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WLS AM/FM SOLD

At some point in the future it's going to come down to is there any format that is still viable on AM or is the owner better off selling the land that the towers are planted on. We're already seeing this in other countries.
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Perhaps to a degree; but keep this in mind: The clear channel stations serve some purpose. They can provide information over a large area, especially at night. When a major emergency arises, these stations can provide service that may not otherwise be available. Now if we were to eliminate many if not most of the non-clear channels and relocate those stations to an expanded FM band, that might not be a bad idea. WLS is however a clear channel radio station.
 
klutch00 said:
At some point in the future it's going to come down to is there any format that is still viable on AM or is the owner better off selling the land that the towers are planted on. We're already seeing this in other countries.
Click to expand...
Perhaps to a degree; but keep this in mind: The clear channel stations serve some purpose. They can provide information over a large area, especially at night. When a major emergency arises, these stations can provide service that may not otherwise be available. Now if we were to eliminate many if not most of the non-clear channels and relocate those stations to an expanded FM band, that might not be a bad idea. WLS is however a clear channel radio station.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you, but the question is what do the owners think? For them it's all about the mighty dollar.
Having said this it's hard for me to imagine the AM band being abandoned.
 
klutch00 said:
At some point in the future it's going to come down to is there any format that is still viable on AM or is the owner better off selling the land that the towers are planted on. We're already seeing this in other countries.
Click to expand...
Perhaps to a degree; but keep this in mind: The clear channel stations serve some purpose. They can provide information over a large area, especially at night. When a major emergency arises, these stations can provide service that may not otherwise be available.
Click to expand...

I'm on the Gulf Coast this week, where WWL is a perfect example. I'm about 160 miles from their stick and they're still the strongest and most reliable a.m. signal here....by far! (Thanks to a saltwater path.) They take very seriously their status and their obligation to provide vital emergency news and information during hurricanes, etc.

But they may be something of an exception to the rule.

Obviously the dynamics are different today than when the 1-A clear channels were established. Then there wide areas with no local services. OTOH, however, having a local signal may not automatically mean local programming or local news and information services.

So while the clears may no longer play most of the role for which they were originally intended, indeed there could be a role for at least some of these big signals in terms of providing news and information during emergencies. As for the allmighty dollar getting in the way....where's the FCC? Don't the airwaves belong to the public in the first place?

Not unlike the special rules that apply for the exit row on an airplane, shouldn't there be/aren't there conditions and obligations that go along with obtaining a licence to operate one of these blowtorches?
 
cyberdad said:
klutch00 said:
At some point in the future it's going to come down to is there any format that is still viable on AM or is the owner better off selling the land that the towers are planted on. We're already seeing this in other countries.
Click to expand...
Perhaps to a degree; but keep this in mind: The clear channel stations serve some purpose. They can provide information over a large area, especially at night. When a major emergency arises, these stations can provide service that may not otherwise be available.
Click to expand...

I'm on the Gulf Coast this week, where WWL is a perfect example. I'm about 160 miles from their stick and they're still the strongest and most reliable a.m. signal here....by far! (Thanks to a saltwater path.) They take very seriously their status and their obligation to provide vital emergency news and information during hurricanes, etc.

But they may be something of an exception to the rule.

Obviously the dynamics are different today than when the 1-A clear channels were established. Then there wide areas with no local services. OTOH, however, having a local signal may not automatically mean local programming or local news and information services.

So while the clears may no longer play most of the role for which they were originally intended, indeed there could be a role for at least some of these big signals in terms of providing news and information during emergencies. As for the almighty dollar getting in the way....where's the FCC? Don't the airwaves belong to the public in the first place?

Not unlike the special rules that apply for the exit row on an airplane, shouldn't there be/aren't there conditions and obligations that go along with obtaining a license to operate one of these blowtorches?
Click to expand...
This is why should my fantasy ever come true that each state get at least one clear channel station! I would also make a deal with the Canadians should they ever not want to use a given clear channel station that they be required to forfeit the use of that channel within, say five years or so. I say this as a response to how they abandoned both 690 and 940 in Montreal. If they want them, that's one thing; but if not, let someone else who's willing to utilize those frequencies use them to their fullest potential. I could think of two Florida radio stations who could do that!
 
