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Sign on Route 100

E

elevator_opratr

Guest
Took a drive down Route 100 in eastern Berks County on Saturday and saw a homemade sign on wheels along the side of the road that said something like "WBYN 107.5 also on 1160 AM."

I guess the religious-format folks are trying to get the word out that the format will continue on 1160 AM after the change?

Two things, however:

1) How good is 1160's signal in eastern Berks? Marginal at best during the day. Almost non-existent at night. I doubt the new AM signal will ever regain half the listeners that 107.5 used to have in Berks County.

2) Suggestion: if 107.5 really is going to flip (and I'm starting to wonder, given it's taking so long), but if it's really going to happen, why not start running promo's on 107.5 that 107.5 is leaving, but you can (at least try) to listen on 1160 AM or on sister-station WDAC 94.5 in Lancaster. Especially in a case like this with such a loyal niche of folks, why not be nice and run promos so that the WBYN fans aren't left in shock and depression when 107.5 flips? You would think it would only help 1160 get more listeners, and I'd highly doubt would hurt the new format on 107.5 at all. I'm sure there will be no cross-over of listeners between the new format and the old religious format. Why do stations just have to go "byebye" and leave their fans in shock? Especially with a religious format like this. You'd think it'd be nice idea.

I remember when old, short-lived B/EZ outlet "Wish 560 AM" in Philly was dropping B/EZ for religious in the early 1990's, they ran a promo a month ahead of time thanking the "Wish 560" listeners for listening, but saying that the station was following other plans. I always thought that was nice.
 
> Took a drive down Route 100 in eastern Berks County on
> Saturday and saw a homemade sign on wheels along the side of
> the road that said something like "WBYN 107.5 also on 1160
> AM."
>
> I guess the religious-format folks are trying to get the
> word out that the format will continue on 1160 AM after the
> change?
>
> Two things, however:
>
> 1) How good is 1160's signal in eastern Berks? Marginal at
> best during the day. Almost non-existent at night. I doubt
> the new AM signal will ever regain half the listeners that
> 107.5 used to have in Berks County.
>
> 2) Suggestion: if 107.5 really is going to flip (and I'm
> starting to wonder, given it's taking so long), but if it's
> really going to happen, why not start running promo's on
> 107.5 that 107.5 is leaving, but you can (at least try) to
> listen on 1160 AM or on sister-station WDAC 94.5 in
> Lancaster. Especially in a case like this with such a loyal
> niche of folks, why not be nice and run promos so that the
> WBYN fans aren't left in shock and depression when 107.5
> flips? You would think it would only help 1160 get more
> listeners, and I'd highly doubt would hurt the new format on
> 107.5 at all. I'm sure there will be no cross-over of
> listeners between the new format and the old religious
> format. Why do stations just have to go "byebye" and leave
> their fans in shock? Especially with a religious format like
> this. You'd think it'd be nice idea.
>
> I remember when old, short-lived B/EZ outlet "Wish 560 AM"
> in Philly was dropping B/EZ for religious in the early
> 1990's, they ran a promo a month ahead of time thanking the
> "Wish 560" listeners for listening, but saying that the
> station was following other plans. I always thought that was
> nice.
>

There have been some subtle on-air changes in preparation for an upcoming switch. Right after they began the AM simulcast, they would call themselves "107.5 Alive and also 1160AM". Within the past week or so, that has flip-flopped -- now the on-air ID's are "1160AM and 107.5 Alive". I guess it is just a small thing to help the loyal listeners associate the station with 1160 first instead of 107.5.
 
> Took a drive down Route 100 in eastern Berks County on
> Saturday and saw a homemade sign on wheels along the side of
> the road that said something like "WBYN 107.5 also on 1160
> AM."
>
> I guess the religious-format folks are trying to get the
> word out that the format will continue on 1160 AM after the
> change?
>
> Two things, however:
>
> 1) How good is 1160's signal in eastern Berks? Marginal at
> best during the day. Almost non-existent at night. I doubt
> the new AM signal will ever regain half the listeners that
> 107.5 used to have in Berks County.
>
> 2) Suggestion: if 107.5 really is going to flip (and I'm
> starting to wonder, given it's taking so long), but if it's
> really going to happen, why not start running promo's on
> 107.5 that 107.5 is leaving, but you can (at least try) to
> listen on 1160 AM or on sister-station WDAC 94.5 in
> Lancaster. Especially in a case like this with such a loyal
> niche of folks, why not be nice and run promos so that the
> WBYN fans aren't left in shock and depression when 107.5
> flips? You would think it would only help 1160 get more
> listeners, and I'd highly doubt would hurt the new format on
> 107.5 at all. I'm sure there will be no cross-over of
> listeners between the new format and the old religious
> format. Why do stations just have to go "byebye" and leave
> their fans in shock? Especially with a religious format like
> this. You'd think it'd be nice idea.
>
> I remember when old, short-lived B/EZ outlet "Wish 560 AM"
> in Philly was dropping B/EZ for religious in the early
> 1990's, they ran a promo a month ahead of time thanking the
> "Wish 560" listeners for listening, but saying that the
> station was following other plans. I always thought that was
> nice.
>

I'm in the Hereford area and 1160 is non-existent.
94.5 is not much of an option. It's an ugly blend of WDAC and WPST. You can only imagine what it's going to be like in some homes and cars when they turn on the radio and 107-5 Alive is, well uh, ..... whatever.
 
