WPOT Hot 97.5 Boston

[KarsonWithaK]

Well, someone is spending some money on that station. I watched one of the videos w/ a DJ mixing and they have a lot of nice gear.

2 Denon 3500's: $700 a piece new
2 Technics 1200: $500 a piece new
Serato Software & Rane Mixer: $1,500

Plus monitors, stands, cabling and laptop. Not to mention any broadcast equipment. It looks as if it's a permanent setup and not something the DJ just hauled in for his shift. I have the same gear sitting in my basement collecting dust. ???

Wiki Wiki

K~

 

[Eli Polonsky]

That's a lot of pirates. I just don't understand why someone up there won't take a chance and program a good solid urban station up there. It seems there is a market for it.

Only two of the dozen FM pirates I posted above, 97.5 and 106.1, are Urban (R&B, Soul or Hip-Hop). The rest are all Caribbean and/or Reggae, or Haitian.

 

[nd2023]

Well, someone is spending some money on that station. I watched one of the videos w/ a DJ mixing and they have a lot of nice gear.

2 Denon 3500's: $700 a piece new
2 Technics 1200: $500 a piece new
Serato Software & Rane Mixer: $1,500

Plus monitors, stands, cabling and laptop. Not to mention any broadcast equipment. It looks as if it's a permanent setup and not something the DJ just hauled in for his shift. I have the same gear sitting in my basement collecting dust. ???

Wiki Wiki

K~

The money comes from illegally selling commercials and not paying taxes.

 

[trock]

Taking on the toothless fcc is one thing. Taking on the IRS is suicide. I'm sure there using a production company name to report with. But I could be wrong.

 

[BoscoGoldBear]

Speaking of Hip hop pirates, where has Rapking been?

I was thinking the same thing myself! If rapking wasn't banned (or - heaven forbid - hasn't died himself), I could've seen him making a few posts on the Michael Jackson thread which I started. I hope all is fine with "rapking."

 

[beantownradio25]

I've been listening to this station online the last few days, and they sound very professional and much like the "old" Hot 97, as they have alot of the same on air staff, and the same voiceover guy, but when I tried to listen to them in Boston on 97.5, near the statehouse, all I could hear was a distant WOKQ and some fringes of the station. It's kind of unfortunate because the station sounds really good, but I doubt they will last on that frequency. WKAF is probably already preparing complaints. People in Boston, your best bet right now is 101.3, a strong pirate, or 99.9 The Beat (www.999thebeat.net), a new internet radio station in Boston that also plays Hip Hop and R&B, I've been listening to them alot at work.

 

[kms575]

The only real Hot 97 is a few ticks down the dial and about 250 miles south along I-95.

 

[MR. JAROME_CALVIN]

look at all those Hip Hop Pirate Radiuo Stations, Urban AC Pirates, and Caribbean Pirates, look how many there are in Boston, most you can only hear in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury area. If you have computer access, if they broadcast online (most of them do broadcast live online) then you can listen via computer
But some people do not have computer access, and some people do not live in those areas. What about people living outside Boston (example: Medford, Lynn, Peabody, Danvers, Brockton, Woburn :Example) what about the people living outside the city who like Urban AC and Caribbean music.

It is so sad what is going on with this


It's all because of the loss of W I L D 1090, and W I L D 97.7 and Star 93.7 . That's why there are all those Urban AC and Urban Pirate radio stations. Radio One messed up both 1090 and 97.7 and Entercom took away 97.7

It sucks that no one in Radio Management (92.9, or 93.7), (not) want to help.

Don't go numbers or ratings, or cumes, (GO TO THE PEOPLE DIRECTLY!!!!!!) It's so sad to see Boston, a diverse city without an Urban AC or Rhythmic AC station.

There's no more for me to say because no one ever listen to me and all you other people say is "it won't happen" You all always say that because you are the ones who don't like it. It's a sad world

 

[trock]

I"m listening to wpot LOL. Luv those call letters. I'm surprised Pat Garret (I believe that's his name) there voice over guy can say those with a straight face. But I gotta tell ya they sound really good. Much better than Jam'n. I think all these urban pirates need to pull there resources and buy 1090. I'm sure radio one wants out of this market any way's. Put a 24 hour stream on it call it "wild24.com" or something. So at least you'll have some presence during off hours. At least until u can apply for an FM translator down the road. I know it's AM but the signal blankets the urban areas and the surrounding suburbs. As apposed to a couple of blocks on a nice day. Plus WILD is heritage and people would probably turn anywhere to hear good urban music at this point.

 

[johnster]

What about HD2? You could ask one of the majors what it would cost to program an HD2 and blanket the market. I have to think if they were making money on HD2 this whole HD thing would take on a different place.

 

[trock]

What about HD2? You could ask one of the majors what it would cost to program an HD2 and blanket the market. I have to think if they were making money on HD2 this whole HD thing would take on a different place.

Not many people have HD radios and the signal is iffy. Which is why the format is struggling. I think my strategy could work. With some aggressive marketing.

 

[beantownradio25]

I think all these urban pirates need to pull there resources and buy 1090. I'm sure radio one wants out of this market any way's. Put a 24 hour stream on it call it "wild24.com" or something. So at least you'll have some presence during off hours. At least until u can apply for an FM translator down the road.

