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Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital

No surprise that they are finally shutting down in terrestrial radio. The surprise is that it took them so long.

Their stations in New York and (near) Philadelphia were standards before The Mouse took over. Maybe they'll be standards again, God willing.
 
FredLeonard said:
Maybe they'll be standards again, God willing.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention God, because my sense is they're more likely to become religious stations.

Although they don't seem to care who they sell to, as long as they sell them.

It wouldn't surprise me if they started selling TV stations next.
 
I agree with the Big A. With the exception of the FM in Indy, I can't see too many people being interested in those stations. As I mentioned on another board, Bloomberg has been staffing up for a San Francisco station, but no one knows which station. I'm wondering if it's 1310. I've also been told a buyer for the St. Louis station has already been lined up, though nobody's saying who that buyer is.
 
Curious how many separate threads have popped up for this topic - especially since the TOS for this site would have everybody here aged out of Disney's target audience.

When Radio Disney started, they used to play Disney music - "Zip A De Do Dah," "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho" and like that - and other kids' music. Somewhere along the line it morphed into sanitized CHR. I wonder if that had anything to do with the network's downfall.

Big A: Somehow I doubt God is a fan of most religious broadcasting. But yes, that's probably how many of these stations will end up until nothing is left on AM in English but ranting rollers. Not paying taxes gives preachers a big advantage in buying radio stations as well their own mansions and private airports.
 
FredLeonard said:
No surprise that they are finally shutting down in terrestrial radio. The surprise is that it took them so long.
Click to expand...

What was surprising was the purchase of a bunch of stations nearly none of which came close to full market coverage. Some are mediocre, others are downright dreadful. Many are at the wrong end of the dial, overly directional or have some other defect.
 
FredLeonard said:
When Radio Disney started, they used to play Disney music - "Zip A De Do Dah," "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho" and like that - and other kids' music. Somewhere along the line it morphed into sanitized CHR. I wonder if that had anything to do with the network's downfall.
Click to expand...

No, that's the only reason it lived as long as it did in the first place.
 
Yes...maybe an appeal to pre-teens not so much as younger kids. They had stuff like 'storytelling' before, too.
From Wikipedia entry: "Former Programs: Playhouse Disney...which featured read-along stories from Disney movies and films. Like the now-defunct Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel, it was targeted towards preschoolers."

Zip a Dee Doo Dah--from that movie they won't release on DVD because it's politically incorrect.
 
Yes but Zip A Dee Doo Dah is and has been used in the soundtrack of several Disney/Touchstone films. Danny DeVito sings it after he thinks he's killed his wife (Bette Midler) in "Ruthless People." Most recently in was played at Disneyland in a scene in "Saving Mr. Banks." I saw it on DVD this week and really enjoyed it.
 
I see this as a sign that AM radio is so bad nowadays that even KIDS won't listen to it anymore! That and the fact that they have other, more modern and relevant ways of getting their programming. Disney just helped AM stay "relevant" for a while longer, and now even that is gone.

I see foreign language programming taking over most of these stations, depending on the market. It would likely be another Spanish station here in Nashville.

We never had a Disney station here in Nashville that I was ever aware of, but we lost our last full-time "standards" station about a year ago, following the owner's death. It now continues for just three hours a day on one of his daughter's stations.
 
Meanwhile FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai continues to talk about his AM Revitalization Project, as though anyone cares. Unless the FCC takes real action here, AM will be completely gone in a few years.
 
Everything the FCC has done to "revitalize" AM, has been a nail in the coffin.
 
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