WDUQ - Slow Down

[DToTheJ]

The new GM of the former Duquesne-operated station is already making bold predictions that its audience will "double":
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_748745.html

 

[KeyTimes950]

Some already are "down with" the new DUQ. Some are "down on" the new DUQ. I can double down and get two different meanings but I can't think the new DUQ will double its audience, unless of course whatever Pittsburgh news and talk they promise is more impressive than what KDKA or KQV offer. But what do I know?

 

[corporateradiosucks]

Their contention is that the talk they offer is from the other side of the political fence.

This article should come with a "caution: bull@#$t crossing" sticker affixed.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I would think there is a market for news/talk in this market for people of a more liberal
persuasion who do not currently have a radio home.

The problem is likely to be the sterotypically dry NPR presentation. Everything comes
off sounding like that Alec Baldwin "Schweddy Balls" routine on Saturday Night Live.

 

[KeyTimes950]

This may seem like a weird suggestion, but I'd roll tape on the BBC overnight feed (or simply go to HD3 since I think BBC is offered around the clock there) and make that a model for how to format whatever local hours will happen on the new FM 90.5. As much as I sometimes do double-takes on some of the NPR and APM programming, I truly appreciate most of the BBC material. Overnight, it was offering a take on the riots going on in some British cities that simultaneously painted a picture of what was going on in my mind and kept my blood pressure in check.

 

[Rallen1st]

NPR presentation. Everything comes off sounding like that Alec Baldwin "Schweddy Balls" routine on Saturday Night Live.

That actually made me laugh out loud... I think the same thing anytime I happen to hear NPR... That smarmy delivery... LOL

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Why couldn't WDUQ do what WUSF did when they flipped to NPR talk? Keep jazz from 9PM to 5AM ? WDUQ doesn't have to find a second channel for classical like WUSF got stuck doing. Jazz is better at night than listening to how some ex-CEO found profound inner peace by moving to Vermont and whittling for a living

 

[KeyTimes950]

Why couldn't WDUQ do what WUSF did when they flipped to NPR talk? Keep jazz from 9PM to 5AM ? WDUQ doesn't have to find a second channel for classical like WUSF got stuck doing. Jazz is better at night than listening to how some ex-CEO found profound inner peace by moving to Vermont and whittling for a living

My gut tells me the "Essential Public Radio" folks thought they had enough music with AAA-format WYEP-91.3 (I know, it ain't jazz, but I'm not sure what to think of owners who seem to have added a skyscraper to a modular home). It also seems the overnight stuff may be seen as a good alternative to the talk shows on KDKA, KQV and WPGB. (And all three stations now are live-if-not-local from 1-5 a.m.)

 

[uncamark]

Why couldn't WDUQ do what WUSF did when they flipped to NPR talk? Keep jazz from 9PM to 5AM ? WDUQ doesn't have to find a second channel for classical like WUSF got stuck doing. Jazz is better at night than listening to how some ex-CEO found profound inner peace by moving to Vermont and whittling for a living

My gut tells me the "Essential Public Radio" folks thought they had enough music with AAA-format WYEP-91.3 (I know, it ain't jazz, but I'm not sure what to think of owners who seem to have added a skyscraper to a modular home). It also seems the overnight stuff may be seen as a good alternative to the talk shows on KDKA, KQV and WPGB. (And all three stations now are live-if-not-local from 1-5 a.m.)

The other problem is that the traditional public radio music formats are slowly losing their listeners to the grave. The numbers are getting smaller, the median ages are getting higher, the listeners may tolerate one cycle of "Morning Edition" and one cycle of "ATC" but would prefer nothing but music and the only listeners left are the ones that will never give money to the station because they took their favorite show off or they believe that someone else (like the government) should fund it. AAA is the only public radio music format on the rise because it gets a younger audience (we're talking a median age in the 40s, not the 18-to-34 crowd) and appeals to the audience that's listening to the NPR news programs more than the traditional classical/jazz/folk programs. Since Essential already has a AAA station in WYEP, that's why jazz is limited to low-sets-in-use Saturday nights on DUQ under the new owners.