The Buzz is Gone

[nephi1]

‘Buzz’ off the air: Local AM station WBZH ‘goes silent’

http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20...off-the-air-local-am-station-wbzh-goes-silent

URL provided as a courtesy by RadioDiscussions.com

By Evan Brandt
[email protected]
Posted: 11/14/2012

POTTSTOWN — WBZH AM, the non-profit radio station that arose from the ashes of WPAZ, has gone dark, the man who owns the station’s license confirmed Wednesday.

[EDIT*- Trucated to comply with standards of Fair Use]

 

[nephi1]

They started a non profit fund that had a fundraising themometer on the donation page thier goal was $20,000 starting October 1st they only raised $1700 dollars. The only two errors in the article are that number one the former owner of the station was Great Scott Broadcasting and number two the station was not non profit it was for profit station who started a non profit orginization to give money to the radio station.

 

[RayThomas]

Its a shame. The local news, local sports and community stuff they were doing was great! But a format of obscure alternative music and local bands just wasn't going to work with the older audience that will listen to AM! The only place that kind of format attracts an audience is college radio. On AM, forget anyone under 40, and most people under 50. They should have kept the WPAZ calls, and surrounded the news and information with familiar oldies, classic country, soft AC, or something that the 50-plus folks will listen to. With an audience, they could have attracted some advertisers and would still be on the air...

 

[TheBigA]

There've been threads about this kind of station in other places, since there is an over abundance of low power AMs. Many have wondered if they could exist with alternative rock or other fringe formats appealing to younger demos, since the more powerful FMs won't touch the stuff. I guess we now know the answer. This was a thousand watt daytimer. Soon they'll all be gone. And it doesn't give a whole lot of hope for LPFMs either. I keep saying that people have to be willing to pay for this kind of radio. Apparently not in this case.

 

[amfmsw]

Listening to the station, who didn't hear this coming. Sadly, Toad The Wet Sprocket is NOT AM programming material. It proved how cool it was, right off the air. Including throwing away 50+ years of community goodwill by discarding the callsign.

Four Rivers had a plan. They knew the value. They parked those calls at a dark 88.1 non-com in Mohrsville, PA. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=wpaz&sr=Y&s=C

And now that the Fed is relaxing rules to accommodate 'distressed AM signals" 1370 would get an FM translator in a heartbeat. I think 52 watts at night qualifies. Enough so, that I wouldn't be surprised to see the Scott Family come back into the picture! They never sold the land, studios/offices or site, just the license.

 

[John1]

I agree that abandoning the WPAZ calls made no sense - it could have been the 'Buzz' under WPAZ anyway. Trying to mix your traditional progranning with alternative is a hard sell. Feel sorry that Frankie Roberts can't do his Christmas shows this year - bad news for 'the cowboy'!

 

[doowopvault]

Look, let's face it, it doesn't matter if they we're alternative or just another cookie cutter station, playing the same crap that every other station plays, wouldn't matter if it was a Sports Talk, all News etc...or if it did this, this and that. How many stations we're cookie cutter stations, and how many failed!!!! the fact is it takes money to run the station, doesn't matter if they are doing everything right, if the revenue isn't coming in, it will shut down, even if all the fantastic ideas for success by all the "experts" on this board were implemented, if the revenue isn't coming in, it will close. Ask all the owners throughout the years of all the stations that did do everything right and didn't make it. It's the luck of the draw.

 

[MB1370]

Having done mornings June 2011-Oct 2012, essentially becoming APD, it was the most fun doing radio ever! Many thanks to the staff. Even tho we fought the odds, we should still hold our heads high!!!

Here's to the staff's successes elsewhere!

"Rockin' Rob" Lentz
APD/Mornings

 

[DG02816]

From what I've heard of the station and read, it was far from lack of effort.  I'd keep the present format as an Internet stream.
On air, I'd return to the WPAZ call, make the music what would be called MOR years ago, and really hit the local programming hard. Keep the sports, and keep Betsey on middays. I can't see what could be gained by throwing a 50 year brand down the toilet, and its accumulated community ties, all in favor of trying Alternative on AM. The music, like the rest of the programming elements, should fit the audience.

 

[RadioFanBoy]

It seemed as if the station was finding its legs, tweaking to an almost pure indie music station. I was really enjoying a lot of the music. They had two successful concerts at the state theater in Boyertown, and a budding relationship with World Cafe Live, that let the winners of Open Mic Night come in and perform a live set. It also landed them an interview with Delta Rae, an up-and-coming band getting airplay on a lot of stations. I realize I am in the minority, and at my age, I should probably be listening to more sleepy music by dead people, but for me it was fun not hearing the same 100 songs day in and out. Music played that was actually requested, and not something on a pre-printed playlist. Music that was played because of the day's weather, an event in someone's life, music picked by the guests being interviewed, hopefully, you get the idea. Each show on here; Rockin Rob's Morning Show, The Morning Boot, Afternoons and Coffeespoons, and later Indie Afternoon, The Local Buzz, and Suki Says......These were IMO actual radio shows, one day different from the next, and I am very sad to see it gone. But there was a lot of genuine talent there, and I have no doubt, their next gigs will be sooner than later!

