J
JohnW
Guest
They are running promos stating that the eclectic Legends music mix will be carried on their 102.7 FM outlet beginning Monday the 11th.
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Wow, a Crawford FM station dropping religion - has that even happened before at another Crawford FM? I believe all-or-most of their AM stations went to the Legends format several years ago, but I never thought I'd see this. This will be nice for older listeners, but as time moves on will they evolve more into a baby boomers nostalgia format?
Not the biggest news story in radio, but interesting.
Not the biggest news story in radio, but interesting.
cee said:
The AM format does have a following so perhaps Crawford thought by moving it to FM they could obtain a larger audience.
All the station needs now is morning and afternoon drive news, weather, and traffic reports and they could actually increase their listenership.
Yeah, they've had a steady audience as long as they've been on the air. AM950 got similar sized ratings doing nostalgia several years ago. What surprises me is (1) religion has always been Crawford's bread and butter on their FM stations and (2) they are going against the grain and doing an upper demo format on FM.
WHTT dropped baby boomer oldies and Entercom moved WBBF(also baby boomer oldies) from high powered 98.9 to low powered 93.3 while at their highest ratings mark ever(and pushed a talented air staff into other careers) -- all because of aging baby boomers. Does Legends 990 still have Patti Page in their mix?
That would be a good idea. They already have live djs who don't sound like real personalities and not liner card readers. Reminds me of MOR radio in the 60s.
Crawford has been selling of some underperforming markets and they do make moves like this at times in other markets. It's probably a good move for them to fill the vacuum oldies/nostalgia in the market.
I agree this is a great move for listeners in the immediate area. The only drawback is that they will lose some of the coverage they had on 990. Living in Geneva, I can't hear 102.7 at all. I can, however, receive 990 fairly well.
Hopefully, they can sitll simulcast the FM as much as possible. I guess it will depend on how many preachers want to buy time.
Hopefully, they can sitll simulcast the FM as much as possible. I guess it will depend on how many preachers want to buy time.
cee said:
Yes -- dancin' Don Crawford has been blasting "Power Joints" in Chicago for several years.
http://www.power92chicago.com/
Even I was shocked.
A
anderson
Guest
If they shift the format to the FM, does anyone know what will be aired on 990, or will it just be a simulcast of the same on both stations.
Andrew said:
From Scott Fybush's article on his website.
http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html#ny
"There's a format change coming a week from today in Rochester, as Crawford Broadcasting prepares to migrate the standards/oldies "Legends" format from WLGZ (990 Rochester) to sister station WRCI (102.7 Webster), which currently broadcasts contemporary Christian as "the Light." That's a very crowded niche right now, with competition that includes regional broadcasters Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes, Family Life Ministries of Bath and Mars Hill Network from Syracuse, as well as EMF's national "K-Love" network.
Once the new "Legends 102.7" launches next Monday morning, we're told 990 will remain as a partial simulcast of the FM signal, breaking away for leased-time programming that already includes the market's only Spanish-language broadcasts, now heard weekend evenings on the AM side."
I hope that answers your questions?
[Link added as a courtesy by Radio Info]
YIKES! Should I be surprised that this is a Crawford owned station(or did Kanye West find God and I didn't read about it?) Is Don Crawford religious himself(I always assumed he was)? If so, doesn't playing this kind of music create some kind of conflict with his spiritual side and his more earthly business side?
Considering today's big story about Wease, perhaps this is a station he and his investors could afford to buy. Most of our little speculations on this board over the years have never come true, but I thought I'd bring it up.
A
anderson
Guest
Mark, thanks for answering my question about that. I have a few old Philco and Zenith radios I've restored, and I enjoy listening to the "standards" on them from time to time.
cee said:
This is *outside the box* thinking and it may not be so outlandish that it cannot happen in some shape or form. Sure, it's a longshot. But with the many *contacts* Wease has, it may have legs. Imagine, Wease 102 point 7.
