https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc7ny.com/amp/society/end-of-an-era-nycs-955-wplj-announces-final-broadcast/5290975/
This is exactly what happened to WCCC here in Hartford about 5 years ago. Even Mr. Stern himself made an appearance for the final day. Will be interesting to see what the final song played is.
I can't say I'm surprised, as the broadcast radio industry faces an uncertain future.
The station is not "calling it quits" as broadcast licenses are a government granted monopsony to print money. Rather this is just one of the millions of moves big companies, including big media, have figured out to cut their taxes. The big three radio corportations (iHeartMedia, Entracom, and in this case Cumulus) will "donate" stations to the non-profit religious group Educational Media Foundation, which turns them into no employees needed repeater of their K LOVE or AIR ONE formats. And then take a big tax deduction for the book value of the station, which is often far more than the market value. EMF has over 520 stations broadcasting its "Christian contemporary" K LOVE and 215 its "Christian worship" AIR 1. It has so many stations that it is starting a third robo format, K LOVE Classics, featuring "Classic Christian" music from long ago times like the 1980s.
WPLJ died for me when they gave up their classic rock format in June 1983. Plus I live 1200 miles away I don't here the station mentioned anyway.
Quote from: roadman65 on May 09, 2019, 07:37:04 PM
WPLJ died for me when they gave up their classic rock format in June 1983. Plus I live 1200 miles away I don't here the station mentioned anyway.
But you started the thread on it...?
This is another example of why radio is pretty much dead.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on May 09, 2019, 09:46:57 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on May 09, 2019, 07:37:04 PM
WPLJ died for me when they gave up their classic rock format in June 1983. Plus I live 1200 miles away I don’t here the station mentioned anyway.
But you started the thread on it...?
Well there are many on here from the northeast who still hear of this station.
Quote from: bandit957 on May 09, 2019, 10:37:32 PM
This is another example of why radio is pretty much dead.
You mean "traditional" radio? Sirius XM shows no sign of slowing down.
Quote from: US71 on May 10, 2019, 08:47:54 AM
You mean "traditional" radio? Sirius XM shows no sign of slowing down.
Why should people pay for what they used to get for free?
Quote from: bandit957 on May 10, 2019, 09:42:06 AM
Quote from: US71 on May 10, 2019, 08:47:54 AM
You mean "traditional" radio? Sirius XM shows no sign of slowing down.
Why should people pay for what they used to get for free?
"Capitalism" ?
Quote from: bandit957 on May 10, 2019, 09:42:06 AM
Quote from: US71 on May 10, 2019, 08:47:54 AM
You mean "traditional" radio? Sirius XM shows no sign of slowing down.
Why should people pay for what they used to get for free?
Thus, why radio is dead.
Quote from: bandit957 on May 10, 2019, 09:42:06 AM
Quote from: US71 on May 10, 2019, 08:47:54 AM
You mean "traditional" radio? Sirius XM shows no sign of slowing down.
Why should people pay for what they used to get for free?
Over 150 choices as opposed to 5-20 at any one time. Can hear hundreds to dozens more songs and genres than terrestrial radio. Can say whatever they want without censorship (though Stern having to push the limits made him better). That's worth $25/month for my wife and I.
How do they force you to pay? If you know what frequency you want, you can set something up to receive that frequency.
Quote from: bandit957 on May 09, 2019, 10:37:32 PM
This is another example of why radio is pretty much dead.
I still listen in my car. The CD player has a Steely Dan CD stuck in it. I like them but don't have the urge to constantly listen to "Hey Nineteen." I miss audiobooks but I do have a local college station that plays jazz on my morning ride and I mix in some classical and rock stations.
I once had satellite radio vin my car, but that was eons ago. Yeah it's better than most terrestrial radio but I am cheap.
Quote from: SectorZ on May 11, 2019, 07:17:37 AM
Over 150 choices as opposed to 5-20 at any one time. Can hear hundreds to dozens more songs and genres than terrestrial radio.
It's actually media clutter. I like to hear different kinds of music all on the same station. Regular radio stations 30 years ago had a lot more variety.
Of course, there is no question whatsoever that regular radio is worse now than it was in the 1980s. This is unambiguous. There is absolutely no defense of the current state of radio.
