What Is The Definition Of A "Heritage" Radio Station

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WDBO in Orlando and WFLA in Tampa

 

[cyberdad]

Thought I would ask - what is the common defintion of a "Heritage" radio station? And what stations today can truely be called "Heritage" stations?

To me, a heritage station is one that has done whatever it is it does well for many years and is still successful at it.

The moment a station is no longer successful, any heritage it had is lost.

WLNG in Sag Harbor is a heritage station... just as relevant to the community now as ever.

KHJ in LA is not a heritage station... the call letters mean nothing if nearly nobody is listening and there is no tradition behind the programming. KHJ is just old, but has no heritage today, as it passes nothing on to tomorrow's listener.

Great point. KAAY in Little Rock comes to mind as "once great/now old/no continuity/past means absolutely nothing to the currently microscopic audience". Closer to where I live, WIND also basically fits that description. I'm sure I could think of a number of others. Newest member of this dubious fraternity could be CHUM.

 

[BRNout]

Well, WIND has gone the route of a lot of former AM Top 40 stations in the form of news/talk. I don't know that it's any less recognizable that WABC or WLS when you put it that way. But, to their credit, at least the guys at WIND still play one of their old jingles once in a while as a bumper going back in to their local morning show. And, they have local personalities and a local news staff (or guy, at least). All in all, not that bad.

It's not nearly as bad as what happened to KAAY, which is truly a wasted (and neglected) 50 kw station that no one listens to and which does absolutely nothing to serve it's community. It, along with WPTR 1540, are the two former AM greats that have undoubtedly fallen the farthest. Both are wastes of electricity and do nothing to serve their respective markets.

And, no, I am not some intolerant, anti-religious nut. Far from it. But this sort of station only serves to take money from society's most vulnerable in the name of God - and they greedily spend it on their own little ego trips. A tornado could be wiping out downtown Little Rock and 50 kw KAAY would still be playing a 5 month old tape of some nutjob handling snakes and thumping Bibles. And, I consider that to be beyond a waste.

 

[radioman148]

Well, WIND has gone the route of a lot of former AM Top 40 stations in the form of news/talk. I don't know that it's any less recognizable that WABC or WLS when you put it that way. But, to their credit, at least the guys at WIND still play one of their old jingles once in a while as a bumper going back in to their local morning show. And, they have local personalities and a local news staff (or guy, at least). All in all, not that bad.

It's not nearly as bad as what happened to KAAY, which is truly a wasted (and neglected) 50 kw station that no one listens to and which does absolutely nothing to serve it's community. It, along with WPTR 1540, are the two former AM greats that have undoubtedly fallen the farthest. Both are wastes of electricity and do nothing to serve their respective markets.

And, no, I am not some intolerant, anti-religious nut. Far from it. But this sort of station only serves to take money from society's most vulnerable in the name of God - and they greedily spend it on their own little ego trips. A tornado could be wiping out downtown Little Rock and 50 kw KAAY would still be playing a 5 month old tape of some nutjob handling snakes and thumping Bibles. And, I consider that to be beyond a waste.

Not only that but KAAY's signal is only a shadow of it's former self. Does anyone bother to do maintenance over there?

 

[cyberdad]

In no way am I commenting on WIND's programming or the sincere effort they're making to add a measure of local content. My reference has to do with two considerations. Primarily, the disconnect between what the station is now and what it was during its glory days. First as a top-40, adult contemporary (by 50s-60s standards) hybrid, then oldies, then with somewhat less success as a talker. Then along came new ownership and the days as the Spanish language "La Tremenda".

In other words no tradition at WIND of basically doing one thing (or variations of one thing) successfully using the same call letters for....lets say....25 years or more. And no real connection between the station and its audience of today and "back in the day". (Have to admit the occasional vintage jingle is a nice touch....I'll personally always have a soft spot for WIND).

My personal secondary consideration of a "non-heritage" station is where you have a brand that was once among the leaders in ratings that's now firmly mired in the second tier. This is the case with 'IND.

 

[radioman148]

In no way am I commenting on WIND's programming or the sincere effort they're making to add a measure of local content. My reference has to do with two considerations. Primarily, the disconnect between what the station is now and what it was during its glory days. First as a top-40, adult contemporary (by 50s-60s standards) hybrid, then oldies, then with somewhat less success as a talker. Then along came new ownership and the days as the Spanish language "La Tremenda".

