Progressive Talk returns to Boston radio!

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Many of you have expressed an interest in this type of programming.
It can now be revealed: WAZN-AM 1470 will soon be adding Progressive Talk,
airing weekday evenings, from the Jones Radio Network. These will be the programs
that aired live earlier the same day. The specifics are not yet worked out, as to
which particular programs and/or hours we will be carrying, initially.

WAZN is now looking for commission-only sales people to sell this new format.
If you have previously sold airtime (either radio or TV) in the Boston area,
I want to hear from you! Email only to: [email protected]


Jeff Kline
General Manager,
WAZN/WLYN

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Many of you have expressed an interest in this type of programming.
It can now be revealed: WAZN-AM 1470 will soon be adding Progressive Talk,
airing weekday evenings, from the Jones Radio Network. These will be the programs
that aired live earlier the same day. The specifics are not yet worked out, as to
which particular programs and/or hours we will be carrying, initially.

WAZN is now looking for commission-only sales people to sell this new format.
If you have previously sold airtime (either radio or TV) in the Boston area,
I want to hear from you! Email only to: [email protected]


Jeff Kline
General Manager,
WAZN/WLYN

The former Jones Network is now called DialGlobal. But this announcement doesn't PROMOTE the cause of "progressive talk"; it sabotages it. If this programming is available anywhere in Greater Boston, even on a weak station near the top of the dial with horrendous same-frequency interference, it means that no other station in town would consider the format...not that any seem to be clamoring now.

 

[Deleted User]

it's about damn time!

Now can I get some hours back!

 

[radiorama1]

The light bulb in my living room lamp has more power than WAZN at night... :

How can anyone expect to hear these programs in Boston?

 

[NHRadio]

WAZN has 3400 watts at night and does OK in Boston. Seems to do better at night than during the day due to the increased power. There aren't many AM's that go up in power at night.

The light bulb in my living room lamp has more power than WAZN at night... :

How can anyone expect to hear these programs in Boston?

 

[GR]

What do they air during the day?

 

[DanStrassberg]

WAZN has 3400 watts at night and does OK in Boston. Seems to do better at night than during the day due to the increased power. There aren't many AM's that go up in power at night.

There are two reasons why WAZN's signal is stronger in Boston at night than it is during the day: The night power being about 2-1/2 times the day power is only one of them. The other is that the night pattern sends most of the signal toward Boston, whereas the daytime pattern sends most of the signal to the northwest--away from Boston. Both the higher night power and the "reversal" of the pattern are unusual, but far from unique. The day pattern has to protect first-adjacent-channel stations in Fall River and Brockton. And since there was no chance of constructing additional towers at the Lexington site, which is home to AM 1150 as well as to WAZN, the day pattern has to be what it is. At night, WAZN's signal over Boston is equivalent to close to 20 times the power of its day signal. People try to pick up the station in places like Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford by day and find that the signal is weak. Then, knowing a thing or two about AM, they figure that the signal there must be even weaker at night and they never try to tune in the station at night. Yes, it's true that WAZN's nighttime-interference-free contour is around 15 mV/m, which is relatively high, but because the interference comes from many stations rather than just one, which is the case with several Boston-area AMs at night, you can almost always get a listenable signal from WAZN out to the 5 mV/m contour, which covers a lot of the City of Boston.

So don't write WAZN off so quickly. The night signal in nearly all of the market is better by far than that of WXKS (AM) 1430, which carried Progressive Talk until a couple of years ago. Ever since WAZN moved to Lexington three or four years ago, I've been trying to talk up the idea that WAZN and WXKS (AM) should be a simulcast. Their day and night coverage areas are beautifully complementary (1430 runs 5 kW ND by days from a transmitter site that is in a good location near the geographic center of the market) and the two stations are right next to each other on the AM dial. A 1430/1470 simulcast would be like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear--well, TWO sows' ears. to be more accurate.

 

[talkjim]

But this announcement doesn't PROMOTE the cause of "progressive talk"; it sabotages it.

