wsjw 92.7

[RBW]

Anyone have any opinions on WSJW 92.7 as a format/station as a whole? I used to listen to the stream at work, but it got blocked after awhile. I think I may of found another way to access it... but the last time I heard them, they weren't sticking to the format in my opinion, but straying into more of a "pop"-infused sound.

How are their ratings?

And is Starview really a town?

 

[vetguy]

Starview is a small area near Mt. Wolf in East Manchester Township, York County. It does have its own zip code, although the area is mostly made up of two churches, about 20 houses and a mobile home park. It qualified with the FCC as a city of license for 92.7. I have heard stories that the first studios/offices were in a mobile home in the park to meet the main studio rules of that day.

 

[John-Summers]

Starview is a small area near Mt. Wolf in East Manchester Township, York County. It does have its own zip code, although the area is mostly made up of two churches, about 20 houses and a mobile home park. It qualified with the FCC as a city of license for 92.7. I have heard stories that the first studios/offices were in a mobile home in the park to meet the main studio rules of that day.

The mobile home park is actually larger than the "town." I remember the day that station signed-on, in November of 1971. The broadcast day was from 8am until 11pm. The "format" was truly eclectic: a mix of middle-of-the-road, easy listening and some Top 40 stuff in the daytime with Dennis Fulton and Joyce Moul, then free-form progressive rock at night with Paul Athey and Dennis Fulton (again). Whatever hit the turntable, and whatever anyone could bring from home. Soon it was all free-form. The morning show came from the mobile home, but the rest of the day came from the transmitter site, way way up there on the mountain, adding to the station's mystique.

The story I heard on the "Starview" city of license is that 92.7 was allocated to Columbia, but it had never been applied for. There was no way to put it on the air from a site near Columbia without it causing interference to 103.3 for some reason. So Gordon Moul, who built the place (for $40,000 I heard), managed to get it re-allocated to an obscure York County community that became somewhat famous because the radio station started calling itself "Starview," although most listeners never realized there was such a town. It may have been the first instance of a radio station using a name as an identifier over its call letters, which were WRHY.

 

[RockofHBG]

Some more "Starview" history. Please correct me if I'm wrong. In 1976, WRHY was purchased from Gordon Moul by Harrea Broadcasting, Mike Rea and Al Dame, the owners of WKBO. After acquiring WRHY, Harrea changed the progressive AOR to the more regimented Burkhardt-Abrams consulted "Superstars" format, a more top 40 approach to AOR. That lasted until 1981, when WRHY flipped to the adult standard format "Music Of Your Life" after being decimated ratings-wise by the new AOR FM 104 WTPA. Then in 1983, Harrea sold WRHY to some partners that included "Banana" Joe Montione and Doug George who flipped the calls to WHTF and became CHR "92 Rock" (an interesting name since it was not a rock oriented CHR, but very down the middle, playing all the hits). A disagreement between the partners led to a format change back to AOR and the name "Starview 92.7", but leaving the WHTF calls intact. Then eventually there was a sale to Hall Communications (The Rose)and subsequent format changes to classic rock (The Eagle), oldies and then smooth jazz.

 

[RBW]

Some more "Starview" history. Please correct me if I'm wrong. In 1976, WRHY was purchased from Gordon Moul by Harrea Broadcasting, Mike Rea and Al Dame, the owners of WKBO. After acquiring WRHY, Harrea changed the progressive AOR to the more regimented Burkhardt-Abrams consulted "Superstars" format, a more top 40 approach to AOR. That lasted until 1981, when WRHY flipped to the adult standard format "Music Of Your Life" after being decimated ratings-wise by the new AOR FM 104 WTPA. Then in 1983, Harrea sold WRHY to some partners that included "Banana" Joe Montione and Doug George who flipped the calls to WHTF and became CHR "92 Rock" (an interesting name since it was not a rock oriented CHR, but very down the middle, playing all the hits). A disagreement between the partners led to a format change back to AOR and the name "Starview 92.7", but leaving the WHTF calls intact. Then eventually there was a sale to Hall Communications (The Rose)and subsequent format changes to classic rock (The Eagle), oldies and then smooth jazz.

Wow! and very interesting! That seems like a staggering amount of format changes in a relatively short span of years. It might almost seem as if the current format has been in place the longest!

