WECK hangs out "Help Wanted" sign

[Mike Sheridan]

In West Palm Beach Clear Channel is dumping the format of the #2 rated station in the market WRLX which is MOR/Soft A/C. The audience is too old, they can't sell it to the agencies. They are going Spanish instead.

I believe Buffalo demands radio be live and local. It might be the winter weather that makes it so or maybe the Buffalo listeners are more pasionate about what's on the radio.

AM radio thrived much longer in Buffalo than it did in most other markets. WGR, WBEN, and WKBW all great stations. In most other markets the size of Buffalo and even larger you were lucky to find one really good AM station.

I'm not forgetting WEBR, WWOL, WYSL and WNIA. They got the job done too...with smaller budgets and less power.

 

[Bob1370]

ThePickleReport reported, "I could see a full-service, MOR/Soft AC like the days of old working pretty well though."

Are you thinking of a station a lot like the 1978-88 version of WBEN, with AC hits, personality delivery and a strong daytime and weekend local news presence? That would be a great station, but it seems to me that to make it work, you'd need it to be on a big coverage signal that gets the whole market. Strikes me that would and could be the logical route for Entercom to go in tweaking Star 102.5, which is already a lot of the way there and just needing an added information component to make it a true full service, big signal station--a good companion for WBEN. If Star 102.5 flags a bit in the coming months, that's its best option.

As to WECK, returning to what it did before going country (1948-64 standards and oldies) would be a good option--or else, if they do talk, trying to bring in new younger talk talent (just starting out in their first large market and paid at the lower end of the market's going rate) and developing it, while maybe salting the schedule with one or two familiar voices who are currently on the beach or looking for a light workload just to keep their hand in. Maybe if one or two of the young hosts gets real traction they might jump to WBEN as the old guard there (Beach, Zach, et.al) start heading toward retirement, that's a risk you take--but you've had the benefit of them as they grow. And you make money--just like WYSL/1400 made money while serving as a talent incubator for bigger stations and bigger markets in its day.

 

[VoiceGuyJack]

Maybe someone could alert Dick Green that some of the great minds of Buffalo radio, both past and present have spent weeks discussing his proposed format for WECK. I think he would get a kick out of the discussion (maybe not)

Anyway...as various formats are being discussed...one has not...how 'bout "good music" (ie.) the old WEBR "Sound of the City" format with a touch of the old ADV and a smattering of the old BNY. You know..Streisand, Sinatra, Ray Coniff singers, John Gary (maybe not John Gary) but you get the point! This would certainly be a "different" sound and who knows it just might find a niche market. I have heard all the arguments regarding demographics..but isn't Buffalo a unique enough market to support such a format? Remember the population in Western New York is among the oldest in the country.

While we're discussing unique formats how 'bout ...all jazz. ALW could dust off his LP's and groove into the night.

Let's think "out of the box" people.

 

[cee]

Maybe someone could alert Dick Green that some of the great minds of Buffalo radio, both past and present have spent weeks discussing his proposed format for WECK.

You might want to add "ad nauseam" to the very end of this sentence.

 

[alw]

While we're discussing unique formats how 'bout ...all jazz. ALW could dust off his LP's and groove into the night.

Uh.....no thanks!

But thank you for the thought.

The only thing I do into the night these days is snore.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Al (W) That Jazz

Not to mention that WBFO already does jazz at night, on FM, with a good signal.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

The only thing I do into the night these days is snore.

Lucky you. Some of us get up three times a night: Let in the dog, put out the cat and drain the tank.

 

[jefflaurence]

Hows chances of WECK doing a hybrid format like that and making sure the audio is super high quality (as opposed to the current CC or Entercom audio curve capping out at 4k)

 

[jrjaj]

I want help! I need help! I've neede it for years!

 

[ThePickleReport]

Are you thinking of a station a lot like the 1978-88 version of WBEN, with AC hits, personality delivery and a strong daytime and weekend local news presence? That would be a great station, but it seems to me that to make it work, you'd need it to be on a big coverage signal that gets the whole market.

Exactly. Every market had one in the 70's. I realize that times have changed but thinking a bit outside the box is needed here, I agree. Maybe the past can be the future.

