Trying 2 get back WILD-FM

[ciao99]

"While the black population of Boston is said to be considerably lower than that of other cities (the
example I heard was 6 per cent here, 25 per cent in Wash DC), it's still a lot of potential listeners who
don't have their format any more. "

That's an excellent point. The metro Boston black population might be 6%, but in numbers, that's a bigger black population than Richmond, Jackson Missisippi and lots of other markets with multiple Urban radio stations. And advertisers want to reach numbers, not percentages.

 

[ciao99]

Hi all, I went to Slade's last Thursday and we were told by Coach, Willie May, the deal is not a done deal yet. WILD needs us, our friends, family, and community to email the FCC and let them know what WILD means to us and we want them to stay. The more people we can get to do this the louder our voice, the better our chances are to be heard. Also, there will be a rally @ City Hall plaza on October 9, 2006. Most of WILD's past and present staff will be there with more information and possible proposals. Bring as many people as you can and tell as many people as you can, they need us to turn out by the thousands. Come on Boston, Let them know we are here

I was probably the only person on this forum who listened to both WILD-AM and WILD-FM. That being said, could it be best just to let WILD-AM go, and start over? The daytime only signal is a liability. Let that daytime only signal go to another format, once it's gone, chances are another company will put an Urban AC station on another station. Maybe it won't be an FM, but even a full time AM signal would be an improvement. Daytime signals would be fine for business news or other stuff. It's pretty lame if an urban station can't broadcast at night to play slow jams.

 

[ciao99]

The METCO gorilla

Rapking says: WILD needs us, our friends, family, and community to email the FCC and let them know what WILD means to us and we want them to stay.

I say: Do you really think the FCC gives a crap about a few people in the Boston area pissing and moaning that a radio format geared for the African-American audience went away? They have bigger fish to fry. Go ahead...e-mail the FCC and piss and moan. I'm sure your e-mails will go in the "trash" folder of their e-mail account without being read. If you want to complain to someone, e-mail the Corporate Stiff Necks at Entercom. Entercom bought WILD-FM. Entercom changed the format. They are the ones you should address your concerns with...not the FCC. The FCC doesn't care.

The anger in the black community is not directed at Radio One for it's sale. Maybe that's right, maybe it's wrong. But they are upset with Entercom for changing the WILD-FM format.

And most importantly, folks in the community have not forgotten that Entercom is the company that brought us the 'metco gorilla' comment in reference to black teenagers attending suburban schools. The FCC might very well be interested in that, when Entercom is silencing the black community's voice.

 

[Varulven]

WILD AM was an excellent station for many years. Great R & B/Pop music that you couldn't hear anywhere else. Smooth and substantial. The FM did not play the same wonderful urban sounds but was still important.
Musically, this is as wrong as getting rid of WCRB. This used to be a community of culture and the arts - big business is making its mark at everyone's expense. The erosion of different sounds on the radio is the shape of things to come in every facet of our lives.

When WROR was WVBF in the 1970s there was a quality rock & roll product aired to this community. Deep album cuts along with the hits. It was a very nice blend in the day when WBCN was pretty much the underground sound. So we had great underground music with WBCN, a good mix of popular and deep album cuts with WVBF, and the FM with Clark Schmidt & Ken Shelton (WEEI FM??? or WEZE??) and WBZ FM with Jim (now Ed) McMann.

BZ FM and RKO AM played Aerosmith's "Dream On" relentlessly in the summer of 1973. WBCN was playing
Andy Pratt and Jonathan Richman. It was an amazing time

 

[Retro]

Re: Radio One and Entercom

Rapking says: WILD needs us, our friends, family, and community to email the FCC and let them know what WILD means to us and we want them to stay.

I say: Do you really think the FCC gives a crap about a few people in the Boston area pissing and moaning that a radio format geared for the African-American audience went away? They have bigger fish to fry. Go ahead...e-mail the FCC and piss and moan. I'm sure your e-mails will go in the "trash" folder of their e-mail account without being read. If you want to complain to someone, e-mail the Corporate Stiff Necks at Entercom. Entercom bought WILD-FM. Entercom changed the format. They are the ones you should address your concerns with...not the FCC. The FCC doesn't care.

The anger in the black community is not directed at Radio One for it's sale. Maybe that's right, maybe it's wrong. But they are upset with Entercom for changing the WILD-FM format.