In other words no tradition at WIND of basically doing one thing (or variations of one thing) successfully using the same call letters for....lets say....25 years or more. And no real connection between the station and its audience of today and "back in the day". (Have to admit the occasional vintage jingle is a nice touch....I'll personally always have a soft spot for WIND).

My personal secondary consideration of a "non-heritage" station is where you have a brand that was once among the leaders in ratings that's now firmly mired in the second tier. This is the case with 'IND.

I remember riding in the car with my parents in the early 60s. They didn't like WLS so WIND was our alternative. They could listen to the softer AC and I didn't have to listen to their choices.

 

[BRNout]

In no way am I commenting on WIND's programming or the sincere effort they're making to add a measure of local content. My reference has to do with two considerations. Primarily, the disconnect between what the station is now and what it was during its glory days. First as a top-40, adult contemporary (by 50s-60s standards) hybrid, then oldies, then with somewhat less success as a talker. Then along came new ownership and the days as the Spanish language "La Tremenda".

In other words no tradition at WIND of basically doing one thing (or variations of one thing) successfully using the same call letters for....lets say....25 years or more. And no real connection between the station and its audience of today and "back in the day". (Have to admit the occasional vintage jingle is a nice touch....I'll personally always have a soft spot for WIND).

My personal secondary consideration of a "non-heritage" station is where you have a brand that was once among the leaders in ratings that's now firmly mired in the second tier. This is the case with 'IND.

Oh, I certainly can see that! Your comparison with the mess that KAAY became threw me off, I guess.

 

[cyberdad]

If you look at the Chicago radio dial....by my (strictly one dude's opinion) yardstick. WGN, WBBM, and WMBI would be the heritage stations on the am band. I personally probably wouldn't include it, but a legitimate argument could also be made for WVON.

 

[radioman148]

If you look at the Chicago radio dial....by my (strictly one dude's opinion) yardstick. WGN, WBBM, and WMBI would be the heritage stations on the am band. I personally probably wouldn't include it, but a legitimate argument could also be made for WVON.

Why wouldn't you include WLS?

 

[cyberdad]

If you look at the Chicago radio dial....by my (strictly one dude's opinion) yardstick. WGN, WBBM, and WMBI would be the heritage stations on the am band. I personally probably wouldn't include it, but a legitimate argument could also be made for WVON.

Why wouldn't you include WLS?

Because my personal definition/opinion includes having the same basic format for 25 or more years. As a talker, WLS would be getting close, but I believe they were still "musicradio" 25 years ago in 1984.

 

[radioman148]

If you look at the Chicago radio dial....by my (strictly one dude's opinion) yardstick. WGN, WBBM, and WMBI would be the heritage stations on the am band. I personally probably wouldn't include it, but a legitimate argument could also be made for WVON.

Why wouldn't you include WLS?

Because my personal definition/opinion includes having the same basic format for 25 or more years. As a talker, WLS would be getting close, but I believe they were still "musicradio" 25 years ago in 1984.

Yeah they didn't go all talk until 1989.

 

[Channel Surf]

Well, WIND has gone the route of a lot of former AM Top 40 stations in the form of news/talk. I don't know that it's any less recognizable that WABC or WLS when you put it that way. But, to their credit, at least the guys at WIND still play one of their old jingles once in a while as a bumper going back in to their local morning show. And, they have local personalities and a local news staff (or guy, at least). All in all, not that bad.

It's not nearly as bad as what happened to KAAY, which is truly a wasted (and neglected) 50 kw station that no one listens to and which does absolutely nothing to serve it's community. It, along with WPTR 1540, are the two former AM greats that have undoubtedly fallen the farthest. Both are wastes of electricity and do nothing to serve their respective markets.

And, no, I am not some intolerant, anti-religious nut. Far from it. But this sort of station only serves to take money from society's most vulnerable in the name of God - and they greedily spend it on their own little ego trips. A tornado could be wiping out downtown Little Rock and 50 kw KAAY would still be playing a 5 month old tape of some nutjob handling snakes and thumping Bibles. And, I consider that to be beyond a waste.

You certainly summed up those two legendary stations very well.....

 

[cyberdad]

Don't know about WPTR, but my guess is that KAAY is a pure cash cow with little or no investment on the part of Citadel in either the on-air product or the physical plant. From that standpoint, I wouldn't call it a waste of electricity. Although philosophically, its sad to see once-mighty powerhouses be reduced to this sort of operation.

