Providence Radio in 10 years

[Skynet74]

What do you think it will look like? Ownership changes? Air Personality Changes? Format changes? Do you think anyone currently on the air will still be on the air in Providence then? Who's got staying power? Who will be the next to go? Tell us your best predictions. Anything goes. Maybe we'll still be able to access this thread in 10 years to see how close we were to being right. Who wants to go first?

 

[Runrigger]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6hXjx2myAVY

 

[DG02816]

First, I would think that only the strongest performers will still be around. 630 and 920 as we know them now will not exist. Thinking that both will end up on FM in some form. Perhaps 93.3 will finally become WHJJ, and WPRO will move to a bigger signal than 99.7 to compete. WHJY will still be around, as will be B101. Ditto WWLI. On AM, if the band is still alive, I'd think 550 would still be Disney, with 630, 790, and 920 maybe doing forays into brokered stuff. I'd think 990 would be finally euthanized. 1110 would still be around as it's carved out a nice niche for itself. 1220, with its revamped format, would still be on, I'm thinking WRNI would be holding forth on 1290 and 102.7 with lots of local content bracketed with the NPR staples. 1450, still doing its deep oldies/standards thing. WADK would be celebrating 70 years on the air. WARV, still religious, or would it go back to being a local station again?? NEXT, on the soapbox.....

 

[jeffryan]

I have to agree in-part with Dave. The AM band, if the FCC doesn't sunset it, will be all brokered. WPRO and WHJJ will be exclusively on FM frequencies. There will be more talk oriented formats on FM. Few FM music stations will survive - only urban and foreign language... maybe country, too. The remainder of the FM frequencies will be completely brokered. Station values will be only a mere fraction of what they are today. Most people will have WiFi in their cars and that will be the nail in terrestrial radio's coffin.

 

[McRadio]

And regarding what Jeff said it's amazing how many radio people are in denial about this. I don't think owners or even most programmers are but when it comes to the jocks the number of (mainly younger) ones have their blinders on. The luckiest ones in radio are the ones who have reached the big 5-0. There's less of a future in the business to have to worry about and the way things are going, there's less of a chance of even missing it. Take that mic away from a 25 year old and he's lost his identity. Take it away from an older person and after the withdrawal symptoms at first I'm willing to bet the urge just goes away.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

I'd think 990 would be finally euthanized.

Dave:

As long as we're euthanizing stations, let's have the Angel of Death visit 1320 as well. ;D

 

[Speaker of Truth]

Everyone here has made some interesting points..

Who is going to tell those working at various "schools of broadcasting" that it might be time to find another gig? Which major college or university is going to tell its students, "we're hanging up the headphones, and you should, too?"

I can see the AM band going away within 10 years..once WBZ moves to FM, you'll see the rest of the news talk operations move there as well as far as New England is concerned...many of the religious and ethnic formats can survive just as well via the internet...having a computer is finally going to be required to survive in America..older demographics will have to adjust or pretty much be in the dark...

Music radio will be gone..the 12-24 demo was lost a long time ago, and as the radio audience ages, advertisers are going to move increasingly to the internet to find their target audiences at a much lower cost..

What's going to happen to baseball, football, basketball and hockey as far as commercial radio is concerned? Are the Red Sox and Patriots going to be able to command the millions they get locally in rights fees? Will they still be the conerstones of programming as they are for many stations right now in terms of revenue?

Will the FM band be one talk station after another? I can see Spanish stations still around, and making big money in Arizona, California, Texas, Florida and other states where Hispanics will be the majority...Country might survive to one degree or another, but it will take a strong sales staff to sell it..

Will newspapers and radio have to combine ownerships and operations in order for both to survive? That sort of consolidation may have to be adopted well beyond the top 20 markets whether Congress or the FCC likes it or not..

 

[jeffryan]

If you guys really want an education on radio's future, make Jerry DelColliano's blog part of your daily reading.

www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com

Oh, and if you work at a Citadel station, the forces that be have BLOCKED this website from company computers. That's how powerful (and accurate) Jerry's message is.

 

[za-rex]

Jerry DelColliano's thoughts are interesting but this is Providence and the programming vision isn't there. As usual everyone will wait until the milk spills then make a half hearted attempt to do what they should have done before. This market is shriveling up and I think people in the business just want to keep their heads above water and let their replacements worry about the long term.

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

Providence Radio in Ten years......

93.3 I would like to see TALK

94.1 Some sort of satellite service playing rock

95.5 Same

96.1 WSRS- Boring and what is up with the recorded song id at the end every song now.

98.1- Still Country but Satelite

99.1 no idea

99.7 TALK still


100.3 Spanish

101.5 The Bee will be exterminated for some sort of SNE'ish sound type station

101.9- Cool 102 becomes WARM 101.9 because of Global warming

103.7 Still sports

105.1 Dull boring satellite fed crap for the office

106.3 The WINK returns with satellite crap just to keep it on the air or a flip to Radio Disney


Now the AM

WDDZ- Brokered


WPRO-AM Talk with ethnic formats or shows


WPRV- Hootie and the Blowfish's I only want to be with you is now an oldie I mean classic hit

920- Spanish


990- We will still be reading posts on this board on the next best Talk station in Providence waiting to debut and Radio Waves will keep us informed.


