The official move of Disney radio as of midnight Jan 1st added a call letter change of 1250 WEAE. Soon to become the new 1250 WDDZ. Also the license was transferred form SPORTS RADIO GROUP, LLC to the RADIO DISNEY GROUP, LLC. I looks like Disney radio 1250 is going to be around for a while.
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The New 1250 WDDZ
- Thread starter retrodc
- Start date
Okay, let's talk about that.
Because I happen to think that 1250 is iconic enough that if someone wanted to buy it, it could be a viable talk outlet again.
Of course, we probably ought to give the new format a chance. Just because this isn't the station we grew up with anymore doesn't mean it can't be profitable or make lots of kids happy.
Because I happen to think that 1250 is iconic enough that if someone wanted to buy it, it could be a viable talk outlet again.
Of course, we probably ought to give the new format a chance. Just because this isn't the station we grew up with anymore doesn't mean it can't be profitable or make lots of kids happy.
The $64,000 question is what is the asking price, because 1250 has been on the market to be sold for a couple of years now with no takers.
Pratte4Life said:
"Iconic" doesn't mean anything to listeners. Most people aren't interested in AM. 1250 failed as a general talk station, then it failed as a sports talk station. It's over. Times change. How many AM signals are still viable in Pittsburgh? KDKA hangs on with a geriatric audience and a smaller cume these days than the niche sports talk station on FM. KQV is a blip that survives because Scaife is willing to pay the bills. It makes no sense as a business. WJAS runs on a shoestring thanks to two personalities who bring in personal accounts.
Boss Radio said:
But the people who DO give its "icon" status any weight are the ones who are jacked that they changed formats to begin with.
I honestly don't believe WTAE or ESPN 1250 "failed."
The reason why ESPN 1250 isn't on the air anymore is, in my opinion, gutlessness. Save for the last book, it beat The Fan with its 24 hour format and FM signal, and even that last book was hardly an overwhelming victory. A war could have been fought and the winner would not be the FM signal by default but rather the station with the better programming.
The record shows lots of listeners listened to the iconic station rather than the frisky young colt.
The GM moved to a larger market instantly, while other talent such as Ken Laird and Stan Savran were picked up elsewhere.
The station was billing $1.4 mil annually at the end. They SAID it was losing money.
I really want to know how a station can be taking in $1.4 million and losing the millions they said it was. That simply doesn't add up.
This "failure" of a radio station brought so many great broadcasters to the airwaves during its tenure that anyone saying the station failed simply cannot be looked upon as credible or objective.
WCAE, WTAE, or WEAE continually brought the local cutting edge to the airwaves. If another station seemed stuffy, 1250 was hip, no matter what the format was. Space simply doesn't allow a listing of all the great talent on the station during its history.
Heck, when the talk station "failed," WPTT picked up their old talent and ran with it successfully for 10 years!
You see AM as a bunch of WZUMs, I see it as the preferred format for talk and one whose signal can boom.
Anyone saying that station was a failure is a fool.
What other stations were failures? WNBC? KQV?
Please.
The reason why ESPN 1250 isn't on the air anymore is, in my opinion, gutlessness. Save for the last book, it beat The Fan with its 24 hour format and FM signal, and even that last book was hardly an overwhelming victory. A war could have been fought and the winner would not be the FM signal by default but rather the station with the better programming.
The record shows lots of listeners listened to the iconic station rather than the frisky young colt.
The GM moved to a larger market instantly, while other talent such as Ken Laird and Stan Savran were picked up elsewhere.
The station was billing $1.4 mil annually at the end. They SAID it was losing money.
I really want to know how a station can be taking in $1.4 million and losing the millions they said it was. That simply doesn't add up.
This "failure" of a radio station brought so many great broadcasters to the airwaves during its tenure that anyone saying the station failed simply cannot be looked upon as credible or objective.
WCAE, WTAE, or WEAE continually brought the local cutting edge to the airwaves. If another station seemed stuffy, 1250 was hip, no matter what the format was. Space simply doesn't allow a listing of all the great talent on the station during its history.
Heck, when the talk station "failed," WPTT picked up their old talent and ran with it successfully for 10 years!
You see AM as a bunch of WZUMs, I see it as the preferred format for talk and one whose signal can boom.
Anyone saying that station was a failure is a fool.
What other stations were failures? WNBC? KQV?
Please.
First, I'm pleased someone straightened out what the callsign is going to be. WDDZ sounds a lot like WDVE and my guesses about it as I was listening gave me the impression the call sign was even closer to "DVE." In a city where one has WPIT and WPYT and used to have WPTT and an owner still lops the "W" off his stations and makes one think he runs "KHB Pittsburgh" and "KFB Pittsburgh," one can understand my confusion.
Also, I find interesting WWCS being used as a pointer toward the new AM 1250. Apparently Disney had a few dollars to offer Birach and Birach did not have something else ready to go when the ball rose over downtown Pittsburgh Friday night.