 

[Interstate 78]

My favorite station in central PA. Go back to the main Central PA board and find the thread from a few weeks ago titled "Interesting Smooth Jazz 92.7 article" for an interesting conversation on WSJW. They're one of the last smooth jazz stations standing doing a format that is quickly becoming very rare. And they seem to be doing well and making $$ with it. The pop music you hear is just a sign of the times with smooth jazz radio. But I actually believe WSJW's pop vocals are more jazzy than other smooth jazz stations who play totally un-jazz vocals. If you want to hear "real" smooth jazz the way it's supposed to be done, listen to "Watercolors" on Sirius/XM. But for a terrestrial smooth jazz station, WSJW is one of the best in the country.

 

[vetguy]

The 92.7 transmitting site cannot be any closer to 103.3 than roughly 10 miles due an IF spacing FCC rule. Don't have the exact spacing limit in front of me. If not for that, Hall could have diplexed 92.7 on the antenna/tower with 101.3. IF spacing will never let that happen. (IF=intermediate frequency)

103.3 minus 92.7 is 10.6 MHz which is very close to the IF used in all FM radios. The signals would mix and cause a problem inside the receiver. This really applied to analog radios. I am not sure if it would affect digital receivers used today.

 

[Pastywhitethighs]

Starview 92 was the ____ in the 80's...

Mike Tyler, Mike Ondayko, Uncle Igor, Dave Powers, Tim Drayer (RIP), Carol Seidel (who is STILL there!!)

I loved that station. I'm proud to have worked there for a spell.

 

[RBW]

My favorite station in central PA. Go back to the main Central PA board and find the thread from a few weeks ago titled "Interesting Smooth Jazz 92.7 article" for an interesting conversation on WSJW. They're one of the last smooth jazz stations standing doing a format that is quickly becoming very rare. And they seem to be doing well and making $$ with it. The pop music you hear is just a sign of the times with smooth jazz radio. But I actually believe WSJW's pop vocals are more jazzy than other smooth jazz stations who play totally un-jazz vocals. If you want to hear "real" smooth jazz the way it's supposed to be done, listen to "Watercolors" on Sirius/XM. But for a terrestrial smooth jazz station, WSJW is one of the best in the country.

Thanks for pointing out that previous thread!

And yes, I think Paul Scott's article is on the money. However I can see that kind of approach working much better in a smaller market area... which they have indeed proven. I hope they can continue the momentum.

In listening today as I did, I still need to slightly disagree in the comment that their vocals are "more jazzy" than some other SJ outlets. This is due to hearing Jeffrey Osborne, Smoky Robinson, Phil Collins and Bobby Caldwell's less than jazzy hit, "What You Won't Do For Love" all in the late morn- early afternoon today. I'm just saying (that for me) I prefer a vocal mix featuring more Diana Krall, Steely Dan, some of Caldwell's more "jazzier" tracks... older Simply Red, Mesa, etc. And at times... maybe WSJW DOES feature some of those. One of things they do that I like, is to usually END a set with an instrumental, then BEGIN the next set with an instrumental. But I'm not too keen on their general 1 inst., for every vocal ratio.

I enjoy streaming KOYT from Phoenix. They usually do 2 or 3 instrumentals for every vocal, except for a recently added bad habit of starting most music sets with a POP (and I MEAN pop) vocal. "Every Breath You Take" or some other way overplayed, long-in-the-tooth, AC/soul ballad, that only promotes the volume to be turned waaaayyyy down
Other than that, I find them to be a well-programmed station.

PS -- I don't have Sirius radio, so I can't check out the Watercolors. I DO quite like wavejazz.net though!

 

[pdgreatness]

Come on Radio Babe. Time to log in and start bashing. I have the pop corn popper going so I can sit back and munch as you rant.

 

[Seltzer]

This station actually sounds pretty good. I am surprised as the format has died in many places it continues to thrive in Central PA. Not a whole lot of expense tied to it so Hall can make a decent living with it. Vocally, it has picked up alot of songs the A/C's have or are leaving behind.

I would guess that's part of the evolution of the "smooth" format.

 

[John-Summers]

Hall is probably doing the best format that facility can maintain. 92.7 has always had a marginal signal due to its COL and transmitter location. An engineer friend of mine once said that 92.7 probably has the best Class A coverage in the entire area, but unfortunately hardly anyone lives in the area it can be heard best. It's OK in homes and cars but doesn't penetrate city buildings anywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if on-line listening is higher than off-the-air.

Historically, every time a successful format has landed on 92.7, it has been picked up by a better facility, leaving 92.7 in the dust. The original WTPA blew them away as an AOR, then did the same things as Top 40 WNNK a few years later. The Edge/X killed their chances as a Rock station again, the new WTPA as Classic Rock, and they could never compete with WSOX as Oldies.

