WCRN Worcester a no-show

[THE_VIKING]

Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, I see that WCRN-AM didn't even make a peep in the Worcester book (granted this is only talking 12+ numbers).

Increased signal, Red Sox, local news, local morning show with Peter Blute... how did they mess that one up?

 

[JIBGUY]

It's there.... look again near the bottom. They went down from the previous ratings period. The no-show AM station was WNEB (which usually is such, but not always).

 

[THE_VIKING]

It's there.... look again near the bottom. They went down from the previous ratings period. The no-show AM station was WNEB (which usually is such, but not always).

Thanks. I'm looking via Allaccess which I don't think lists below 1.0.

(I remember when WNEB had their studios in plain view at the long-defunct Worcester Galleria, right by the old "glass elevator").

 

[bub]

It's there.... look again near the bottom. They went down from the previous ratings period. The no-show AM station was WNEB (which usually is such, but not always).

Against WJIB, WNEB has no chance. ;D

 

[DanStrassberg]

Increased signal, Red Sox, local news, local morning show with Peter Blute... how did they mess that one up?

How can anyone take WCRN seriously until they get rid of that HORRENDOUS Drew Mortgage program (daily at noon, last time I checked)? Has to be the worst hour of radio anywhere! Can't they at least move it to, say, 3:00AM? Yeah, I know, WCRN needs the money. But that show, right in the middle of the day, must drag down their numbers, and in the end, must cost the station WAY more than it gets. 3:00AM might be a good time to attract people who can't sleep because they are worried about their mortgage resetting to a much higher rate.

 

[WMC2006]

(I remember when WNEB had their studios in plain view at the long-defunct Worcester Galleria, right by the old "glass elevator").

The old Worcester Center Galleria/Worcester Common Fashion Outlets/Worcester Common Outlet building is still there waiting to be torn down. Maybe no one told them to evacuate and they are still there somewhere in the building.

 

[DanStrassberg]

(I remember when WNEB had their studios in plain view at the long-defunct Worcester Galleria, right by the old "glass elevator").

I think I read--very recently--that WCRN will soon move its studios to a street-level location in Worcester where passers-by will be able to watch and wave at the on-air personalities. Lots of music stations have done this. I've never heard of a talk-formatted station doing it. Has anyone else? I'm not referring to remotes for a limited duration; I'm talking about a permanent studio location. Talk hosts have enough to put up with from callers. Having to do a talk show in plain view of the public sounds like the radio equivalent of water-boarding. I mean, with passers-by watching, the host can't even make obscene gestures at callers who can't see him/her. In fact, I guess a listener with a cell phone could stand in front of the studio window, call the program, and make obscene gestures at the host. Sheesh!

 

[WFNERBSHX]

I think I read--very recently--that WCRN will soon move its studios to a street-level location in Worcester where passers-by will be able to watch and wave at the on-air personalities. Lots of music stations have done this. I've never heard of a talk-formatted station doing it. Has anyone else?

[/quote]

IIRC, WGN has a street-level studio on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

 

[JIBGUY]

(I remember when WNEB had their studios in plain view at the long-defunct Worcester Galleria, right by the old "glass elevator").

-----------------------------
After I bought the station back around 1994, it was my job to move everything out of those glass-window studios at the Galleria, which was totally empty, and eerily quiet at that time. (Was expecting "Dawn of the Dead" characters to emerge from somewhere). Removed from those studios at the Galleria were more than 15 desks, 15 file cabinets, 2 boards, old tape recorders and 345 staplers. Nothing seemed newer in there than 1955 vintage. But it was easy to see why the station went under..... employee-heavy. If there were 15 desks, there were likely that many employees. The station went down doing an adult-standards format. VERY successful with listeners but not enough success with sales.... typical adult-standards fare. They did the full-service radio thing that most people on this board admire, and they did it well, however such also croaks radio stations. - I remember it was January when I moved everything out of there, and it was friggin-cold in the Galleria parking lot. Sad to see how a nice shopping center had such a short life.

 

[MarcB]

My family and I went to that mall when it was the Outlet Mall. I can't remember what year that was 94 maybe or 95? I remember it had just opened as the outlet mall. I don't remember if it was in the mall itself or near the mall, but I remember seeing a store front with a banner for WXLO 104.5 on the wall. Did/Does WXLO broadcast from near there?

 

[jlehmann]

I see a post on this website says that WXLO did indeed broadcast from there until 1991, when they moved to their current location on Commercial Street.

http://208.112.77.53/submissions/gonebutnotforgotten.cfm?CATEGORY=GALLERIA

 

[aaronread]

I've never heard of a talk-formatted station doing it. Has anyone else? I'm not referring to remotes for a limited duration; I'm talking about a permanent studio location.

Well, you kinda-sorta could say WGBH qualifies...their new studios, including the talkshow studio, are at street level and perfectly visible to/from the outside sidewalk. Granted, WGBH is not really a "talk" station per se, but they do run a fair amount of news/talk programming, including stuff they generate like PRI's The World and whatnot. You can see right into the huge bullpen The World uses during the day, too...it's right at the corner of Market and North Beacon, across from the Dunkin Donuts.

Given the gradual shift of WGBH away from music, one supposes eventually it will indeed be a street-level talk station studio setup. :

And yes, WGN *does* have a street-level studio with big plate-glass windows you can see into from the street. The only problem is (and I can personally attest to this) that for most of the day (at least in July) you can't actually see in there because of the kind of glass they used; it's not quite one-way mirror glass, but it's close. Coupled with the way the sun shines...the windows roughly face south and west-southwest...they don't need to have bright interior lights in there to see what they're doing, so it's very hard to actually make out anything.

