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WARM--ANYONE INTERESTED IN BRINGING WARMLAND BACK????

Zenith Transoceanic said:
Actually I've always thought Herb Oscar Anderson's "Hello Again!" was terrific.
Maybe he'd do a celebrity guest appearance when the new WARM hits the air!
Click to expand...

Is HOA still alive? I remember him on WABC from 40 years ago. He retired and went to sell real estate in Florida, but he would probably be in his 80s or 90s if he is still living.

Now...if only we could get Cumulus to sell WARM. It is a shame to see that station die of neglect, especially since I know everything that needs to be done to restore that transmitter plant.
 
Ka2xuk,

They know that you can fix it? That is why they do not want to sell it. I am thinking? You were the PD of the station. Do they pay for the programing that is on it?
 
If the right people got WARM(Broadcasting people,not buisness men) it could be a real full-service am with eclectic programming from talk to music,to sports I use as an example Wbcb-1490 am in Bucks County A good friend of mine works there,and they make money with
this kind of format,they are a true"community radio station"
 
You might think that Whiskered, but I think most corporate stations owners figure that AM is 'dead', and don't give much thought to what is on their stations, as long as it can be done as cheaply as possible.
Pell Guy is right: WBCB is a great station, even with a 'pipsqueak' signal at 1490, because the station owners and managers care about what is on their airwaves.
 
Unfortunately AM really IS dead. I grew up with it and I know it used to be so much more, but the truth is that it's over for AM. The corporate owners are right. Keep something moving that vu meter as cheaply as possible until someone comes along and offers a few dollars for the frequency to be used for garage door openers and such. Then sell the real estate and move on. It's over!
 
Hmmmm...AM dead? What about FM Translators...everyone employing this strategy is doing reasonably well. See WHLM-AM; Gem; ESPN Radio; WEBO (Owego); WLYC (Williamsport); WPSN (Honesdale); etc, etc
 
I was going though some items in my basement and found a carton of WARM news mugs.. All pristine .. Any one who would like one as a moment, I'd gladly send... Not sure if the postage cost, maybe we can work out a payback of just the postage, again maybe 12 & I'd like to limit them to one per individual...first responses gets them.. I guess you can message me, that seems the best way... or if whoever is doing these WARM reunions wants all of them as giveaways, that would seem a good idea... I'll await responses.
 
TheWhiskeredBastard said:
Unfortunately AM really IS dead. I grew up with it and I know it used to be so much more, but the truth is that it's over for AM. The corporate owners are right. Keep something moving that vu meter as cheaply as possible until someone comes along and offers a few dollars for the frequency to be used for garage door openers and such. Then sell the real estate and move on. It's over!
Click to expand...

To hell with corporate owners and ownership! If that's their attitude they shouldn't be operating those facilities to begin with! I'm getting sick and tired of so many of the marginal facilities being owned and operated by these mega-broadcasters whose sole objective and purpose is 'how to make a fast buck'! There are many niches in radio that are going unmet because some of these marginal facilities are so overvalued that the operators ignore their main objective to offer a quality product and serve the community. Yeah, I KNOW you have to make a profit to stay in business, but 'emasculating' a facility is the wrong way to go about it; which is what has happened too often. I say it's time to offer the facilities/licenses over to a small broadcaster who'll offer something innovative.
 
pell guy said:
If the right people got WARM(Broadcasting people,not buisness men) it could be a real full-service am with eclectic programming from talk to music,to sports I use as an example Wbcb-1490 am in Bucks County A good friend of mine works there,and they make money with
this kind of format,they are a true "community radio station"
Click to expand...

I suppose they are locally owned. This is just one example of what I think needs to be done at many of smaller and marginal operations.
 
Kevin Fitzgerald said:
Hmmmm...AM dead? What about FM Translators...everyone employing this strategy is doing reasonably well. See WHLM-AM; Gem; ESPN Radio; WEBO (Owego); WLYC (Williamsport); WPSN (Honesdale); etc, etc
Click to expand...

Kevin, you are right about that. However, it's not the actual AM stations that are directly responsible for that success. The AMs are only indirectly responsible as they are the means to get the FM translators on the air. I'm sure that actual listening stats would reveal that little if any actual listenership is being counted on the AMs. Most listeners are listening to the programming on the FM translators. I say dump the AMs completely, free up the wasted money that is being used to maintain them, and allow owners to put those dollars into improving local programming on something that people will actually tune in to.
 
allow owners to put those dollars into improving local programming on something that people will actually tune in to.
Click to expand...

Ha ha. As if...
The owners have the opportunity NOW to 'improve local programming' - and if they put it on AM, people would listen to it if it was all that great.
 
WBCB? Has anyone seen their financials?
The major corporations own enough smaller AM stations. If there was really a way of making good money from them by increasing programming costs they would already be doing that.
If you pass thru Washington, NJ check out the local movie theater on Route 57. There is a banner for WRNJ. All it says is "Your Local Station" and has the two FM frequencies. No mention of 1510 AM which can clearly be heard in Washington. What does that say about the appeal of local AM broadcasting?
 
Whiskered...Indeed the bulk of the listening is on the FM side. An interesting effect has been happening, though; We've received a number of Emails from people who discovered the station on FM...then realized that the AM signal covers a much larger area. The FM translators thus promoting the AM signal. The AM signal is pretty listenable in Hazleton and parts of Monroe County and not on AM in those areas.
 
WBCB is a different kettle of fish. If they are doing well as Pell guys says then it is because the station lives in the shadows of Philadelphia and Trenton; the 50kw FM and 50kw AM stations probably don't spend a lot of time talking about Levittown (even though those their signals are very strong there). BCB then fills the niche by superserving Levittown. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton stations serve the two cities and all the towns in between: you hear Avoca mentioned, Moosic, Old Forge, Pittston, Kingston, etc etc. What could WARM provide that is not already being provided? Answer that question and you've got a format. The bigger problem is trying to get people to listen to AM. If using FM translators helps build audience and exposes listeners to the AM frequency(s) then it all adds up to more listening, which is what radio is all about. Unfortunately AM-only stations in smaller markets like W-B/Scr do not bring in lots of listeners. The exception was WILK which had respectable numbers, but even with 910/980/1300 they still felt the need to add 103.1. From the time WILK was purchased by Keymarket in 1987 is has more or less been some sort of news/talk (consistency is their history of the past 26 year). In this same span WARM was left to crumble to nothing. Resurrecting WARM means not just investing in a format and personnel but tons of money to fix the physical plant.

Look at WTOP in DC with loads of heritage and commitment to its format when it was on AM; where is it now? 103.5/103.9/107.7 (the AM is now WFED) Why? Because the 50kw 1500khz with a good physical plant was not enough to compete in today's FM (and now increasingly internet) world. In NY Why is WFAN on FM, WEPN on FM? Boston WEEI on FM. To be able to compete.

Kevin, as you stated (and I have alluded to above) Gem using FM translators has lead to some people finding 730/1460. Where would Gem be today if you only had 730/1460 and no FM translators?
 
Hi Everyone-
The idea of bringing the Mighty 590 back isn't dead!!! Let's just say that trying to get someone from Cumulus on the phone is difficult..keep the faith!!!


Charlie
 
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