Where did the WAMO listeners go?

[MsMusicRadio]

Another old time analogy: Back in the Sixties KDKA radio served adults with AC before AC music and information. They were usually number 1 and KQV number 2. If we think of DVE music as music for middle aged adults and KDKA still information and they are one and two----------that means KISS is getting most of the youth market and that is where WAMO listeners have gone if they still use radio at all.

 

[pkffrom724]

To satellite radio or the internet for their jams....or an IPOD..my guess

For those that have HD Radio, here are two options:

WLTJ-FM (Q92.9) 92.9 HD2 - "Q in the City" --- Urban AC 24/7. Great mix of new and classic R&B. Unfortunately, no rap/hip-hop here, and they only would play very few "new" stuff.

WWSW-FM (3WS) 94.5 HD2 - rhythmic oldies. some of the best '70s and '80s R&B. If you're lucky, they'll usually play some original, extended versions of the many "core" songs of this genre.

 

[Johnnie_Radio]

Well there is WRPB Jamz 101.9 in Younstown which you may be able to pick up.....

Not sure if Z107.9 in Cleveland reaches that far ??? ???

 

[MsMusicRadio]

My daughter just plays CD's in the car.

 

[only1moore]

Well there is WRPB Jamz 101.9 in Younstown which you may be able to pick up.....

Not sure if Z107.9 in Cleveland reaches that far ??? ???

Neither station can reach Pittsburgh. BTW WENZ's signal is blocked by WDSY.

 

[VoteFM]

Well there is WRPB Jamz 101.9 in Younstown which you may be able to pick up.....

Not sure if Z107.9 in Cleveland reaches that far ??? ???

You must be talking about WRBP Jamz 101.9. But you can only pick that up if you live in Beaver County like Aliquip and Rochest Pa.
107.9 You can get that near like New Castle, pa
Thats sad no one wants to run an Urban & R&B Station in a city with 3 major sports teams in the Top 25 radio market but have junk stations like 98.3/106.7/100.7fm

 

[Parttimer]

The "junk station" 100.7 makes a lot of money.

The other two ended up being sold by distressed sellers to buyers who could pay cash, in an economny where no financing was available.

 

[wprt949]

im shocked radio-one did not try to make an offer for WAMO-FM

 

[Parttimer]

By all accounts Radio One was the first phone call Sheridan made. But they are fighting their own economic battles, the sale was something that had to happen quickly, and they had to go to a buyer who could pay cash.

It is extremely difficult for most existing companies to take on any new properties of any size right now because they still need financing to do these deals, and it just hasn't broken loose yet.

CBS has entire markets they want to sell, Orlando, for instance, but they can't find buyers.

 

[VoteFM]

im shocked radio-one did not try to make an offer for WAMO-FM

They probably was never even aware. and Sheridan wanted to sell the stations ASAP. But that is sad Pittsburgh is the only station in the Top 30 Radio market with no urban station or at Least Churban

@Parttimer
100.7 is a junk station 2 different formats in like a year or 2 years. Of course a station like that is going to sell in Pittsburgh. Just like 92.9.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

@Parttimer
100.7 is a junk station 2 different formats in like a year or 2 years. Of course a station like that is going to sell in Pittsburgh. Just like 92.9.
[/quote]

I don't quite get your reasoning or terminology. They had the same format (crappy as it may have been) for years and years before they changed it, and that was only necessitated because B-94 turned into The Fan. It's not as though they've changed formats frequently.

 

[pkffrom724]

Well there is WRPB Jamz 101.9 in Younstown which you may be able to pick up.....

Not sure if Z107.9 in Cleveland reaches that far ??? ???

You must be talking about WRBP Jamz 101.9. But you can only pick that up if you live in Beaver County like Aliquip and Rochest Pa.
107.9 You can get that near like New Castle, pa

As far as Z107.9 in Cleveland, OH, that station is also available in parts of Lawrence, Mercer (Sharon-Hermitage) and Crawford counties in PA, and Mahoning (Youngstown) and Trumbull counties in Ohio. Not so sure about Erie County, PA.

WRBP Jamz 101.9 on the other hand, has a "low-powered" 3kw signal, and would only go as far as about 20-25 miles. When that station first began in 1993, it was an Urban AC, but in recent years, they "tweaked" their format and threw some R&B/Hip-Hop in to gain some listeners.

Thats sad no one wants to run an Urban & R&B Station in a city with 3 major sports teams in the Top 25 radio market but have junk stations like 98.3/106.7/100.7fm

 

[MsMusicRadio]

100.7 has had many formats over the years including country, soft AC, CHR, and MixJamz or something like that. However, it has been Hot AC for a few years. 100.7 and 104.7 both had a lot of trouble finding an identity until 100.7 became Star and 104.7 switched to talk

 

[Parttimer]

@Parttimer
100.7 is a junk station 2 different formats in like a year or 2 years. Of course a station like that is going to sell in Pittsburgh. Just like 92.9.

Sorry, dude, do your homework. Aside from tweaking it to incorporate some of B94s music, Star hasn't changed formats in quite some time now. They bill because they do well with 35-44 women.

The fact that you don't like what they play doesn't make it a junk station.

 

[VoteFM]

@Parttimer
100.7 is a junk station 2 different formats in like a year or 2 years. Of course a station like that is going to sell in Pittsburgh. Just like 92.9.

