WARM--ANYONE INTERESTED IN BRINGING WARMLAND BACK????

[bobmathers]

Like a vision for reviving a great AM station...this thread just won't die. Go to war, Miss Agnes, ain't the beer cold!

Thanks to Ray Thomas, who I've not met but consider to be one of the more astute broadcasters in the business today. Many mutual acquaintances of both Ray and I attest to that.

WARM's ground radials are shot, other issues exist with the audio system, and the present owner doesn't seem to be motivated to do a whole lot about it.

With the understanding of those obstacles, is there at present enough 'decent' signal in the immediate metro area to make the station listenable? If so...then you can succeed.

You need dedicated and creative salespeople who are connected in the market, seasoned on-air pros who understand the appeal of AM and know how to communicate (no card readers or voice trackers here), and all hands on board need to work 'above and beyond' the expected to promote the product on the air and on the street.

And then there's the people you need to please the most. The listeners. Don't underestimate their intelligence. In a sea of lazily-programmed and under-performing FM's, a station like WARM will stand out and have appeal more than you might think. Make it 'live' and make it 'local'. The Mighty 590 can make it happen.

Regardless of how it turns out...you'd have a heckuva lot of fun trying.

Is it an uphill climb? Yes it is, but not a hopeless one. Folks like to root for the underdog...and WARM could with its tremendous heritage really make some noise again up there in coal country.

[ka2xuk]

Don't forget engineering. I have ideas on how to fix that signal piece by piece, although I won't discuss them in a public forum. I did rebuild the transmitter a couple of years ago after it decided to self-immolate and a previous owner was ready to let WARM stay dark.

Yes, restoring WARM will be a LOT of work...but I am up to the task.

[Roger]

ka2xuk,

I think you are just upset at the owner of WARM because the let you go and that's why you want to buy WARM and fix it. Like I said we have to put this a sleep.

[Aramondo]

Roger, you don't think it can be done. Message received. If you keep repeating it (as you have been) I think you might be the one with an issue here. Find another thread already. We get it.

[DaveWilliams]

Having talked to another engineer that worked at WARM for almost 10 years as CE, repairs were made on the ground system into the mid/late 90's, including some made by myself at the tower bases.  Thats why the tractor was still in the basement of the place as some copper for the radials.  At this point though, the ground system would probably have to be fully replaced.  WHEW!!!

[NXEA]

I'm sure this can be done and 590khz can be fixed (at a steep price), but it seems people on this board are confusing 590 and WARM. Listeners didn't care that WARM was on 590am, they just wanted to hear their favorite radio station. The whole problem with this ongoing thread is that the people posting here want to combine the two issues (the format and the frequency). How many people who watch WNEP realize they are watching Newswatch 16 on UHF channel 50? Or that WVIA is really UHF channel 41? More importantly, how many of those viewers care? Hint: they don't, because most people viewing both those stations aren't even watching over-the-air, but instead are watching on cable, because all they want is the product the station produces (and they want it in color (FM), not black and white (AM). The only people who seem to care that WARM be resurrected specifically on 590 are the people posting on this board. 

I found a study from 1991 showing AM listening at about 22% and FM 78%. Yes, it was that bad 21 years ago. What do those figures look like now?

I like Coca-cola: it comes in cans, plastic bottles, through a soda fountain, but no longer in glass bottles, why? Because technology moved on.  I really don't care if I buy cans or bottles, I just want a cold coke. The folks who make Coca-Cola are not going to buy an old glass factory, fix it up, and sell it in glass bottles (unless a special occasion or limited edition).


What should have happened back in 1985 was that 92.9 should have been WARM-FM but back then (if I remember correctly) the FCC wouldn't let AM/FM simulcasts of overlapping signals unless the stations served a small population (as was the case with WHLM FM106/AM55). Buy that is water over the dam, and WARM was damned to 590am when the rest of the world was moving to FM.

I've read people say that if a resurrected 590 were run 'lean and mean' then WARM could be successful.  It seems they are alot of DJs who want to do a shift (which is great) but WARM was much much more than DJs: it was  a fully staffed sports department, and fully staffed news department, and all the bells and whistles. If these are not included in the new WARM then it won't be WARM at all, but instead folks having fun spinning oldies.

I've posted before that I really hope it happens, but I'm afraid lots of talent, good intentions (and possibly hard earned money) are going to be put into a non-starter: 590khz.