1110- Although I don't know much about these guys but I think they will still be around and I say that because they seem to take pride in this station.

1230 in Westerly- Chris Dipaola will be doing his Time Machine on Saturdays in AM-Stereo and will still be yelling at his DJ's not to play Hall and Oats because they are too eighties.

1290- Still begging for Money

1370- WKFD- never gets back on the air
1450- off the air

1590- WARV- has an exclusive interview with Jesus

 

[za-rex]

One thing for sure: the DJ is finito. It's going to be over except for morning people who deliver content and information and entertain. After morning drive you can forget about it. Stations are seeing this more and more. Tastes are changing and those that will be in the desirable demo in 10 years just aren't into hearing some disembodied voice talking about nothing. We're already seeing voicetracking and most of it sounds rushed and distinterested. Even with the live ones, what are we hearing? Local content on stations like PRO-FM after morning drive consists of the jock telling you where he or she will be making an appearance. Everything else is the same pop culture rubbish people already got off the web. People may be listening but they're not paying attention and too many jocks pay too much attention to that small group of active listeners who call them everyday. If you're not doing radio after morning drive then stop kidding yourself and if you insist on playing music for a living then work the clubs and sleep in. Same with weekends. Expect there to be no such thing as a weekender.

 

[Glade]

Radio in 2018 -

Simple
gas prices are 23 dollars a gallon so no one drives vehicles
anymore - theres a george jetson spaceship
running on the limited green fuel the country has
taking people to work with elevator music piped in -

oh and generic IPods cost ten bucks a piece at Rite Aid -

IPod docks or something more innovative wake people up in the morning -

YouTube merges with Comcast so the internet and comcast cable TV are on
your cell phone giving little reason for even talk or news radio -

the blind are the only feasible market left - and by "the blind" my
contention has a double meaning :-[

maybe terristrial stations become as insignificant as the analog chip,
and the value plummets to the point where everyday people can buy stations
and let their nephews fool around with them as the wish -

listenership becomes such a joke i dont think the FCC really even
wastes their time anymore

and as far as having jobs like the ones we have today ... HA !
Even guys Ryan Secrest and Adam Corolla are under the desk begging
for work

 

[Adam Rivers]

Radio is not going anywhere.. stop being so negative.

 

[radiogeek07]

I don't know a whole lot about the AM dial, but I'll give this a try.
92.3 WPRO, talk
93.3 WSNE Southern New England's talk station.
94.1 some form of rock
95-5, who knows
98.1 Country?
99.7 wasted signal off air
100.3 spanish
101.5 best hits of the 80's and 90's?

105.1 Soft Rock
106.3 urban talk?

 

[Kenny Atkinson]

I don't know a whole lot about the AM dial, but I'll give this a try.
92.3 WPRO, talk
93.3 WSNE Southern New England's talk station.
94.1 some form of rock
95-5, who knows
98.1 Country?
99.7 wasted signal off air
100.3 spanish
101.5 best hits of the 80's and 90's?

105.1 Soft Rock
106.3 urban talk?

OHIO man out of all due respect WPRO-FM 92.3 I don't see going talk within 10 years.

WSNE- Would 'nt surprise me to go talk

WCTK 98.1 Hall(the owners) are selling it.If the spanish group in the same building as WCTK decides to buy WCTK it will go foreign language and Citadel or Clear channel will flip one of their stations to country.If that were to happen I could see 93.3 or 101.5 going country or possibly and a long stretch here 105.1 on the citadel side flipping Lite to Country.There is no way Providence will go without a country station in my opinion even though WKLB 102.5 covers just about the whole state.
If an outside group purchasses Hall it will remain the same.

As for b101 going 80 and 90's hits that would nt surprise me if that happened in the next year or two.

103.7 WEEI will remain sports

 

[Skynet74]

Strong points in Rhode Island radio are Pro-FM, Lite 105, WPRO AM and 94HJY. I think in 10 years all four of them will remain unchanged. However it wouldn't surprise me to see everything else vanish as we know it.

 

[someplacesomewhere]

Perfect situation for PRO-AM is another simulcast. 106.3 and 99.7. Cover north and south Rhode Island and a fair chunk of Mass as well. One of the first formats to hit the chopping blocks once Rock radio is dead will be hip hop/r&b.

 

[Speaker of Truth]

"Radio is not going anywhere.. stop being so negative".

Somewhere, Farid Suleman is happy somebody is still drinking the Kool Aid..

Exactly what leads you to this premise? Radio's current audience is aging, and is not being replaced..within 10 years, 18-34 won't matter...most of radio will be a 35+ wasteland that no agency will touch..agencies will have abandoned radio for the internet..where targeting audiences is easier and far more cost effective...