WBIX Gone But Not Forgotten

[Laurence Glavin]

Believe it or not, there was a prominent ad for WBIX-AM 1060 in today's (10/19) Chicopee Herald! (BTW, Herald columnist Howie Carr is always describing the Globe as "the dying broadsheet", but today's paper ON A WEEKDAY was not much more substantial than a suburban weekly found at the same liberry where I read the Herald). I can see how an ad might automatically appear on a previously-arranged schedule, but I haven't noticed an ad for WBIX for weeks, and now voila (a little French lingo) there it is again!

 

[DanStrassberg]

Believe it or not, there was a prominent ad for WBIX-AM 1060 in today's (10/19) Chicopee Herald! I can see how an ad might automatically appear on a previously-arranged schedule, but I haven't noticed an ad for WBIX for weeks, and now there it is again!

I have to assume that they needed something just the size of the WBIX ad to fill a page. I doubt whether the paper expects to be compensated for running the non-"ad." WBIX no longer exists in the eyes of the FCC. As far as the FCC goes, the station is WQOM, which has an STA to remain dark for 180 days, with extensions permitted. Alex Langer still exists, of course, but whether the licensee, 1060 Broadcasting, in which Langer was the principal (and maybe only) shareholder also still exists is another matter.

 

[raccoonradio]

Maybe they could have run an ad for the AM 1510 that gets no ratings. Run it pro bono.
Recently ownership of Newsweek was sold for $1.00 and I thought, wow, that's even less than a copy of the Herald or Globe these days

Wondering if Salem takes 950 to biz radio; I doubt it but Salem registered a bunch of domains
including one for a "MoneyRadio950". Personally doubt they would abandon religion, Irish
music, etc. but if someone needs to pick up the slack after the demise of WBIX...then again
maybe RKO or other stations could add more biz radio stuff, as RKO did with I-Stole-Your-Lunch-Money.

I do have to chuckle at the Chicopee Herald designation...thanks to the delay in getting the paper back here, you see this a lot:

ALCS: Texas Rangers at N.Y. Yankees, late

Other than a couple mentions of early innings, there was no coverage of last night's game
(which turned out quite well for NON-fans of the Yankees). But you have TV, radio, and
the Net for things like that, I guess. (Go to various websites incl. N.Y. Post...)

 

[Deleted User]

According to Bill Galvins office, 1060 Communications Inc still exists, it has not been dissolved.

http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/co...ReadFromDB=True&UpdateAllowed=&FEIN=000881768

 

[Laurence Glavin]

About WWZN: apparently they do not run any kind of PPM signal to determine whether there is an audience out there or not. Recently, some gentleman has been running an internal help-wanted spot for sales reps to sell air time on WWZN. Could this mean that the actual OWNERSHIP of AM 1510 might be getting serious about making WWZN THe progressive voice in Boston? Then it seems to me they'd have to subscribe to Arbitron. BTW, TV spots for Jeff Santos's show have been appearing regularly on MSNBC at least (they're Comcast drop-ins). I watch almost nothing else on cable but Chris the Leg Man, Keith, Rachel and the alternate spelling of Laurence-with-an-Irish-surname...plus some history and science shows on Discovery, History and History International and the C-Spans. So I'd have to rely on some of you to tell me if these spots also run on other cable channels.

 

[raccoonradio]

Wasn't sure whether or not they subscribe to Arbitron but heck even WJIB apparently does
and they don't run ads at all. (btw I understand Stephen King's sports format on WZON 620
in Bangor is struggling and they may shift some prog talk--he has an FM that runs it--
to 620...) I don't know if the Santos ads are running on other stations--haven't seen them
but no doubt they have ways to tailor ads to audiences that are likely to use the product, etc.
(for example, if a Danvers-based batting cage wanted to reach the most likely viewers they
would ask for placement only on NESN and perhaps ESPN)

King and Olbermann share the same politics, but pssst! King's a diehard Sox fan. Olby cheers
for the pinstripes. *

*--take note that the Rangers may eliminate Yankees from further playoffs either today or later...remember, Rangers used to be the second Washington Senators...and THAT team was
the underdog team in the musical Damn Yankees. You gotta have heart! All you really need
is heart!

 

[DanStrassberg]

Wondering if Salem takes 950 to biz radio; I doubt it but Salem registered a bunch of domains including one for a "MoneyRadio950". Personally doubt they would abandon religion, Irish music, etc. but if someone needs to pick up the slack after the demise of WBIX...

WBNW has picked up Stu Taylor, Frankie Boyer, and Tom O'Brien. They carry two hours of O'Brien; WBIX carried only one hour. O'Brien will soon disappear into the darkness, however, as he is on from 4:00PM to 6:00PM, all but the first 15 minutes of which are after sunset in December. After sunset, WBNW is a lost cause on most nights--unless you are in E Acton or W Concord.

 

[Don Juannn]

About WWZN: apparently they do not run any kind of PPM signal to determine whether there is an audience out there or not.

I do believe this has changed...and they do encode and on occaision show up in the bottom of the ratings....so we DO know whether there is an audience out there. There isn't. ;-)

 

[DToTheJ]

Other than a couple mentions of early innings, there was no coverage of last night's game... But you have TV, radio, and the Net for things like that, I guess...

And if you wanted to watch the NLDS and you were a Cablevision subscriber, you were SOL...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Wasn't sure whether or not they subscribe to Arbitron but heck even WJIB apparently does
and they don't run ads at all.

I don't think WJIB has subscribed since the PPM system implementation. There is an entry for them (with no numbers showing) slotted on the Radio-Info ratings chart, but I think that slot is just a data entry holdover on the page from the old system. WJIB used to sometimes reach a 1 share 21+ on the old diary system.

 

[JIBGUY]

Correct, WJIB has never particiapted in the PPM.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

About WWZN: apparently they do not run any kind of PPM signal to determine whether there is an audience out there or not.

I do believe this has changed...and they do encode and on occaision show up in the bottom of the ratings....so we DO know whether there is an audience out there. There isn't. ;-)

I just this minute checked the PPM ratings on radio-info.com going back many months, and I don't see WWZN at all, and I don't recall WWZN appearing prior to the ratings now on display EVER. BTW, there are a lot of stations whose calls begin 'WW'. I hate that. Unless your station is located in West Warwick, RI (or Massachusetts or NY for that matter), you should NEVER have call letters that begin 'WW'.

 

[Don Juannn]

About WWZN: apparently they do not run any kind of PPM signal to determine whether there is an audience out there or not.

I do believe this has changed...and they do encode and on occaision show up in the bottom of the ratings....so we DO know whether there is an audience out there. There isn't. ;-)

I just this minute checked the PPM ratings on radio-info.com going back many months, and I don't see WWZN at all, and I don't recall WWZN appearing prior to the ratings now on display EVER.

The fact that they don't appear doesn't mean they don't encode.

I recall seeing them in the PPM numbers last year for a bit.