They should, Radio One has been selling all of their stations in markets with "low" African American populations the last few years (6% in Boston), that's why 97.7 was sold to Entercom, so they probably would sell 1090. If they combined their rescources, before we know it, we would have a brand new legitimate Urban station in Boston! Those pirates are making a ton of money from illegally selling commercials. The only pirate legitimately selling commercials is Touch 106.1, because in their heads they think they're a legal LPFM station (lol).

But what is up with 1090 anyways? Last time I tuned in, it was Classic Soul on the weekends and Syndication One Talk Shows on the weekdays? Are they carrying Tom Joyner? I've never had a chance to tune into the station in the morning, an unnofficial myspace page of the stations says they do?

As far as translators go, if they have any money left, they could try to buy WGBH's 96.3 translator? I know the translator is really low power but hey, it's some legit FM presense.

 

[beantownradio25]

ALSO what I don't get, is why they didn't use 97.3 instead? Wouldn't that frequency work better for a pirate? Why 97.5? On 97.5, they are on a first ajacent to local station WKAF 97.7 and literally broadcasting over New Hampshire country station WOKQ 97.5, a station that, at times, can be audiable in Greater Boston. I just think the station has a better chance of lasting and a better chance of no complaints on 97.3. Also better recpetion in Boston itself, on their facebook, some comments are from listeners like "yo im a fan but i can never get a clear signal on my radio"'

 

[beantownradio25]

96.5 sounds like a Caribbean Pirate as well, I start picking that up around Fields Corner as well

I picked up 96.5 in Waltham today during a scan and thought to myself, is this a pirate? They're a little fuzzy in Waltham but definately still audiable. I heard a mixshow, and the deejay sounded to be mixing reggae and carribean music. The deejay refferred to the station as "96.5 FM" but other than that, no station identifications I could hear.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

But what is up with 1090 anyways? Last time I tuned in, it was Classic Soul on the weekends and Syndication One Talk Shows on the weekdays? Are they carrying Tom Joyner? I've never had a chance to tune into the station in the morning, an unnofficial myspace page of the stations says they do?

They carry Tom Joyner weekday mornings, and other syndicated talk (Al Sharpton, etc...) until 4 PM. Then it flips to jockless automated Classic Soul music from 4 PM until sign-off weekdays, all day Saturday, and after the morning Gospel on Sundays. There are also some paid infomercial shows thrown in on weekends.

As far as translators go, if they have any money left, they could try to buy WGBH's 96.3 translator? I know the translator is really low power but hey, it's some legit FM presense.

I don't think WGBH wants to sell that. They're paying MIT college station WMBR $100/month rent for the tower space for that. I believe they have some big donors on the "wrong" side of Beacon Hill from their main transmitter on Blue Hill and in the Back Bay who make it worth their expense in fundraising. That's why they have it. It's such a narrow, directional signal that it wouldn't do much good for an urban format.

ALSO what I don't get, is why they didn't use 97.3 instead?

97.3 has a 50 kW full-time Portuguese station from New Bedford on it, which can be heard in it's fringes up here. Maybe the "Hot 97" pirates could have decided they didn't want to go co-channel on top of it.

I picked up 96.5 in Waltham today during a scan and thought to myself, is this a pirate? They're a little fuzzy in Waltham but definately still audiable. I heard a mixshow, and the deejay sounded to be mixing reggae and carribean music. The deejay refferred to the station as "96.5 FM" but other than that, no station identifications I could hear.

That's the 96.5 pirate from somewhere in the Dorchester or Mattapan area. It can be heard, weakly, all over greater Boston on a good car stereo. The closest legitimate station on 96.5 is Classic Rock station WMLL "The Mill" from Manchester, NH

 

[beantownradio25]

Oh ok

I remember in 1999 I went to open up a pirate station in Northern Mass (Lowell area), bought the equipment, choose a frequency, had a tower site and everything, but then my friend in Missouri got busted for pirate radio operations, and thought OH SNAP! (I was a foolish 18 year old that never thought the FCC was serious about cracking down on pirate stations) and sold everything as fast as I could hahahaha.

 

[robotique]

I"m listening to wpot LOL. Luv those call letters. I'm surprised Pat Garret (I believe that's his name) there voice over guy can say those with a straight face.

i love that guy's voice. he's quality voice talent. i need him to record my phone voicemail greeting! I would totally pay.

anyway, yeah the boston pirates are crazy ...and there are so many. 102.9 Choice FM, 101.3 Big City FM, 106.1 Touch FM etc. Lots have web presence and i know Choice and Touch have been fined tens of thousands of dollars but are still on the air.

 

[trock]

I"m listening to wpot LOL. Luv those call letters. I'm surprised Pat Garret (I believe that's his name) there voice over guy can say those with a straight face.

i love that guy's voice. he's quality voice talent. i need him to record my phone voicemail greeting! I would totally pay.

anyway, yeah the boston pirates are crazy ...and there are so many. 102.9 Choice FM, 101.3 Big City FM, 106.1 Touch FM etc. Lots have web presence and i know Choice and Touch have been fined tens of thousands of dollars but are still on the air.

Yeah he is good. He also does WBLS in New York to i believe. If radio one would have left the little AM urban daytimer that could alone! We wouldn't have half of the pirates we have now.

 

[robotique]

http://www.patgarrettcreative.com/


i'm totally going to get his rates LOL

 

[hiphopRadio]

I guess they represent themselves to clients as an only online urban station since a lot of sign urban artist be in therr studios, and have Pat as the voice of there station ID.an i seen there studio on youtube look nice, and pretty expensive maybe they are trying to become an legal station on the fm dial in the future i guess.