I'm sorry, but I find this hypercritical. Radio One was the one's that decided to sell. The buyer can do whatever they want with it. Entercom paid $30 million for the station, shouldn't they be able to do what they want with it?

 

[ciao99]

Re: Radio One and Entercom

Rapking says: WILD needs us, our friends, family, and community to email the FCC and let them know what WILD means to us and we want them to stay.

I say: Do you really think the FCC gives a crap about a few people in the Boston area pissing and moaning that a radio format geared for the African-American audience went away? They have bigger fish to fry. Go ahead...e-mail the FCC and piss and moan. I'm sure your e-mails will go in the "trash" folder of their e-mail account without being read. If you want to complain to someone, e-mail the Corporate Stiff Necks at Entercom. Entercom bought WILD-FM. Entercom changed the format. They are the ones you should address your concerns with...not the FCC. The FCC doesn't care.

The anger in the black community is not directed at Radio One for it's sale. Maybe that's right, maybe it's wrong. But they are upset with Entercom for changing the WILD-FM format.

I'm sorry, but I find this hypercritical. Radio One was the one's that decided to sell. The buyer can do whatever they want with it. Entercom paid $30 million for the station, shouldn't they be able to do what they want with it?

You quoted all of my post except the most important part: the Metco Gorilla. Black folks still remember that comment by one of Entercom's employees. Taking away WILD is like rubbing salt in a wound.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

So we had great underground music with WBCN, a good mix of popular and deep album cuts with WVBF, and the FM with Clark Schmidt & Ken Shelton (WEEI FM??? or WEZE??) and WBZ FM with Jim (now Ed) McMann.

Schmidt and Shelton were also at WBZ-FM in that time period. If I remember correctly, Schmidt was the PD.

 

[Varulven]

they were somewhere to the left of WBCN - I think it was WEEI FM, then they went to BZ FM. But a young Jim Mcmann was the P.D. of BZ FM for a long while.

Off to see Little Walter spinning his tunes.

 

[ciao99]

Yes you might be better off petitioning a station owner/station group to change a format and tell them
you think it could succeed, there's a need for it, etc. I do know that at least during the daytime there
was some smooth jazz and "old school" mixed in on WILD-FM and, while I probably wouldn't listen for
an extended period of time, it was mildly interesting to me (when I tuned in just before the format change), And there is a need for a black-oriented station (besides WJMN) in town, though station owners
need to be convinced it can work.

But commercial radio being what it is, "selling" the idea of such a station in a city whose black population
is less than that of many other cities might not get you anywhere. (At least that fact came up in local
newspaper articles)...It might, who knows, but be aware that the reason there's a lot of pop/rock stations in town is that these companies are convinced such formats make
money. And while it is sad that WILD (AM) changed from black talk and some gospel to all gospel, and WILD-FM
became a repeater of WAAF, also remember that it was a black-owned company who decided to sell because they didn't want to compete in the Boston radio market anymore. (Blame Radio One.) If contacting the FCC or some companies gets you
anywhere, more power to you, but in a time when radio consultants and advertisers rule, it won't be easy
to bring back WILD (AM) or FM...

That being said, remember that 1090 and 1510 are both said to be up for sale and maybe someone could
come along and buy one or the other and place the format there...

Actually, putting the "WILD" format on a fulltime AM signal would be productive and an effecient use of a signal. WILD-AM when it was UAC did decent numbers, even with its limited operating hours, doing just as well as WBOS did with a fulltime FM signal. There are quite a few non performing AM's in our market, the sports stations and radio Disney among them.

 

[Retro]

Re: Radio One and Entercom

Rapking says: WILD needs us, our friends, family, and community to email the FCC and let them know what WILD means to us and we want them to stay.

I say: Do you really think the FCC gives a crap about a few people in the Boston area pissing and moaning that a radio format geared for the African-American audience went away? They have bigger fish to fry. Go ahead...e-mail the FCC and piss and moan. I'm sure your e-mails will go in the "trash" folder of their e-mail account without being read. If you want to complain to someone, e-mail the Corporate Stiff Necks at Entercom. Entercom bought WILD-FM. Entercom changed the format. They are the ones you should address your concerns with...not the FCC. The FCC doesn't care.

