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Range on WSPK-Poughkeepsie

D

DHMRadio

I have to say I am amazed by the range and sound quality of WSPK. It seems like everywhere you go, you can clearly hear it. Why is it that it is clearer than any other station in the market? ??? ???
 
DHMRadio said:
Why is it that it is clearer than any other station in the market? ??? ???
Click to expand...

Their tower being located on one of the highest points in the valley surely has nothing to do with it...

WHUD and WPDH also have great range.
 
WSPK has 130 mile signal to the south. Can be heard in Monmouth Couty, New Jersy on a car radio.
 
CHJ1950 said:
WSPK has 130 mile signal to the south. Can be heard in Monmouth Couty, New Jersy on a car radio.
Click to expand...

WHUD being in Peekskill is much stronger south. I agree WPDH also has a tremendous signal.
 
the best signal in the Hudson Valley is by far WSPK, WHUD, and WPDH.

WHUD can also be heard in parts of Long Island along with WSPK.

also for a class A 92.7 WRRV has a very decent signal. It can be heard in northern Westchester County and into Rockland County although 92.7 in Garden City,NY sometimes will mix with WRRV.
 
This topic comes up a bunch... WSPK used to run liners about reaching parts of six states (NY, NJ, PA, CT, MA, VT) ...problem was, it makes it sound less local.

I agree I dont know many stations comparable that go as far. Ive carried them well out on LI as well as someone else mentioned deep into jersey...not always clear, but listenable. I'm amazed they even bothered with the K107 shindig 2 years ago, they certainly did not need it. short of a some pirates in the city, they also benefit from not having any real close 104.7 transmitters.

WHUD too has a very good range but doesnt come nearly as far north as SPK does. PDH is good, but gets overrun by the Jeresy 101.5 stations south of Orange County.
 
Molda...all your points are very well taken and I'm not neccessarily disagreeing with you...just to shed a little light on the discussion...that top of the hour was one of the best 'branding" pieces of imaging in the last 20 years in the Hudson Valley....I totally understand the less local argument, but it is also good to be perceived as being big, being the most popular... a lot of people want to associate themselves with the "most popular"....bragging that you reach 6 states in a way is branding yourself as big, popular....As someone who was associated with that station for a long time I can tell you that more people would mention that "little itty piece of Vermont" line than any other piece of imaging that the station ever ran.....The station always has gone out of its way to be local through doing free street parties, hudson valley traffic, lots of quick hitting, well produced little local PSA's.....As far as the K107 fiasco...Yes, the station does have quite a range...but there are a lot of "dead" areas for the 104.7 signal in Westchester....If you remember, around that time Arbitron decided to make Westchester it's own market ( a potentially very lucrative market)....the 104.7 signal with it's dead spots and also it's inability to penetrate the walls of all those Westchester office buildings for daytime listening and great TSL wasn't going to do the job...thus, the 107.1 frequency was used to simulcast the station....unfortunately the snake, um i mean "person" who became the GM around the same time had a different agenda and the k107 project was totally devoid of any promotional dollars, support or help from that particular office.....would it have been ultimately successful?....maybe, maybe not...but it was never given the chance....but, there was a bit of logic behind it....the good thing that did come out of it was that a lot of the Westchester club scene was enlightened to the value of being associated with K104 ,and spending some of there advertising dollars there even though the k107 thing went away..
 
frog you are on the money and well taken. K107 was a botched project from the beginning starting with all the audio/ISDN trouble that plagued it for a while. I also knew of grumblings about 'being stretched too thin' in terms of appearances and such because of the range of area, but as you mentioned there were concerns about the reasons behind that, but there also were Newburgh-PK advertisers that were concerned about not being the sole focus, and that Im sure ruffled some feathers. In any case, to the original topic, I always just found it interesting that you could take the 104.7 signal further south in your car than the repeater when it existed.
 
K 104 has a good signal in Pennsylvania in Matamorris area Port Jervis, NY Cuddebackville,NY & even in Sussex & Passaic & parts of Bergen County,NJ. K 104's signal is really really good. It goes into Danbury,CT area too.
 
Dumping the K-107 project was a very good idea. There is no way that station was going to survive a long term war with Z-100 either dollar-wise or listener-wise. Its like taking on King Kong literally. Country was a good idea (for as long as it lasted)...and AAA is at least a niche it can call its own. Good call by whomever that GM is. I'm sure you've heard Z-100 in Westchester and (with all due respect to Lloyd Bentsen) K104 (K107) sir, is no Z-100.
 