There was enough of a heads up where we got to say goodbye. Here is for the most part, the final hour of music, picked by listeners and DJ alike (A few are missing, my SoundTracking app isn't quite 100% yet I think)


Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Thank You For The Music - ABBA
Not Over You - Gavin DeGraw
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay
Gonna Get Over You - Sara Bareilles
Colorful - The Verve Pipe
With Or Without You/Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Say Goodbye - Dave Matthews Band
Say Goodbye To Hollywood - Billy Joel
This Ain't Goodbye - Train
Hello, Goodbye - The Beatles
Thank You

 

[rdcuffpa1]

And it doesn't give a whole lot of hope for LPFMs either. I keep saying that people have to be willing to pay for this kind of radio.

Isn't much of the hope for LPFM in local community radio, much like the advocacy of the Prometheus Radio Project http://www.prometheusradio.org/, a Philadelphia-based non-profit group?

I guess that would be people "paying for" radio a la WHYY, WRTI, etc.

Richard in Allentown

 

[DToTheJ]

@RadioFanBoy: Would you or anyone else (Rockin' Rob?) have an aircheck of the end of WBZH?

 

[klutch00]

They started a non profit fund that had a fundraising thermometer on the donation page their goal was $20,000 starting October 1st they only raised $1700 dollars. The only two errors in the article are that number one the former owner of the station was Great Scott Broadcasting and number two the station was not non profit it was for profit station who started a non profit organization to give money to the radio station.

Its a shame. The local news, local sports and community stuff they were doing was great! But a format of obscure alternative music and local bands just wasn't going to work with the older audience that will listen to AM! The only place that kind of format attracts an audience is college radio. On AM, forget anyone under 40, and most people under 50. They should have kept the WPAZ calls, and surrounded the news and information with familiar oldies, classic country, soft AC, or something that the 50-plus folks will listen to. With an audience, they could have attracted some advertisers and would still be on the air...

Call me someone who lives in the past, but I don't think AM radio has to be put out to pasture. Moreover, I don't think small AM stations need to be relegated to news, talk, sports, ethnic or religious formats exclusively. Call me crazy, but I think it's possible to win back a handful of the under-40 crowd to AM IF you have the right programming. I feel that many small AMs can be a voice for alternative programming for their given markets. A handful of AM stations exist which offer alternative programming around the country. Here are some examples: http://www.openaircpr.org/ ; http://radio1190.org/ ; http://www.radiok.org/ ; http://wbcb1490.com/

Now, it's important that when you offer unconventional programming that you know how to promote your station and how to fund it. The more avant-garde the format is, the more important this is. Advertisement, if utilized, must include atypical sources. These sources must be consistent with the culture to whom your station targets. You'll have a difficult enough time trying to court conventional advertisers. While some say this next move it 'tacky', I think it isn't a bad idea. I'm referring to taking donations. Another source includes promotions. This includes, but isn't limited to: holding a car/bike show, sponsoring a festival, concert or dance; and so forth.

With all that said, I think one of 1370's problems is that they were a small, outlying suburban station trying to be an alternative voice for Philadelphia. Don't get me wrong, some of what they did was great! I just think that it would've been more appropriate for this to be on a station closer to Philly that blanketed that city with a half-decent signal. By contrast, a problem with offering a 'mainstream' format on such a station is that you'll get you breakfast, lunch and dinner eaten by the big station in Philly. WBEB has mainstream AC covered, WXTU has country covered, and WOGL has oldies covered. If you're going to go to alternatives to one of these, a classic MOR (blending soft hits and pop-standards) could be an option; doing oldies that WOGL won't touch with a 20' pole might also be an option. I would see classic country as being the least viable option here.

 

[TheBigA]

Call me crazy, but I think it's possible to win back a handful of the under-40 crowd to AM IF you have the right programming.

OK, you're crazy. Here's why. There is NO music programming radio can provide that is unavailable anywhere else. There are no exclusives as there once were. And worse, the audiences for what you call "unconventional programming" are extremely small. So there's not enough money there to pay for the promotion it would take.

The key thing is that people under 40 don't buy radios. They buy phones, computers, mp3 players, and other devices. If you put an AM receiver on one of those things, that's great. Otherwise they don't have the device to listen to AM, and there's no LEGAL programming that will attract them to radio. You put something illegal there, like music with obscene lyrics, and you have a chance. Other than that, it's all available elsewhere, in far better fidelity than you'll get on AM.