My god this station should just be taken of the air and put out of its misery. The former CBS radio station WODS ain’t doing well either
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WAAF
- Thread starter CassChopper96
- Start date
Does Chicago has an active rock station
I agree that WAAF needs to be put out of its misery. In this day & age, a mediocre version of the format on a crappy rimshooter simply isn't going to cut it.
WHJY and WGIR-FM on a combined basis command the same AQH share of mainstream/active rock listening as WAAF! That's a great indicator of just how far the once mighty WAAF has fallen.
The core of the Chicago market has no Active Rock option. The original incarnation of Q101, right before the "FM News 101.1" debacle, was the last time Active Rock appeared on a full market signal. These days, a pair of signals owned by Alpha - one 50 miles north and the other about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago - program the format. 95 WIIL is by far the more successful of the two stations and can be heard well across 30 percent of the metro. There is zero chance of the format returning to a full market signal in Chicagoland anytime soon.
WHJY and WGIR-FM on a combined basis command the same AQH share of mainstream/active rock listening as WAAF! That's a great indicator of just how far the once mighty WAAF has fallen.
The core of the Chicago market has no Active Rock option. The original incarnation of Q101, right before the "FM News 101.1" debacle, was the last time Active Rock appeared on a full market signal. These days, a pair of signals owned by Alpha - one 50 miles north and the other about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago - program the format. 95 WIIL is by far the more successful of the two stations and can be heard well across 30 percent of the metro. There is zero chance of the format returning to a full market signal in Chicagoland anytime soon.
Funny...what would you put there? A third classic rock station? A third country station? A third...you get the picture. Not many options for that signal.
As someone else said, it might be a nice place to put an FM simulcast for a news/talk station, but they don't own one any more.
It's a low-pressure way to keep a dying genre on a heritage station for the small audience that still wants mainstream rock.
An Alternative station done right would be what WAAF should change to. I emphasize Alternative done right!! WBOS couldn't suck any worse when they reported as alternative.
That's true, but like NY, the cookie cutter safe approach may backfire, or at least bore the hardcore.
If Entercom(WAAF) hires former FNX' staffers, and use Paul Driscoll as music director, they will keep the core audience, and not piss them off
QUOTE=TheBigA;6276614]Entercom has a track record as to how they do alternative:
https://alt923.radio.com/[/QUOTE]
If Entercom(WAAF) hires former FNX' staffers, and use Paul Driscoll as music director, they will keep the core audience, and not piss them off
QUOTE=TheBigA;6276614]Entercom has a track record as to how they do alternative:
https://alt923.radio.com/[/QUOTE]
Is it really that great of an indicator though? The Boston market extends northward to areas almost directly next to Manchester in order to artificially inflate WZID and WGIR’s ratings. If the Boston market started at the MA/NH state line (which would be much more logical as WZID/WGIR’s shares would probably fall down into the normal 8%-ish share of the market), WGIR would not get as much listenership here.
Still, WAAF will never have the success of a real Boston station in the Boston market. Their signal is actually weaker than both WSRS and WXLO in central Boston.
[/QUOTE]
107.7 KNDD (The End) is a better example of a more current/recurrent based (Entercom) Alternative station. It's my go to station when I want to stream an Entercom station.
https://1077theend.radio.com/playlist
107.7 KNDD (The End) is a better example of a more current/recurrent based (Entercom) Alternative station. It's my go to station when I want to stream an Entercom station.
https://1077theend.radio.com/playlist[/QUOTE]
Boston isn't Seattle. You could argue that, for alternative rock, no other city in America is quite like Seattle.
WXLO now has three on-channel boosters in the area, in Boston (on the Hancock tower), in Lexington, and in Waltham.
As many have said, I don't think WAAF should have moved from Paxton. Their signal in metro Boston is no better, perhaps worse, from W. Boylston than it was from Paxton. The only area in which W. Boylston was an improvement is the metro-northwest outside Route 128/95 where Paxton wasn't bad anyway.
If HD radio would ever be developed and marketed well (which since it hasn't been yet, will probably never be), WAAF can be heard loud and clear in metro Boston on 104.1 WWBX HD-2 and north of Boston on 93.7 WEEI-FM HD2.
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I used to get a weak signal of WAAF-FM at my old place in New Britain, CT (southern Hartford County). I think somebody uses that spot for one of the many low-power translator stations now. Either a Spanish station and/or religious outfit. I even picked it up a time or two along I-91. I want to say I was between Northampton and Greenfield.
A body at rest tends to remain at rest. However, they would benefit by simulcasting WEEI's morning show. Since...well, you know.
#1 Why duplicate something that is already available.
#2 This option doesn't solve anything. Why sell it to someone who will then have a chance to program against you. Whoever buys is is back at square one, deciding what to do with it.
WSRS still operates from Paxton today on what is known as Little Asnebumskit Hill. The WAAF operation was from the top of Asnebumskit Hill, the hill next to WSRS, slightly higher in elevation. The WSRS tower makes up for the height difference. WICN uses the same tower that WAAF was on for their transmitter operation. Ironically, WICN moved form the Boylston site to the Asnebumskit Hill site while WAAF did the opposite move. Could WAAF move back?
What everyone is missing here is that WAAF is still doing very well in Worcester County. The listeners it's getting in MetroWest and Boston are gravy. Tinkering with the playlist won't help it in either market, especially if it means eliminating classic tracks and well-known classic acts and replacing them with breaking acts in a period of sharp decline for rock as a mass-appeal genre. It ain't broke, folks.
The problem is that there is nearly no money in the Worcester market. It's all in Boston, so a 1 share in Boston can bill more than a 6 share in Worcester.
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