This is true of music and talk programming alike.
Quote from: bandit957 on May 11, 2019, 09:30:53 AM
Quote from: SectorZ on May 11, 2019, 07:17:37 AM
Over 150 choices as opposed to 5-20 at any one time. Can hear hundreds to dozens more songs and genres than terrestrial radio.
It's actually media clutter. I like to hear different kinds of music all on the same station. Regular radio stations 30 years ago had a lot more variety.
I think that was when AOR or album oriented rock became Classic Rock. Prior to that in my high school days I recall hearing some New Wave mixed in with "Aqualung" and "Long Train Running." My fellow Nutmeggers might recall WHCN and similar stations with a looser rotation back then.
With regards to talk radio, I don't listen to it much, but it seems like political discussion is more prevalent than it used to be and there's less talk about medicine of personal finance or investing. These were typical topics that I recall hearing on WTIC and WPOP. And sports has been ghettoized often to its own stations. That's a subject for its own thread.
Quote from: jon daly on May 11, 2019, 03:40:05 PM
I think that was when AOR or album oriented rock became Classic Rock. Prior to that in my high school days I recall hearing some New Wave mixed in with "Aqualung" and "Long Train Running." My fellow Nutmeggers might recall WHCN and similar stations with a looser rotation back then.
It was also when pop stations were taken over by New Kids On The Block. It used to be a mass appeal radio format, but it became a niche format after that. Cincinnati had a tiny AM station called WCLU that I think did really good with a mass appeal pop format. It changed call letters and format right before all this happened.
I'd love to hear mid-'80s WCLU over probably any station today.
QuoteWith regards to talk radio, I don't listen to it much, but it seems like political discussion is more prevalent than it used to be and there's less talk about medicine of personal finance or investing. These were typical topics that I recall hearing on WTIC and WPOP. And sports has been ghettoized often to its own stations. That's a subject for its own thread.
Instead of opinionated loudmouths, talk radio used to have more mainstream guests. But I remember one day they had a local psychiatrist as a guest on talk radio to talk about ADHD. My parents idolized this guy and actually taped this show. I don't think they idolize him anymore, and I always thought he was a quack, but apparently he still practices.
My a la carte approach to political positions won't win me many friends in an online environment where it seems that it helps if you join one of the cliques along the left-right spectrum or one of the other spectra. (For example stathead vs old school baseball fan.)
That said, I find it to be a breath of fresh air when I find someone on the radio who is discussing current events and I can't pigeonhole them. There's a guy in Providence, RI like that.
In Connecticut School of Broadcasting they told us SiriusXM was not taking off like it was projected due to the internet.
Also PLJ, though dead to me, was still an icon and surprised to see it go.
Thought most of the talent from NY radio is on SiriusXM. I would listen in rental cars if I was on a road trip. Going from Texarkana to Houston via Dallas it was great as I did not have to search for new local stations after I was out of range including rural areas of I-45. I had Deep Cuts on the whole time an enjoyed hearing Pat St. John again as I grew up with him on PLJ as well as WNEW later on.
The CSB! Classes that start in March will have you on the air by June.
I had a friend who went there in the 90s and later became the program director for WPOP. He now deals poker at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun.
Traditional radio, which is to say free ad-supported broadcasting on AM and FM, will be around long after all of us are dead. The death of radio, particularly AM radio, has been predicted for decades, and has yet to happen, because it remains a highly profitable industry, and nearly unique in that the government limits competition. It is true that radio is becoming more standardized, particularly on the music side, as technology means that one DJ can be heard all over, rather than needing one in each town. But, while national talk is a thing, so is local talk and local talk requires local talkers, which works in the politics, sports, and female/feelings genres. Religious broadcasting also remains highly profitable.
As to SXM, it is a niche product. But it works for that niche. First are people into a certain type of music, which is not available over the air. But more importantly are people who drive a lot. Truckers, salesmen, repairmen, etc. Keeping track of what channel has what you want where is way too complicated, and in many area, the pickings can be very slim. SXM serves these niches.
