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Would FM Simulcasts of 1010 WINS and WCBS NewsRadio 880 be smart?
the notion that people will no longer use AM is insane. Promote your AM station. It's not that difficult of a concept to figure out. I don't quite understand why someone can't push one button on their radio.
XCountry285 said:
There are several good reasons why most people don't ever listen to AM.
First, in most markets there are only a couple of AMs that truly cover the whole market. In NY, even supposedly larger signals like WEPN, WINS and WBBR don't cover the full market day and night. In some others, like DC, no AM covers the market.
Second, since the popularization of flourescent lights, AM stations have battled an increasing interference level. Dimmers, medical equipment, many wall warts, LED light bulbs and most microprocessors in computers, phones, refrigerators, etc., produce AM interference which means that it takes a stronger and stronger signal to overcome the noise... and since the FCC never chose to license high and medium power stations, we have relatively low power AMs in the US.
Then there is the fact that AM sounds terrible. In some cases, it's due to the analog reduction of the high end to just over 5 kHz, in others due to the stiff NRSC cut at 10 kHz or in general due to the crappy AM radios made today and in the last 20 years.
And, if that were not enough, look at dozens of markets around the US where established AMs, finding their under-55 listenership fading, added or moved to FM. Almost all found major increases in 35-54 and 45-54 after the FM strategy was implemented. In other words, listeners liked the format but would not listen to it on AM.
The notion that most people under 60 will listen to AM is anything but insane.
DavidEduardo said:
I know a lot of people in their 30's that listen to WFAN and WEPN (when it was on AM). If you put on programming that appeals to a younger demo they will listen. The problem isn't just the AM signal, the bigger problem is that most AM stations have a talk or news format that simply doesn't appeal to younger demos. Most younger people get their news from the internet and smartphones. I don't know any young people that listen to talk radio and all it's political left/right banter all day. Again, that appeals to an older demo. If you took a station like WOR or WABC and put it on FM, you're not suddenly going to get younger people tuning in that wouldn't have listened on AM.
It is. They just get to promote their call letters and dial position another time.recto101 said:
1010wins.com redirects to http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/news/
then eliminate news/talk & sports radio because we can get them on tv/smartphones/internet.
satech said:
Question 1: How many listeners do they have?
Question 2: How many AMs has Disney sold or closed down in the last couple of years?
^ This. Does a single Disney radio outlet have even a 1.0 share?DavidEduardo said:
As of August 2011: "Radio Disney, which consists of 32 owned and operated stations across the country, plus several affiliates, averaged 24.5 million weekly listeners ages 6 and up in spring 2010 and 2011."DavidEduardo said:
Some, but mostly in smaller markets, the same as what happened with ESPN Radio. Clearly, the goal is more about establishing the brand than it is about raking in the dough, otherwise they would've sold off their major-market 50 kW sticks, rather than small-town graveyard-channel stations.
Actually, PPM is 6+ now, diaries are still 12+.
Radio Disney isn't meant to be listened to, it's meant to have a presence in a market. Hence, they're on AM's with usually crappy signals.
WQEW in NYC has some of the worst audio I've ever heard on an AM. Granted they're running IBOC, but that still isn't a reason to modulate at 75%.
Nobody is listening in NYC http://www.radio-info.com/stations/wqew-am, which is why I question that "24.5 million weekly" number.
Radio Disney isn't meant to be listened to, it's meant to have a presence in a market. Hence, they're on AM's with usually crappy signals.
WQEW in NYC has some of the worst audio I've ever heard on an AM. Granted they're running IBOC, but that still isn't a reason to modulate at 75%.
Nobody is listening in NYC http://www.radio-info.com/stations/wqew-am, which is why I question that "24.5 million weekly" number.
It doesn't help that their analog audio is only 4.5 kHz bandwidth, making it sound very much like "music on hold" through a telephone. And yes, their modulation level seems unusually low.WNTIRadio said:
The Radio Disney affiliate for Philadelphia (640 WWJZ) turned off their IBOC a while back and now is running full 10 kHz NRSC analog audio. It's a night-and-day difference in audio quality between them and WQEW, even on a fairly narrowband receiver.
WWJZ sounds like FM compared to WQEW.
I take care of a few AMs, and all are running the full NRSC bandwidth. And I go out of my way to make sure they are sounding both loud and clean. It does make a difference on any receiver, when you're not contributing to the problem by building in distortion.
WOR is also running IBOC, and their audio, while still a little more "harsh" than WABC, sounds 100 times better than WQEW. But like I said, Disney doesn't give a crap what it sounds like as long as it's on the air in some fashion. A far cry from the audio when WQEW was running C-QUAM stereo...
I take care of a few AMs, and all are running the full NRSC bandwidth. And I go out of my way to make sure they are sounding both loud and clean. It does make a difference on any receiver, when you're not contributing to the problem by building in distortion.
WOR is also running IBOC, and their audio, while still a little more "harsh" than WABC, sounds 100 times better than WQEW. But like I said, Disney doesn't give a crap what it sounds like as long as it's on the air in some fashion. A far cry from the audio when WQEW was running C-QUAM stereo...
satech said:
In all 48 PPM markets, as has been mentioned, 6-12 is definitely measured and has been since PPM began.
ansky212 said:
And borrowing a point on the first page of this thread, the women will listen, as well. Proof: WFAN did a promotional stop in my neck of the woods recently and there were a few women present. And they didn't seem like "prize pigs," they sounded like they knew their local sports.
recto101 said:
The site may be defunct, but the URL is valid. It points back to cbsnewyork.com.
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