It won't do much good to be there, in case of an emergency, if no one can receive their signal and in 20 years(very conservative estimate), no one will!
 
I just read that Casey Kasem's American Top 40 from back in the 60's and 70's playing the original broadcast will be heard on WLS FM Sunday Nights.
 
Dr Wayne said:
Have you notice that WLS's playlist has added more 80's songs? Maybe to compete with WJMK KHits? Radio wars have begun!
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They were doing that even before WJMK changed over, but I think they've added even more 80s.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Tom Wells said:
I don't know if CFZM 740 is making any money with their music format directed toward baby boomers,
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As has been posted, 740 is on the air only because a format for an underserved segment was proposed, as is the CRTC's preference. There have been reports that the station is not making much, and the introduction of the PPM to Canada hurt the station even more.

I find it hard to believe that Boomers would like that station. The beginning of the Baby Boom was 1/1/46, meaning that the oldest is 65. And that means that when rock 'n roll Top 40 radio took over youth listening in the 55-59 period the oldest boomer was a pre-teen. I don't know any 65-year-olds who are into Doris Day and Benny Goodman or even Sinatra... or more recent stuff that sounds like those stars of the previous generation.

Standards stations have had a hard time of it; even in the few markets where there is a disproportional amount of 65+ residents (think Palm Springs, not Phoenix) standards has not been a viable format except on very marginal signals that became part of a cluster because they came with an FM that was valuable (KOY Phoenix is an example).
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CFMZ is also owned by a multi-millionaire in Moses Znamier, the founder of CITY-TV; and has CFZM-FM - with a commercial classical music format - as a sister station. I suppose he can afford to take the financial hit from both of those in his portfolio.

Prior to 2000, CFMZ (which until 2006, had the CHWO calls) operated on a small, suburban regional channel. The CBC offered the transmitter and AM/740 clear channel allocation outright to CHWO after the CBC transferred CBL/740 to the FM dial. If I'm not mistaken, the CBC still owns the transmitter and pays for the upkeep, and CFZM simply rents it.

The CTRC has been encouraging smaller-market AM stations to transfer over to the FM dial and leave AM completely. Toronto is one of the last larger markets in the confederacy to still have a major AM presence... for now.

But then again, this is the same CRTC that doomed ALL of radio up there, not just with "Can-Con" but also with dictating what formats can be allowed on either AM or FM. No wonder mega-conglomerates like CTVglobemedia, Shaw and Rogers now control so much of their broadcast spectrum - radio, TV, cable and internet.

It's like CC, CBS or Citadel-Cumulus on steroids.
 
Dr Wayne said:
If you were the PD of WLS FM what would you change?
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Get rid of Scott Shannon & get more live Chicago DJs like Fred Winston or Tommy Edwards before he was hired by WJMK. I've been suggesting this for years. It will never happen now with the sale to Cumulus looming. Everything is in limbo. The highest rated DJ on WLS-FM is Dick Biondi. Besides the fact that he's loved by the audience it tells me that Chicagoans want familiar homegrown voices
 
Hire Steve Dahl and Gary Meier and piss them off so they rant on me everyday on the air. Great radio without question!
 
I agree get rid of Scott Shannon... Add Connie Szerson, Fred Winston, Scotty Brink or Chuck Buell.
Make it the Big 95 WLS. Bring back that 60's sound with jingles reflective of that decade. Play hits on the Silver Dollar survey each day reflective of a different year each day but of the same month or day when they were on the survey.
 
Dr Wayne said:
I agree get rid of Scott Shannon... Add Connie Szerson, Fred Winston, Scotty Brink or Chuck Buell.
Make it the Big 95 WLS. Bring back that 60's sound with jingles reflective of that decade. Play hits on the Silver Dollar survey each day reflective of a different year each day but of the same month or day when they were on the survey.
Click to expand...

That's what they've never understood over there. They have heritage call letters, but they've never come close to taking full advantage of that heritage edge. And before somebody brings this up I fully understand that they can't be heavily 60s oriented with todays demos, but why not take advantage of the 70s & 80s sound which WLS dominated in this town?
Unfortunately now that the sale to cumulus is in waiting nothing will happen. From what I've been told cumulus is notoriously cheap.
Obviously CBS (WJMK) smells the blood.
 
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