The anger in the black community is not directed at Radio One for it's sale. Maybe that's right, maybe it's wrong. But they are upset with Entercom for changing the WILD-FM format.

I'm sorry, but I find this hypercritical. Radio One was the one's that decided to sell. The buyer can do whatever they want with it. Entercom paid $30 million for the station, shouldn't they be able to do what they want with it?

You quoted all of my post except the most important part: the Metco Gorilla. Black folks still remember that comment by one of Entercom's employees. Taking away WILD is like rubbing salt in a wound.

Ok, point taken, however I still feel that Radio One is the one you should be blaming for losing the signal though. Entercom did make a lot of concessions for their racist remark by the talk show hosts.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Actually, putting the "WILD" format on a fulltime AM signal would be productive and an effecient use of a signal. WILD-AM when it was UAC did decent numbers, even with its limited operating hours, doing just as well as WBOS did with a fulltime FM signal. There are quite a few non performing AM's in our market, the sports stations and radio Disney among them.

Nash should've tried to buy Radio Disney (1260) to replace WILD-AM years ago. It's 5 kW signal transmitting from right across the Neponset River from Dorchester in North Quincy is great in urban and downtown Boston, and it's 24 hours. It's not so great out in the suburbs because it's directional, but that's not where the core format demo is. That would make a good AM signal for urban.

 

[Bill_W]

Over the years, Radio One bought 2 Alt Rock stations in Philly and turned them both into Afr. Amer. stations. There were people who protested this and now only an internet Alt rock station (and on the air 3 nights a week) from U of Penn's radio station WXPN. Petition one of the college radio stations to play the music you want and make sure you give lots of bling during the pledge drives!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Over the years, Radio One bought 2 Alt Rock stations in Philly and turned them both into Afr. Amer. stations. There were people who protested this and now only an internet Alt rock station (and on the air 3 nights a week) from U of Penn's radio station WXPN.

WXPN isn't really a college station even though it's at U. Penn. It's a professional Public Radio "AAA" (Adult Album Alternative) formatted station with a full Class B signal, serving the audience in Philly which is served here by commercial stations WBOS and WXRV ("The River"). WXPN's success has prevented any commercial station in Philly from going with the "AAA" format, so it makes sense that they would try to catch a piece of the Alt. Rock audience when other commercial stations dumped the format.

Philly has a much higher percentage of African-American population than Boston, so you can see why Radio One would concentrate on acquiring stations there. Still, I certainly agree that Boston should have an adult urban station.

Petition one of the college radio stations to play the music you want and make sure you give lots of bling during the pledge drives!

None of the college stations here will adopt a full-time urban format, and I doubt if any will make a substantial increase in their urban programming that they already have.

WERS and WHRB have the best signals of the area college stations. WERS plays Hip-Hop weeknights 8 PM - 12 Midnight and Slow Jams weekends 8 PM - 12 Midnight. As the outlet for Emerson's communications program, their schedule is faculty advised to provide training for students to do various formats, and to reach a wide cross-section of formats and listenership. They have programming in five-day weekday blocks (folk, jazz, world music, reggae, R&B, rock, etc...) and each one has an established following.

WHRB plays a mix of Hip-Hop and Urban Contemporary Saturday nights from 9 PM on, and Sunday nights from 12 Midnight on. Though WHRB is a student-hosted station, it actually has a commercial license and does not do pledge drives. Their forté is their classical programming which makes up most of their schedule, and their jazz in the mornings. There is also some faculty oversight of WHRB, and it seems to represent what Harvard wants from their station and works best for them.

WMBR, the all-volunteer student-run fluke at MIT which also happens to let a certain percentage of outside community people do radio, has a number of urban programs in their eclectic mix of shows. WMBR program slots are limited to two hours per host to help ensure room for student influx and turnover while trying to maintain the community shows on the schedule. The schedule is a jigsaw puzzle based on the ideas of the student and community staff, with no oversight from the Institute except to keep programming FCC legal, and to keep enough students (at least 50% as per MIT) on the air.

