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Should Any Suburban Stations Flip to Country Music?

B

Barry

Country Music formats are getting strong PPM ratings in much of the northeastern U.S., helped in part by many popular crossover acts. For example WKLB in Boston zoomed to #2 overall in that market, which has not been known for its interest in the format. 6 month old WJVC in eastern Long Island has a 2.5 rating, beating many other local stations, even though its signal does not reach Nassau County, where most of the population resides. Thunder Country on the NJ shore is #7 there, and #4 among stations playing music. Hartford's WWYZ is #5 in New Haven CT.
If we accept the assertions that a NYC station is unlikely to change to a country format due to advertiser resistance, should any of the many suburban stations in this area give country a try? Suburban stations are far less reliant on the national agencies that drive the revenues in NYC stations.
An example of a station I believe should try country is WFOX (The Fox), 95.9 in Norwalk CT. They are a classic rock station in an area that can receive several others. And their signal can be heard in heavily populated areas that don't have a country station, such as much of Nassau and Fairfield counties.

WFOX Signal Map: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WFOX&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
 
105.5 WDBY out of Danbury broadcasts a country format.

95.9 the Fox has a painfully tight and safe playlist with absolutely NO specialty or all-request shows. Since it's so bland, I would love to see it flip.
 
I don't see any need for a suburban station to flip because most suburban areas are either already covered by an existing country station, or there is no suburban station available. For example, Bergen/Essex/Passaic counties in NJ could benefit from a country station, but there is no suburban FM station that serves this area, at all.
 
The CMA should buy 100% of the airtime on WNYH 740 which covers a great deal of NYC's suburbs and even goes into other markets.Thunder 106 hopefully will be around so I can listen to it in MIDWOOD<BROOKLYN but its playlist is a mix of country rock,redneck ,album cuts,and some mainstream country-----it is not meant to be a regular country station and it isn't.It plays stuff that would never make it in a major market.Do not hold your breath------a Y107 type arrangement is never coming back!!!!!!
 
yossefgershon said:
The CMA should buy 100% of the airtime on WNYH 740 which covers a great deal of NYC's suburbs and even goes into other markets.Thunder 106 hopefully will be around so I can listen to it in MIDWOOD<BROOKLYN but its playlist is a mix of country rock,redneck ,album cuts,and some mainstream country-----it is not meant to be a regular country station and it isn't.It plays stuff that would never make it in a major market.Do not hold your breath------a Y107 type arrangement is never coming back!!!!!!
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I think WNYH could be a good simulcast for WJVC. It could help them reach Nassau County, much of the CT shore, and Westchester County, among other places. Now that Radio Cantico has its own station on LI, I would not be surprised if they will soon stop leasing WNYH. The question is whether a significant amount of people are willing to listen to music on AM, if there is no other way to hear country locally over the air.
As for Thunder, they play mostly mainstream country, but seem to aim for an upbeat sound. They are quick to play new songs and some that are not heard on other local country stations.
What the heck are "redneck" tunes? :)
 
Thunder 106,3 reaches Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, Queens and lower Manhatten
 
yossefgershon said:
Thunder 106 hopefully will be around so I can listen to it in MIDWOOD<BROOKLYN but its playlist is a mix of country rock,redneck ,album cuts,and some mainstream country-----it is not meant to be a regular country station and it isn't.
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Huh? What exactly is a "regular" country station? I listen to various country stations online from across the country and Thunder sounds very similar. They play all the mainstream country hits. The only difference is Thunder doesn't play any of the classic country like some other stations do (and that's a good thing in my opinion).
 
BJ Steigner said:
I would love to see WKLV flip to Country...Since their religious format is cheaply done nationwide
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You just have an axe to grind against K-Love, don't you? They aren't going anywhere but UP, thank you very much. I pray that when the opportunity presents itself, they can sell that station, and buy something BETTER with the proceeds! One with MORE power and more coverage! Now THAT would make me (and a whole lot of others, I assure you!) VERY HAPPY! :D

PS: They are the ONLY station in this area, playing CCM!
 
This is why I wanted WKLV to flip to Country and radioskeptic is very very smart on this.

If WKLV does flip, it should put the station more local than the EMF owners.

I know that EMF wants to control the USA with its "Vision Of Christianity". But making a profit off the stations...It's something that is being abused by EMF who is a big liar..

I also believe that other religious programmer and station owners are trying to outskirt paying taxes on the stations they own by flipping them to religious.... <Do we agree?
 
Is it realistic to expect a religious broadcaster that bought the license to 96.7 for $15,000,000, and then invested in transmitting equipment, to flip WKLV to a secular format, a few months after putting the station on the air?
And though it broadcasts from New Rochelle NY, it is hardly a suburban station, as it is intended to serve a large chunk of New York City, and the surrounding area.
I believe that posts which are more practical about suburban stations that would actually have some possibility of changing formats would be more relevant to this thread.
 
Of course I don't expect a "religious" broadcaster to flip to a secular format. What I was objecting is to the fact that an oufit like EMF can buy such a station and then convert it to ostensibly "non-profit" operation -- and thereby evade many of the strict rules commercial broadcasters must follow.

A note: I was so incensed by Willie's smug (possibly quasi-Dominionist) comment that I got my latter-day Elmer Gantry wannabes mixed up. The head of EMF is Mike Novak, not Ed Atsinger, who also heads a religious broadcasting company, but one that has some frankly secular operations.