Quote from: SP Cook on May 13, 2019, 09:39:04 AM
Traditional radio, which is to say free ad-supported broadcasting on AM and FM, will be around long after all of us are dead. The death of radio, particularly AM radio, has been predicted for decades, and has yet to happen, because it remains a highly profitable industry, and nearly unique in that the government limits competition. It is true that radio is becoming more standardized, particularly on the music side, as technology means that one DJ can be heard all over, rather than needing one in each town. But, while national talk is a thing, so is local talk and local talk requires local talkers, which works in the politics, sports, and female/feelings genres. Religious broadcasting also remains highly profitable.
The only AM stations that still have many listeners are the really powerful ones like WLW.
And many religious stations are actually checkbook clergy operations. For many of these stations, the only listeners are a handful of people who open up their wallets whenever they hear a phone number being announced.
SiriusXM never did as well as first projected. The internet, as mentioned, hurt them. The thinking that people would pay for radio the way they did for cable tv never panned out. Early on, Sirius and XM were separate companies that eventually merged.
Even some of their selling points, such as non-stop traffic reports for cities on individual channels were consolidated into most channels having 2 or 3 cities, making it less handy for up-to-the-minute changes. And as I found out, the people broadcasting the traffic reports often weren't from the city, so they would mis-pronounce commonly known names or use different landmarks or references. That may be fine if you're from outside the area, but not convenient for the locals.
In order to stay somewhat relevant, they need to force their ways onto our car radios, in which they give 3 month trials to everyone in hoping they'll sign up, and once they sign up hoping they won't notice the reoccurring charges. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't even exist today.
AM radio is only popular cause of Conservative Talk and religious. Remember FM became popular only because of stereo and the fact that FM radios later no longer were an option in cars as it became standard. Talk don't need no stereo and of course since the average Joe now has taken a side in the political world (as previously people only identified their party preference only to vote in primaries) where before people did not care too much about the state of politics at one time as the 85 percentile thought all politicians were crooks. When I was younger people hated Carter not because he was Democrat but because he sucked at his job! Ditto for Reagan as he was disliked who he was not cause he was a GOP man.
Its all demographics and that is why AM is still alive as the push for conservative talk don't need stereo and has become alive due to political hype but SiriusXM is only alive because of the rare travelers who travel from market to market so they don't have to change stations.
Something happened in NYC to change the demos as its all about age in the radio market. Just like Magic FM in Orlando was in the 90's playing Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Carpenter's, and borderline elevator music to define Adult Contemporary where now the station is still Adult Contemporary but with more upbeat artists as the age demos have different tastes now.
the average Joe now has taken a side in the political world
That's what I hate about the internet. It makes me wary of saying something for fear of offending a large percentage of the other readers because I don't see eye to eye with them. I've wound up in scuffles because I've been accused of not checking my privilege at the door AND, in another thread, not being environmentally incorrect enough. I'm not sure if nonpartisan folks take it in the shorts more than others, but it seems that way to me.
OK, maybe my last post is based more on perception than reality, but I feel like I burned bridges with sp cook in the Rust Belt thread and NE2 actually talked to me after a scuffle we had.
I just hope that hbelkins and abefroman still like me despite my neutrality in their feud.
I try to check my political opinions at the door for any road (or sports) related message boards unless the road-related topic at hand has a political slant to it (ie CT's move to add tolls). I figure I'll save my political views for boards that deal with politics, but yes, I'll be the first to admit my political leanings have shone through a couple of times, for which I have no regrets, but I keep it in check for fear of the dreaded purple font. But I realize the purple font is more to discourage me from getting political in general, not whether or not the admin agrees or disagrees. But it is so true that in today's over-sensitive world in comparison to even 10 years ago, the most innocent and harmless sounding statement could offend someone and lead to a series of ad-hominem attacks and a shouting match. 99% of the time I keep it light, informative, and with the occasional witty/sarcastic twist. My goal is here is to talk about a common interest, not to get into a political bruhaha
Quote from: roadman65 on May 14, 2019, 10:36:43 AM
Something happened in NYC to change the demos as its all about age in the radio market. Just like Magic FM in Orlando was in the 90's playing Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Carpenter's, and borderline elevator music to define Adult Contemporary where now the station is still Adult Contemporary but with more upbeat artists as the age demos have different tastes now.
