Oldies/Classic Hits vs Regional Mex in Fort Myers

[SCMcKinney]

Maybe somebody with more knowledge can fill me in on this... Where is WDCQ 1200 when we need it? According to the Arbitron ratings, WPTK is scraping the bottom, behind another Regional Mexican that is on FM. Since WOLZ stepped away from oldies sometime back, why has no one stepped back in? Particularly when WDCQ might have some history associated with it, and they have a decent signal, and there are a lot of retiring/vacationing boomers in SW Florida, what would be holding (WINK management?) back from getting better ratings/revenues?

Considering that a significant portion of the populace in almost any market is not fluent in spanish, what are the parameters that a station owner uses to make the decision to flip to a foreign language? Why do they tend to be larger AM's (820 in St Petersburg, 740 in Orlando) Can you bill that much more that ratings are on a different scale (i.e. a 0.6 is 'good enough')?

 

[radiosanchez]

Wow...DCQ....and they had killer AM Stereo, too....I remember my parents rented a Lincoln and we drove from Miami to Naples Summer 1990 and they sounded like a Million Bucks in C-QUAM. And they used to advertise on the back of milk cartons too....Was owned by the late Jerry "JJ" Collins and they made quite a splash promotionally when they signed on in the mid-80s.

Closest thing to Oldies now I guess is WVOI/1480 in Marco.

Those peeps at Ft. Myers Broadcasting aren't known for brilliant decisions, tho....

What I'd like to see, honestly, is that 'tanked' Cat Country WCKT/107.1 flip to Regional Mexican...I mean really....Isn't Clear Channel flipping anything and everything in their portfolio to Spanish?? That station could have a chance to do serious damage in that market targeting said audience....Then maybe they can see the writing on the wall and try something else on 1200.

 

[DToTheJ]

Doesn't the market already have a Spanish station at 97.7 FM?

 

[smedge2006]

Although I would prefer they flipped to something like liberal talk, Regional Mexican makes good use of 1200's 50 KW CP. It's on four towers with the main lobe pointing north up U.S. 17 and eastward toward Highlands County and Lake Okeechobee -- areas where Hispanics (mostly Mexicans who arrived with agriculture or their descendants) often outnumber European- or African-Americans.

 

[radiosanchez]

Doesn't the market already have a Spanish station at 97.7 FM?

2 totally different audiences...97.7 targets "Tropical" Hispanics (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, etc), while Regional Mexican targets, well, listeners of Mexican origin.

To me, the Mexican audience in SW FL. outnumbers other Hispanics in that area so why someone would flip an FM to some form of Spanish other than Regional Mexican is mind boggling. WAFZ-FM is the closest thing but it is not a great signal.

 

[SCMcKinney]

>>To me, the Mexican audience in SW FL. outnumbers other Hispanics in that area so why someone would flip an FM to some form of Spanish other than Regional Mexican is mind boggling. WAFZ-FM is the closest thing but it is not a great signal.<<

True, there are a lot of Hispanics of Mexican origin in SW Fla, and as was also posted, the tower array may give great coverage in Arcadia and Wauchula, but then, where are the listeners? It may be the old saw that similar music on FM will always beat that on an AM. Therefore WAFZ will get almost twice the ratings of WPTK, which is what the latest Arbitron seems to indicate. Which kind of gets back to one of my original questions, how much is 'good enough' on a foreign language formatted station. (or when does it get to the point of NOT being acceptable).

I would bet there are a lot of semi-retired 'boss jocks' from 60's and 70's living in SW Florida who would chomp at the chance to do their thing again on a decent powered AM. Given that this particular brand of tunes is largely absent from the area... why not give it a try (Ft Myers Broadcasting are you listening?)

 

[JayR]

Where is WDCQ 1200 when we need it?

Ahh..."Solid Gold 1200 WDCQ"...Talk about memories!

I remember this station simply because my father's 1969 Ford F-100 pickup only had an AM radio (it was either 'DCQ or 1410 WMYR, which was playing country at the time).

Those peeps at Ft. Myers Broadcasting aren't known for brilliant decisions, tho...

When it comes to their radio operations...yeah.

I would bet there are a lot of semi-retired 'boss jocks' from 60's and 70's living in SW Florida who would chomp at the chance to do their thing again on a decent powered AM. Given that this particular brand of tunes is largely absent from the area... why not give it a try (Ft Myers Broadcasting are you listening?)

McBrides? Listen? Since when?

 

[HadYourPhil]

Never happen. It makes too much sense. Also the McBride/WINK/whatever empire is building a 1460 AM in Naples, probably also to be Spanish.
Sure is hard to remember I'm in the USA when I turn on the ol' AM...

 

[Time Traveler]

Wow...DCQ....and they had killer AM Stereo, too....I remember my parents rented a Lincoln and we drove from Miami to Naples Summer 1990 and they sounded like a Million Bucks in C-QUAM. And they used to advertise on the back of milk cartons too....Was owned by the late Jerry "JJ" Collins and they made quite a splash promotionally when they signed on in the mid-80s.

Closest thing to Oldies now I guess is WVOI/1480 in Marco.

Those peeps at Ft. Myers Broadcasting aren't known for brilliant decisions, tho....

What I'd like to see, honestly, is that 'tanked' Cat Country WCKT/107.1 flip to Regional Mexican...I mean really....Isn't Clear Channel flipping anything and everything in their portfolio to Spanish?? That station could have a chance to do serious damage in that market targeting said audience....Then maybe they can see the writing on the wall and try something else on 1200.

Better yet...bring back WDCQ and 107.1-WOOJ!!!!