moron trying to make the music formatting for ages of 35 - 45 better go back to school! I am in that age bracket and putting this BS music from 1990 and forward into your format is HORRIBLE! It needs to be music from the 60's 70's & 80's not this 90's and millenium crap! I feel like I am listening to 102.5 now. COME ON PEOPLE! The music had alot of Motown and wasn't the best at one time, then XUR became the best station after The River was gone. NOW IT IS HORRID! I won't even go to that dial anymore!
As for IMUS well the only age brackets of people listening to him are 50 and older. GET WITH THE TIMES SWEETIE! If the station is supposed to be for 35 - 45 yr olds then GET A REAL MORNING SHOW ON! Whatever happened to the good disc jockey The Doc Of Rock ya might want to put him on, because I presonally think he was the only soul to the station wth knowledge in music and personality!!!! Maybe XUR better go to a internet radio station, because this crap is intolerable!

 

[Adman4120]

Hello Funnyman...Nothing to eventful at the WXUR dinner gathering. I do not know how many business people were invited, but in my opinion, the turnout was bleak at best. Did get a chance to talk with Bill Keeler which I enjoyed, but besides that, it was a very uneventful couple of hours. Nothing was really said about the station or format. Station personnel were introduced along with the station being called The Drive. No mention of format, why they switched, or anything else. Maybe they don't know themselves.

It's nice to see a local owner try and go against the big companies, however, I have to also agree that with their poor signal and the music way off the mark, they will not do any better than they have been, except for Keeler, who I still predict down the road will have double digit numbers.