I'm sure the staff gets a chuckle out of people standing right up at the glass with their hands over their eyes as they're pressed against the glass, squinting to see anything. Perks of the job.

BTW, there used to be a street-level studio for business news/talk over on Needham Street between the FM-128 tower and the Newton Highlands T stop...near the McDonald's there. IIRC it hasn't been there for a while, but there were a couple of neon signs in the window and I think they said "Money Market Radio" and "Let's Talk Stock!". I also vaguely remember there were two AM frequencies posted in the window and both of them were very weak on my car radio when I tried to tune in (this was at dusk or early evening).

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Well, you kinda-sorta could say WGBH qualifies...their new studios, including the talkshow studio, are at street level and perfectly visible to/from the outside sidewalk. Granted, WGBH is not really a "talk" station per se, but they do run a fair amount of news/talk programming, including stuff they generate like PRI's The World and whatnot.

WGBH HD-3 is just about all talk/information, though mostly syndicated NPR/PRI fare, so I don't think you could actually see many of the shows being performed. (I think it's a simulcast of WCAI, their mostly news/talk Cape Cod station).

BTW, there used to be a street-level studio for business news/talk over on Needham Street between the FM-128 tower and the Newton Highlands T stop...near the McDonald's there. IIRC it hasn't been there for a while, but there were a couple of neon signs in the window and I think they said "Money Market Radio" and "Let's Talk Stock!". I also vaguely remember there were two AM frequencies posted in the window and both of them were very weak on my car radio when I tried to tune in (this was at dusk or early evening).

That was "Money Matters Radio". The stations were WPLM-AM 1390 in Plymouth, which is directional AWAY from greater Boston, and their flagship station WBNW 1120 in Concord, which is a weak signal anywhere east of Route 128. "Money Matters" since moved to studios in Needham and is still the programmer of WBNW, and syndicates shows to other stations.

 

[webcastboy]

Yes, last I asked the gang there (about four months ago, give or take) WGBH's HD3 is indeed a 100% simulcast of their WCAI/WNAN/WZAI Cape Cod feed, which is definitely a news/talk format...very little music. Looking at their schedule it's all the usual (but nonetheless excellent) satellite fare except for "The Point with Mindy Todd" weekdays at 9:30am and "Arts & Ideas" Sunday nights at 7. The former is probably live but the latter I assume is pre-produced. I think they do local newscasts and local inserts during Morning Edition and whatnot, though.

However, unless something major has changed, WCAI, et al is entirely produced out of their "house" down in Woods Hole. So you wouldn't see anything up at Brighton Landing anyways.

I remember seeing that "Money Matters Radio", too. Nice big windows but that made it kinda easy to see what a shoestring operation it was. Well, it looked shoestring zipping by at 40MPH anyways. ;D Speaking of windows into studios...was WERS the first Boston station to do so? Or just the first non-comm? Or were they just blowing smoke? I remember there was a big deal made about when those studios opened...oh...when was it? Five years ago? Something like that. Seems hard to believe they were the very first in nearly a century of radio. ???

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

How can anyone take WCRN seriously until they get rid of that HORRENDOUS Drew Mortgage program (daily at noon, last time I checked)? Has to be the worst hour of radio anywhere!

Obviously, you've never listened to 1320 WARL, in the Providence market. That place could provide multiple candidates for "the worst hour of radio anywhere" ;D

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I remember seeing that "Money Matters Radio", too. Nice big windows but that made it kinda easy to see what a shoestring operation it was. Well, it looked shoestring zipping by at 40MPH anyways.

If you were zipping up Needham St. at 40 MPH, it must've been late at night or perhaps an early weekend morning, or maybe a holiday. With all the commuters going between Route 128 and Newton Highlands and all the shoppers going to the chain stores and strip malls, that narrow, overbuilt street is a slow crawl of traffic at all other times!

Speaking of windows into studios...was WERS the first Boston station to do so? Or just the first non-comm? Or were they just blowing smoke? I remember there was a big deal made about when those studios opened...oh...when was it? Five years ago? Something like that. Seems hard to believe they were the very first in nearly a century of radio. ???

If I have my history correct, when 1260 AM moved from Quincy to Boston as WVDA in the early '50s through it's WEZE incarnation from 1957 to 1977, it broadcast from a street level studio in the Statler office building where the DJ's were in public view through a picture window.

After a few different ownership and format changes since 1977 when it was moved out of the Statler, 1260 is now WMKI, Radio Disney.

 

[HHH]

Yes, for many years WEZE broadcast from a showroom window set of studios on ground level in Park Square near Stuart Street.

This was during their "Wonderful World Of Music" easy-listening days.

By the way, they must have had great ratings back then. We families car pooled to school in those days (mid 1960s), and there was always a fight over the radio between the parents and kids. We kids always wanted WMEX, and the adults all wanted WEZE. So we alternated.
The one memory that I have about WEZE was that (it seemed) every other morning they played that silly "typewriter song", and we kids would groan in unison!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

By the way, they must have had great ratings back then. We families car pooled to school in those days (mid 1960s), and there was always a fight over the radio between the parents and kids. We kids always wanted WMEX, and the adults all wanted WEZE. So we alternated.
The one memory that I have about WEZE was that (it seemed) every other morning they played that silly "typewriter song", and we kids would groan in unison!

I remember hearing that song on WEZE! My parents were classical listeners to the old WCRB-AM 1330, but most other kids folks had WEZE on in the car playing the easy listening, or WHDH 850 playing the MOR now known as adult standards.