First of all country wasn't a good idea...advertisers just don't feel comfortable in that market advertising on country...i don't care even if country picked up good ratings, you just were not going to get a sizeable amount of businesses in that particular market to advertise on country...AAA may be a niche all it's own, but unfortunately, that is a very expensive stick to own and operate to use a "niche" format as a way to swing a profit.....and lastly , if you're a club in Westchester, or a clothing store aimed at a younger end audience, or in general a business trying to reach some of the younger demos, you're not going to be able to afford the rate card of the 'King Kong' station you are so enamored with....K107 would have provided an affordable radio option to those businesses...some of them still see value in using K104 as an advertising alternative....and as far as Z100...i know it's got to be considered the golden child of radio because it's the chr in market #1, but take a listen to K104 once in awhile...you'll hear a station that has a morning show that has a major market talent as it's host, a midday show host/PD that has worked in major markets and is an outstanding and very well respected PD, an afternoon drive jock that has worked in markets including Boston, a good, young night stud...is still "live" to this day even on overnights....has a playlist that truly reflects the flavor of what a NY area CHR should sound like.....puts together huge summer concerts that even major market station's have a tough time doing these days....It used to be that there was a huge difference in major market stations versus smaller market stations, but, if you're truly a student of radio in 2007, those days are long gone...there is an amazing amount of mediocrity in major markets thanks to companies like Clear Channel and Cumulus and still some awesome CHR's in smaller markets ( The NY area is lucky to have two of them in K104 and WBLI) ...this isn't a rip at Z100...it's truly a good station, but don't be blinded by market size, it means less and less every year as far as quality goes in the radio business.
 
froggiesmother said:
First of all country wasn't a good idea...advertisers just don't feel comfortable in that market advertising on country...i don't care even if country picked up good ratings, you just were not going to get a sizeable amount of businesses in that particular market to advertise on country...AAA may be a niche all it's own, but unfortunately, that is a very expensive stick to own and operate to use a "niche" format as a way to swing a profit.....and lastly , if you're a club in Westchester, or a clothing store aimed at a younger end audience, or in general a business trying to reach some of the younger demos, you're not going to be able to afford the rate card of the 'King Kong' station you are so enamored with....K107 would have provided an affordable radio option to those businesses...some of them still see value in using K104 as an advertising alternative....and as far as Z100...i know it's got to be considered the golden child of radio because it's the chr in market #1, but take a listen to K104 once in awhile...you'll hear a station that has a morning show that has a major market talent as it's host, a midday show host/PD that has worked in major markets and is an outstanding and very well respected PD, an afternoon drive jock that has worked in markets including Boston, a good, young night stud...is still "live" to this day even on overnights....has a playlist that truly reflects the flavor of what a NY area CHR should sound like.....puts together huge summer concerts that even major market station's have a tough time doing these days....It used to be that there was a huge difference in major market stations versus smaller market stations, but, if you're truly a student of radio in 2007, those days are long gone...there is an amazing amount of mediocrity in major markets thanks to companies like Clear Channel and Cumulus and still some awesome CHR's in smaller markets ( The NY area is lucky to have two of them in K104 and WBLI) ...this isn't a rip at Z100...it's truly a good station, but don't be blinded by market size, it means less and less every year as far as quality goes in the radio business.
Click to expand...

I'm well acquainted with the radio stations, and its not about the "smaller" market size (FYI WBLI is based in Market #18. WSPK in Market #163) it's about the sound of the station. Although you are pleased with the sound of K-104...which is a fine radio station, and quite good in the Hudson Valley they would simply be crushed in any major market....that "excitement" just isnt there. WBLI is a FAR superior station to K-104. As for billing, if the goal was to have a cheaper Top 40 alternative for Westchester for clubs to advertise on, then your argument would make sense, but realize that Westchester's average age is almost 10 years older than that of NYC, and its also older than the median age of Orange, Dutchess and Putnam Counties, so maybe skewing young isn't the best idea. So Pamal's idea to go for an Adult audience makes sense.

