WBUD Sold

[fennessy]

The sale of WBUD to a religious broadcaster, and the station's conversion to a non-commercial entity, represents another sad chapter in the universal failure of Trenton radio stations to reach and serve the city of Trenton for the long haul. I began my radio career in Trenton in 1970, and as a kid studied Trenton radio history and its evolution from the 1960s; it's a story of universal failure of the market stations to serve the city. NJ101.5 is an unqualified success in every way, but this station's success is predicated on the state at large, not specifically metropolitan Mercer County. At every turn, when the opportunity existed to sell the concept of full service locally oriented radio back to the residents of Trenton, it's radio stations have failed. Examine these profiles:

WTTM

Following it's hey day from the late 40s to the early sixties, hosting name personalities like Ernie Kovacs, and naming itself for the famous saying on "the lower free bridge" to Morrisville, WTTM was a self-serving absentee-owned radio station. It's daytime programming was anemic, it's nighttime programming directed towards Lower Bucks County and NE Philadelphia. Subsequent ownerships have gutted WTTM, which is now limping along with paid religion, a no growth market position for commercial radio. If you don't believe me, look at all the mom and pop religious stations that are gone...and check the stock price of Salem, the leading national operator of commercial religious radio.

WAAT/WTNJ/WIMG

Although they're well entrenched today with their Gospel format directed at Trenton's African-American church community, this facility has an amazing history of bad luck and poor service. If any station could claim the name "Radio 13", this is it. Founded as WOAX in 1923, this is the oldest licensed and continuously broadcasting radio station in New Jersey. For most of it's life, it was a highly directional daytimer with a bad signal at 1300 on the dial, next to the city-located WBUD at 1260, making that swash-buckling noise when heard in the city of Trenton. Following it's own heyday as a major top 40 station, WAAT in 1965 upgraded, on paper, their 250 non-D, to 5000 watts, 4-towers located 11 miles north of Trenton, and decided to copy the success of WEEZ  Chester as a station for " the New York-Philadelphia corridor, and direct it's programming to people who lived on either side of Trenton, from North Jersey into Bucks County, as a Country station. Two years later, having chased all listeners off the frequency, the now signal deficient WAAT returned to Top 40 from April of '67 to September of '68, then flipped WAAT to MOR, which WTTM, WBUD, WHWH, WTOA WBCB and WBJH were already doing...unoffensive client radio not directed at anyone in particular. Subsequently, the calls changed to WTNJ, making " radio 13" even more invisible. New owners attempted to recapture the golden age with " imagination radio" WIMG. To their credit, they attained nighttime service for 1300, necessitating a change of COL. Today, WIMG is a commercial Gospell radio station, but the technical improvements are more attractive on paper than they are on the radio dial. the daytime signal is fair, the nighttime is secondary in most places, terciery in others.

WHWH

With 1300 being a daytimer, a fulltime AM license was issued as late as 1963, when Nassau's WHWH debuted. Directed primarily to Princeton and the more affluent suburban areas of Mercer County, WHWH was The Trenton metro's #1 radio station for decades. As the '90s arrived, and ownership changes ocurred, WHWH's programming became less local, more satellite delivered, until it's license was surrendered for the expanded band allocation...and by this time no one cared.

WBUD

For many years WBUD was a player; a real personality MOR radio station with big stars. At nighttime, WBUD served the general Black audience with George Banister's R&B show. Although 5000 watts at 1260, WBUD nulled towards Lower Bucks, and directed it's programming towards Trenton. In 1970, WBUD flipped to top 40, never got a good hold on doing that kind of radio, and churned out dozens and dozens of on air jocks. After it's conversion to NBC's NIS format, a new owner changed the legendary WBUD call letters to WTRT, subsequent owners changed it back. The best shot WBUD had in recent times, was under the Press Broadcasting ownership, with a local information posture in the mornings and an entertainment format all day, directed at Mercer County...off-setting NJ101.5's regional and statewide appeal. New owners cut back on local programming, and recently ESPN was placed onto the facility to keep the filaments warm.

With WBUD off the market and basically out of the radio business as we all know it, another opportunity for a future radio operator to come and and serve the capitol city of Trenton is gone forever.

[TheBigA]

With WBUD off the market and basically out of the radio business as we all know it, another opportunity for a future radio operator to come and and serve the capitol city of Trenton is gone forever.

And why would ANYONE in their right mind do such a thing?

I'll admit the city has made a great comeback in the last five years or so, especially along the waterfront.

But the population is gone, the money is gone, the advertisers are gone, and the community, such as it is, is in disarray.

Even non-commercial public radio stations know where their bread is buttered and it isn't in serving the city of Trenton.

The sign on the bridge says "Trenton makes, the world takes."  The reality is the world took and took and took, and there's simply nothing left.

I wish it wasn't this way, but it is.  A radio station can't make a city.  The city has to be there in the first place.

[TheBigA]

With WBUD off the market and basically out of the radio business as we all know it, another opportunity for a future radio operator to come and and serve the capitol city of Trenton is gone forever.