Fortunately, Smooth Jazz is too much of a niche format to put on a really powerful stick, so it looks like they will continue to have it all their own. Their presentation is top-notch, the announcers are excellent (even if they are voice tracked) and Paul Scott has done a fine job of maintaining relationships among the station's group of devoted fans. Sometimes the quality of your listenership outweighs the quantity. The expenses are kept at a minimum, and the station thrives while others have not. Some of the SJ stations in larger markets that have gone down the tubes deserved to, although some were quite good but couldn't survive in markets that already had strong AC and Adult Urban stations.

And no, I don't work for Hall, although I did a few years ago. I don't even care much for the music. My opinions are objective. Hall and Paul do good job with what potential 92.7 has.

 

[DonTheTrucker]

Starview 92....that's a name I haven't heard in a while.

Wasn't there a show called Metal Mountain on 92.7 back in the late 80's?

 

[SteelRocker]

Starview 92 was the ____ in the 80's...

Mike Tyler, Mike Ondayko, Uncle Igor, Dave Powers, Tim Drayer (RIP), Carol Seidel (who is STILL there!!)

I loved that station. I'm proud to have worked there for a spell.

Forgot Michael Sarzinski in the a.m. I think he was the original morning drive guy after they flipped to 92 Rock.

 

[John-Summers]

Forgot Michael Sarzinski in the a.m. I think he was the original morning drive guy after they flipped to 92 Rock.
[/quote]

It was Michael Sarzynski in the morning, Deb Turner (I think) middays, Banana Joe Montione in PM drive, and Don Tandler at night. Don't recall who was on overnights. That was a great staff. 92 Rock was a exciting little Top 40 station. Really shook up the market for as long as it lasted.

 

[RockofHBG]

t was Michael Sarzynski in the morning, Deb Turner (I think) middays, Banana Joe Montione in PM drive, and Don Tandler at night. Don't recall who was on overnights.

On middays was originally a woman who went simply by "Fern". Overnights was Keith Allen who later moved to nights and then to nights on 98YCR after the change back to rock.

 

[Unregistered]

Starview, 92.7

I happened on this thread after reading an article about the new PA governor. Mount Wolf jogged a memory, as I used to work at Starview back in the day. My show followed Ray Manlove, who followed Dennis Fulton. We were the 'progressive' guys on Gordon's station. I had a great time doing my show, which began at 10 at night. We signed off at 10, but the license was for 24 hour broadcasting, and Gordon told me that as long as I played enough PSA's, I could go overtime, which often happened on Friday nights. I broadcast from the transmitter, which I think was on Mt. Wolf, actually. I actually never spent a minute in the trailer, which was the day office, and which let us use the name Starview. I was never told what to play, it was true free-form radio. However, after a couple of years, they started formatting the station, and I went to work one day and found a big dial above the board, and all the records with different colored dots on them. We had to play a red dot, followed by a yellow dot, or something like that. Also, each album had listed which tracks we were allowed to play.

I didn't last much longer after that. Today I am in Brooklyn and publish a local newspaper... www.star-revue.com

Those were great days!

George Fiala

 

[bossjock 56]

George...I remember you guys well. Used to enjoy listening. Did the formatics and color dots start after Gordon sold the station? It sounds a lot like Burkhart Abrams formatics. They consulted the station for Dame. Newspaper looks interesting. Keep up the good work.

 

[Capt. Dave]

George...I remember you guys well. Used to enjoy listening. Did the formatics and color dots start after Gordon sold the station? It sounds a lot like Burkhart Abrams formatics. They consulted the station for Dame. Newspaper looks interesting. Keep up the good work.

The color dots probably originally came from the days when WKBO owned Starview. Bud Connell was our consultant at KBO in 1972 and he introduced the color dots to us then. Bob Alexander expanded the dots to add more colors (orange for 'summer' stuff like Beach Boys, green for teenybopper stuff like 'Yummy Yummy') and modified the rotation charts from what Bud gave us. If memory serves the concept was exported to Starview with the definitions changed to fit the much different format. And somewhere in my file cabinet I still have a clock chart from those days, colors and all

Dave

 

[bossjock 56]

It sounds like the color dots were more a "sound code" for WKBO, rather than your basic A, B, C, etc category codes. Burkhart used dots for each category such as POWER, SECONDARY, RECURRENT, etc. I heard that Burkhart consulted them for Dame in the Mid 70's.