I don't think signal coverage dictates the format. It serves metro Buffalo/Erie County just fine. I've played with a couple of available talk lineups in my head and I'm not sure they would have much impact in ratings or with the listener. Maybe I'm wrong, after all I'm just a guy sitting in front of a computer.

 

[Element9]

I don't think signal coverage dictates the format. It serves metro Buffalo/Erie County just fine.

It covers Arbitron's "hot zip codes" just fine. Solid signal in the daytime and strong enough to be heard in Cheektowaga, Snyder, South Williamsville, West Depew, West Lancaster, West Seneca, and East Side Buffalo at night.

-9-

 

[SirRoxalot]

"Culver Channel"?

Somehow, I don't see Dick Greene setting up WECK as an entirely separate operation from WLVL. I expect that he'll attempt a more "regional" approach, and try to create some "synergies" and "economies of scale".

I don't expect much office staff on Genesee Street. Maybe a sales office or two, a couple studios, and a hot-line to Lockport. If he gets to the point where traffic and billing can't be handled out of Lockport, he may have to sink some money into computerizing his operations there before he adds jobs in Cheektowaga.

Speaking of computerizing, does anybody know what - or if - WLVL uses for automation? Will it work at WECK if they do go with syndication during the majority of the day?

 

[ThePickleReport]

Re: "Culver Channel"?

Somehow, I don't see Dick Greene setting up WECK as an entirely separate operation from WLVL. I expect that he'll attempt a more "regional" approach, and try to create some "synergies" and "economies of scale".

I see that as a mistake. I wouldn't pay $1.3 large to air the same programs as WLVL. That's just me.

 

[Element9]

Somehow, I don't see Dick Greene setting up WECK as an entirely separate operation from WLVL. I expect that he'll attempt a more "regional" approach, and try to create some "synergies" and "economies of scale".

I see that as a mistake. I wouldn't pay $1.3 large to air the same programs as WLVL. That's just me.

According to US Census Bureau 2000 figures, the population of Cheektowaga is 94,019. It's one of the largest suburbs of Buffalo and larger than some cities in New York State. The combined population of the City and Town of Lockport is roughly 43 thousand.

IMHO, Simulcasting WLVL on WECK or vice-versa isn't a solution. The needs and interests of both communities may hold some things in common, such as growing suburbs and sprawl. It is true that Erie County's population shift is to the east and northeast, with some communities in Niagara County receiving benefit. However Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Williamsville are vastly different than Lockport-Town of Lockport-Wheatfield.

An argument can be made that Niagara County, outside of Niagara Falls is agrarian and rural, while the primary service area of WECK's signal covers a population that is urban and suburban.

These are very important issues when deciding what format a station will adopt and how it will be executed. A $1.3 million investment can't thrive on a "programming hunch" that is the brainchild of an owner whose claim to ownership fame is a station in Lockport. What worked in Lockport over the years won't necessarily work in Cheektowaga-Buffalo. In fact, there'a a greater likelihood that it will fail... quietly and miserably.

Hopefully, Mr. Greene will hire a program director with experience and allows him/her to develop a format and program the station to serve the greatest number of potential listeners in the primary community of license. Yes, it can be Tradio and Swapshop, as long as the shows are executed with professionalism and entertaining. It can even rely on a healthy dose of ethnic programming on Sunday morning to serve the vast Polish and Italian communities. Again, the shows need to be done professionally.

Whether the chosen format is Oldies or News-Talk, it needs to be designed and executed professionally and to a great extent, flawlessly from the very beginning. A radio station that's "slapped together" won't make a good first impression in the face of competition from established stations like WBEN, WNED-AM, WBFO and WGR on the News-Talk-Sports side of the ledger or WGRF, WJYE, WYRK, WTSS or WHTT on the music side of the ledger.

The last thing Buffalo needs is another WHLD-type effort. If this is the case, we'll lament the station's obituary within a year. Mr. Greene would be wise to have a good grip on reality in 2008.

-9-

 

[SirRoxalot]

Somehow, I have to believe that "Tradio" will work in Cheektowaga.