This is perfectly defined when you listen to an 'Oldies' station. They're playing music from the 80's and 90's. Classic Rock will get you tunes from the 70's. Growing up, it was more flip-flopped - Classic Rock was still the 70's, but Oldies Stations were more 50's and 60's music.
Quote from: jon daly on May 11, 2019, 03:40:05 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on May 11, 2019, 09:30:53 AM
Quote from: SectorZ on May 11, 2019, 07:17:37 AM
Over 150 choices as opposed to 5-20 at any one time. Can hear hundreds to dozens more songs and genres than terrestrial radio.
It's actually media clutter. I like to hear different kinds of music all on the same station. Regular radio stations 30 years ago had a lot more variety.
HCN back in the day used to play a great mix of classic rack, both mainstream and deep cuts. Nowadays, the big media conglomerates have their 300-400 song playlist, with maybe one or two songs by a band. Even 15 years ago, one guy used to joke that PLR stands for "Play a Lotta Repeats." For example, Black Dog and Whole Lotta Love are great Zeppelin songs, but once in a while I want to hear Achillies Last Stand or The Rover instead. But now many classic rock stations include materials from the 90's, which I consider to be rather new because I came of age in the late 80's and 90's, so much of the material from the late 60's and 70's now has to compete with a wider library.
I think that was when AOR or album oriented rock became Classic Rock. Prior to that in my high school days I recall hearing some New Wave mixed in with "Aqualung" and "Long Train Running." My fellow Nutmeggers might recall WHCN and similar stations with a looser rotation back then.
With regards to talk radio, I don't listen to it much, but it seems like political discussion is more prevalent than it used to be and there's less talk about medicine of personal finance or investing. These were typical topics that I recall hearing on WTIC and WPOP. And sports has been ghettoized often to its own stations. That's a subject for its own thread.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on May 14, 2019, 12:29:03 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on May 14, 2019, 10:36:43 AM
Something happened in NYC to change the demos as its all about age in the radio market. Just like Magic FM in Orlando was in the 90's playing Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Carpenter's, and borderline elevator music to define Adult Contemporary where now the station is still Adult Contemporary but with more upbeat artists as the age demos have different tastes now.
This is perfectly defined when you listen to an 'Oldies' station. They're playing music from the 80's and 90's. Classic Rock will get you tunes from the 70's. Growing up, it was more flip-flopped - Classic Rock was still the 70's, but Oldies Stations were more 50's and 60's music.
CASUAL SEXISM ALERT:
Classic rock seems to more of a guy thing while oldies are more geared towards women. I know that this is a gross overgeneralization because my wife and I like songs that fit into both of these categories.
Well the very same for rap music of the 1980's. Now its called R & B which in the 80's R & B were considered the heavier side of Adult Contemporary then.
Everything over time gets redefined and yes oldies now is the 70's and 80's where it used to be 50's and 60's. Classic Rock was all rock from 1965 and forward, but now its anything from 1965 to 1993. Now you won't find any new Van Halen on Classic Rock Stations as the last album by them to be played on classic rock stations is the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge as things from Balance onto the recent Roth fronted album are not at all played on classic stations.
JP, I think WHCN was my favorite during the 80s. But WAQY was up there, too. We lived on a hill so we could pick up stations from multiple markets; even WAAF out of Worcester.
The big difference was the Sunday night Comedy Hour. It was a Godsend for a kid like me without cable or older brothers who had comedy albums. Advantage:HCN.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane.
When I was 11 or so, I received my first transistor radio. This was around 1979. It was an AM radio so I wound up listening to WDRC. It was a TOp 40 station at the time. I'm not sure when, but soon afterwards, I got access to FM and started listening to the area rock stations.
Prior to this and during the rest of my youth, WTIC 1080 was and remained a presence. Bob Steele told me the Word For the Day and when I didn't have school. They played some Adult Contemporary stuff like "I Can't Tell You Why," a softer Eagles number and Steele played some really old stuff.
They had a half hour straight news program in the evening and also broadcast Red Sox and Whaler games. And they had an hour or hour and a half devoted to sports talk. Arnold Dean was an older fellow who got his start spinning big band records, but he morphed into a sports guy. He wouldn't be popular today; not enough hot takes.
