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georgetown3ham
Guest
Clear Channel has returned WDSD to 94.7 from the lower power class A 92.9. I guess they got tired of having two station near the bottom in the Wilmington ratings. WXCY, watch your tail!
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While I think this is a smart move, because the River never gained any traction the entire time it was on the air,
there are questions that remain to be answered:
Does WDSD move it's HQ from Dover to the new facilities in Wilmington? I know
the River is streaming over the net, but that kinda thing only lasts during the transition
period, usually. (WYSP did a good job of keeping the rock streaming online during the "FreeFM"
days). Also, should a move happen, does WDOV finally become just a stick transmitting WILM in
Dover? That transition has been REAL slow.
Does WDSD's focus shift from Dover to Wilmington, or do they try and balance the two? One problem
I always had with the River was that I never figured out what area they were trying to serve.
Does WDSD now pick up the UDel football/basketball coverage that the River had? Kinda funny how
The River has billboards up on 95, touting the return of UD football, and now the River isn't on 94.7.
If WDSD does pick it up, they'll have an awful lot of sports, with Nascar and UDel in the same place.
Just some thoughts off the top of my head - Overall, it might pay off for them.
there are questions that remain to be answered:
Does WDSD move it's HQ from Dover to the new facilities in Wilmington? I know
the River is streaming over the net, but that kinda thing only lasts during the transition
period, usually. (WYSP did a good job of keeping the rock streaming online during the "FreeFM"
days). Also, should a move happen, does WDOV finally become just a stick transmitting WILM in
Dover? That transition has been REAL slow.
Does WDSD's focus shift from Dover to Wilmington, or do they try and balance the two? One problem
I always had with the River was that I never figured out what area they were trying to serve.
Does WDSD now pick up the UDel football/basketball coverage that the River had? Kinda funny how
The River has billboards up on 95, touting the return of UD football, and now the River isn't on 94.7.
If WDSD does pick it up, they'll have an awful lot of sports, with Nascar and UDel in the same place.
Just some thoughts off the top of my head - Overall, it might pay off for them.
It appears CC swapped frequencies with THE RIVER going to 92.9. I just heard them ID a few minutes ago as 'Dover, Middletown, Harrington', so they are concentrating on Kent and lower NCC. I grew up with DSD being a country powerhouse on 94.7 and it will
be nice to have them back.
be nice to have them back.
georgetownham said:Clear Channel has returned WDSD to 94.7 from the lower power class A 92.9. I guess they got tired of having two station near the bottom in the Wilmington ratings. WXCY, watch your tail!
This isn't something that will kill WXCY since WXCY will always have Cecil County under control as it did before WDSD moved from 94.7. What may happen is that WXCY may have put a little more emphasis on Harford County now. While WDSD's move back to 94.7 is a smart move in my opinion, the dumbest move of all was moving it off of 94.7 in the first place.
I'd have to agree that this is a good move for CC. This will give the Wilmington Metro Area a much stronger Country signal being on 94.7 again. Moving the River to 92.9 and focusing on below the canal is probably a good idea too.
QzarDE asked some good questions, will (or have they already) the River move to the Dover studios with WDOV and WDSD move to the New Castle studios with WILM and WWTX? That would make sense as WDSD will become the Wilmington Country Station and The River WRDX will become the mid Delaware rock station.
The Uof D sports issue could be interesting as it wouldn't make as much sense to air U of D sports on a Dover station that doesn't come in well in Wilmington, yet would they want to lose airing that much music on the weekends between Uof D football and NASCAR? Of course, they could air the Uof D football games on their sports station AM 1290 WWTX and their Dover news/talker 1410 WDOV thus covering the top two counties leaving 94.7 to air NASCAR and country music. That could be a good move for AM1290 WWTX to help draw sports listeners to that station.
QzarDE asked some good questions, will (or have they already) the River move to the Dover studios with WDOV and WDSD move to the New Castle studios with WILM and WWTX? That would make sense as WDSD will become the Wilmington Country Station and The River WRDX will become the mid Delaware rock station.
