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NERW on WMEX's return date and programming

I am only getting one channel (left) on my computer.... Nothing out of the right speaker.

Yes, they need some work. Sounds like only one stereo channel fed in the mono on-air mix on 1510 here, and there’s awful intermittent distortion at times in the on-air audio. This was also happening on the WATD simulcast on 1510 this afternoon before the WMEX test began at 3 PM. Sounds like a new issue in the air chain, never heard this distortion on the 1510 broadcast until today.
 
Operations manager Larry Nelson says he’s going to go over the whole audio chain before the WMEX format debut, still scheduled for May 18.

WATD's always been a good-sounding station/stream, so I'd expect no less from WMEX. As for today's test, I was surprised to hear the Raspberries' "Go All the Way" among all those dusty discs. I know it came out only 5 years after "With This Ring," but what a difference in style and sound. I wonder if WMEX will go deeper into the '70s or if it will stick to the 1955-to-the-dawn-of-disco time frame that oldies stations had in the late '80s and early '90s.
 
WATD's always been a good-sounding station/stream, so I'd expect no less from WMEX. As for today's test, I was surprised to hear the Raspberries' "Go All the Way" among all those dusty discs. I know it came out only 5 years after "With This Ring," but what a difference in style and sound. I wonder if WMEX will go deeper into the '70s or if it will stick to the 1955-to-the-dawn-of-disco time frame that oldies stations had in the late '80s and early '90s.

I've heard that WMEX will have a wide time range. Starting in the mid-'50s, heavy on the '60s and '70s, and some music from later if it fits.
 
a friend is going to be starting back there next week running a board.

Larry Justice told me Larry Nelson was running his board not too long ago...
 
a friend is going to be starting back there next week running a board.

Larry Justice told me Larry Nelson was running his board not too long ago...

Is this the same Larry Nelson that did voice tracks for IGM (International Good Music) automation in WA back in the 70s???
 
Larry Nelson' s facebook says he's from Marshfield.The one you mean though apparently passed on in 2007.
440int says for Larry Nelson:
KOMO [Seattle WA] 1967-1996
Larry Nelson died (lung cancer) Nov 29, 2007 in Seattle Washington.

https://www.440int.com/namesn.html#_lnelso
And WMEX's sister station in Brockton, Lindsy Parker tweeted "So excited!!! WBMS (101.1 FM, 1460 AM, and also streaming live) is going back on the air June 22. I'll be back in my pre-covid slot -- Afternoon Drive 2-6. Cannot wait to talk to you all in person again!!"
 
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The DJ schedule for oldies on WMEX starting Monday 5/18 was posted on Facebook, and I included some other weekend oldies shows simulcast on WMEX from WATD:

Weekdays:

5:00 AM - 9:15 AM: South Shore's Morning News (simulcast from WATD)

9:15 AM - 2:00 PM: Oldies with Larry Justice (includes half-hour 12:00 mid-day news break from WATD)

2:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Oldies with Joe McMillan

6:00 PM on - WATD simulcast?

Saturdays:

8:00 AM - 12 noon: Oldies with Jimmy Jay

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM: Mid-day news break (simulcast from WATD)

12:15 PM - 6:00 PM: Oldies with Ron Dwyer (simulcast from WATD)

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Saturday Night Oldies Party (Larry Nelson and others, simulcast from WATD)

9:00 PM - 12 mid.: Yesterday's Memories (Ed Bowen, Larry Nelson and others, simulcast from WATD)

12 mid. - 8:00 AM: WATD simulcast?

Sundays:

8:00 AM - 1:00 PM: Oldies with Jimmy Jay

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Oldies with Ron Dwyer (simulcast from WATD)

5:00 PM on: WATD simulcast?

10:00 PM - 2:00 AM: Bill Clark's Music Heaven ('50s Doo-Wop, R&B, early Rock'n'Roll, simulcast from WATD)
 
The DJ schedule for oldies on WMEX starting Monday 5/18 was posted on Facebook, and I included some other weekend oldies shows simulcast on WMEX from WATD:

Weekdays:

5:00 AM - 9:15 AM: South Shore's Morning News (simulcast from WATD)

9:15 AM - 2:00 PM: Oldies with Larry Justice (includes half-hour 12:00 mid-day news break from WATD)

2:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Oldies with Joe McMillan

6:00 PM on - WATD simulcast?

Saturdays:

8:00 AM - 12 noon: Oldies with Jimmy Jay

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM: Mid-day news break (simulcast from WATD)

12:15 PM - 6:00 PM: Oldies with Ron Dwyer (simulcast from WATD)

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Saturday Night Oldies Party (Larry Nelson and others, simulcast from WATD)

9:00 PM - 12 mid.: Yesterday's Memories (Ed Bowen, Larry Nelson and others, simulcast from WATD)

12 mid. - 8:00 AM: WATD simulcast?

Sundays:

8:00 AM - 1:00 PM: Oldies with Jimmy Jay

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Oldies with Ron Dwyer (simulcast from WATD)

5:00 PM on: WATD simulcast?

10:00 PM - 2:00 AM: Bill Clark's Music Heaven ('50s Doo-Wop, R&B, early Rock'n'Roll, simulcast from WATD)

Maybe automated, jockless oldies in the empty dayparts? I doubt they'd subscribe to True Oldies or a similar service.
 
