1150 -- wassup w/those guys??

[Mike Sheridan]

Yes that is kind of what I was thinking...I didnt necessarily mean BIG BAND all the time... up until early 80's people were listening to AM for their "pop" hits, Reddy, Denver, Sinatra, Houston, Ronstadt, and NO AC station is playing those tunes.

And I agree with Mike...thanks for a conversation without insulting us "geezers"!  ... Im mean Im not that old...dont need the blue pill..yet!   

I'm glad you guys understood what I was going for.  As for the Big Band, it could be done as a weekend show or something if there was any interest in it from listeners. 

For her birthday my 28 year old daughter wanted to go to this trendy Deli for her birthday dinner.  There were people of all ages there, a lot of young people.  The place had XM blasting 40's on 4 so you just never know what people will listen to!

[therealjm12]

The problem with a nostalgia format on 1150 is that it was done before.  Regent had the ABC Stardust format on it for a couple years. It really sounded pretty good -very professional. I don't know how much was local but there was a lot of local input.  They really made it sound local & live. I really liked the music mix, too.  Pretty much what people here have been talking about. Problem is that format is pretty much now on WADR/WUTQ and their FM translator, and I believe with the same P. D. that was at 1150.  Sports was tried on 1150 and they even had the Yankees -the hometown favorite. Also religion was tried and failed.  They even similcast WIBX for a while. The east/west directional signal complimented WIBX's mostly north/south pattern. No suggestions here just pointing out what was tried and failed on 1150 and keeping the thread going.

[Adman4120]

Hi Everyone...Just wanted to offer a couple of thoughts.  The WIBX signal pattern is pretty much North, Northwest and East.  They are terrible West and South.  Obviously, they are protecting WWJ in Detroit on 950 and even WROC in Rochester.  In addition, they have some bad nulls right in Oneida County or, problems because of a lack of many other factors.  All I know is that the WIBX signal in many parts of the market is not what it used to be.  To protect the innocent or guilty, I will leave that determination up to all of you.

Speaking about what could work on 1150...I have no doubt in my mind that all sports would work and make money, IF, done properly, and that means a lot of local sports.  You cannot count just Yankees and other pro sports on 1150 before.  Same thing with ESPN in Utica.  Without local sports, they are still not that much of a factor at all.  Local sports talk like WIBX, local play-by-play like WIBX equals plenty of sales dollars.  I am not saying this would work in all markets, but in Utica/Rome it does and always has.  I have first hand experience in what local sports can produce revenue wise.  What I think should really happen is for Townsquare Media to get smart, and make WODZ at 96.1 all sports and dump the Oldiez.  It's just a waste in its current form and a giveaway station.  But again, smart decisions don't come easy in today's media world.

[Scott Fybush]

WIBX on 950 predates Rochester on 950. The western null in the WIBX pattern is entirely to protect WWJ, which is far and away the senior occupant of the channel; whatever protection is provided to Rochester is just coincidental. (Though the null to Detroit did allow 950 in Rochester to come on the air in the first place back in 1947.)

[JustPastBuffalo]

An All Sports format on 1150 with the emphasis on local HS football, soccer, basketball and baseball  might make a better option than an Oldies/Standards format.

Just the same, an All Sports format isn't an inexpensive venture. It might have a chance by employing independent contractors that are paid to do PBP (including set-up and tear down) on a per-game basis. 

Another option: Commissioned PBP men/women who sold advertising schedules for their respective games. There are inherent problems with this approach, however, because there may be sales men and women who are very good at selling their product but not so good at producing the product, that is, calling PBP.

And there's the traditional approach, a salaried sports staff that does everything from PBP, stats, production, hosting shows (but not selling them) and website production, especially writing and analyzing. Now more than ever, a news talk/sports talk station must have a good, active, up to the minute, non-generic website and content.

In this regard, as with any format, a good sales department that understands the format and the mission would be absolutely essential. You can have the best local features and PBP, but if it's not sold, nobody gets paid and the station goes broke. Lights out. Fast.

Serious, non-judgmental question: Are quality sales people available? Or are they selling music radio formats on the established stations because it's more consistently lucrative and offers the path of least resistance? You cannot fault a guy/lady making 50k selling the market-leading music formats for wanting to stay where they are rather than roll the dice and selling All Sports talk radio. 

Another requirement: Talented, disciplined game producers-operators and production people. This position is difficult to fill because the shelf-life is limited. Yes, I know HCCC, Utica College, SUNY Oneonta and Syracuse produce a wealth of talent with every graduating class. But good board-ops and producers want to be rewarded with better paying jobs. The glamor of being in radio, making 6.50 and hour and living with three roomies wears off after about six months. Plus, mom and dad want to see a return on their investment. Who can blame employees for wanting "bigger, better and more money.?" Producers often want benefits and their own shows, recognition for their skills and contributions that make the guys who are on the air a success.

The PD of an all news-all sports station needs to be a good teacher, a patient talent developer and a good people manager... and be content with living in Utica-Rome (not knocking the area) as well. Nobody said it would be easy. I'm referring to pulling off the format...  not referring to living in U-R.

[TheBigA]

Just the same, an All Sports format isn't an inexpensive venture.

Which is why it won't happen at a station like this.  As you point out, the people required to do this kind of programming need to be high quality, and there are limited ways of re-selling the content to make it worth while.

Serious, non-judgmental question: Are quality sales people available?

Depends.  It's a huge risk to leave a good paying job for the unknown.  Local high school sports is not going to be a big money maker.  High cost, low return.  If this is the only signal in the market you own, and you can't spread the costs over other stations, there's no way to make the money work.  Do a budget, based on a staff of 12 people, rotating teams of 4 people per game.  What price do you need to get per spot to make a profit?  Does that price fit the projected rating?

[therealjm12]

I just don't see  a sports format working on 1150.  You already have the tricast of ESPN on WTLB/WRNY/WIXT. Maybe if Galaxy had bought WRUN they wouldn't need to run the format on the other three stations since 1150 pretty much covers the market by itself.  WIBX does a great job with local sports and local high school games. So why would anyone want to bang their heads against that wall? I still don't see a hole where a format will fit in the Utica-Rome market on a stand alone AM.  Still have to go with progressive talk.  At least it's not being done.  Barter? Barter what?  Who would listen to the station to buy the products being promoted?
Now I hear the sale went thru to Leatherstocking. $130K.  That seems like a low ball figure until you figure they need an entire new antenna system. That's got to be at least another $200K

[CNYRadio.com]

Regent had the ABC Stardust format on it for a couple years. It really sounded pretty good -very professional. I don't know how much was local but there was a lot of local input.  They really made it sound local & live. I really liked the music mix, too.  Pretty much what people here have been talking about. Problem is that format is pretty much now on WADR/WUTQ and their FM translator, and I believe with the same P. D. that was at 1150. 

I was the PD of Lite 98.7 when Regent was running Stardust on WRUN.  The man behind that effort was our Ops Manager at the time, Tom Jacobsen.  He's now the OM of the Townsquare cluster in Albany, so I'm pretty sure he has nothing to do with the  standards format currently running at Roser.

[useddj]

Now I hear the sale went thru to Leatherstocking. $130K.  That seems like a low ball figure until you figure they need an entire new antenna system. That's got to be at least another $200K

Uhhh I wouldn't count on Leatherstocking spending any money to fix that antenna system....or anything else. It looks to me like they are buying low and planning to hold in order to sell high. Could be a long wait....but who knows.