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WDAS AM

R

rob1010

Here we go again...we now have a great soul station back in philly...and its in last place in the ratings...If we dont start supporting this station Clear channel will certainly change the format again...WAKE UP.....spread the word to family and friends ..or you will wake up one morning..and it will be gone...no one else plays solid soul gold...and we wont be able to hear these great soulful oldies....no more james Brown,wilson pickett,otis redding...so philly wake up and spread the word...WDAS AM is playing the greatest music ever made...this is a historic station and we need to support it or it will be gone....Maybe we need to just do 50s and 60s on this station.. and bring back some old jingles and commercial spots to make it fun.....anybody think that would help???? Maybe Butter and those in management need to tweak this station a little better...and stick to 50s and 60s for those of us in our 50s and 60s...who would still listen to AM radio...if they played the songs from our era.. and made it fun as well....Come on ...any suggestions?????
 
Rob,
I agree with you 100% but we are not the target group for making a profit, I don't know why, we have more money to spend but less likely to waist money on the latest smart phone or other new tech. garbage. We still read newspaper and even books, remember them? Sure I have the e readers and tablets but it's still so nice to hold a book in your hand something the younger people don't understand. Radio survives because of commercials and if you can't sell it to the 25-50 age group, it's not going to survive. That really sucks, but radio is a business.
 
Signal issues may be among the biggest of the many obstacles. In the daytime the signal goes along one axis. At nighttime, the signal follows another axis that's 90° different.

Close-by WISL Shamokin on 1480 went dark several years back. They were also a nostalgia station (Oldies) but just could not cut it any longer in rust-belt Shamokin/Mount Carmel -- where all the clientele is local. New owners bought it along with the far-more-desirable FM side. And they instantly shut off the AM 1480.
Oddly, the new owners were Clear Channel. Same as in Philly.

Either way, WISL or no WISL, there is no way to hear WDAS up here. I did get Oldies one afternoon on 1480. It turned out to be WDJO Cincinnati! That came in on that Mid-Winter Anomaly.
Still, WDAS sends very little this way in the day.
Along the reception route from Phila to here, it's logical that there are thousands of homes with similar reception issues.

And at night, WDAS 1480 is not just a 1000-watter but a *directional* 1000-watter at that. In many places within the Philly Metro it is also the last station on the dial at night. Thoroughly discouraging dial spot to be.

Which brings to mind WKBW's renaissance several years back. 'KB's monster signal could not get them even a 1.0 share despite them playing, arguably, an even more mass-appeal form of music. And that was back when those old demos were more acceptable to marketers.

I loved the days of WNJR and WRAP Norfolk and WWIN Baltimore and WRXB St. Petersburg as much as any white boy. But when you factor in the demos, the signal, the station hanging off the end of the dial, the AM quality and the ownership, there cannot be too much more 'support' for this station than there exists now.

Water over the dam, to be sure, but I wondered, decades ago, why no Solid Gold Soul stations existed. It's way too late now to pursue that dream. Heck, my age it's a chore chasing anything.
 
Bring back Royce "The Mighty Cooker" Howard. He knows the music and what Philly listeners want to hear.

When I was there, AM had a DA-2 antenna system with 5 KW Rockwell Collins transmitter day with a three tower array and 1 KW Gates BC1H standby transmitter 4 tower arrangement at nights.
 
rob1010 said:
Here we go again...we now have a great soul station back in philly...and its in last place in the ratings...If we dont start supporting this station Clear channel will certainly change the format again...WAKE UP.....spread the word to family and friends ..or you will wake up one morning..and it will be gone...no one else plays solid soul gold...and we wont be able to hear these great soulful oldies....no more james Brown,wilson pickett,otis redding...so philly wake up and spread the word...WDAS AM is playing the greatest music ever made...this is a historic station and we need to support it or it will be gone....Maybe we need to just do 50s and 60s on this station.. and bring back some old jingles and commercial spots to make it fun.....anybody think that would help???? Maybe Butter and those in management need to tweak this station a little better...and stick to 50s and 60s for those of us in our 50s and 60s...who would still listen to AM radio...if they played the songs from our era.. and made it fun as well....Come on ...any suggestions?????
Click to expand...

I've heard this station on line and I think it's cool! I like that they play many hits that while they didn't score well on the pop singles chart, did well on the soul/r&b charts. I also think it would be a shame if it didn't get traction and went away. I know that my idea of having the station survive on sources of revenue in addition to advertisement is probably something that likely wouldn't fly with the powers-that-be and if so, that's a shame. I'm not just talking about donations either. Maybe sponsor a dance, car/bike/scooter show, concert or something else.

Now with regard to advertisement revenue, the station should among other sources consider getting advertisement form manufacturers like Gruendig who make high quality AM radios. Also, from what I understand WDAS puts out a nice rich signal, and this is something that the station should promote!
 
I believe that CC is looking at DAS(AM) as an iHeart format that happens to also be parked on a heritage, now-borderline receivable AM frequency in Philly. As mentioned previously, the fidelity on the HD and more importantly the iHeart simulcast is quite good, and the format execution is world-class (and not an embarrassment to the format's history in Philly either).
 
^^^^is right. Clearchannel could careless how well 1480 does in the radio ratings of Philly. They care about online, and mobile apps, and to a lesser degree HD radio. As long as this station is succeeding there, it is safe.
 
I listen on HD2 which they never seem to mention. HD2 signal coverage while driving in western Montg Co is slightly better on 105.3 than it was on 106.1.
 
I've been listening on-line (I live in SF) since January; 'DAS-AM is easily one of the best, most-unique "gold soul" formats I have ever encountered. Just superb. Kudos to Clear Channel (I never thought I'd type *those* words!) for really digging deep instead of the usual "Let's Stay Together" 27 times a week. They're playing some amazing stuff.
 
Grew up listening to Butterball on WDAS-AM. He was one of several 'DAS jocks that I listened to and eventually inspired me to get the radio bug and become a "jock" in the Southern markets. I am still in the radio business today. RIP Joe "Butterball" Tamburro. I know when he "got up there", he told the gatekeeper, Peter, "The Ball has come to call".
 
Lifted weights in my basement as a tee, after school.. Radio was always set to either Jim Nettleton on WFIL or Jimmy Bishop on WDAS. Both stations were a hard reception in Newark, Delaware, but I would be listening. I had already found Butter on WDAS and loved him. He was a true radio person who loved the music. God, I will miss him. R.I.P. We have his legacy on 1480. Hope it continues.
 
musichead1029 said:
I believe that CC is looking at DAS(AM) as an iHeart format that happens to also be parked on a heritage, now-borderline receivable AM frequency in Philly. As mentioned previously, the fidelity on the HD and more importantly the iHeart simulcast is quite good, and the format execution is world-class (and not an embarrassment to the format's history in Philly either).
Click to expand...

I do believe that. 1480 will never be anything close to dominant, and would be lucky to get ratings regardless of format.

However, WDAS' current format is a nice addition to the IHeart platform, which is obviously trying to broaden their format offerings. And WDAS' stream sounds great. If it wasn't for IHeart, WDAS would be, at best, a jukebox in a closet, and a complete afterthought. Or it would be sold to some religious broadcaster.
 
Hopefully we'll hear more deep-tracks programmed formats in the future as broadcast groups realize the staying power better programming has on the 'net. Like Beach Music WNCT(AM), DAS(AM)'s programming is designed to attract an audience that lives well beyond the edges of its meager AM signal. And there are a lot of barely sustainable small AMs that could benefit from being anchors for (currently) reduced royalty fee music formats aimed primarily at web audiences. Win-win.
 
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