And why would ANYONE in their right mind do such a thing?

I'll admit the city has made a great comeback in the last five years or so, especially along the waterfront.

But the population is gone, the money is gone, the advertisers are gone, and the community, such as it is, is in disarray.

Even non-commercial public radio stations know where their bread is buttered and it isn't in serving the city of Trenton.   WNJT-FM operates at 88.1 FM.  But carries national NPR programming all day, simulcasts NJN News in the dinner hour, and carries NJN public affairs shows at 10:30.  If the state government can't serve its own capital, how on earth can private enterprise survive?

The sign on the bridge says "Trenton makes, the world takes."  The reality is the world took and took and took, and there's simply nothing left.

I wish it wasn't this way, but it is.  A radio station can't make a city.  The city has to be there in the first place.


NOTE: sorry...I intended to modify the previous post.

[Deeman1710]

Domestic church is looking into WMTR and WCTC as well. It would be the best thing for them instead of the music which is bringing in zero dollars. Remember when you play music you must pay BMI, ASCAP and SESAC 1.5% of your yearly income regardless.

[fennessy]

When I worked in Trenton, 1970 to 1972 while in High School ( I was fulltime afternoons at WTTM during my senior year), I lived in predominantly white Levittown, drove across the bridges to WAAT in The Broad Street Bank or WTTM in The Cartaret Arms, and truthfully spent very little time in the city itself. Today, married to a native Trentonian with in-laws there, I consider Trenton more than deserving of having a local radio station; dont judge Trenton on downtown, past or present. Besides a stable and thriving Black middle-class, Trenton's European immigrants, the whites, poles, italians and irish have not fled. Employment in Trenton, and all state capitols if you check, is typically more stable than non-state capitol cities. Trenton has minor league baseball, and when I say "serve Trenton", I'm including the bedroom communities such as Hamilton Township and Lawrence Township. Stop anyone you meet from there, and they'll say, they're in Trenton.

Radio walked away from Trenton a generation ago, leaving Trentonians to claim radio stations in Philadelphia and New York as their own. I'm the GM of a radio station in Florida, and some of the smaller stations in the more remote communities here would kill to have a population the size of Trenton to play to and serve. The above example of WAAT, was a radio station that deliberately moved it's signal away from the city to serve others, and when they converted to MOR, it was to appeal to the more high-brow audience profile that WHWH enjoyed coming from Princeton. How would you feel about someone if they dissed you like that. In clean-speak, you might say or think, " to hell with them".

In an earlier post, Rick Brancadora proves the nay-sayers wrong. His WIBG was a facility, a daytime AM at 1020 with no PSA, the typical poster here wouldn't have given 2 cents for three years ago. Having evolved into a truly local service general market posture, WIBG has a 2.1...you should see who the facilities are that they're beating. Half the FM stations in Cape May County, WMID, WCMC, the sports station at 1450 ( another filament warmer). And he knows the lesson that the so-called leaders of the industry have been wrong about. People CAN tell the difference, they know what's no longer there, they know quality and service from crap, and...RADIO IS CONTENT DRIVEN.

[Sam Lit]

After it's conversion to NBC's NIS format, a new owner changed the legendary WBUD call letters to WTRT, subsequent owners changed it back.

Just a quick clarification, WBUD was never WTRT. After an ownership change, Hy and I were brought in to program 1260 & 101.5. Upon My arrival in the fall of 1979, the stations were running separate programming, as 101.5/WTRT-FM Trenton, and 1260/WBUD Trenton/Fairless Hills.. I immediately applied for new calls for both frequencies, (and a COL modification for the AM) to WKXW AM/FM Trenton, to reflect my new Kickx 101 ½ format. (Call letter changes to an archaic, 3 months for approval at the time). I choose to simulcast the FM programming on the AM.. 3 months later, with the results of my first book, I pulled a 6.2, 12+, on WKXW-AM, the highest rating ever on the 1260/Trenton frequency position. Invariably, it beat all the other AM’s in and out of town at the time. Less than one year later, the AM had to be taken down for a transmitter and antenna system modification and upgrade that required the rebuilding of the entire 4-tower ground system. When it returned to the air, it returned as standards WKXW with Jack Pinto handling Mornings and programming. Jack was incredible to work with. He also was the go to production voice for the commercials for the FM, and was amazing to see him read and record copy in one take.... Subsequently, however, as standards, WKXW-AM never quite achieved the ratings of dominance again, and some yeas later the calls were changed back to WBUD, with Jack at still the helm.