After a few months off the air, he'll probably be happy to go back to work for $50k a year. Give him a studio with a window, a tight budget and a disciplinarian who keeps him in line... oh, and don't let him near the books.
Oy! I wonder if the paint thinner has at long last, taken its toll on me.
Radknowski said:
I just finished reading Fybush's column for this week www.fybush.com and he writes that the some AM and FM staff have teamed up together while two announcers have been let go.
As for Wease ending up at Legends, I would say I have a better chance of either winning the lottery or being hired back to work at WXXI before that happens.
P.S. Stay away from that paint thinner ;D
I'm listening to their stream right now. Nice to hear 50s and 60s oldies on FM again - though it's more of a "chicken rock" approach as opposed to the former WKLX/WBBF(not hearing The Rolling Stones or The Isley Brothers so far). Their on-air sound remains more MOR sounding, as well. I guess we won't be hearing Tom Noonan anytime soon(too bad).
Sorry to hear two more local announcers have lost their jobs. One of them is the talented KB Cooper - wife of morning host Scott Taylor and formerly mid-days at WBEE. Nothing against air talents that are still gainfully employed, but seems to me the majority of the truly talented are on the beach nowadays.
Nobody's suggesting the possibility of Wease actually working for Legends. Somebody on this board earlier this month brought up the possibility of Wease putting together an investment group and buying a station. Someone on this post informed up that Crawford was selling off some of it's properties in smaller markets. I could see a Wease led investment group buying a lower value radio property. If not Legends FM, perhaps The Zone or Fickle. It might not ever happen, but I think it could.
cee said:
That's a possibility I guess. Maybe I should email Wease my resume.
I've been listening to the station here at work. Nice format. Reminds me a bit of WHAM during the 1970s and WEZO.
S
scooterodell
Guest
A little inside info for you:
* No one was let go with the format flip. Fybush didn't get things quite right; he's been notified, and I'm sure he'll post a correction.
* Crawford has only sold a few markets to his son; they've stayed in the family and kept their formats and personnel as far as I can tell. Not that I can speak to anything about selling either property in Rochester--I know nothing--but there is no precedent on which to base any speculation.
* No one was let go with the format flip. Fybush didn't get things quite right; he's been notified, and I'm sure he'll post a correction.
* Crawford has only sold a few markets to his son; they've stayed in the family and kept their formats and personnel as far as I can tell. Not that I can speak to anything about selling either property in Rochester--I know nothing--but there is no precedent on which to base any speculation.
While I wish all at the new Legends FM the best, I was rather sad to learn that they cancelled their Saturday afternoon jazz show before making the transition. The least they could have done was keep the program on 990 while keeping the oldies on the FM side. Hopefully the show can resurface somewhere else.
B
Bob1370
Guest
"I could see a Wease led investment group buying a lower value radio property. If not Legends FM, perhaps The Zone or Fickle. It might not ever happen, but I think it could."
We don't know how much Wease has salted away for himself, so it's anyone's guess whether or when he'll feel the urgent need to work again--but he'd probably have the network of friends and backers, and the credibility in the radio game to go with it, to make assembly of a local station purchasing group, with him as general partner, a possibility.
If CMF really tanks ratings-wise and billings-wise in the post-Wease era, as some believe it will, who knows? Wease might even end up putting a group together and buying CMF for stick value and having the fun of reviving it through his own triumphant return. Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony?
We don't know how much Wease has salted away for himself, so it's anyone's guess whether or when he'll feel the urgent need to work again--but he'd probably have the network of friends and backers, and the credibility in the radio game to go with it, to make assembly of a local station purchasing group, with him as general partner, a possibility.
If CMF really tanks ratings-wise and billings-wise in the post-Wease era, as some believe it will, who knows? Wease might even end up putting a group together and buying CMF for stick value and having the fun of reviving it through his own triumphant return. Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony?
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