WCTZ 96.7 Being Sold; To Go Christian Contemporary

[Barry]

AllAccess reports that Cox is selling WCTZ The Coast, to Educational Media Foundation.
EMF intends to flip it to a Contemporary Christian music format. The article says WCTZ will retain its current A/C format till the sale is complete. So apparently there will be no LMA.
I wonder whether the new owners will make the investment to move the stick to the Trump Tower in New Rochelle, if the F.C.C. approves Cox' application for this. AFAIK, many parts of NYC cannot receive Christian Contemporary music over the air. Also to be seen is whether this will simply be a simulcast of EMF's K-Love or Air 1 CCM programming.
The area is saturated with AC stations, including the highly successful WEBE. So it does not seem like a surprise that the one with the lowest ratings is changing to another format.

 

[Barry]

To clarify my original post, Radio Insight confirms that EMF does indeed intend to broadcast 96.7 from the Trump Tower in New Rochelle, NY. And they will use the station to carry their K-Love format.

 

[RadioMan203]

At least they new operators can really say "new" as opposed to the Coast, which has been touting themselves as "new" for years now.

 

[Ozman]

A word from someone who works from the inside well ok... Interns... Peter Bush is now on the FOX for mornings. that is all you will hear from me due to the fact that it has been posted it on Fox's website for you

 

[nd2023]

At least they new operators can really say "new" as opposed to the Coast, which has been touting themselves as "new" for years now.

K-Love is older than 96.7 The Coast. It'll be a straight simulcast. The pirate stations on 96.7 in the NYC area do more to serve the community than the new 96.7 will.

This frequency could have had a commercially viable format that people would actually listen to. Now it'll be the third wasted FM station in New York.

 

[DToTheJ]

At least the [sic] new operators can really say "new" as opposed to the Coast, which has been touting themselves as "new" for years now...

"The New ___" for years and years no matter how established = Cox standard operating procedure.

 

[MarcB]

This frequency could have had a commercially viable format that people would actually listen to. Now it'll be the third wasted FM station in New York.

You're just bitter that 96.7 won't become a Dance Station. Contemporary Christian Music is very popular. If Salem owned an FM in NYC they probably would've launched its FISH format there.


I should mention here in Connecticut that the phone used to ring off the hook with requests and the like during the local brokered Contemporary Christan Music show that aired on a 2500 Watt AM station on Saturdays. Not bad for a station that allegedly had no listeners. The GM on occasion would let the host sit in and play music for an hour during his own show on Friday Mornings with the same results - the phone ringing off the hook.

 

[nd2023]

Star 99.1 isn't exactly lighting the ratings on fire. It's ranked 21st in its market with the best signal in the market. And that is a locally programmed station. It is successful commercially in that it can sustain itself with advertising revenue.

I wouldn't be bitter if 96.7 was becoming a simulcast of Star 99.1 or even another locally programmed CCM. But we have ENOUGH K-Love stations in the country. I hate their abuse of translators.

 

[MarcB]

Star 99.1 isn't exactly lighting the ratings on fire. It's ranked 21st in its market with the best signal in the market. And that is a locally programmed station. It is successful commercially in that it can sustain itself with advertising revenue.

1. They're not a full-market signal. If they were the ratings would be better.
2. Are the play music 24/7 or do they still have preaching and teaching? If they still feature some P&T that could also explain the ratings.

But we have ENOUGH K-Love stations in the country. I hate their abuse of translators.

Is K-Love doing translator abuse? The biggest offender of translator abuse that I'm aware of is Calvery Chapel (I believe its called) of Twin Falls, Idaho.

 

[ansky212]

Star 99.1 isn't exactly lighting the ratings on fire. It's ranked 21st in its market with the best signal in the market. And that is a locally programmed station. It is successful commercially in that it can sustain itself with advertising revenue.

How is 99.1 the best signal in the market? 99.1 broadcasts from central NJ and barely puts a fringe signal into NYC. 99.1 couldn't broadcast from NYC anyway because of WPLR in New Haven.