Some of the urban/R&B shows on WMBR include:

Fridays 10 PM - 12 Mid "Time Traveling" - New and old school Hip-Hop & R&B
Saturdays 10 PM - 12 Mid "The Choice Is Yours" - Hip-Hop
Saturdays 12 Mid - 2 AM (Sunday mornings) "Mellow Madness" - Slow Jams
Sundays 2 AM - 6 AM "After Party" and "In The Zone" - Adult Urban variety
Sundays 6 PM - 8 PM "R&B Jukebox" - Classic Soul, R&B Oldies, Old-School Funk
Sundays 10 PM - 12 Mid "For Your Pleasure" - Mellow, romantic Urban AC

WMBR will not change their program schedule in response to pledge donations. I know because I've been involved there for many years. It's a relatively low-overhead operation, and their annual fall fundraisers adequately cover their needs.

WZBC at Boston College is a similar student-run volunteer student/community mix, which has a well established audience for it's daytime alt-rock and evening electronic avant-garde shows. Their schedule also represents their staff, and they also won't change it in response to pledge donations.

WMFO (Tufts) and WBRS (Brandeis) are smaller student-run student/community volunteer college stations with poor signals in Boston's urban neighborhoods. There are a few sporadic urban shows occasonally scattered through their program schedules. Their programmings also reflect the desires of their staffs and listenerships for established programming, and they won't change it for pledge donations.

WMLN (Curry College) does reach fairly well into some of Boston's urban neighborhoods from Milton, but I think most of their programming is pop/rock. It's an all-student station overseen by the college communications program.

WUMB at U. Mass Boston is not a college station, it's a small professional public radio music station with a well-established folk music format, and a very loyal contributing audience for it. They used to have an urban show in the evenings hosted by Ken Yarbrough which was called "Quiet Storm" back in the 80's. In the 90's they changed the name to "Urban Folk".

Eventually Ken was "let go" and he said he was told that he had "no ratings" (which wasn't true), but he was replaced by automated folk music programming from NPR and other public radio syndicators, which eliminated their evening DJ salary as well as consolidated their folk format. Ken tried to organize a discrimination suit on the station, but I don't think it got anywhere. The only locally produced African-American (or other minority) voice currently on the station is the host of a weekly half-hour public affairs show.

WBUR, as we know, is also a professional NPR station. It does excellently with it's news and information format, and with the one exception of the long-running (over 30 years) Latin music show Con Salsa on Saturdays at midnight, I wouldn't expect that they would add any more music programming.

WRBB, the small student station from Northeastern University, used to be predominantly urban contemporary programming in the 80's and 90's, which was appropriate for their signal because it's best coverage was in Boston's urban neighborhoods from Mission Hill down through Dorchester. I don't know what happened there, but it appears lately that urban programming is mostly on some evenings and weekend times, and there's now more rock programming on the weekdays. Perhaps it wasn't representing a cross-section of the Northeastern students applying for shows back when it was mostly urban.

So, in a nutshell, it doesn't look like Boston has any college stations that will go predominantly urban, even for pledges.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Oops, duplicate post (deleted).

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

How does he know? I believe he is one of the few Radio One staffers remaining at Marina Bay, if he hasn't been let go already.

Which means exactly nothing. Having been in the radio business for almost 40 years, I can tell you from experience that the staff knows NOTHING about the details of a station sale. It's none of their business, and with the exception of those details which must be reported to the FCC to get the sale approved, it's a private transaction. The only people who are privy to all the details are the lawyers and senior management.

Taking away WILD is like rubbing salt in a wound.

Then they should be blaming Radio One. No station sale will be approved by the FCC if the seller imposes its format on the buyer. They had no right to expect that the buyer would keep the old format. FCC rules are very clear on the fact that the owner of a station has sole responsibility for programming content, and such responsibility cannot be delegated contractually or otherwise.

 

[odomski]

If people are pissed off that the format of WILD-FM was changed, they should be complaining to Entercom, and not Radio One. Radio One just sold the station...Entercom changed the format. Go complain to Entercom...not Radio One or the FCC.

I fail to understand why this topic is still being discussed. I realize the African-American audience feels insulted because of the format change of WILD-FM. I know they feel this move was racially motivated or whatever other garbage they want to spew. My answer is: GET OVER IT!!!

 

[Varulven]

It's not just the African-American audience. WILD had wide appeal to people from all walks of life by playing (at times) a good variety of soul music that was smooth and easy to tune in to. Especially WILD AM years back.
That is a great loss to this community - as is a station I rarely listen to - WCRB. We don't need a country station getting more power at the expense of a hot (ratings wise) classical station. The graying of Boston radio listeners from the 60s no doubt has them tuning in to the music of WCRB. Again, not my thing but it's a symptom endemic to the state of radio today - "terrestrial" radio specifically.