Does anyone who has posted here have a ballpark figure at to the cost of fixing the tranmission facility in Falls? I people are going to raise this amount of money I'm sure you can find an FM instead, to either lease, or possibly buy. After all, if you think WARM would be successful on 590 then it would surely be so on an FM.

Why not approach someone at Bold Gold: 94.3 is not achieving anything like the numbers it used to get, and simulcasting A NEW WARM on 1340/1400/1440 would help, along with the 100.9 translator near Nanticoke.  Bob V used to do Oldies on 93.7/94.3.  The missing piece of the puzzle would not be 590khz but the WARM call sign (anything is for sale at the right price).

Give WARM a real chance. Don't make the mistake of WWKB KB1520 when it was resurrected a few years back (with many of the same great personalities of WKBW) only to ultimately fail miserably. Why did it fail? Because today is 2012.

[Roger]

NXEA,

Every good points. I hear the people running WFTE are not going a good job. A FM would be better. There is one thing there is WARM FM.

[NXEA]

NXEA,

Every good points. I hear the people running WFTE are not going a good job. A FM would be better. There is one thing there is WARM FM.

I can't comment on WFTE as I haven't listened to it except for 5 minutes of syndicated program they had on. As far as WARM-FM: This came about when Susquehanna (which owned both 590 WARM and 103.3 WSBA-FM York) decided to change WSBA-FM to 'Warm' 103, hence WARM-FM. Cumulus now owns both 590 WARM and 103.3 WARM-FM, but they dropped the moniker 'Warm' 103 and instead the station is now called 'Wink' 103 (to match Cumulus owned Wink 104 WNNK) even though the call sign is still WARM-FM.   When 590 WARM was briefly on 97.1 Mountaintop (now WBHT) it was WYRM but you only heard those call letters mentioned at the top of the hour.

These things do happen though: 930am WBEN Buffalo (Owned by Entercom who own KRZ) is simulcast on 107.7fm WLKK Wethersfield Twp but you never hear any mention of WLKK except at the top of the hour. They gave permission to Greater Media to put the WBEN-FM call sign on 95.7fm Philadelphia (95.7 Ben-FM).

750am WSB Atlanta is simulcast 95.5fm WSBB, but the station is known on air as 750am 95.5fm 'WSB.' The real WSB-FM is also in Altanta but is known only as B98.5. Same with San Francisco: 740 KCBS is simulcast on 106.9 KFRC-FM but the station is known as 740am 106.9fm KCBS, but the real KCBS-FM is in Los Angeles called '93.1 Jack FM' 

Maybe the option would be to downgrade 590 (if this is possible) to allow a much much less expensive way of getting the transmission facility fixed (less towers, less copper radials, etc), but also simulcast on 1340/1400/1440/94.3/100.9 and any other translators you can get a hold of to have the maximum coverage area as possible.  This scenario though looks strangely familiar: Gem 104 is doing just this: Two AMs (1460 WGMF / 730 WZMF) and a bunch of FM translators, and it has worked. Gem does reasonably well in the book.

Looking back it is a damn shame that WARM was left to rot. We could have had the Mighty 590 and 92.9FM, WARM: A killer AM and FM combo that would have been untouchable with the best FM and best AM signals in the market. Back then though you had the problem of WARM on 97.1 and Magic on 92.9, and it was this scenario that killed WARM as 97.1 was not supposed to compete with 92.9.


 

[Roger]

Bold Gold does not want to sell 1340, 1400, 1440, and 94.3.

Like I said we have to put this to sleep.

[NXEA]

Bold Gold does not want to sell 1340, 1400, 1440, and 94.3.

Like I said we have to put this to sleep.

I never suggested Bold Gold sell any of its stations, but if those stations I mentioned are not performing to their potential then maybe they (or any owner for that matter with any under-performing signal) might be interested in a format flip, or at least open to some ideas about how to improve the stations they own.

I personally don't think spending a load of dosh on fixing the 5 tower array for 590khz makes sense, but what I have tried to do is lay out what I think of the whole idea, and if there is any other way that WARM could be brought back the would be more economically feasible, spelling out the concept of WARM as format rather than a place on the dial.

Out of curiosity, did you ever listen to WARM when it was worth listening to? I did, for many years as a kid then teenager, and wish it was with us today as it was back then.

By constantly repeating 'we have to put this to sleep' doesn't add anything to the conversation. If you want to put the idea to sleep then back up your argument with evidence that clearly spells out why the idea should be put to sleep. There is nothing wrong with people dreaming big dreams; if everyone put every big dream to sleep then we would be back in the stone age.