 

[DToTheJ]

It appears that The Coast is still coasting along (pardon the pun) with promotions, impending sale be damned. This Friday, they're scheduled to "welcome" Santa Claus at a local venue:
http://www.connecticutplus.com/cplu...y-at-the-Stamford-Town-Center1066710667.shtml

Wait a minute... they're welcoming Santa on Friday... Does anyone here think -- nah, why would Cox go crazy about trying to get ratings with Christmas music, when they're not even going to own the station by next Christmas?

 

[luperm]

Star 99.1 isn't exactly lighting the ratings on fire. It's ranked 21st in its market with the best signal in the market. And that is a locally programmed station. It is successful commercially in that it can sustain itself with advertising revenue.

How is 99.1 the best signal in the market? 99.1 broadcasts from central NJ and barely puts a fringe signal into NYC. 99.1 couldn't broadcast from NYC anyway because of WPLR in New Haven.

WAWZ (99.1) is the best signal in its home market of Middlesex/Somerset/Union. Not the NYC market. That's what the OP meant.

 

[blackgold]

WELL! A local commercial radio station is about to become a non commercial Christian radio station! Looks like another commercial outfit bites the dust and a new non-comm rises from the ashes. I think CCM is great for the New York market, since it can win precious souls to Christ.

 

[CTListener]

WELL! A local commercial radio station is about to become a non commercial Christian radio station! Looks like another commercial outfit bites the dust and a new non-comm rises from the ashes. I think CCM is great for the New York market, since it can win precious souls to Christ.

Anything that will get New Yorkers to renounce the Yankees is fine with me. ;D

 

[GSP163]

I believe Nick is talking about the Middlesex-Somerset-Union book which is WAWZ's home market where it is ranked 21st with a 2.3......WAWZ gets a 0.6 in the NYC book

 

[Barry]

WAWZ's ratings in the Middlesex Somerset Union market seem quite respectable for a market dominated by NYC signals. And their .6 rating in the New York market is not bad, considering the fact that it cannot even be heard in much of the area.
When I first heard WAWZ a few years ago, I was surprised that it sounds so much like an A/C station. It has genial personalities that air lots of phone calls from listeners, and talk about many things other than religion. The music also sounds similar to what is aired on A/C stations. They also seem to be constantly organizing charitable activities-I like that.

 

[DToTheJ]

There are stations from as far as Philadelphia that register a 0.1 rating in the New York PPM. Not nearly as impressive as WAWZ's .6 in M/S/U, however.

 

[bub]

I should mention here in Connecticut that the phone used to ring off the hook with requests and the like during the local brokered Contemporary Christan Music show that aired on a 2500 Watt AM station on Saturdays. Not bad for a station that allegedly had no listeners. The GM on occasion would let the host sit in and play music for an hour during his own show on Friday Mornings with the same results - the phone ringing off the hook.

MarcB: Just because a station doesn't register in the ratings doesn't mean it doesn't have listeners. If it's the station I think you're referring to, when I was there as a jock, if I got 2 calls in the studio for a whole month, that was a lot...even when we got ratings.

 

[DToTheJ]

"If it's the station I think you're referring to..."

It's the station that's tattooed on his right arm.

 

[MarcB]

MarcB: Just because a station doesn't register in the ratings doesn't mean it doesn't have listeners. If it's the station I think you're referring to, when I was there as a jock, if I got 2 calls in the studio for a whole month, that was a lot...even when we got ratings.

I know that, bub. But trying telling that to the people who read this board. They all say no one listened to that station. Remember I was an intern there so I knew what was going on. One day I had to transfer to create a computer database of all the people who had won prizes in the past 6 months. Not every prize went to the same listener. And yet even a station that small had a contest pig. One guy who must've won at least 15 prizes. Geez. It was after that when CP decided that a listener can only win a certain number of times per 2 month period (I believe it was).

A co-worker of mine and I were discussing it last night. She agrees with me that its potential is being wasted. She agreed with me that there should be a couple talk shows dealing with local issues mixed in with music and high school sports play by play. She even thought my choice of music was a good idea. - Country. And I'm not talking about as a competitor to WWYZ (FM). I'm talking a Country Format playing the greatest Country Hits off the 80s, 90s, and today, focusing primarily on the 80s and 90s.