Maybe automated, jockless oldies in the empty dayparts? I doubt they'd subscribe to True Oldies or a similar service.

Knowing Ed, "True Oldies" or another satellite oldies network (such as Westwood 1) would be very unlikely.

The main issue is that the station has to greatly lower power at night. 10 kW days, 2 kW "critical hours", then just 100 watts after sunset. May not be worth paying for evening or nighttime air talent on that signal alone even with the stream.

I've heard it at night on the WATD simulcast, from Quincy/Milton it covers some coastal South Shore towns and the neighborhoods of Boston south of downtown, and it goes north of Boston up the immediate coast to the lower coastal North Shore. The night signal doesn't go inland away from the coast well, though. I hear it where fairly well where I am in east Somerville near Route 93 and the McGrath Highway from Boston, but if I go inland west just a couple miles, say toward Davis Square, it fades out at night.

An FM translator on 101.1 was proposed, maybe to be licensed to Weymouth, but that's held up for some reason, and it won't cover much more ground than the AM night signal, maybe a bit farther southward down the coast, but it will just do so with better audio quality.

I'd suggest automated oldies during those unscheduled hours to keep the format audience for the stream and for nearby local listeners, with options to cut away for local community service programming or brokered programming. I don't know if it could be possible to make an arrangement with Gary James, a former program director of the 1980's oldies 1150 WMEX, Boston who programs the automated oldies WMEX-LPFM in Rochester NH, to simulcast that at night, or if there would be logistical or legal issues with that, have him provide a separate automated oldies music program for it as he does for WGAM/WGHM in NH (the former WKBR and WOTW). Or, Ed's staff could probably create an automated oldies program themselves with their own avails for spots, promos, drop-ins, cutaways for special shows, etc...
 
Knowing Ed, "True Oldies" or another satellite oldies network (such as Westwood 1) would be very unlikely.

The main issue is that the station has to greatly lower power at night. 10 kW days, 2 kW "critical hours", then just 100 watts after sunset. May not be worth paying for evening or nighttime air talent on that signal alone even with the stream.

I've heard it at night on the WATD simulcast, from Quincy/Milton it covers some coastal South Shore towns and the neighborhoods of Boston south of downtown, and it goes north of Boston up the immediate coast to the lower coastal North Shore. The night signal doesn't go inland away from the coast well, though. I hear it where fairly well where I am in east Somerville near Route 93 and the McGrath Highway from Boston, but if I go inland west just a couple miles, say toward Davis Square, it fades out at night.

An FM translator on 101.1 was proposed, maybe to be licensed to Weymouth, but that's held up for some reason, and it won't cover much more ground than the AM night signal, maybe a bit farther southward down the coast, but it will just do so with better audio quality.

I'd suggest automated oldies during those unscheduled hours to keep the format audience for the stream and for nearby local listeners, with options to cut away for local community service programming or brokered programming. I don't know if it could be possible to make an arrangement with Gary James, a former program director of the 1980's oldies 1150 WMEX, Boston who programs the automated oldies WMEX-LPFM in Rochester NH, to simulcast that at night, or if there would be logistical or legal issues with that, have him provide a separate automated oldies music program for it as he does for WGAM/WGHM in NH (the former WKBR and WOTW). Or, Ed's staff could probably create an automated oldies program themselves with their own avails for spots, promos, drop-ins, cutaways for special shows, etc...

Maybe he can find out who is programming Great Eastern Radio's "Kool Radio" triplecast in Woodstock VT and Walpole and Keene NH (still hosted at river1067.com, even though the River format moved to 93.9 nearly two years ago). For about a year after eliminating local programming, they were running Scott Shannon's syndicated feed, but now they're local in the mornings again and automated the rest of the day, with a playlist much like this hour being representative:

We Don't Talk Anymore -- Cliff Richard
Hooked on a Feeling -- Blue Swede
Boogaloo Down Broadway -- Fantastic Johnny C.
Surfin' USA -- The Beach Boys
Then Came You -- Dionne Warwick & the Spinners
Mary Mary -- The Monkees
Love Won't Let Me Wait -- Major Harris
I Can Help -- Billy Swan
Bottle of Wine -- The Fireballs
Love Will Find a Way -- Pablo Cruise
Precious and Few -- Climax
Lonely Boy -- Andrew Gold
All I Need -- The Temptations
Playground in My Mind -- Clint Holmes
Glad All Over -- The Dave Clark Five
I Need You -- America
Hot Stuff -- Donna Summer

While I've been typing this list, Jose Feliciano's "Light My Fire" and Dionne Warwick's "This Girl's in Love with You" have played. I think this sort of variety would be consistent with Ed's vision for this station. It's all '60s and '70s and goes well beyond the monster hits of those decades. I used to visit the NH/VT area often back when travel was advisable, and I can tell you that while the past hour's playlist may lean soft, I've heard songs like "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and "Fire" (Arthur Brown, Ohio Players and Pointer Sisters -- not Jimi Hendrix on my "watch" but you never know) played. If WMEX sounds like this, tens (maybe) of oldies geeks will be ecstatic!
 
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