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WDEL-FM

J

jhguthlac

Guest
The rumors appear to be true that Philly rocker WYSP will become WIP-FM. So what about Wilmington? As AM's share of the market is now below 10% and WSTW's share of the audience is around 4%, what is the chance of a move? Do you think DBC would return WSTW to WDEL-FM and move the news/talker to 93.7? To me, it would have been unthinkable even a year ago. But as another Philly AMer (WHAT) bites the dust and WPEN's ratings totally tank, along with a vanishing AM audience in Wilmington, I believe the switch is possible within the next year.
 
It will either be WDEL FM or WILM FM on 947. Who jumps first? Delmarva already has AM/ FM talkers in Salisbury, so they may be looking at how it works down state. CC has lots of FM talkers, so they could flip a switch.
I have to think both buildings have talked about it.
 
Clear Channel is at a disadvantage on this one.

If CC flips 94.7 to WILM-FM first, then Delmarva flips 93.7 to WDEL-FM with a superior signal in New Castle County.

If Delmarva moves first, CC has no choice but to flip 94.7.

The ball is in Delmarva's court.

However, I remember seeing a CC application for a translator for 94.7 in New Castle County. Now I can't find it on the web. The translator would be positioned to fill in the bad reception areas for WDSD in the North Wilmington to Claymont area. If CC gets approval for and builds that translator, this could become even more interesting.
 
The speculation here is certainly fun. Music radio is facing big challenges, and I do think we are getting closer to the tipping point for an FM News/Talk boom not only in Wilmington but also in much of the country. But when it does happen, it's not just a matter of moving an AM format to FM. News and Talk on FM will have to be tighter, brighter and less "righter" than it has been on AM. Entertaining hot talk will be a key ingredient, not over-politicized rants. It will also require very contemporary local news, information and weather elements. If you've seen WPVI news at 4 p.m., you already know the kind of news that'll be needed. If you've listened to NJ101.5, you already know what kind of talk topics that will be appropriate. And there will be no excuse for not fully integrating social media and smart phone applications with the format.
 
I doubt that Delmarva Broadcasting is going to dump the format on WSTW. First, this market has too few local stations for it's size, second if anything I would think they would cut some of the fat, traffic is expensive, and does anyone really care. Do you really need two local talk hosts? You could dump the "producers", do as WGMD
 
To finish my thought, music formats are cheap, voice track and a computer, talk can be cheap, a satellite and a computer. Look at how Clear Channel gutted WILM, and their numbers are up. WDSD will stay Country, one General Manager already made that mistake. If Clear Channel though they could do so well with Talk on FM, they would take one of the Philly FM's and run Beck, Rush, Hannity, and Levin. That would give them clearance in both markets. No Clear Channel is not going to put WILM or WDOV on 94.7 except for they way they do now as HD3, same for Delmarva, Pete Booker is not going to put WDEL on 93.7. What would make more sense would be to put the morning show from WAFL on WSTW, and maybe make a network out of those two stations, they already do some of that through voice tracking. May be you might see Delmarva try to pick up 101.7, and put WDEL there, but they aren't even willing to put a morning show on WICO-FM or WAVD in the Salisbury market, the WDEL cost too much to run in today's economy. They need to good lean and mean, and cut the FAT.
 
Talk on 93.7 immediately devalues 1150. Delmarva goes from 3 profitable stations to 2. It won't happen. Even under a 5-share, WSTW is still Delmarva's biggest moneymaker and they won't blow it up. There will be tweaks I'm sure, but no outright format changes.
 
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