Next Format DuJour at WARL 1320?

[wxctintern]

The Sporting News Radio Network is For Sale. If they discontinue programming, anyone care to speculate what's gonna be the next format dujour at WARL? Back to the whacked-out Conspericacy Talk/Hate Talk Format? Let's see in the past couple years this station has been: Standards, Urban, talk, and now sports talk. What's next?

 

[odomski]

I don't think it matters anyway. They have no listeners. The station has an identity crisis. One weekend recently, I flipped them on expecting to hear the Sporting News Radio, but instead heard a 90-something year old woman intro-ing music and reading commercials. Bless her heart, but I could barely understand a word she was saying. She played a couple of Elvis songs then said "if I am able to get here, I will be back next week." The station abruptly went into a Providence Bruins broadcast. The place has an identity crisis. It's a shame that the Sporting News Radio can't be on a better station in the market. I would rather listen to some of their talk shows instead of that J.T. The Dick moron on Fox Sports Radio.

 

[edthedeal]

With that weak signal, No one cares about this station . <P ID="signature">______________
Winter Olympic , Who cares . Its time to watch American Idol.</P>

 

[CTRadio]

How will you make it after all?

If by weak signal you mean it doesn't cover all of a particular Arbitron metro such as Providence, then it really won't ever be much of a factor going up against the big guys on its own with sports, talk or even ethnic. It may not be a license to print money, but it's still a license. As a standalone rimshotter, it will be tough job to ever make it in this environment.

There are, however, examples of AM regional networks or simulcasts that may work for them or at least stop the bloodletting. Hall could fill in a hole in their WLKW coverage by simulcasting 1450 Warwick and 1340 New Bedford on 1320. Buckley owns several stations in Connecticut (Torrington, Meriden & Waterbury) that extend the reach of WDRC-AM 1360's programming well beyond Hartford. These stations were hard pressed to make it on their own before being part of the WDRC network. To the north, Manchester's WGIR-AM 610 extends its reach to the Seacoast and Upper Valley putting their programming on several stations on the fringe of 'GIR.

Is there anyone else in the Providence market that may want to extend some listenable programming into the northeast suburbs? You have to control costs and still provide something that fills a real niche. Otherwise, you're guaranteed more questionable format flips with the same results or going dark. You don't see WLKW getting trashed on these boards like WARL, WAKX or WALE. It's not because their signal is bigger, either.

> With that weak signal, No one cares about this station .
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by CT Radio Guy on 02/24/06 03:23 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Runrigger]

Re: How will you make it after all?

> Is there anyone else in the Providence market that may want
> to extend some listenable programming into the northeast
> suburbs? You have to control costs and still provide
> something that fills a real niche. Otherwise, you're
> guaranteed more questionable format flips with the same
> results or going dark. You don't see WLKW getting trashed
> on these boards like WARL, WAKX or WALE. It's not because
> their signal is bigger, either.

For an audience that still has a tendency to listen to AM radio for music, WLKW actually plays some decent music. Some of the mellower 50s & 60s music that's disappeared from oldies stations is still being played there. They seem to have a decent spotload of local sponsors too & if I'm not mistaken, I think I've seen ads for the station in some of the local free newspapers. At least there's consistency there as opposed to some of these other AMs that remain on the air for no apparent reason. Seems Hall Communications knows how to make things work from a sales standpoint.

 

[DG02816]

Re: How will you make it after all?

We could dream and see the WLKW call and format go back to 990. I'd change 1450 back to WWRI as well. You never know...

Dave Gardiner

WVCH 740/WNWR 1540

Philadelphia

 

[ajhenderson]

> The Sporting News Radio Network is For Sale. If they
> discontinue programming, anyone care to speculate what's
> gonna be the next format dujour at WARL? Back to the
> whacked-out Conspericacy Talk/Hate Talk Format? Let's see in
> the past couple years this station has been: Standards,
> Urban, talk, and now sports talk. What's next?

Don't know why someone why buy a network just to turn it off, but it would appear that WARL is already a quasi-brokered operation. Is that the case? The network's star, Tony Bruno, who would theoretically have no home if SNR shuts down (after leaving FNR and ESPN), only clears one of three hours, making way for infomercial crapola.