So let me get this straight. If a radio station makes a good-faith decision to air some particular programming, it is sabotaging this programming? So when Rush Limbaugh's program began 20 years ago, were the small stations that carried that show, before it graduated to large stations, sabotaging Rush? If they were, they sure don't seem to have done a very effective job. No offense Laurence, but people have been placed into straitjackets for reasoning that is more logical than this.

"If this programming is available anywhere in Greater Boston, even on a weak station near the top of the dial with horrendous same-frequency interference, it means that no other station in town would consider the format...not that any seem to be clamoring now."

So what? The radio industry didn't get into the mess it's in now because of a surplus of strategic decisions. Bone-headed decisions get made on a regular basis all the time. I'll even give you an example, Laurence. In 2004, an all-progressive talk format signed on for the first time at 620 KPOJ in Portland, Oregon. Very quickly, the format achieved quite respectable ratings. In one recent book, KPOJ was the only one of six talkers in the market showing up Top 10, 25-54. Does this mean that in all the years prior to this sign-on, there was no demand for progressive talk in Portland? I kinda doubt it. Radio execs can screw up once in awhile, Laurence.

 

[raccoonradio]

And indeed about 20 years ago, a certain talk host showed their was a demand for conservative talk. In Boston he was picked up by WHDH which ran him first on weekends, then weekdays...and finally he and the
show that followed him (Howie Carr) shifted to WRKO. The host of course was Rush. He had to start
somewhere (though admittedly 850 was a bigger operation...) Who knows, could take off.

 

[DToTheJ]

And indeed about 20 years ago, a certain talk host showed their was a demand for conservative talk. In Boston he was picked up by WHDH which ran him first on weekends, then weekdays...and finally he and the
show that followed him (Howie Carr) shifted to WRKO. The host of course was Rush. He had to start
somewhere (though admittedly 850 was a bigger operation...) Who knows, could take off.

Rush's start in Philadelphia was a little more of a headache... I believe the old WCAU-AM aired him on weekends for awhile...

 

[DToTheJ]

What do they air during the day?

Dial Global's progressive talkers include Bill Press (6-9 AM), Steph Miller and Air America escapee Thom Hartmann (both 9 AM-12 Noon) and Ed Schultz (12 Noon-3 PM).

Why do I have a feeling 1470 will air Ed's show on tape delay starting at 6 PM - right up against his live MSNBC show...

 

[radiorama1]

WAZN has 3400 watts at night and does OK in Boston. Seems to do better at night than during the day due to the increased power. There aren't many AM's that go up in power at night.

The light bulb in my living room lamp has more power than WAZN at night... :

How can anyone expect to hear these programs in Boston?

Ok, I stand corrected on that (I thought it was the other way around)... curious pattern indeed...

Jeff may actually have found a niche with this type of programming, who knows? Guess it's worth a try...

 

[JIBGUY]

I am wondering if the bottom is falling out of leased-time radio these days due to this miserable recession. How many stations lease time?
590, 650, 830, 950, 1060, 1120, 1150, 1230, 1300, 1330, 1360, 1460, 1510, 1550, 1600....
That's 15 of them. Not many or any more than last year, but it makes me wonder with this economy and also the fierce competition from pirates.

 

[raccoonradio]

If perf. royalties are adopted and Bob has to change his format, prog talk would be a natural for 'JIB,
whose studios and stick are just down the road from Harvard Sq.--though I'd think he would continue
to not accept advertising (raise money/fundraiser). I know Bob would love to keep the music on,
but hey, Bono needs another multi-million dollar condo. He still hasn't found what he's looking for

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

Many of you have expressed an interest in this type of programming.
It can now be revealed: WAZN-AM 1470 will soon be adding Progressive Talk,
airing weekday evenings, from the Jones Radio Network. These will be the programs
that aired live earlier the same day. The specifics are not yet worked out, as to
which particular programs and/or hours we will be carrying, initially.

