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WALE 990
- Thread starter tony r
- Start date
Hey Everybody!
Long time viewer, first time poster. I got word of the WALE change a couple of months ago. I think it's a fantastic idea to finally do something good with this station! A hybrid of standards and heavy on news/info. Great concept. However being intimately familiar with the station, it's present management, and it's Burriville transmitter site. I feel any success for 990 will be short lived at best. What the hell do I know?, but if I were to launch a new format, I would think that I would try to a least mask the technical flaws with the station. Which were many as of a year or 2 ago. It comes down to ownership. WALE was bought in 2003 by Cumbre Communications, whose primary owners are Peter Arpin of WARL fame, and a gent named Craig Rapoza. Before I get into detail about Craig, copy and paste his name into Google and do a search on him. What do ya think? I'll return soon with my opinions about the shortcomings and the potential of WALE.
Long time viewer, first time poster. I got word of the WALE change a couple of months ago. I think it's a fantastic idea to finally do something good with this station! A hybrid of standards and heavy on news/info. Great concept. However being intimately familiar with the station, it's present management, and it's Burriville transmitter site. I feel any success for 990 will be short lived at best. What the hell do I know?, but if I were to launch a new format, I would think that I would try to a least mask the technical flaws with the station. Which were many as of a year or 2 ago. It comes down to ownership. WALE was bought in 2003 by Cumbre Communications, whose primary owners are Peter Arpin of WARL fame, and a gent named Craig Rapoza. Before I get into detail about Craig, copy and paste his name into Google and do a search on him. What do ya think? I'll return soon with my opinions about the shortcomings and the potential of WALE.
Z
za-rex
Guest
Did anyone actually give up a job to work here? I doubt it. It's gotta be a hobby for whoever is going on the air because even if they sounded good the station will go nowhere. I saw this post this morning and tuned in. I heard some standard type middle of the road song, then mention of a jazz show which I didn't hear. This afternoon I heard Love Shack then a male and female voice talking together about Oakland Beach over the intro and vocal of another song I didn't recognize. No one is gonna listen. Why is anyone bothering when some Providence stations can't seem to make a go of it. I admire enterprenurial spirit but you have to be realistic too.
I think any music format on AM Radio is going to be a hard sell anyway. Why bother when you can type your favorite song into Youtube or just download it. Even if you don't do that, you can listen to FM where the quality is there. Why MUSIC on AM? It sounds like S*it. These days AM Radio is good for two things. TALK and NEWS. If you own an AM station it's pretty much a no brainer what format you should go with.
Brother......did YOU ever say a mouthfull !!!......LOL.wiggums said:
As I was running around in the car doing errands this afternoon and scanning the dials, I happened upon something called "Jo-Jo Gator" (spelling?) on 990. It appeared to feature a young man and young woman engaging in light chit-chat, with a song or two in-between.
They tried taking calls on-air, but sheepishly admitted that because of technical issues, the voices of the callers could not be heard over the air...
While half-listening to a promo, it appears the 6 am to 9 am slot will also be local and english-speaking, as well as Dave DeLorenzo coming back with his "Breakfast and Jazz" program from 9 am to noon.
As for 3 pm and after, it appears to still be spanish music.
The sad thing is that "wiggums" is right......if the right ownership were to ever get their hands on 990 (and 1320, for that matter)......a whole lot of potential could be realized......Especially if some badly needed tender loving care was given to the Burrilville 990 site, and the Falls Pond North Attleboro 1320 site. If properly fixed up, 990 has the potential for a signal that could easily compete (days, anyway)... with the market's AM big boys.
Now that I think about it......if Edmund Dinis were smart, HE would get his hands on 990......fix up the signal......move the Portuguese programs to 990......and free up 97.3 for something else in English.
It'll be interesting to see how this will play out. Bianchi will do his best to unify the sound and get everyone on the same page sound-wise.......Would be something if Dinis bought the place and put WJFD's format there, but he would need more than 5 kW at night for a decent signal in SE Mass. Probably could do it with a different pattern at night to protect WPRA 990 in Puerto Rico......
The best format on WALE was a couple of years ago.
"SILENT"
;D
"SILENT"
;D
A
alvincater
Guest
Thats not what u used to say..burned some bridges hay?kenwood101 said:
alvincater said:
Oh yes it is.I would like to see the whole transitter sight torned down and moved. In another year or two it might just fall down.Someone suggested a lower power signal from North Providence would work.Although I was told not really.
990 In the right hands would do wonders. Maybe a combination of True Oldies with Scott Shannon during the day. Local talk 6pm to midnight. Emphasis on Sports Talk Sat/Sunday. And Sunday night do an oldies request show.