The Uof D sports issue could be interesting as it wouldn't make as much sense to air U of D sports on a Dover station that doesn't come in well in Wilmington, yet would they want to lose airing that much music on the weekends between Uof D football and NASCAR? Of course, they could air the Uof D football games on their sports station AM 1290 WWTX and their Dover news/talker 1410 WDOV thus covering the top two counties leaving 94.7 to air NASCAR and country music. That could be a good move for AM1290 WWTX to help draw sports listeners to that station.
W
WTUX
Guest
A couple of thoughts on WDSD.
When U/Del football moved to The River from WDEL, the reason given by university officals was they wanted the games on FM. If that excuse is still involved, putting the games on WWTX would violate the contract. Plus CC wants Penn on WWTX - can't have both.
When 94.7 was WDSD, they had a sales office on Main Street in Newark. They always tried to sell in New Castle County. But WXCY and to some extent WXTU gave them a hard time in the north. By going with The River, they figured on having a better chance revenue wise in New Castle County. It did not work. Going back to country will not necessarily be a better revenue move now any more than it was in the early 90's.
When U/Del football moved to The River from WDEL, the reason given by university officals was they wanted the games on FM. If that excuse is still involved, putting the games on WWTX would violate the contract. Plus CC wants Penn on WWTX - can't have both.
When 94.7 was WDSD, they had a sales office on Main Street in Newark. They always tried to sell in New Castle County. But WXCY and to some extent WXTU gave them a hard time in the north. By going with The River, they figured on having a better chance revenue wise in New Castle County. It did not work. Going back to country will not necessarily be a better revenue move now any more than it was in the early 90's.
WTUX said:When 94.7 was WDSD, they had a sales office on Main Street in Newark. They always tried to sell in New Castle County. But WXCY and to some extent WXTU gave them a hard time in the north. By going with The River, they figured on having a better chance revenue wise in New Castle County. It did not work. Going back to country will not necessarily be a better revenue move now any more than it was in the early 90's.
As someone who used to compete against WDSD, I have to disagree with you somewhat. In the early 90s, WXCY started to give WDSD a run for their money but WDSD responded to the competition by updating and improving their sound. At the end of WDSD's run on 94.7, they were programmed by Sky Phillips who was responsible for getting the station's programming sounding top notch and for getting in quality air talent. Right at the point it seemed that WDSD was really starting to kick in as the dominant country station in Northern Delaware, the powers that be decided to launch "The Rock Of Delaware" on 94.7 and move WDSD to the weaker 92.9 frequency. It was that move that really allowed WXCY to make inroads into Delaware and I think prompted Delmarva Broadcasting to have a greater interest in purchasing WXCY from Prettyman Broadcasting. Even with the frequency change, it is my understanding that WDSD's revenue flow on 92.9 was quite good and this change back to 94.7 can only improve it.
In my view, moving WDSD back to 94.7 is correcting a mistake that was made a decade ago, but the difference now is that WXCY is a much stronger player now than they were then so it will be a tougher row to hoe, but with the Clear Channel machine behind them there's no reason why they shouldn't be a major player in the Wilmington market. If going back to country isn't a better revenue move now than it was then, then that says more about the commercial viability of the country format than it does about WDSD.
And once again the call letters can match the ID - WDSD, Dover-Smyrna-Delaware!
WDSD on 94.7 was the country station you could pretty much pick up the entire length of Rt. 13 through Delaware, and it makes sense to be back on 94.7. Also blankets much of South Jersey between WXTU and WPUR territories. During the the original transition they ran the country format on both frequencies for weeks before switching. Was this change immediate with no warning? I didn't get to hear it.
WDSD on 94.7 was the country station you could pretty much pick up the entire length of Rt. 13 through Delaware, and it makes sense to be back on 94.7. Also blankets much of South Jersey between WXTU and WPUR territories. During the the original transition they ran the country format on both frequencies for weeks before switching. Was this change immediate with no warning? I didn't get to hear it.