Sorry, dude, do your homework. Aside from tweaking it to incorporate some of B94s music, Star hasn't changed formats in quite some time now. They bill because they do well with 35-44 women.

The fact that you don't like what they play doesn't make it a junk station.

There you go they do well with a small selective group thats why they always make tweeks. Its just my option im not making this into a Democratic debate over a radio station lol its really not that serious.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

I used to like Star best when I come here, but now I like Bob better. Stick that in your PPM. Star is getting a little to hard for me and they are not voted number one at work. Do they have 50 minute music hours?

 

[secondchoice]

Thanks Keytimes950. You would think some broadcaster with a good signal in the market, that’s not making a lot of money, would jump on this (especially some one out of the top 10 rating wise.)

There are no good FM signals outside the Top 10 in the market, except for 106.7 itself.

There are “urban” sales pros out there so the cash will come in if you hire the correct sales team. CBS has V103 here in Atlanta. It is a cash & ratings machine!

You can't compare Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Atlanta is the South's hub of African-American professionals and commerce. It compares with markets like DC, NY and Philly. Here, unfortunately, urban radio is just a tough sell.

I am making an assumption based on 8 + % black listed on the market ratings from this web site. An Urban station is a starting P1 of over 150,000. I know not all blacks listen to hip hop / rap. Based on my personal experience, (my county is over 70% non ethnic) when the teenagers “take over” a parking lot at night the music playing is rap until the cops show up. Rap / hip hop might have started as an urban but has a significant young white audience too. I personally believe that WAMO (what great call letters!), could have marketed themselves better. A good radio sales professional can make you $$ with an under 30 demos. I realize the terrain makes the coverage’s from the maps unreliable, and Pittsburg is lacking in good FM signals (almost as bad as Atlanta per person) but somebody (CBS or CC) sooner or later will $erve this part of the market. There is a demo hole here to be filled. BTW I do not like or listen to rap or hip hop. Just an old white guy with sales and programming experience.

 

[VoteFM]

Thanks Keytimes950. You would think some broadcaster with a good signal in the market, that’s not making a lot of money, would jump on this (especially some one out of the top 10 rating wise.)

There are no good FM signals outside the Top 10 in the market, except for 106.7 itself.

There are “urban” sales pros out there so the cash will come in if you hire the correct sales team. CBS has V103 here in Atlanta. It is a cash & ratings machine!

You can't compare Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Atlanta is the South's hub of African-American professionals and commerce. It compares with markets like DC, NY and Philly. Here, unfortunately, urban radio is just a tough sell.

I am making an assumption based on 8 + % black listed on the market ratings from this web site. An Urban station is a starting P1 of over 150,000. I know not all blacks listen to hip hop / rap. Based on my personal experience, (my county is over 70% non ethnic) when the teenagers “take over” a parking lot at night the music playing is rap until the cops show up. Rap / hip hop might have started as an urban but has a significant young white audience too. I personally believe that WAMO (what great call letters!), could have marketed themselves better. A good radio sales professional can make you $$ with an under 30 demos. I realize the terrain makes the coverage’s from the maps unreliable, and Pittsburg is lacking in good FM signals (almost as bad as Atlanta per person) but somebody (CBS or CC) sooner or later will $erve this part of the market. There is a demo hole here to be filled. BTW I do not like or listen to rap or hip hop. Just an old white guy with sales and programming experience.

well theres a strong signal and that is 98.3 Pittsburgh. There signal may not be as strong as 105.9 or 104.7 but i think 98.3 signal is being wasted. K-Love stations are usually on low powered stations. I think that if there was a Urban Station in Pittsburgh it will be R&B because it attacts a more population then Hip-Hop & R&B especially since Rap is now more popular and way more negative then Hip-Hop. im a 24 yr old black man and the music now is Garbage theres no message and now you have the PPM and thats affecting alot of Urban stations. So its going to be hard for someone to step up to the plate and change to an Urban format. Atlantas WVEE 103.3. That station been #1 for a very very very long time.

 

[Jay F]

The fact WAMO is gone is a huge loss. I really think that the loss of WAMO occurred when they moved from 105.9 to 106.7. It always used to be HOT 106 WAMO. Then again that's just me.

Yet they had some of their best ratings (in recent times) towards the end. So I would say the sale/format change was a much bigger loss than the frequncy change was.

Where have the former WAMO listeners gone? Of those who still listen to radio the obvious answer is WKST...they have gone up in the ratings each and every month since...although this is also due to the B format flip.

 

[Talk_Dude]

I am making an assumption based on 8 + % black listed on the market ratings from this web site. An Urban station is a starting P1 of over 150,000. I know not all blacks listen to hip hop / rap. Based on my personal experience, (my county is over 70% non ethnic) when the teenagers “take over” a parking lot at night the music playing is rap until the cops show up. Rap / hip hop might have started as an urban but has a significant young white audience too.

When a car pulls up alongside me and the sound system is cranked loud enough for me to hear what is being played, if the music is identifiable as "hip-hop", regardless of the ethnicity of the driver, I do not think they are listening to a radio station. What makes me suspect it is not the radio is that the song lyrics include many words that the FCC won't allow and I never hear a DJ talking or a commercial -- only wall-to-wall music. How does a radio station convince listeners to tune in their station with DJ, commercials, and censored lyrics if the audience prefers no DJ's, no commercials, and filthy lyrics?