Power Of Radio said:
You know something, Scott Shannon's True Oldies would be an easy fit for 990.If they cleaned up the audio.
kenwood101 said:
I like the idea......assuming that what passes for management/ownership over there bites the bullet, and moves what's left of the Spanish programming over to 1320.
In return......to add a little local flavor to the weekends, the Sunday leased-time program "Guido and the Doo-Woppers" could make the move from 1320 to 990.
True Oldies would make sense to try to capture some of the audience that got displaced when the 1450/1340 simulcast flipped from Timeless Classics to ESPN Sports.
R
riradio02842
Guest
The web site has been updated too.
http://www.wale990.com/index.htm
It's a poor one, but it looks like some changes are in motion.
http://www.wale990.com/index.htm
It's a poor one, but it looks like some changes are in motion.
riradio02842 said:
OK, I hope they can stick to it.This is actually the best marketing I have ever seen of this station.Its not the best but very impressive to thier standards.Seriously.
The web site may not be the most professional looking......but at least it shows they're making an effort......something we couldn't say during 990's 'sounds of silence' period'.
Online audio streaming of the station would be a nice little thing they could promote......especially as a way to help with listeners who have reception problems.
The big question remains however......Will this ownership group fianlly do something to address the signal issues???......whether it be sinking some money into the burrillville site?......perhaps a diplex at the Falls Pond North Attleboro 1320 site?......a diplex at the 1290 site in North Providence?
Whatever they do...they better DO something. Let's face it......Doing nothing is just not an option......
Online audio streaming of the station would be a nice little thing they could promote......especially as a way to help with listeners who have reception problems.
The big question remains however......Will this ownership group fianlly do something to address the signal issues???......whether it be sinking some money into the burrillville site?......perhaps a diplex at the Falls Pond North Attleboro 1320 site?......a diplex at the 1290 site in North Providence?
Whatever they do...they better DO something. Let's face it......Doing nothing is just not an option......
Consider:
WALE came on the air 50 years ago as WLKW.
The original RCA transmitter lasted far longer than most engineers believed it possibly could.
The towers, as originally built, were of the cheapest grade available. That they are standing at all is amazing
When the engineering was done to shoehorn a new AM into Providence it was determined that the two ways that would "work" would be the monster directional array at 50,000,000 Watts or very low power, in the 1,000 Watt or less range, provided a roof-top site could be found somewhere in downtown Providence. Otherwise extremely difficult to perhaps impossible to put the required FCC minimum acceptable signal over the city of license (Providence itself). And, with all that, daytime only under rules existing at the time.
The initial success of WLKW (with "The Sound of Beautiful Music") was attributable only to one of the best marketing campaigns Rhode Island ever saw. In fact, the campaign was marveled at in several marketing textbooks that were published in the decade following sign-on.
Things stayed good when the owners bought (then) WXCN and brought the BM format to FM but didn't follow through with marketing plus WPRO-FM nipped at their heels. Ultimately the format wore out; not just in Providence but nationwide. The attempts to change with the time were doomed by inadequate marketing. At the time, a scheme advanced for another station in the market to buy WXCN and put automated rock on it was nipped in the bud by upper management that lacked foresight. It could have made history.
WALE came on the air 50 years ago as WLKW.
The original RCA transmitter lasted far longer than most engineers believed it possibly could.
The towers, as originally built, were of the cheapest grade available. That they are standing at all is amazing
When the engineering was done to shoehorn a new AM into Providence it was determined that the two ways that would "work" would be the monster directional array at 50,000,000 Watts or very low power, in the 1,000 Watt or less range, provided a roof-top site could be found somewhere in downtown Providence. Otherwise extremely difficult to perhaps impossible to put the required FCC minimum acceptable signal over the city of license (Providence itself). And, with all that, daytime only under rules existing at the time.
The initial success of WLKW (with "The Sound of Beautiful Music") was attributable only to one of the best marketing campaigns Rhode Island ever saw. In fact, the campaign was marveled at in several marketing textbooks that were published in the decade following sign-on.
Things stayed good when the owners bought (then) WXCN and brought the BM format to FM but didn't follow through with marketing plus WPRO-FM nipped at their heels. Ultimately the format wore out; not just in Providence but nationwide. The attempts to change with the time were doomed by inadequate marketing. At the time, a scheme advanced for another station in the market to buy WXCN and put automated rock on it was nipped in the bud by upper management that lacked foresight. It could have made history.
A
alfieradioguy
Guest
Is WALE owned by Paul Arpin?? And are the talk hosts actually getting paid??
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