Trying 2 get back WILD-FM

[mayermike]

To get back on Topic,
Entercom bought 97.7 for one reason, so their station 107.3 finally can be heard in Boston which is what they promote their station as.
If you are lucky enough to get both signals and live in and near Boston, then you have one less preset to deal with or one more to program. As for the people missing the old WILD format, they could try to get Entercom or RadioOne, whomver still owns the rights to what gets put over, to either put an HD signal and/or stream it over the internet.

 

[HHH]

Seems to me that the most immediate solution is to have WRBB increase their urban programming, or possibly go all urban in some way shape or form.

Although their signal is pretty limited, it is heard clearly in the urban neighborhoods.

In the meantime, a group of business people--African American or otherwise--should try to get 1510 or 1330 AM. Or possibly 1600.

And I DO think that the protesters need to consider that it was an African-American company (Radio One) that technically decided to pull the plug on WILD-FM, NOT Entercom.

 

[rapking]

And I DO think that the protesters need to consider that it was an African-American company (Radio One) that technically decided to pull the plug on WILD-FM, NOT Entercom.


[/quote]My sig , tell everyone how I feel about uncle Radio One .

 

[ciao99]

University Urban Stations

Seems to me that the most immediate solution is to have WRBB increase their urban programming, or possibly go all urban in some way shape or form.

Although their signal is pretty limited, it is heard clearly in the urban neighborhoods.

In the meantime, a group of business people--African American or otherwise--should try to get 1510 or 1330 AM. Or possibly 1600.

And I DO think that the protesters need to consider that it was an African-American company (Radio One) that technically decided to pull the plug on WILD-FM, NOT Entercom.

There are two noteworthy Urban stations run by universities: WHUR in Washington and WYBC in New Haven. Both show up in the top 5 in ratings for their markets. WYBC might even be in first place in New Haven once in a while. Boston could do the same, particularly now. College radio can be so much more than "let's get stoned and do a show". And the so-called liberals that are running the universities shoudl realize that putting a real format on a station is better than a hodge podge of unrelated programming. I used to work at Z89 in Syracuse. That was a serious college radio station and people really listened to it. You went to the mall and Z89 was on the air. Boston college stations could do the same.

 

[odomski]

We have been on topic. Where have you been? I haven't seen any part of this thread go off topic. The topic is about bringing back WILD-FM...which isn't going to happen anytime soon. Nobody here went off topic. Go troll on the Brand X board. They tolerate trolls over there.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Re: University Urban Stations

Seems to me that the most immediate solution is to have WRBB increase their urban programming, or possibly go all urban in some way shape or form. Although their signal is pretty limited, it is heard clearly in the urban neighborhoods.

WRBB was mostly Urban in the 1980's and '90's, now it only has Urban shows on some late weeknights and on weekends. I don't know what happened there, but I'm guessing that, like most student-run college stations, the school is not interested in having a college station that serves a certain community with one format, and that being mostly Urban didn't represent the majority of Northeastern students who were applying for shows.

In the meantime, a group of business people--African American or otherwise--should try to get 1510 or 1330 AM. Or possibly 1600.

I hear that 1510 has huge overheard to run that has scared away all potential local buyers. $25k/month rental for the tower site, and a huge electric bill to run a 50 kW AM, with a highly directional night signal at that. The facility is looked at as a financial sink-hole in the local industry that no one wants. I'd love to see a local Urban group programming group grab it, but are there any locally who afford to run it?

I don't know about 1330 and 1600, but they are both pending power increases on the new five-tower site slated to be built next year in Newton for WKOX (the current WUNR two-tower site), so the current owners must be putting some money into them for that.

College radio can be so much more than "let's get stoned and do a show". And the so-called liberals that are running the universities shoudl realize that putting a real format on a station is better than a hodge podge of unrelated programming.

It may be better for the outside world, but that's not the mission of most colleges for their student-run radio stations. Formatted student college stations like WHUR or WYBC are the exceptions to the rule (unless they become paid professional non-student public radio stations like WBUR or WUMB).

Most all-volunteer student-run college stations are (at least partially) supported by the school student activities department budget, which funds on-campus student clubs and organizations. This means that the priority is to give as many of the students who apply to the station as possible an outlet as a campus student activity, and beyond that, they let the students manage and run the stations however they please (within legal limits).

If listeners in the surrounding area happen to enjoy programs that the students (and a percentage of outside community volunteers who may be allowed into some college stations) produce, that's fine, but beyond that, the schools are not concerned with serving any particular audience or with getting ratings, and they're not going to step in and infringe on the students freedom with formatting when their tuitions are funding their student activities budget to provide them with a leisure campus activity.

I know that MIT, Boston College, Tufts, Brandeis, and probably Northeastern couldn't care less about the Arbitron ratings of their college stations. They are simply activities for their students (and some community volunteers who may happen to get in) to do what they please. At some technical colleges (such as MIT), students actually physically built and technically maintain the station. MIT isn't going to step in and tell them what to do with it for programming.

Emerson, as a communications and broadcasting school, does care about the Arbitron ratings of their faculty advised student station WERS (which, BTW, have approached WGBH's numbers at times), but they do it by taking the "hodgepodge" approach of most student college stations and making the different programs into cohesive formatted program blocks which run at the same time each weekday, so that each one builds a daily audience.

It would be great to have a full-time adult Urban non-comm here, but I can't see any one here that would do it.

 

[HHH]

Again, I would think that WRBB would take a look at their primary signal coverage area, acknowlege who lives within the circle, and serve them.

They seem to be the prime candidate for a 24/7 urban non-comm based on who falls within their primary service area.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Again, I would think that WRBB would take a look at their primary signal coverage area, acknowlege who lives within the circle, and serve them.

They seem to be the prime candidate for a 24/7 urban non-comm based on who falls within their primary service area.

Who at WRBB would you say would do that? The University that hosts it? Or the students who run it?

The University is obviously not interested in doing that, or it would've stayed (mostly) Urban as it had been before in previous decades. Their interest in the station is to let the students decide what they want to program regardless of the tastes of the surrounding community. If mostly white students into rock music run WRBB and apply for shows, that's what most of the programming will be (and what it currently is).

Most Universities with student-run college stations have no interest in programming to the community, and really have no interest in the programming on their college stations at all or dictating it in any way. They're not going to bother looking at the cultural interests within their coverage area. They fund the stations as campus student activities, and let the students run them however they wish.

And, the students are, for the most part, just going to program what they and their friends on campus feel like playing and hearing. They're mostly not interested in looking at who lives within their coverage area outside their campus and serving them, especially if it may be different than what they feel like doing.

From what I understand from a friend who went to Northeastern and had a (rock and blues) show on WRBB in the late 80's, the reason it was mostly Urban in those days was simply because a group of black students were the station management. I don't know if those students just happened to move on later, or if a majority of white students complained that they weren't able to get to do the shows they wanted on their college station, but for some reason it changed, and none of it had anything to do with any concern by the University to serve the outside community in their coverage area.

Over the past couple of decades I've seen the other volunteer student-run college stations in the area such as WMBR, WZBC, WMFO, WBRS, etc... occasionally cancel very popular, high pledge drawing programs in the listening community simply because some student manager or student PD didn't like the show (or the show host), or because the program was hosted by an outside community person in a slot that a student wanted. The station ignores all listener response when this happens, and the hosting institution can't be bothered to as much as bat an eye. They leave it all up to the students, for better or for worse, and they're generally not interested in maximizing off-campus listenership in any way.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Another duplicate post deleted. Sometimes this board seems to create a new post when I modify the one above it.