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More WSQR Trouble?

rhead

rhead

I'm probably the only one on here who regularly listens to this station. (I like to listen to the Timeless Classics format at work, and this station puts a good signal into Rockford during the day.) Anyway, they seem to be having a little trouble keeping it together today (more so than usual.)

Shortly after 9:00 this morning, WSQR must have lost contact with Timeless, as they broadcast dead air for about fifteen or twenty minutes. When they finally came back on, instead of Timeless Classics, they were simulcasting sister station WSPY, and have been doing so since.

I'm just a little curious as to what's going on here. Is this a permanent change? Did they lose the satellite feed and simply put WSPY on just so they could broadcast something until they get the problem fixed? Or did the automation system choke and someone mistakenly put the wrong feed up on the AM side? (Given their track record, I'd assume probably one of the latter two.)

Probably worth noting that no ID for WSQR played at the top of the 10:00 or 11:00 hours. (That's an FCC violation if they get caught.)

It's the noon hour as I'm typing this, so they usually simulcast WSPY during this time anyway. I guess we'll find out at 1:30, after the Trading Post is over, and see if they switch it back then.
 
Well, for what it's worth, they were back to normal as of 1:30 and have been ever since, without anymore drop-outs.
 
Mr. Head,

When they do have "on-air' problems with programming and dead air, is there anyone still in the building to actually fix things?

Last I could remember, WSQR has a nice studio and building but no actual staff on site.

Does anyone actually work there anymore?
 
peteandrepeat said:
Mr. Head,

When they do have "on-air' problems with programming and dead air, is there anyone still in the building to actually fix things?

Last I could remember, WSQR has a nice studio and building but no actual staff on site.

Does anyone actually work there anymore?
Click to expand...

From all the time I've spent listening to this station, I would assume they are fully automated and unattended the majority of the time. The local newscasts they run sound like they are pre-recorded hours in advance and programmed to play at the same time every hour, and it sounds like the same ones playing over and over again throughout the day.

There is one newscast during the 7AM hour that sounds like it might be live.

Of course, the noon hour show and 1:00 Trading Post are live, but those are simply simulcast off of WSPY. Once the Trading Post is over, WSQR usually rejoins Timeless Classics in the middle of a song. Not sure if there's someone there to switch the feeds or if it's done automatically.

With the constant drop-outs and dead air, I would assume that the AM side is completely unattended when it happens. (Some of the drop-outs and skips sound like a Real Player webcast on a dial-up modem.) You would think if there were someone in the studio, such problems would be corrected much sooner. If anything, some sort of backup programming would be broadcast until the problem with the automation was fixed.

Kind of sounds like WSPY is the main station in the cluster, while WSQR is treated more like the bastard stepchild.
 
It is radio run on the cheap. They have a studio office building just off Dekalb-Sycamore road. I'm thinking that only some public affairs programming is recorded there for playback at a different time. And it is also a place for their salesperson can hang out for the appearance of a local studio and office. Otherwise all programming originates from 1 Broadcast Center in Plano, with a STL link to the Sycamore location.
 
I've got my complaints about them also. However they did a great upgrade to the signal and I can't hear that music anywhere else. I am not sure how you could make the station much more successful. I think you have to be cheap to survive. It is a shame they are tied to the satellite so much, all the psa and garbage stuff in the stop sets is really terrible. How many times have you heard the ad looking for a salesperson? Way to many times. The noise on 1180 from AM 1200 in Chicago's iboc is terrible in the western suburbs also.
 
1180 was a great upgrade from 1560 at least for the daytime signal. Of course, at night, they're even more invisible than before. The music mix from the bird gives them a niche no other area station has. Except, of course, for the co-owned 1480 (what's the deal with their signal anyway? Waaay inferior to what it used to be)

Anyway, I'd have to say, even with all the gaffes, dead air, occasionally "stale" news/weather, etc., 1180 is a moderately pleasant listen.
 
Anyway, I'd have to say, even with all the gaffes, dead air, occasionally "stale" news/weather, etc., 1180 is a moderately pleasant listen.
Click to expand...

Don't you think for the size of the community in Sycamore that WSQR could be something better?
A small, local staff, with an involved owner, creative PD and solid local sales staff for starters.
Something more people in the community could care about.

Maybe I'm a little naive, but isn't that what radio in towns the size of Sycamore should be?

I find it diasppointing.
 
peteandrepeat said:
Maybe I'm a little naive, but isn't that what radio in towns the size of Sycamore should be?
Click to expand...

Well sure.

But unlike small town radio in lets say, Iowa or Alabama, there are a lot of strong "umbrella" signals coming in from the 800-pound gorilla market next door. With so many available choices, listenership beomes limited, and so does available advertising support.

Hence, I think WSQR is doing about as well as can be expected.
 
It is hard to find examples of stations that actually do better. Once in a while they turn up. The NY Times had a profile on one from the east coast a few months ago. However they generally just don't exist. In particular stations near large metropolitan regions seem to be even more unlikely. The one in the NY Times was more rural and had long time owners. I would really like to know of AM daytimers that do better so I could listen to them and see what makes them successful.
 
Well, this morning they choked again. At about 7:40 this morning, the feed from Timeless Classics simply disappeared. WSQR broadcast dead air until about 11:10 (about three and a half hours!), when the satellite format popped back up, joined in progress.

Everything's been normal since, although the last segment of Paul Harvey and the following block of commercials and PSA's played on top of a couple of songs, but that happens every Saturday.

Wonder how long it took before someone who works for the station realized their satellite feed had gone offline?
 
I do agree on the thinking of how much of a difference can you make by being more local and less bird programming. Nelson has made big money at WSPY and has a ton more local involvement in Plano, Sandwich, and Yorkville-Oswego. With little competition from other radio. The only problem they are facing is the demise of the Mom and Pop biz.WSPY's bread and butter. In Sycamore-Dekalb he is also up against WDKB and WLBK.
 
I'm up here in Lake Geneva, WI & even I listen to WSQR a lot. The 800-pound gorilla to the East (nor anywhere else I can tune) offers this great mix of music. I know the non-local aspect is a shame, but, who knows, that may change. If not, there's still a station playing great music.
 
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