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WAMS is BACK!

If I remember correctly, the owner of Dover's 1600 WAMS is the same person who owned 1260 WAMS (the person who bought the old WNRK when Al Campinone (sp) sold the building, land, etc, the new owner then changed the calls to WAMS and made the format a great Oldies format with a playlist that had many oh wow songs). Assuming I remember correctly, and the owner in Dover is the same person who reincarnated WAMS in Newark, I'd have a problem accepting that story, as he really liked the WAMS of old and wanted to recreate it on 1260 since 1380 wasn't available. He even some how got the old jingles, play lists, etc. that he used with his Newark version of WAMS.

In any case, I don't see any harm in whoever is in Dover using the old WAMS calls. They have fond memories for many of us up here in the Wilmington area, and yes Dover won't have those memories, but the calls WAMS are a good set of calls as you can use it as a word wams or the letters W A M S. I wouldn't use WCAU as that is channel 10's calls in Philly even though they only say NBC 10 now. You could get the old WCAU AM 1210 in Dover at night, and sometimes even during the day. With cable, I believe that Philly's stations are quite often included so if that is correct, then they've been getting WCAU-TV for years in Dover.

In any case, I wish who ever has the Dover incarnation of WAMS the best of luck. As with the old 1260 WAMS, the biggest issue will be getting the word out so folks know to tune to 1600 AM or the two low powered FM's, so then hopefully they can sell spots. 1260 WAMS wasn't able to do that. Their biggest sponsor was the Mark Inc. Ministries of the Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church (which essentially paid the bills as the one consistent advertiser, which might also explain why 1600 WAMS is selling local church service air time until 3pm each Sunday). This little station is fighting an uphill battle, hopefully having those mini FM's will help bring in more listeners to the point where local businesses will purchase spots. Bottom line, no advertisers, no radio station.
 
John Vincent is owner and midday host of the current WAMS in Dover. Several years ago, he also owned 1260 WAMS and was the last personality to host AM Drive on the original 1380 WAMS in Wilmington before it went dark in 1991. Dave Bartley, who is hosting PM Drive on the current WAMS in Dover, also did afternoons on both the original 1380 and 1260 WAMS incarnations. I guess he’s sentimental for those call letters.

A few years ago, Vincent was also responsible for the short-lived “80’s Channel” on non-com, WXXY (88.7) in Brigantine, NJ.
 
Thanks for the updated info.

I've got to give John Vincent a lot of credit. Many of us here, would love to own a radio station. He's been trying his darnedest to make it work (in Newark/Wilmington, and Brigantine NJ, and in Dover/Milford) as he's swimming against the tide in this age of corporate radio, where AM radio is hanging by a thread and only exists pretty much due to syndicated talk shows from the bird or religious and ethnic programming. Even FM radio doesn't appeal to the younger listeners as they're moving on to the internet, Ipods, MP 3's, Iphones, etc. The odds of AM1600 WAMS succeeding would appear to be slim, but if those mini FM's cover enough of the Smyrna/Dover/Milford area with a good clear signal, and he's able to pay for enough bill board advertising to tell people WAMS is on FM in Dover/Milford ( I forget the frequencies), he just might be able to etch out enough of the ad pie for Kent County to make a go of it. I hope he's able to make it work.
 
Mike, I don't often disagreee with you, but on one point I do. I do not give John Vincent "a lot of credit." Unless he has unlimited resources, he is doing his family a serious dis-service by wasting the family resources on a very bad investment. In the mid-90's, my Dad and I were talking seriously about buying WNRK, land and all. Since there were problems with getting the construction underway, we thought we would just give Al the money for the land and continue using it for the station.

But then wife Barb made a good observation. We would never make money off the station. Why waste our future like that? So we backed off the purchase. Smart move. Suburban AM stations are dead.
 
I don't know if Mr. Vincent has a family, he may be a bachelor. In any case, whether or not the Vincent's try to make a go in suburban AM radio is for he and his wife to decide. Maybe his wife is a radio geek like most of us, and unlike most of us here, is willing to "gamble" their future along with her husband John. One man's music is another's noise. One person's risk is another's golden opportunity.

However, I do understand your point and would agree with your decision to not buy WNRK back when Al sold it (he was then having problems selling air time even though his station was well established or if you will a heritage station for the Newark area). As much as I'd like to own my own radio station, I do agree with you, that the investment in AM radio, generally, (there probably are markets in Podunk where AM is doing well, where AM may be the only game in town, no FM's close enough to compete, etc,) is not a good risk today.

But as one of us who's taken the plunge to try to live the dream, I do hope and wish him success.
 
Farley sold both WAMS and WKEN. He sold the land to WAMS to a developer who built houses there. He couldn't sell the license, he wanted more than it was worth according to some folks who have owned radio stations, so Joe Farley ended up selling the WAMS license to DELDOT, so that we the tax payer get to pay for a crappy prerecorded out of date messages about highway conditions.

However, to jhguthlac's point, I worked at WAMS during Farley's ownership. He had brought in top people (I wasn't one of those I was only a weekend part timer and learned much from all those talented folks) such as Scott Graham for Sports, Kevin Fennessey, Bob Charger, Todd Halliday, etc, etc. It was a great Oldies station, and he still couldn't seem to make it go and eventually sold it.

At some point in the history John Vincent bought WKEN along with WNRK as 1380 was no longer available when John came along.
 
Does anyone listen to this station? Do their fm signals broadcast in fm stereo? The 1 thing I like about this station is they are running the rebroadcasts of the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 from the 80s, midday on saturday.
 
shadough said:
Does anyone listen to this station? Do their fm signals broadcast in fm stereo? The 1 thing I like about this station is they are running the rebroadcasts of the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 from the 80s, midday on saturday.
Click to expand...
Both 98.3 (Dover) & 105.1 (Milford) are FM stereo and sound quite good.
 
I agree, audio sounds very good and the mix of 80's music is great. Just down-loaded the itouch app. at www.wams.fm.
 
A great article in the Dover Post. Hopefully, that article will pull in both listeners and advertisers. Who knows, maybe the 80's version of WAMS in Dover might be able to make a go of it. I wish them much success. My guess is the FM signals will help as many in the demo they are targeting don't, or won't listen to AM.
 
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