 

[LibertyNT]

The Old KLIF 1190 was once a GREAT Radio Station.
Now ruined by Clear Channel and the KLIF calls moved to 570
1190 remains a rusting CNN Affiliate. with from what i understand little to no
local programming. For the longest time it was just rebroadcasting the TV CNN.
once a great Heritage Station now is long Dead. and for those of you wondering
KLIF 570 is indeed talk. same as 1190.

 

[BRNout]

Don't know about WPTR, but my guess is that KAAY is a pure cash cow with little or no investment on the part of Citadel in either the on-air product or the physical plant. From that standpoint, I wouldn't call it a waste of electricity. Although philosophically, its sad to see once-mighty powerhouses be reduced to this sort of operation.

Honestly, I am shocked to find out that KAAY is owned by Citadel! Easy enough to check, of course; I just never did. I cannot imagine the mindset that went into taking a 50 kw powerhouse and deciding to run that dreck on it. Yes, it's a wasted opportunity and a waste of juice. And, in a pre-emptive answer to all out there who would tell me how "radio is a business and it's not my money, etc., etc." I hereby refer to Citadel's stock price, credit rating and cash position. Clearly, they're less than brilliant - even if they do some things right.

As for KAAY, at the minimum, make a talker out of it to compliment KARN. Citadel has enough muscle with the syndicators to leverage carriage for decent shows on their 50 kw station, don't they? What they have on there now is just ridiculous.

A religious broadcaster owns WDCD (formerly WPTR) and runs it into the ground. Probably pockets the change from foolhardy listeners.

 

[gr8oldies]

It wasn't Citadel who flipped KAAY to brokered religion. That was done in the mid 80s by LIN, who owned them as a top 40. Though it's not a format i'd listen to, they seem to have most of the established, popular (and paying) programs and a couple of weird ones (Brother Stair). It's pretty recession proof when you come right down to it, and making it a second-tier talker or sports talker would't bring it a fraction of the revenue it gets from playing back fire and brimstone preachers.

 

[BRNout]

You mean people actually listen to that? I've never actually met anyone who did - and the ratings are never significant for such stuff. Not to mention that Little Rock is a market that's chock full of various types of religious formats (on AM and FM), many of which actually do have a decent audience.

Just because LIN ran it that way doesn't mean that Citadel had to stay the course. And, presented properly, KAAY need not be a second-rate talker. For one thing, you can have the 50 kw AM simulcast their talk FM (as KARN does now) - increasing the daytime range significantly. And, you gain a lot more listeners at night than you'd lose. Stick something else on the present 5 kw KARN AM signal. You can either run other talkers - or something different entirely.

Basically anything other than simulcasting WWV will outdraw the flaming crap that is coming out of KAAY now. And even that is debatable. Besides, why would Citadel want to own a 50 kw station that is in the same league as the snake-handlers? This isn't really what they do.

 

[radioman148]

You mean people actually listen to that? I've never actually met anyone who did - and the ratings are never significant for such stuff. Not to mention that Little Rock is a market that's chock full of various types of religious formats (on AM and FM), many of which actually do have a decent audience.

Just because LIN ran it that way doesn't mean that Citadel had to stay the course. And, presented properly, KAAY need not be a second-rate talker. For one thing, you can have the 50 kw AM simulcast their talk FM (as KARN does now) - increasing the daytime range significantly. And, you gain a lot more listeners at night than you'd lose. Stick something else on the present 5 kw KARN AM signal. You can either run other talkers - or something different entirely.

Basically anything other than simulcasting WWV will outdraw the flaming crap that is coming out of KAAY now. And even that is debatable. Besides, why would Citadel want to own a 50 kw station that is in the same league as the snake-handlers? This isn't really what they do.

I agree that KAAY sucks, but they must make money or they wouldn't keep the format.

 

[gr8oldies]

I hear you, but its reeliable money, month after month, year after year that no one has to beat the bushes for. Religious broadcasters will buy that huge signal and pay top dollar for it. They don't get into a lot of the outright extremist stuff that WNQM and WWCR in Nashville (Brother Stair is probaly the wackiest). Yes, people do listen to these preachers. KAAY could get better ratings, but why walk away from that revenue which wouldn't be that easy to replace.

 

[radioman148]

I hear you, but its reeliable money, month after month, year after year that no one has to beat the bushes for. Religious broadcasters will buy that huge signal and pay top dollar for it. They don't get into a lot of the outright extremist stuff that WNQM and WWCR in Nashville (Brother Stair is probaly the wackiest). Yes, people do listen to these preachers. KAAY could get better ratings, but why walk away from that revenue which wouldn't be that easy to replace.

Right, and the signal gets into all the areas that the other stations just cover locally.