A decade ago, I worked in a building that had a hairdresser that specialized in toupees. I saw some ESPN guy there, but I also saw Dean. He's dead now, so I feel comfortable mentioning this. I thought it odd that a radio guy would be vain about thinning hair or balding.
WCLU was AM, but I began listening to it even though I had access to an FM radio. That's because Q-102 started their "Instant Replay" nonsense where they'd play the same song twice back to back. Usually, on the radio, the next song should be something completely different.
JD: I actually knew Arnold, as he used to buy cars from my dad. I actually had the pleasure of interviewing him for a 7th Grade project that I did at school. Very nice and down to earth gentleman. He even announced my father's passing on the air the day after it happened, and I'm pretty sure he was at the funeral (thought I saw his name in the guest book). I held the interview up on the 19th floor studios, and even got to sit in the prestigious Bob Steele chair (Bob was another customer of my dad's, along with Walt Dibble). About a year later, when Scott Gray hosted, I won a junior sportscaster contest and co-hosted the sports talk show one night. I always thought Arnold's hair was real; he looked like he paralleled Bob Barker in that he used Grecian Formula but let it go natural in the later years.
If you don't want to pay for Sirius, they offer nice 2 week trials where its free for anyone to tune into (usually during Memorial, 4th, and Labor holidays). Outside of that, I barely listen to radio anymore since I got bluetooth and stream Spotify
I was at the same table with The Dean of Sports at some rubber chicken dinner featuring Rich Gedman or some other retired ballplayer. Yes, he did seem like a pleasure to be around.
I thought it funny that Walt was an award winning newscaster while his son Rob's radio shows were not, as far as I know, critically acclaimed.
I was listening to an Adult Alternative station from Long Island and I heard The Byrd's "Eight Miles High." I think that Classic rock stations don't play as much late 60s psychedelia as Album oriented rock stations did.
Quote from: jon daly on May 14, 2019, 07:01:13 PM
I was listening to an Adult Alternative station from Long Island and I heard The Byrd's "Eight Miles High." I think that Classic rock stations don't play as much late 60s psychedelia as Album oriented rock stations did.
In NY when WNEW was on radio playing rock they went back to the mid 60's as Paint it Black by the Stones and the Beatles Help and A Hard Day's Night were considered in their playlist. Even very old Bob Dylan was played.
Came to Florida and when I heard WHTQ's A to Z weekend playing their library in its entirety they excluded songs like Derek and The Dominos Anyday and their cover of Little Wing. However HTQ did include the original Little Wing by Hendrix even though they bragged that their library was so huge!
Each area is different. When HTQ in Orlando cut off post 93 songs, a similar station in Tampa kept playing all rock songs before and after 1993 which I thought was great. Then their format went Country and that ended that. When NEW went off the air that was a shame even though been down here for years when that happened.
I wish I can guess but I would say that Dopey and Anthony did not help as I heard they brought that station a lot of lawsuits especially telling some couple to have sex in a public church which brought controversy to their station.
Edit: Found that WNEW did fire the two after a dare on Sex for Sam that resulted in a couple making love inside a church. Can't find backing info to claim if they endangered WNEW as a station, but learned they slowly stopped playing music and went for more talk and were risky like Howard Stern and Don Imus as far as being more like tabloid news to gain a following even if it hurt some demographics in the process. Surprising both shock jocks went national before SiriusXM picked them up, who also dropped one for absurd comments.
Quote from: jon daly on May 14, 2019, 07:01:13 PM
I was listening to an Adult Alternative station from Long Island and I heard The Byrd's "Eight Miles High." I think that Classic rock stations don't play as much late 60s psychedelia as Album oriented rock stations did.
That one was given a response by The Who with "˜I Can See For Miles', which was given a response by The Beatles with "˜Helter Skelter'. Also there was a cover done by Golden Earring (originally known as The Golden Earrings). Also Bob Seger's "˜Sunburst' samples The Who's answer song at least somewhat during the middle eight. And of course, "˜Helter Skelter' was covered by numerous other artists, including (but not limited to) Aerosmith and Motley Crue.