If you look at their website there is now a logo for "1160 Alive" in the upper right corner. 1160 is ok in some parts of Berks - at least it was back in the old WYNS country days. I remember tuning it in around Shady Maple in East Earl and was surprised how well it came in. It does become non-exsistant when you get into parts of eastern Berks and western Montgomery County. If you listen the major sponsors are mostly in that area, especially the "Pa. Dutch" sections of the area - Souderton, Telford, Kutztown, etc. There are few sponsors in the Lehigh Valley & coal region. IF everything goes to 1160 they'd lose most of the advertisers since they will be out of range, even Boyertown is on the fringes. They would have been better off picking up WPAZ which covers at least the strongest parts of the FM signal. If they were to promote the move they'd have a lot of angry people to deal with once they realize they can't pick it up, I'm not sure that's better than the usual unannounced style.


> > Took a drive down Route 100 in eastern Berks County on
> > Saturday and saw a homemade sign on wheels along the side
> of
> > the road that said something like "WBYN 107.5 also on 1160
>
> > AM."
> >
> > I guess the religious-format folks are trying to get the
> > word out that the format will continue on 1160 AM after
> the
> > change?
> >
> > Two things, however:
> >
> > 1) How good is 1160's signal in eastern Berks? Marginal at
>
> > best during the day. Almost non-existent at night. I doubt
>
> > the new AM signal will ever regain half the listeners that
>
> > 107.5 used to have in Berks County.
> >
> > 2) Suggestion: if 107.5 really is going to flip (and I'm
> > starting to wonder, given it's taking so long), but if
> it's
> > really going to happen, why not start running promo's on
> > 107.5 that 107.5 is leaving, but you can (at least try) to
>
> > listen on 1160 AM or on sister-station WDAC 94.5 in
> > Lancaster. Especially in a case like this with such a
> loyal
> > niche of folks, why not be nice and run promos so that the
>
> > WBYN fans aren't left in shock and depression when 107.5
> > flips? You would think it would only help 1160 get more
> > listeners, and I'd highly doubt would hurt the new format
> on
> > 107.5 at all. I'm sure there will be no cross-over of
> > listeners between the new format and the old religious
> > format. Why do stations just have to go "byebye" and leave
>
> > their fans in shock? Especially with a religious format
> like
> > this. You'd think it'd be nice idea.
> >
> > I remember when old, short-lived B/EZ outlet "Wish 560 AM"
>
> > in Philly was dropping B/EZ for religious in the early
> > 1990's, they ran a promo a month ahead of time thanking
> the
> > "Wish 560" listeners for listening, but saying that the
> > station was following other plans. I always thought that
> was
> > nice.
> >
>
> There have been some subtle on-air changes in preparation
> for an upcoming switch. Right after they began the AM
> simulcast, they would call themselves "107.5 Alive and also
> 1160AM". Within the past week or so, that has flip-flopped
> -- now the on-air ID's are "1160AM and 107.5 Alive". I
> guess it is just a small thing to help the loyal listeners
> associate the station with 1160 first instead of 107.5.
>
 
WDAC a sister station no more

> Took a drive down Route 100 in eastern Berks County on
> Saturday and saw a homemade sign on wheels along the side of
> the road that said something like "WBYN 107.5 also on 1160
> AM."
>
> I guess the religious-format folks are trying to get the
> word out that the format will continue on 1160 AM after the
> change?
>
> Two things, however:
>
> 1) How good is 1160's signal in eastern Berks? Marginal at
> best during the day. Almost non-existent at night. I doubt
> the new AM signal will ever regain half the listeners that
> 107.5 used to have in Berks County.
>
> 2) Suggestion: if 107.5 really is going to flip (and I'm
> starting to wonder, given it's taking so long), but if it's
> really going to happen, why not start running promo's on
> 107.5 that 107.5 is leaving, but you can (at least try) to
> listen on 1160 AM or on sister-station WDAC 94.5 in
> Lancaster. Especially in a case like this with such a loyal
> niche of folks, why not be nice and run promos so that the
> WBYN fans aren't left in shock and depression when 107.5
> flips? You would think it would only help 1160 get more
> listeners, and I'd highly doubt would hurt the new format on
> 107.5 at all. I'm sure there will be no cross-over of
> listeners between the new format and the old religious
> format. Why do stations just have to go "byebye" and leave
> their fans in shock? Especially with a religious format like
> this. You'd think it'd be nice idea.
>
> I remember when old, short-lived B/EZ outlet "Wish 560 AM"
> in Philly was dropping B/EZ for religious in the early
> 1990's, they ran a promo a month ahead of time thanking the
> "Wish 560" listeners for listening, but saying that the
> station was following other plans. I always thought that was
> nice.
>
In reality, the 1160 & 107.5 folks would have no real business reason to promote WDAC 94.5 since there is no longer a shared ownership between them.
 