Take away WILD for a double dose of WAAF; take away WCRB on a louder signal, don't allow WBUR or WGBH to show up in the ratings - though their audience has a huge impact on who is listening to "commercial" radio (yet, WBUR does run some type of "commercials", do they not?) - even when call letters stay the same - WBCN - the product is altered, watered down, or completely changed from the date that brought them to the dance.

Hearing the Patriots on WBCN was a wise business move. No one in 1979 would've contemplated that kind of change. It did change the texture of the station. With 5 or 9 big corporations owning everything there's no need for WBCN to have the Patriots unless the station wants to go more talk and more sports. Rock & Roll and Football. Just another reason to have XM or Sirius. And though sports are more suited to talk stations, the Red Sox on WRKO just sounds like a bad idea (not that I think RKO programming is any great shakes; just looking at the product that is going to market). I would rather they go back to their Top 40...but alas.

People have more options today - Satellite, CDs, Ipod, videogames, lots of distractions. The Internet.
Radio should be working harder to keep an audience, not pushing it out the door. How much time has Clear Channel invested in the tiny AM 1430? Little to none. BUT, if you go back in time, as Bob Bittner has, there is an audience you can cultivate. Old school WBCN, WJIB, WCAS, WILD, is very workable - big business has another agenda while the audience has multiple options that, sadly, do not include radio.

If the whole thing shifts over to the internet in 15 years the government can use the space on the spectrum for other things. More spying...making this entire discussion a moot point.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

If people are pissed off that the format of WILD-FM was changed, they should be complaining to Entercom, and not Radio One. Radio One just sold the station...Entercom changed the format. Go complain to Entercom...not Radio One or the FCC.

Wrong. Entercom doesn't own the station yet. Entercom is programming it through an LMA with Radio One, but Radio One, as the licensee, has the final say as to what programming goes out over the station that they still own...for now.

 

[Phillip_J_Fry]

Also, let's see - were you at the Mass Hip Hop award show? The Billboard Hip-Hop conference? I didn't think so. You want to discuss Bluegrass, Jazz and Hip-Hop with me? I think you wouldn't last 30 seconds in a debate.

OMG!! i can't believe i missed that!! sooo your now a hip-hop expert?? yo J dog! you be keepin it real hangin with your homies!

Since people around the world utilize my reviews of jazz, hip-hop, country, reggae, punk, alternative, etc. etc. when considering buying product in the major chains it tends to indicate that I have a more open mind than some people.

lets see links to the reviews

Having produced buddy guy and having produced Unnatural Axe and hundreds of artists in between over a thirty year period I think it is OK for me to listen to Marvin Gaye and have an objective opinion that WAAF does NOT play rock & roll music that we want to hear. It is corporate SCHLOCK!

enough with the resume ok nobody cares.

Waaf does NOT play the rock & roll music we want to hear..

who's we??? were you elected head spokemen of boston radio listeners? I listen to waaf music as do all my friends. I'm sorry you don't like it. but entercom seems to think its worth something. and most popular music is/was corporate SCHLOCK.

as far as saving WILD it's impossible. people couldn't or didn't do a thing to try and save WESX remember that station? everyone cried about it going away but i haven't heard a word about it since and everyone lived!

I say: Do you really think the FCC gives a crap about a few people in the Boston area pissing and moaning that a radio format geared for the African-American audience went away? They have bigger fish to fry. Go ahead...e-mail the FCC and piss and moan. I'm sure your e-mails will go in the "trash" folder of their e-mail account without being read. If you want to complain to someone, e-mail the Corporate Stiff Necks at Entercom. Entercom bought WILD-FM. Entercom changed the format. They are the ones you should address your concerns with...not the FCC. The FCC doesn't care.

i agree they are to busy figuring out how to get extra income now that Stern is vacationing on sirius.

If the whole thing shifts over to the internet in 15 years the government can use the space on the spectrum for other things. More spying...making this entire discussion a moot point.

couldn't go 1 post without some kind of anti goverment boo hoo?

sorry people but WILD is gone for good but then again there is only like what 4 or so companies that basicly own boston radio right? so whats the difference.

 

[everyday magic]

Please stay on topic.