There's some good syndicated content that doesn't get to the airwaves around here. Is Kim Komando on in Buffalo? If she is, I don't know where.

Which leads us to another thought. Promotion - as in "Will there be any?" You can have a great radio station, but nobody will listen if they don't know about it.

 

[ThePickleReport]

There's some good syndicated content that doesn't get to the airwaves around here. Is Kim Komando on in Buffalo? If she is, I don't know where.

No she isn't. There's a LOT of programming available, that's for sure. Picking the ones that will work together might be the trickiest part.

 

[media buyer]

Word is that Tom Shue will program WECK.

 

[Element9]

Word is that Tom Schuh will program WECK.

If this is true, it's a smart decision by Dick Greene. Schuh has a track record of success with WHTT and knows the Buffalo-Cheektowage market. (Don't laugh, Cheektowaga could be a stand alone market in some parts of the state.) Could this portend WECK doing Oldies-Standards or Classic Hits? Regardless of format, it's a good decision for PD, if this is in fact the case.

-9-

 

[SirRoxalot]

Schuh-in?

If Tom Schuh is the choice, Dick Greene is showing more sense than Entercom did when they were trying to revive 'KB. They had Schuh selling, and Nevins programming. It seems to me that they would have done much better swapping those two positions.

Damn. Now I've started another 'KB rant thread. Oh, well.

 

[Buehly]

WECK should go back to Standards and hire Dan Neaverth as the morning personality.

Here are the reasons:

1. WECK did very well (especially for a 1kw AM station) from a ratings standpoint with the standards format.

2. CHWO (740) Toronto, with its standards format, shows up VERY well in the Buffalo market, especially since WECK changed to the classic country format.

3. WECK was very likely used as a "packaging area" in sales for the cluster to bring in the CPP and was probably ignored by the sales department. Also, how many national dollars are spent in Buffalo anyway.

4. The conventional wisdom is that "upper demo" formats can't be sold. The reality is that most people just don't know how to do LOCAL DIRECT SALES. That is the only way WECK can succeed in ANY format. Bottom line is that the Buffalo area IS "older" and why not use that as an opportunity to program to the people who live there. It's not about bad programming that couldn't be sold or the fact that it was "too old." It's about hiring sales people who get it instead of thinking of it as an afterthought since is was buried in a station cluster.

5. There has been lots of talk about why the KB "experiment" failed and how music won't work on AM. People blame KB not being able to be revived with a music format because Entercom didn't promote it. I believe in this case, the problem WAS programming. KB had a great opportunity, especially when WHTT abandoned 60s-early 70s oldies in favor of more recent eras. KBs music in this incarnation was ALL OVER THE PLACE. It didn't need to be designed by a musicologist, but could have been successful if built by someone who could design a mass appeal PRODUCT. Sure, us radio geeks enjoy hearing stiffs, but the AUDIENCE likes the hits. If KB played a fairly tight list (400-600 titles) of UPBEAT familiar and fun hits, it would have worked. It was great to hear the personalities, but the music was not appealing, was too broad, FULL of stiffs and mixed genres and much of it seemed to be downtempo. PLAY THE UPBEAT FEEL GOOD HITS from the 60s and early 70s and sell it! But this is another subject for another thread.

6. WECK will never be able to beat WBEN, frankly even it it were better. WBEN is burned into the minds of Western New Yorkers as THE place to go for the best local news and talk. Don't waste the time or money doing this. Plus, WECK's signal is what it is and always will be.

7. Who needs more syndicated talk??? No room.

8. Sure Dan Neaverth was not a "standards" personality, but he is a well-known and loved Buffalo icon that the 55+ generation would embrace, because they DO love him. The age group of 55-75 is really not that old. Name one other station in the Buffalo area that programs to this demographic (a 20 year spread of people with money to burn!!).

9. Last time I checked, WECK was in HD. Those standards would sound great in HD!!

Just play great standards and hire 2-3 good "older" direct salespeople with relationships. Fix up the ranch house on Genesee Street and make some money.

Good luck to Dick Greene!!! I hope they do this and do well at it! Radio needs successful and smart LOCAL operators. Connect with the community. Local direct in sales. Serve the underserved and MAKE MONEY!!