Re: WDAC a sister station no more

> > Took a drive down Route 100 in eastern Berks County on
> > Saturday and saw a homemade sign on wheels along the side
> of
> > the road that said something like "WBYN 107.5 also on 1160
>
> > AM."
> >
> > I guess the religious-format folks are trying to get the
> > word out that the format will continue on 1160 AM after
> the
> > change?
> >
> > Two things, however:
> >
> > 1) How good is 1160's signal in eastern Berks? Marginal at
>
> > best during the day. Almost non-existent at night. I doubt
>
> > the new AM signal will ever regain half the listeners that
>
> > 107.5 used to have in Berks County.
> >
> > 2) Suggestion: if 107.5 really is going to flip (and I'm
> > starting to wonder, given it's taking so long), but if
> it's
> > really going to happen, why not start running promo's on
> > 107.5 that 107.5 is leaving, but you can (at least try) to
>
> > listen on 1160 AM or on sister-station WDAC 94.5 in
> > Lancaster. Especially in a case like this with such a
> loyal
> > niche of folks, why not be nice and run promos so that the
>
> > WBYN fans aren't left in shock and depression when 107.5
> > flips? You would think it would only help 1160 get more
> > listeners, and I'd highly doubt would hurt the new format
> on
> > 107.5 at all. I'm sure there will be no cross-over of
> > listeners between the new format and the old religious
> > format. Why do stations just have to go "byebye" and leave
>
> > their fans in shock? Especially with a religious format
> like
> > this. You'd think it'd be nice idea.
> >
> > I remember when old, short-lived B/EZ outlet "Wish 560 AM"
>
> > in Philly was dropping B/EZ for religious in the early
> > 1990's, they ran a promo a month ahead of time thanking
> the
> > "Wish 560" listeners for listening, but saying that the
> > station was following other plans. I always thought that
> was
> > nice.
> >
> In reality, the 1160 & 107.5 folks would have no real
> business reason to promote WDAC 94.5 since there is no
> longer a shared ownership between them.
>

Couple of thoughts...

1) You would think they are still sister stations by looking at the history of WBYN on the website. It still says the corporate offices are located at WDAC in Lancaster. I guess they lost their webmaster in the transition of staff and haven't been able to update that page.

2) I would think the 107.5 folks do have a vested interest in promoting WDAC 94.5. Since much of their current listening area will not be able to get 1160AM, the only place to hear most of those same conservative Christian programs will be 94.5. Some of the programs could probably be heard on WFIL as an alternative, but usually at far different times of the day as WFIL tends to be more talk format during the day. But in general WDAC 94.5 more closely lines up with the values aired by the programs on 107.5.

3) Keep in mind that many of those Christian programs on WDAC and WBYN rely on the financial support of their listeners to stay on those stations. For some of those smaller organizations on a really tight budget, the loss of revenue from 107.5 listeners could have some impact on decisions to keep broadcasting in central/eastern PA. So I would think it would be in the better interest to inform their listeners that the same program could also be heard on WDAC to help keep up the revenue stream from this area. That would help to keep those programs on both WDAC and 1160AM.

4) Finally, in the past few weeks it sounds as if WDAC 94.5 has picked up imaging ID's that sound very similar to what WBYN has used for years. Could it be part of a joint effort between the two stations to make them sound more alike so that the loyal WBYN listeners will make the shift to WDAC?
 
Re: WDAC a sister station no more

Isn't WBYN-FM still technically owned by WDAC Radio Company? That's at least what the FCC site is still saying. I thought Nassau was only operating 107.5 under an LMA. I guess legally WBYN-FM and WDAC are sister stations but maybe Nassau is under no contractual obligation to mention WDAC as an alternative after "the flip". Any lawyers lurking around thse boards?

> In reality, the 1160 & 107.5 folks would have no real
> business reason to promote WDAC 94.5 since there is no
> longer a shared ownership between them.
>
 
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