Also, I find interesting WWCS being used as a pointer toward the new AM 1250. Apparently Disney had a few dollars to offer Birach and Birach did not have something else ready to go when the ball rose over downtown Pittsburgh Friday night.
Pratte4Life said:
I'm with you on that one. For it to have been $2 mil in the red would have required that they were billing almost nothing.
However, in the corporate world, falling short of budget is defined as losing money for all practical purposes. Even if the projections were insanely high, they probably had a minimum profit they wanted each station to generate. In a public company, a shortfall must be made up somewhere else or Wall Street isn't happy. So I could see a scenario where they wanted $3.4 mil from the station and it did 1.4. But in any sales oriented business, if you miss the number by that much, you're gone.
corporateradiosucks said:
Huh?
You're right. The displaced formats (general talk, sports talk) were dumped because....well, it was just time for a change. Kind of like re-arranging the furniture.
The Fan was already killing 1250 in revenue generated because -- get this -- people under 50 don't listen to a whole lot of AM radio. You're so hung up on "iconic" labels that you lose sight of the fact radio is a business. 1250 couldn't meet its overhead, even after it cut as many people as possible. Ratings don't mean anything until you sell them. People were not buying 1250's audience.
Ann Devlin was "cutting edge" and "hip?" Son of a gun, I missed that.
And, yes, KQV failed big-time when 13Q came in and blew them out of the water -- and that's when people still listened to AM radio.
The Fan was already killing 1250 in revenue generated because -- get this -- people under 50 don't listen to a whole lot of AM radio. You're so hung up on "iconic" labels that you lose sight of the fact radio is a business. 1250 couldn't meet its overhead, even after it cut as many people as possible. Ratings don't mean anything until you sell them. People were not buying 1250's audience.
Ann Devlin was "cutting edge" and "hip?" Son of a gun, I missed that.
And, yes, KQV failed big-time when 13Q came in and blew them out of the water -- and that's when people still listened to AM radio.
Pratte4Life said:
Boss Radio said:
Don't forget that the Ted Atkins-directed WTAE debuted at the same time, and so did WPEZ. WTAE took the
adults, 13Q (which was also briefly simulcast on 99.7) took the teens and younger adults, and WPEZ took the
people who wanted to listen in stereo. Not to mention that all of these stations had a better signal than KQV.
No contest, really. KQV dropped three points in the first book and never recovered.
C.
cingram said:
True, but 13Q was the one who came in and turned the market upside down with the cash call giveaway. Instant recognition, which neither WTAE nor WPEZ had at that time. It took at least a year for WTAE to start registering some numbers, and KQV was already in the tank by then.
As bad as KQV's signal was (and is), they still outpointed KDKA's 50kw signal during the daylight hours in the '60s.
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
As far as the "gutlessness" charge, if you look at the overall operation of ESPN is it
one of the most thoroughly gutless, politically correct organizations in the entire country,
so no surprises there.
It has been abundantly clear that they have wanted to push their brand with radio and
website combos in major markets (Boston, Chicago, Dallas). My sense is that can't help
but be a money losing proposition in the near term. I'm not a forensic accountant, but
strongly suspect that a lot of the red ink from those operations was finding it's way onto
the P&L of 1250 here in Pittsburgh.
I held a ceremonial removal of 1250 from my car presets on Sunday. I do believe it is the
first time since I bought my first car that I was living in Pittsburgh without 1250 being one of
my presets.
one of the most thoroughly gutless, politically correct organizations in the entire country,
so no surprises there.
It has been abundantly clear that they have wanted to push their brand with radio and
website combos in major markets (Boston, Chicago, Dallas). My sense is that can't help
but be a money losing proposition in the near term. I'm not a forensic accountant, but
strongly suspect that a lot of the red ink from those operations was finding it's way onto
the P&L of 1250 here in Pittsburgh.
I held a ceremonial removal of 1250 from my car presets on Sunday. I do believe it is the
first time since I bought my first car that I was living in Pittsburgh without 1250 being one of
my presets.
Oh yes, Boss. I'm so sorry.
Ann Deviln totally changed the legacy of the station.
Nobody remembers how WTAE introduced sports talk here. Nobody remembers how WTAE talk was lively when the other stations were stuffy.
Heck, even Devlin used to have on guests who were generally hipper than what the competition was offering.
You're using Ann Devlin to refute Myron Cope?
Thank you, Boss, for proving my point. It is appriciated.
Ann Deviln totally changed the legacy of the station.
Nobody remembers how WTAE introduced sports talk here. Nobody remembers how WTAE talk was lively when the other stations were stuffy.
Heck, even Devlin used to have on guests who were generally hipper than what the competition was offering.
You're using Ann Devlin to refute Myron Cope?
Thank you, Boss, for proving my point. It is appriciated.
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