<sub>From an earlier post:

Factoid: During the summer of 1979, Hy was working at 1540/KPOL Los Angeles & I was at KBAI/1150 San Louis Obispo, California, when we received a call from Ed Hurst. He indicated he represented a Group of sophisticated investors including David Hafler & Gerome Bresson, that had just purchased WBJH/101.5 Trenton & WBUD/1260 Fairless hills, for 1.3 million dollars. Would we be interested in returning to the area to structure the investment properties?
   When we arrived weeks later, The FM calls had been changed to WTRT at settlement, and Ed said he wanted to go oldies as WTRT Trenton oldies. After some research, I determined that a new, custom advanced sound was a little more plausible for the 80's. I was asked what I wanted to call it. The only answer I could naturally come up with was the simple reason I was doing this, and that was, I was doing it just for KICKS, and of coarse its subsequent benefits. So Kickx ‘101 FM', was born. (WTRT/Trenton & WBUD Trenton/Fairless Hills calls remained as we applied for WKXW AM/FM with a modification change of the AM Fairless Hills city of license to Trenton.
   We came on with a big splash and immediately we were sued by 101.1/WCBS & 101.1/WEAZ for similar frequency identification, and WXKW/Allentown petitioned the FCC to reject the WKXW call letter assignment due to call letter similarity, and the close proximity of the geographic location.
   Since 101.5 was rather undesirable and indistinctive at the time, particularly since all the FM allocations in town were .5's. So Hy indicated that it’s the devastating Half that makes the difference, particularly where we were concerned, so it was clear that Kickx One O One and a HALF (Kickx 101½) was our new moniker.  We subsequently had to go back and re-record all the station I.D.’s. As for WXKW, their petition was rejected, and three months later WKXW AM/FM Trenton, was granted. 
   But by then we were already movin’ along as Kickx 101½. Fortunately, with the release of the first book, which ironically had started on the first day of the format change, we were Number 1, with the highest ratings ever achieved on both frequencies, 12+. 
Factoid: Trenton is one of the most congested radio markets in the country. No less than 77 signals could be received without an external antenna, at the time, even more now.
Factoid: Incidentally, Jay Sorenson gave us a run for our money as he and I both did mid-day's. When the first book came out after our launch, Tom Taylor (now with Radio-Info) fired everyone on the WPST air staff, except Jay Sorenson. WTTM also fired everybody, and flipped to country. Mark Didia, (now with Columbia/Sony) who was my music director at Kickx, came running in the station with the newspapers' exclaiming headlines, 'radio blood bath in Trenton', Kickx kicks butt!</sub>

[Tom McNally]

Correct - WBUD was never WTRT ...
 WBUD     09/01/1981
 WKXW     05/29/1980
 WBUD        (original)

BUT ... it was never "Trenton-Fairless Hills" only
WBJH was identified that way.   I was there in
1976-1977 when Dick Hardin owned it, and
got the story from him.

The NBC News format was short lived, and WBUD
returned to music, playing automation reels of
oldies, but not rotating the categories, so it was
an hour of 50's then an hour of 60's then an hour
of Soul, etc.   

[TheBigA]

Radio walked away from Trenton a generation ago, leaving Trentonians to claim radio stations in Philadelphia and New York as their own.

I understand what you mean, and the need for uniquely New Jersey media was the central point behind such movements as keeping Channel 13 in Newark and moving WWOR to New Jersey. All this is true and important.  But unfortunately, the proximity to New York and Philadelphia is simply too alluring.  And one can't ignore the huge changes that began to hit Trenton starting in 1950.  And yes, many have gone to nearby bedroom communities.  But their loyalties aren't to Trenton.  Radio reflects the sociological changes in a community.  It doesn't drive them.

People CAN tell the difference, they know what's no longer there, they know quality and service from crap, and...RADIO IS CONTENT DRIVEN.

But you can't have content without a financial base.  That's where it begins.  I've started radio stations in NJ and other places, and I've had the idealism of bringing great radio to the people, and involving them in the process.  In some places it's worked, and in some it hasn't.  But all the idealism in the world won't help you when the rent is due or the payroll needs to be met.

Community based radio needs to have a community.  It needs to have commitment.  You can see the difference between strong communities and weak ones.  This is a sociological problem, and it is reflected in radio, newspaper, and other community services.   As I said, it says a lot to me that WNJT-FM is basically an NPR-jukebox with no community input and no soul.  I bet no one in Trenton even knows it exists.

[fennessy]

Tom's right about Trenton-Fairless Hills. In the early 70s, the owner of WBUD-WBJH was convinced it could co-locate the license of WBJH, 101.5 to Fairless Hills, to compete for the ad dollars dominated there by WBCB. They opened an office near the Fairless Hills Shopping Center, and hired a former WBCB Sales Manager who'd been bounced from that station as a hapless drunk. WBJH didn't have the signal and dial presence there as WKXW-FM has today, they were automated beautiful music, and predictably, the whole strategy failed.

[Tom McNally]

As I said, it says a lot to me that WNJT-FM is basically an NPR-jukebox with no community input and no soul.  I bet no one in Trenton even knows it exists.

I disagree ... New Jersey Network Radio has live hosts doing
weather, news, live promos, etc all day long.   They have
some local programming, mostly shared with the TV network also.

AND ... they did very well in the Trenton Spring Arbitron, much better
than many Philly stations ... I didn't spend much time with
it, but they definitely did well.

NPR/PRI/APM programming is high quality, well produced, and
NJN is doing the state a service presenting it.