WNEW where rock lives! Back in the 90s I remember driving to NYC and hearing Scott Muni.
Quote from: jon daly on May 14, 2019, 08:12:15 PM
WNEW where rock lives! Back in the 90s I remember driving to NYC and hearing Scott Muni.
RIP to Scott. He was great and he was an interviewer too as he interviewed many of rock's great acts including the Beatles.
Quote from: kevinb1994 on May 14, 2019, 07:34:50 PM
Quote from: jon daly on May 14, 2019, 07:01:13 PM
I was listening to an Adult Alternative station from Long Island and I heard The Byrd's "Eight Miles High." I think that Classic rock stations don't play as much late 60s psychedelia as Album oriented rock stations did.
That one was given a response by The Who with "˜I Can See For Miles', which was given a response by The Beatles with "˜Helter Skelter'. Also there was a cover done by Golden Earring (originally known as The Golden Earrings). Also Bob Seger's "˜Sunburst' samples The Who's answer song at least somewhat during the middle eight. And of course, "˜Helter Skelter' was covered by numerous other artists, including (but not limited to) Aerosmith and Motley Crue.
I knew the bass lines were similar, but I had no idea that The Who made that as an answer song.
I learn something every day.
Does that agricultural station out in the middle of Nebraska still exist?
Quote from: roadman65 on May 14, 2019, 08:24:28 PM
Quote from: jon daly on May 14, 2019, 08:12:15 PM
WNEW where rock lives! Back in the 90s I remember driving to NYC and hearing Scott Muni.
RIP to Scott. He was great and he was an interviewer too as he interviewed many of rock's great acts including the Beatles.
I remember he had a lunchtime show on Q 104-3 after WNEW flipped and he passed away.
The New York stations that came in really well in my neck of the woods east of Hartford we're the network flagships 660 770 and 880.
I can still pull in 880 while commuting thru Rhody.
http://www.insideradio.com/cumulus-media-s-mary-berner-more-dealmaking-ahead/article_113340c6-7612-11e9-9e13-93f6e0417b09.html
Part of the reason here is to get Cumulus out of debt there are more stations besides WPLJ and KLOS that were sold though.
Is Clearchannel still around? The stations here in FL owned by them are now part of IHeart Radio.
Quote from: roadman65 on May 15, 2019, 10:37:01 PM
Is Clearchannel still around? The stations here in FL owned by them are now part of IHeart Radio.
Same company, changed the name a few years ago.
Quote from: SP Cook on May 16, 2019, 09:35:22 AM
Quote from: roadman65 on May 15, 2019, 10:37:01 PM
Is Clearchannel still around? The stations here in FL owned by them are now part of IHeart Radio.
Same company, changed the name a few years ago.
Thanks. I thought that was the case, but wasn't sure.
Clear Channel -- the beginning of the end of radio.
IHeartRadio clearly does not.
Quote from: roadman65 on May 15, 2019, 10:37:01 PM
Is Clearchannel still around? The stations here in FL owned by them are now part of IHeart Radio.
Clearchannel did change their name to Iheartmedia a few years ago.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/177221/emf-sets-new-call-letters-for-cumulus-aloha-acquisitions-wrqx-moves-to/
Update EMF will keep the WPLJ call letters.
Quote from: roadman65 on May 15, 2019, 10:37:01 PM
Is Clearchannel still around? The stations here in FL owned by them are now part of IHeart Radio.
Same company, renamed iHeart Media a few years back.
I was listening to this week's classic American Top 40 episode and WPLJ was mentioned among the radio stations that aired the show.
Its no different than billboards advertising defunct businesses on the highways. Someone was not yet informed of it.
To me personally WPLJ died when they screwed over their original audience when they pulled the plug in 1983 on their Classic Rock Format, but as many people they pissed off doing that, they got a bunch of new faithful listeners as they lasted 36 years with no pull of advertisers.
Quote from: renegade on May 16, 2019, 02:31:53 PM
Clear Channel -- the beginning of the end of radio.
IHeartRadio clearly does not.
Unfortunately, they're not the only ones. See also Cumulus and, to a lesser extent, Alpha Media.