As for country....advertisers (ESPECIALLY agencies) care ONLY about the audience size and demos...not the format.
If Polka was #1 with women 25-54...they'd advertise on the Polka station...so don't kid yourself that country wasn't a viable alternative....its all about whether you can draw the audience.....and a "less than" Z-100 can't (not that close to Z-100).
 
ummmm....k104 has a cume of well over 300,000 between the two markets it reaches, hardly a "small market cume"...just a victim of how Arbitron splits up the Hudson Valley Markets....Your perception that K104 would be crushed in any major market is merely your opinion and a "suspect" one at that, it's cume alone exceeds that of many medium and major market stations.....The station is probably one of the 10 best CHR's in the country and has an extremely high level of respect within the radio industry, record industry and advertising industry....you seem to be one of the typical old school thinkers that sees market size as a barometer for the quality of the station....and yes ...the "excitement" is there...it's there in large quantity....that station would absolutely shine and compete with many "major" market CHRs...the adult audience in Westchester is served by its sister station WHUD, so to go after the younger demos would still have been an intelligent choice....I'll take your word at it's value that the demos of Westchester would be somewhat older than most, but, there is still a huge # of younger leaning businesses that don't have radio as an advertising option in that county....oh, and yes, i've worked in the business for quite a few years and have quite a knowledge on agencies and advertisers and I'm sorry, whether it's fair or not, there are many people who will not spend there valuable advertising dollars on country in that particular area....there is still too much of a perception in the northeastern metropolitan areas that country is reaching nothing but rednecks and trailer parks (it's not a fair portrayal, but it is still a stereotype that has not gone away)... If you feel Z100 is a better radio station, that's fine, but the only area where Z100 would have a signifigant advantage is the promotional $'s it could throw behind itself as opposed to K104...other than that the differences in quality of programming are miniscule.....had the Westchester book still existed a 3 or 4 share would have been very possible and very profitable, but, unfortunately neither exists anymore.
 
froggiesmother said:
ummmm....k104 has a cume of well over 300,000 between the two markets it reaches, hardly a "small market cume"...just a victim of how Arbitron splits up the Hudson Valley Markets....Your perception that K104 would be crushed in any major market is merely your opinion and a "suspect" one at that, it's cume alone exceeds that of many medium and major market stations.....The station is probably one of the 10 best CHR's in the country and has an extremely high level of respect within the radio industry, record industry and advertising industry....you seem to be one of the typical old school thinkers that sees market size as a barometer for the quality of the station....and yes ...the "excitement" is there...it's there in large quantity....that station would absolutely shine and compete with many "major" market CHRs...the adult audience in Westchester is served by its sister station WHUD, so to go after the younger demos would still have been an intelligent choice....I'll take your word at it's value that the demos of Westchester would be somewhat older than most, but, there is still a huge # of younger leaning businesses that don't have radio as an advertising option in that county....oh, and yes, i've worked in the business for quite a few years and have quite a knowledge on agencies and advertisers and I'm sorry, whether it's fair or not, there are many people who will not spend there valuable advertising dollars on country in that particular area....there is still too much of a perception in the northeastern metropolitan areas that country is reaching nothing but rednecks and trailer parks (it's not a fair portrayal, but it is still a stereotype that has not gone away)... If you feel Z100 is a better radio station, that's fine, but the only area where Z100 would have a signifigant advantage is the promotional $'s it could throw behind itself as opposed to K104...other than that the differences in quality of programming are miniscule.....had the Westchester book still existed a 3 or 4 share would have been very possible and very profitable, but, unfortunately neither exists anymore.
Click to expand...

Okay....you're entitled to your opinion.
Don't assume I'm making the comparison due to market size, I'm not. In fact, Z-100 doesn't target
NYC...it targets (like WPLJ) the area AROUND the city. The five boroughs (as far as Z is concerned) are left to Hot 97, Power and KTU.
As for the Hudson Valley (the assumption is not that its rednecks by the way).
There are better Top 40's in America than Z-100....its just that Z-100 (and WBLI for that matter)
are FAR superior to K-104. Top 10 in America??? Now that's funny!!

I would however say that WHUD is a very strong player in its format, and WPDH is unquestionably one of the
better Classic Rock stations in the country and has remained so for quite some time. K-104, is wishy-washy and
is vulnerable to radio stations that aren't very good...its lucky the local Top 40 competition isn't better....IMHO.
 
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