Atsinger is CEO of Salem, which is, at least, honest about being a business rather than a charity. But its influence on society is scarcely less than salutary than that of EMF or Harold Camping's Family Radio. Here's a SourceWatch page on Salem: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Edward_G._Atsinger_III
 
BJ Steigner said:
I believe alot of people are questioning the religious casters...WHERE IS THE LOCALISM?!?!?!

There is no localism in here...Family Radio, EMF, and how about KAWZ??? NO WAIT!!!! I forgot one other one... www.csnradio.com <CSN International.

You noticed that http://www.emfbroadcasting.com/ , www.familyradio.com and www.csnradio.com are all .com and not .org?? What does that tell you?? They are for-profit stations running on a non-profit entity..Eliminate the drama and the smoke. It's time for these casters to man up and admit they ripped off the government and the followers of the the religious sect.
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Then why does NPR have a .com? huh? EMF is doing nothing illegal. They are following the laws... Just because some people don't like their format doesn't mean their doing something wrong.

And on the localism... EMF is not any less local than Rush is when he does his show from FL 6 months out of the year.
 
Legal or not legal, secular or non-secular, no one is listening to 96.7. 99.9999% of the radio population only knows it as another one of "those" stations.

Back to the original post, no suburban radio station is flipping to country. There is no demand for it. That is a proven fact. There are the loyal followers out there, but they are no where near enought to financially support the format.
 
Towerclimber31 said:
no suburban radio station is flipping to country. There is no demand for it. That is a proven fact. There are the loyal followers out there, but they are no where near enought to financially support the format.
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No demand in this area?
WJVC in Suffolk County is rated 2.5 in all of Long Island, even though it cannot be received in Nassau County, where most of the population is. Not financially viable? They are running tons of commercials.
Thunder Country is rated #4 among music formats in the Monmouth/Ocean area. Their overall ratings have risen sharply to 4.6. It does not seem to have any shortage of sponsors.
WDBY (Kicks 105.5). Ratings not available. But they have been country for going on 2 years, and are also running plenty of commercials.

Towerclimber, since you say it is a "proven fact" that there is no demand for country radio in the suburban areas, please provide some proof.
 
Barry- I probably should have read your original post again and been more clear. I was thinking along the lines of stations that show up in the NYC ratings like WKJY or WFAS as is often suggested on this board. To me Danbury, Riverhead, and really Monmouth are other markets.

Thunder Country may rimshot Surf Avenue, and they have made a nice niche for themselves, I don't see Country gaining any traction in Gravesend or Brighton Beach.

It has to be kept in mind that all three stations are doing country by default. While they may show up in the ratings in their particular areas right now, there are not many people who will go out on a limb and say this is a growth audience area. The demographics of what the NY metro area is evolving into sort of proves that.

The fact that WDBY is running commecials isn't an indicator of anything to me. With combo selling these days, you know people are buying time on another station and getting the "added bonus" of commercials on another station. Don't forget the barter from the syndicated show at night. There are commercials running but what is the revenue? My guess is the same situation exist on 96.1.

Limited revenue, limited audience, I just don't see anyone else switching.
 
WPHA said:
That, AND the statement that "nobody is listening" to 96.7 are so foolish, I won't even bother to say more about them than this single paragraph. :p
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It's not foolish when the foolish talk is the honest truth. 96.7 is not a wasted signal, it's the "company" who is wasting it with a format that saturates NY and the listening area.

WPHA said:
I could go on all kinds of tangents and rants against rock & roll or rap, or name-your-format, simply because I dislike them. Why bother? It's ONLY MY OPINION. I know a number of people who laughingly say "Country music causes cancer." ;D While I don't feel THAT way, I will say that Country is not on my list of preferences, and leave it at that... "Rap"? Ah, now THAT causes cancer!! ;D

Some people here obviously have issues with Christianity, itself. THAT IS YOUR OPINION. Nothing more. I do have to laugh at those who use the term "real Christians"... when by the very statements they make, prove they have NO CLUE what the term even means in the first place! ;D No use arguing about it, as it's going way off-topic. Moving on... ::)

As for Country music, there are already stations in this area playing it, and have been for years. 92.5 here in CT has apparently had plenty of success with the format. Three cheers for them. 8)
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WWYZ is Hartford, CT with an output of 17,000 and that can get to Long Island.
WJVC with a 2650 wattage East End
WKMK is 1100 wattage Long Branch
WDBY 900 wattage Fairfield County

Any of them get to NYC? Some are a rimshot where as religious casters have a strong reception to NYC.

If WFME is sold off..FLIP THAT THING TO COUNTRY! It would make a huge presence in the listening area.

Willie...If you are not convinced...Show me what the word convince means in true sentence.

Now take that with you if you have a critical thinking power.
 
I am pretty confident that KLove has more listeners with 96.7 than most people on this board think :)

I am not saying other formats don't deserve a chance but if "country" was popular enough.. someone would already be doing it. (After all if Clear Channel thought they could make money off it... they would flip a station in a heartbeat)
 
xmusicmatt said:
I am pretty confident that KLove has more listeners with 96.7 than most people on this board think :)

I am not saying other formats don't deserve a chance but if "country" was popular enough.. someone would already be doing it. (After all if Clear Channel thought they could make money off it... they would flip a station in a heartbeat)
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I don't see any confidence in this until I see "NUMBERS". So far you don't have the numbers to deliver here.

Country can make money, but keep that on 96.7....There are too many religious casters who sometimes are right and/or left wing.
 
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