D
DawsButlerFan
Guest
Keith Thompson said:WTUX said:At the end of WDSD's run on 94.7, they were programmed by Sky Phillips who was responsible for getting the station's programming sounding top notch and for getting in quality air talent. In my view, moving WDSD back to 94.7 is correcting a mistake that was made a decade ago, but the difference now is that WXCY is a much stronger player now than they were then so it will be a tougher row to hoe, but with the Clear Channel machine behind them there's no reason why they shouldn't be a major player in the Wilmington market. If going back to country isn't a better revenue move now than it was then, then that says more about the commercial viability of the country format than it does about WDSD.
Correction. It wasn't Sky Phillips but their consultant who made them successful.
Ed Paolini, was with WDSD back then (after leaving WNRK). He jocked and I believe at some point he was the PD at 94.7 WDSD.
John1 said:Was this change immediate with no warning? I didn't get to hear it.
As far as I'm aware, there was no advertising of any kind before the switch. WDSD
was still branding itself as 92.9 on Sunday (there's still some images on the website that
say 92.9), and in addition to the website for the River (which needs a new address instead
of River947.com now), there's still billboards up all over the place for River 94.7. I spotted one
on 495 NB just north of 13, and there's one on SB 95 near the Christina River, off to the right,
touting the River and UDel football.
For what it's worth, the UDel football game last night was on WDSD 94.7, and did not follow the
River onto 92.9. Whether that's a temporary change or not, I'm not sure, but I didn't hear the game
advertised on 92.9 by any of the jocks.
DawsButlerFan said:Keith Thompson said:WTUX said:At the end of WDSD's run on 94.7, they were programmed by Sky Phillips who was responsible for getting the station's programming sounding top notch and for getting in quality air talent. In my view, moving WDSD back to 94.7 is correcting a mistake that was made a decade ago, but the difference now is that WXCY is a much stronger player now than they were then so it will be a tougher row to hoe, but with the Clear Channel machine behind them there's no reason why they shouldn't be a major player in the Wilmington market. If going back to country isn't a better revenue move now than it was then, then that says more about the commercial viability of the country format than it does about WDSD.
Correction. It wasn't Sky Phillips but their consultant who made them successful.
Yeah, but the PD still carries out the consultant's plan.
W
WTUX
Guest
Regarding the UofD game. the News-Journal listed it as being on both 92.9 and 94.7. There may have been some confusion as to how CC was going to go with the broadcast, but contract-wise it clearly must be at least on the 50kw channel.
On the question of PD and consultant running the station. I'm afraid that in too many cases these days the consultant is the boss, the PD is the babysitter. He/she makes sure all of the shifts are filled, remotes covered, nobody gets drunk and swears on the air, etc. All on-air sound decisions, besides personnel, are made by the glorious consultant who gets paid the big bucks.
On the question of PD and consultant running the station. I'm afraid that in too many cases these days the consultant is the boss, the PD is the babysitter. He/she makes sure all of the shifts are filled, remotes covered, nobody gets drunk and swears on the air, etc. All on-air sound decisions, besides personnel, are made by the glorious consultant who gets paid the big bucks.
D
Derek Smalls
Guest
From what I've heard, the decision may have come down as late as 7 am the day of the switch. There has to be some second tier motive to this switch, because it is VERY rare that there is a frequency switch without some sort of rollout/advertising/build-up. You have to take in to consideration the time allowed to let your listeners (the 3 that The River has) adjust to the impending switch, etc...I think Clear Channel might be getting ready to dump The River. At the least, I think there is going to be a management/staff/format change in the works.
Of course, if you ask Bob Walton about that, he'll tell you it's all rainbows and sunshine in New Castle...
Of course, if you ask Bob Walton about that, he'll tell you it's all rainbows and sunshine in New Castle...