What, 'LYN ain't going to be part of the package? : P=) ;D

 

[Deleted User]

I am wondering if the bottom is falling out of leased-time radio these days due to this miserable recession. How many stations lease time?
590, 650, 830, 950, 1060, 1120, 1150, 1230, 1300, 1330, 1360, 1460, 1510, 1550, 1600....
That's 15 of them. Not many or any more than last year, but it makes me wonder with this economy and also the fierce competition from pirates.

Times are tough out there Bob no doubt about it.
The clients I work with when I do my occasional fill in at MRBI are all salt of the earth people who are passing the hat among a small group who are trying to get their message out. They are not being sponsored, or selling spots for the most part (but some do) so they are digging deep into their own pockets to keep their shows going, and I can say the people I deal with are subject to the same economic forces as the rest of us, but they are passionate about what they do, and are doing their best to keep the programs going. Sometimes they get donations to help defray some of the cost, but for the most part they are putting their money where their mouth is to keep on the air.

That being said there are people who have had to give up their time slots due to money issues. I'm sure that is happening across the board at every leased time station.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Just remember this: about 6 years ago, there was NO progressive network for a station to put on its frequency. Some operators first looked to see how some early adopters were doing (like WLIB-AM 1190 in NYC); for a while, on WJIB-AM's "Let's Talk ABout Radio", there was some speculation about which Boston outlet would take the bait until WXKS-AM/WKOX did so. Occasionally, some station operators change formats because they can see their current one as being played out...that may have happened in Portland, Oregon (hey.,..Portland, Maine too.) For multiple decades, WEIM-AM 1280 prospered while playing mass-marketed recorded product, until they figured that people who had already turned to FM for that were now using iPods. So they've made the suicidal choice to air D-list (and that's being kind) right-wingers in an area where people can already get that fare daytimes from Woostah and Boston. If they had chosen to air Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz 9:00 am till 3:00, that'd have a ratings draw and unique programming. When the City of Fitchburg shuts them down for tax delinquency, they'll have nobody else to blame.

 

[JIBGUY]

If perf. royalties are adopted and Bob has to change his format, prog talk would be a natural for 'JIB,
whose studios and stick are just down the road from Harvard Sq.--though I'd think he would continue
to not accept advertising (raise money/fundraiser).

Quite true.... if WJIB were to be talk, fund-raising is still the way to go. And IF WJIB were to be talk, it definitely WOULD be left-leaning talk, by the way. However, that's not likely. Presently, HR 848 might define WJIB as a small station. In this bill, stations earning less than $1,250,00.00 a year would have only an annual $5,000.00 payment to the fat-cat record companies (with small payments [a portion of the $5k] to artists to be stingily parced to them by the fat-cats). But you're right, Bono would do well. Must pay for the Caribbean island he wants to buy).

But even though there's that $5k payment for smaller stations in the bill (HR 848), if it were to pass and become law, then I'm sure the well-heeled broadcasters would find a way to make that change... so that smaller station pay a bigger part of the pie; just like they did with music licensing fees for writers of songs paid to ASCAP & BMI.

Because of WJIB's rather vast and very passionate audience (you won't such it in the upcoming PPM ratings), it would take a LOT to make a format change. My money is on WJIB remaining the same.

 

[JIBGUY]

MEANT to say... You won't see WJIB in the upcoming PPM ratings...

Also, the Fat-Cat record companies are wanting $1-billion to $7-billion in royalties. Let's average that out to $4-billion. Divide that by 14,000 radio stations and the average station would have to pay +/- $283,000.00 annually, IF the system wasn't tiered.

Song-writers, thru BMI & ASCAP collect about HALF-a-billion (after administrative fees). So that gives you an idea of the huge scope of the Fat-Cats' desires. About 8 TIMES what writers get.

Bringing this thread back to its orginal point... This COULD be why stations are bailing out of music early.... 1400/1490 in Portland ME area, and 1470 partially now, in Boston area. It may be getting rather dangerous to play music!

 

[Laurence Glavin]

When I mentioned Portland, MAINE, I was referring to WLVP-AM 870, wheich broadcast progressive talk for a couple of years.