Just a wild thought here but what if a station like WARM teamed up with The Weather Channel and Fox or CNN to become a 24 hour news and weather station? Maybe local info like a public service bulletin board to fill in too. Seems like that could be run on the cheap so Citadel would like it and it also seems like it would fill a void. Music on am is not gonna cut it again. Even Yonk, WARMs biggest cheerleader, complains about the oldies through the static.
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WARM Weather & News
- Thread starter Nairda
- Start date
When WBRE tried all-news, I thought it sounded like a train wreck in progress. IMO. Too much hype, too much excitement, not enough content. (At 8pm, we didn't need to be told it was Thursday, May 1, 2008. I figured the day and date when I got up, knew the year by January 1.)
WILK ran CNN Headline News for a while, in the world's worst format ("Nothing to do? Take CNN.")
However, by programming local news, Headline News, the Wx Channel and PennDOT reports the right way, you might be able to pull it off.
It just has to be done intelligently.
Ooops; I used the wrong word around here.
WILK ran CNN Headline News for a while, in the world's worst format ("Nothing to do? Take CNN.")
However, by programming local news, Headline News, the Wx Channel and PennDOT reports the right way, you might be able to pull it off.
It just has to be done intelligently.
Ooops; I used the wrong word around here.
There is no void, however small, which WARM is capable of filling. There is no void any AM station is capable of filling. FM is having a tough time, even its future is uncertain. Where could AM possibly fit?
My recollection is that WBRE AM/FM actually had a staff, and still couldn't make it work. About the only thing it did was launch a couple careers; Kathy Bozinski and Karen Harch come to mind.
And where does this local news come from, who gathers it? CNN and TWC, maybe, I could buy into that. But PennDOT reports? Unless we're under some sort of "winter weather siege," I cannot think of anything more inconsequential than a PennDOT report. Besides, PennDOT already has their own AM frequencies for those exciting and scintillating broadcasts. Arguing further against PennDOT is their falling on their face during the Valentine's Day storm of 2007.
Look at WNEP, a station with a sizable full-time staff. It has a tough time filling newscasts with "new" news each and every day. A resource-less radio station wouldn't stand a chance.
How long before WARM goes dark? To me, it might be the best thing that could happen to it. WARM is nothing but memories. It might be nice to leave it at that.
When WBRE tried all-news, I thought it sounded like a train wreck in progress.
My recollection is that WBRE AM/FM actually had a staff, and still couldn't make it work. About the only thing it did was launch a couple careers; Kathy Bozinski and Karen Harch come to mind.
However, by programming local news, Headline News, the Wx Channel and PennDOT reports the right way, you might be able to pull it off.
And where does this local news come from, who gathers it? CNN and TWC, maybe, I could buy into that. But PennDOT reports? Unless we're under some sort of "winter weather siege," I cannot think of anything more inconsequential than a PennDOT report. Besides, PennDOT already has their own AM frequencies for those exciting and scintillating broadcasts. Arguing further against PennDOT is their falling on their face during the Valentine's Day storm of 2007.
Look at WNEP, a station with a sizable full-time staff. It has a tough time filling newscasts with "new" news each and every day. A resource-less radio station wouldn't stand a chance.
How long before WARM goes dark? To me, it might be the best thing that could happen to it. WARM is nothing but memories. It might be nice to leave it at that.
Let me explain a couple of points.
IIRC, WBRE did not have a lot of canned feature stuff. There was the very unexciting NBC network, whose name I can't even remember at the moment. It was so laid back it was close to a coma. Good for some FM formats, but not for an energized all-news. "The Source," was that it?
I timed WBBM, when I was working in the midwest; they did about eight or so minutes of actual news. Aside from ads and promos, the rest was features and well worth listening to.
News, health, living tips. As Scott Fybush notes on this month's calendar page, WESX in Salem MA (truth in advertising: You could have heard my voice coming off its antenna) was intensely local. And popular.
Ok, now to PennDOT. Boooooring radio, the worst. I agree. What I should have said was, "Get Karen Dussinger to do voicers about accidents and immediate, unplanned road closings in the area." Or have "Hot Reporters on WARM" calling in road-closing accidents.
That assumes you have any $$ left over after you fix the transmitting site.
IIRC, WBRE did not have a lot of canned feature stuff. There was the very unexciting NBC network, whose name I can't even remember at the moment. It was so laid back it was close to a coma. Good for some FM formats, but not for an energized all-news. "The Source," was that it?
I timed WBBM, when I was working in the midwest; they did about eight or so minutes of actual news. Aside from ads and promos, the rest was features and well worth listening to.
News, health, living tips. As Scott Fybush notes on this month's calendar page, WESX in Salem MA (truth in advertising: You could have heard my voice coming off its antenna) was intensely local. And popular.
Ok, now to PennDOT. Boooooring radio, the worst. I agree. What I should have said was, "Get Karen Dussinger to do voicers about accidents and immediate, unplanned road closings in the area." Or have "Hot Reporters on WARM" calling in road-closing accidents.
That assumes you have any $$ left over after you fix the transmitting site.