D
DawsButlerFan
Guest
Keith Thompson said:DawsButlerFan said:Keith Thompson said:WTUX said:At the end of WDSD's run on 94.7, they were programmed by Sky Phillips who was responsible for getting the station's programming sounding top notch and for getting in quality air talent. In my view, moving WDSD back to 94.7 is correcting a mistake that was made a decade ago, but the difference now is that WXCY is a much stronger player now than they were then so it will be a tougher row to hoe, but with the Clear Channel machine behind them there's no reason why they shouldn't be a major player in the Wilmington market. If going back to country isn't a better revenue move now than it was then, then that says more about the commercial viability of the country format than it does about WDSD.
Correction. It wasn't Sky Phillips but their consultant who made them successful.
Yeah, but the PD still carries out the consultant's plan.
Ed Paolini was the best PD they ever had.
I worked for Ed at WNRK on Saturday nights. He was a good guy to work with and he knew his business. I was talking to the guys who did the live remote from the Delaware State Fair for WDSD and asked them about Ed Paolini. If I remember correctly I believe they said that he's now in Huntsville Alabama at a country station.
DawsButlerFan said:Keith Thompson said:DawsButlerFan said:Keith Thompson said:WTUX said:At the end of WDSD's run on 94.7, they were programmed by Sky Phillips who was responsible for getting the station's programming sounding top notch and for getting in quality air talent. In my view, moving WDSD back to 94.7 is correcting a mistake that was made a decade ago, but the difference now is that WXCY is a much stronger player now than they were then so it will be a tougher row to hoe, but with the Clear Channel machine behind them there's no reason why they shouldn't be a major player in the Wilmington market. If going back to country isn't a better revenue move now than it was then, then that says more about the commercial viability of the country format than it does about WDSD.
Correction. It wasn't Sky Phillips but their consultant who made them successful.
Yeah, but the PD still carries out the consultant's plan.
Ed Paolini was the best PD they ever had.
From my point of view, as someone who used to compete against them, I thought WDSD sounded best when Sky Phillips was the PD. Whether that was Sky or the consultant's doing I don't know, but I'm simply going by what I heard coming out of the speakers. WDSD sounded pretty good when Ed Paoline was the PD as well.
Having country WDSD back on 94.7 just came to my attention last night. I was flipping thru the FM and there it was. Caught me by surprise. Up here (northernmost tip of Montgomery County, Pa.) all we have for country is WXTU and WCTO from Allentown/Bethlehem. Neither one is worth listening to. Periodically we can get WIOV from Lancaster. But it was nice to DSD. Comes in really well too. Well beyond what Radio-Locator gives it credit for. Maybe it's just the atmosphere.
Having worked at WDSD/WDOV in the 90's, the wonderful idea to move it from 94.7 to 92.9 took place when AM/FM bought the Benchmark group. WDSD was a fun place to work, having been involved in improving the signal with a new trasnmitter and new antenna system and given the audio gear and allowed to make the modifications in it to give it the sound they had plus getting to do fill-in work when needed. We had a small office in Christiana at one point with a Marti system that gavce us the ability to do live remotes in New Castle County and send them down an ISDN system. They had a very good crew of people there and it apparently worked very well for benchmark. I'm glad to see someone FINALLY wized up and moved it back.
I realize this is quite a delayed response, but I have to say how excited and glad i was to hear that WDSD was moving back to 94.7. We were in our hay day before WDSD moved to Star 92.9 frequency. As Dan The Van Man, I can say that we had a great crew. Sky Phillips did a lot for the station and with a crew like Gene Freeman, Donna Cavendar (who is still there I believe) Matt Patrick and later Ed Paoline the station seemed to be unbeatable.
You saw WDSD everywhere and the loyalty the station had was incredible.
What WDSD has going for it, is it's heritage. It has been there for years, and so have some of it's family like Donna Cavendar. It should be a nice welcomed return for the listening area and I can't wait to come back and visit and hear WDSD back at it's home on 94.7.
You saw WDSD everywhere and the loyalty the station had was incredible.
What WDSD has going for it, is it's heritage. It has been there for years, and so have some of it's family like Donna Cavendar. It should be a nice welcomed return for the listening area and I can't wait to come back and visit and hear WDSD back at it's home on 94.7.
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