Mark Giardina said:
raymond_shaw said:
Even back when AM was still king, rimshot stations with limited signals didn't do well. Does anyone remember the old WADD in Brockport? It's now a religious station, but for many years, under several different owners, they struggled with live dj's. And this was back in the 70s.
It sounds like the engineer put this station on the air for the sole purpose of selling it to somebody. Anyone have a guess as to what the price would be? My guess is not too high a price.
Oh yes I remember WADD. From what I was told that station had the opportunity to land on a frequency in the 5 to 600 AM range but the owner at the time, some car dealer, thought that instead of 500kw on the lower AM band wasn't as good at 1kw on 1560AM. Shows you how much this person knew about radio doesn't it?
What ever happens I don't see 1330 AM making a dent into the Rochester market. That doesn't mean that the station could not be successful. There are a few rural stations that have been around for years and are somewhat profitable. But in this day and age it will be tough for WMJQ. As for the purchase price, I would say maybe $500,000 max.
Well, let me step into this morass and admit that I am a WADD alumnus. 'Course, I was 14 when I worked there... heh! And I realize that admitting I actually worked there destroys any remaining credibility I may have had up to this point, but what the hell!
WADD was a 1 kW three-tower directional AM at the time operating on 1560, which as most of us radio junkies know, was home to clear channel 50kW non-directional WQXR-AM (at the time) New York.
The WADD story is unique, but not so much so that it probably hasn't been repeated in many small or smaller towns throughout America.
I only spent about eight blissful (and you know what often comprises "bliss") months doing mornings at WADD. I was also a part-time student at Buffalo state at the time (ironic considering I was working in Brockport, home of Brockport state and common sense might indicate that I'd have transfered, but that would have been too easy.) My GPA was mildly subterranean to say the least. Hey, it was 1972, gas was 32 cents a gallon! I drove a VW bug, had a First Ticket and was a radio junkie. I started at The Big Wad in April of 72 and was out (beating the hangman) by December of the same year. To say I was mediocre would be a compliment.
WADD wasn't owned by "some car dealer," it was owned by the esteemed Duryea family of Brockport, primarily Irwin Duryea, who with his brothers, owned Duryea Ford and plenty of real estate in the area. The Duryea family was (is) well-respected in the community. Mr. Duryea would speak to me (and his emplyees) from time to time and he treated me well, but he left the management of his station to ex-Rochester radio people who may not have had Mr. Duryea's best interests at heart and may have advised him improperly. The exception was Dan Kelly, the PD at the time, who was diligent, sensible and did his best to make WADD work.
The story, as has been touched on briefly by Mark Giardina, is that initially WADD could have applied for a different frequency. It's been half a lifetime, but the frequency that comes to mind is 730 kHz. This may not be exact, as 740 in Toronto literally screams across the lake. At the time, WADD could have operated as a 500 Watt fulltime facility, mildly directional or non directional. For whatever reason, the consultants, managers or advisors recommended 1560. Talk about bad advice and one decision affecting peoples' lives and a business venture! I also heard long after I left the station, that an FM frequency could have been applied for (I'm thinking it may have been 103.9) but they felt "nobody listened to FM."
Arrrrggghhhhh!
WADD on 1560 had a tight cardioid pappern that resembled a black widow, with most of the RF being thrown over lake Ontario. It was a fish-feeder, #1 in muskies and sturgeon! Trenton, Ontario got a better signal better than Spencerport, seven miles down the road! The signal went just about everywhere the population
wasn't. What a mess!
WADD had limited PSA (Pre-Sunrise Authority), one half hour after sunrise in New York City. In the winter months, WQXR could be heard beating on or bleeding through the air monitor until about 10 a.m. and when the carrier was killed at 4:30 p.m., WQXR came in like a local! Most of all, many of the locals weren't fond of the station because it blotted out KB. The folks at WBSU ridiculed the station as well. WADD was the Rodney Dangerfield of radio stations. It's directional pattern was so critical that rain and atmospheric conditions could knock the pattern out of tolerance.
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The station was a nightmare, but it gave me the opportunity to learn while working and the irony is, when visiting relatives in Rochester (and my oldest son, who until recently worked in Rochester as an attorney at the Fourth Department Appellate Court) I would ALWAYS check in on 1590. Yup... same bad signal... barely audible... and the programming might appeal to the same eight listeners who have to position their AM radio's "just right" to get the station.
It's a small world. Some years ago, Dan Neaverth told me that he actually considered buying the station years earlier. My good friend, Tom Atkins did an analysis and advised Danny of the risks. Good advice, Tom.
If you're a radio person who's worked in the minors, tell me you don't have a few stories that sound just like this one.
Best regards,
Jim