Y
yonkstur
Guest
A few things:
WBRE AM and FM: All news with NBC feeds. They launched it in 75 and it lasted well into 77. The staff, Bud Brown, Joe Gries, Bill Graham, Patty Delano, John Bendick (when he wasn't doing TV) some woman who wound up at WHP in Harrisburg and even the engineer Tommy Summers filled in. They were all union shop and as interns we could not touch nothing. With the Presidential race, it was pretty good because the candidates made 62 south franklin their stop for both tv and radio. I don't remember the name of the NBC feed but I can do a mean imitation of the jingle much to my wife's chagrin. Part timers as you say were Kathy Bozinski and Karen Harch who then were hired by WILK and then went into TV. Spots were $12 in prime time, $5 a holler the rest of the day. They let the interns go on sales call. I wound up with little practical experience from wbre am and fm but did wind up dating the receptionist who to this day is still a good friend. Saw her in church last night.
On WARM, I agree the PennDot and 24 hour news angle isn't enough. They do run some network news and weather and brian hughes has a pretty good sunday public affairs show. I hate the static but I listen. What they should do is put the True Oldies on Junior.
Yonkstur
WBRE AM and FM: All news with NBC feeds. They launched it in 75 and it lasted well into 77. The staff, Bud Brown, Joe Gries, Bill Graham, Patty Delano, John Bendick (when he wasn't doing TV) some woman who wound up at WHP in Harrisburg and even the engineer Tommy Summers filled in. They were all union shop and as interns we could not touch nothing. With the Presidential race, it was pretty good because the candidates made 62 south franklin their stop for both tv and radio. I don't remember the name of the NBC feed but I can do a mean imitation of the jingle much to my wife's chagrin. Part timers as you say were Kathy Bozinski and Karen Harch who then were hired by WILK and then went into TV. Spots were $12 in prime time, $5 a holler the rest of the day. They let the interns go on sales call. I wound up with little practical experience from wbre am and fm but did wind up dating the receptionist who to this day is still a good friend. Saw her in church last night.
On WARM, I agree the PennDot and 24 hour news angle isn't enough. They do run some network news and weather and brian hughes has a pretty good sunday public affairs show. I hate the static but I listen. What they should do is put the True Oldies on Junior.
Yonkstur
yonkstur said:I hate the static but I listen. What they should do is put the True Oldies on Junior.
Yonkstur
True Oldies On JR? ... And "Imus In The Morning" As Well? ... Just Like Other Recent Program Switches In
Certain Citadel Markets Across The Country?
Why let a station with a signal as good as WARM's simply go dark without letting one of the more marginal operations in the market abandon their old frequency for 590? Do remember, though, that in the last Arb WARM had their best ratings since the winter of '07 (a four way tie for 15th place). Not great by any means but better than they had been in the past.masterg said:There is no void, however small, which WARM is capable of filling. There is no void any AM station is capable of filling. FM is having a tough time, even its future is uncertain. Where could AM possibly fit?
How long before WARM goes dark? To me, it might be the best thing that could happen to it. WARM is nothing but memories. It might be nice to leave it at that.
Y
yonkstur
Guest
Do remember, though, that in the last Arb WARM had their best ratings since the winter of '07 (a four way tie for 15th place). Not great by any means but better than they had been in the past.
YES!!! I knew my efforts as an Arbitron diary keeper didn't go for naught.
Yonkstur
YES!!! I knew my efforts as an Arbitron diary keeper didn't go for naught.
Yonkstur
NBC Radio N-I-S (News and Information Service)
Then what was "The Source"? That rings a bell as NBC's laid-back news feed.
The Source was short-form news and features geared to younger FM listeners. Wikipedia has a nice write-up about both NIS and The Source here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC
Look under "The Last Years of NBC Radio"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBC
Look under "The Last Years of NBC Radio"
Mike- you da' man!
Somebody around here had it (The Source), because I remember hearing the broadcast. Thought it was WBRE; maybe not. I recall them as keeping a very low profile as far as identifying as an NBC service.
Depending on how far back you're going, it could have been during the last gasps of what was once WSCR.
That'll take you back to the Woody days when WSCR became WBQW/13-Q. (Do I have that right?)
WSCR began life as WBRE's "sister" in Scranton, but it was AM only, unlike the combo at WBRE. Both were NBC affiliates, with WSCR continuing as an affiliate after WBRE sold it.
I'm certain a few here remember WSCR/WBQW when it was a pretty decent radio station(60s/70s)but the chronology of its ultimate path to obscurity is lost on me.
Talk about a whimper not a bang; most nets went out of the radio business without anyone noticing.
That'll take you back to the Woody days when WSCR became WBQW/13-Q. (Do I have that right?)
WSCR began life as WBRE's "sister" in Scranton, but it was AM only, unlike the combo at WBRE. Both were NBC affiliates, with WSCR continuing as an affiliate after WBRE sold it.
I'm certain a few here remember WSCR/WBQW when it was a pretty decent radio station(60s/70s)but the chronology of its ultimate path to obscurity is lost on me.
Talk about a whimper not a bang; most nets went out of the radio business without anyone noticing.
B
berniek
Guest
Is Imus back on in the market?
masterg said:WSCR began life as WBRE's "sister" in Scranton, but it was AM only, unlike the combo at WBRE. Both were NBC affiliates, with WSCR continuing as an affiliate after WBRE sold it.
WSCR did not begin as WBRE's sister. In the 1960's, WBRE-FM (98.5) would simulcast programming and music from WSCR after WBRE-AM's Sign off. The station began operation on Mother's Day 1947 and was originally owned by Lackawanna Valley Radio Corporation.
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