In this week’s issue… Stunt format arouses Kingston attention – New Hudson Valley morning show – Audacy cuts more HD subchannels – WBLQ moves to new studios
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada
*When radio owners Jon Pole and Andrew Dickson expanded from their base in CANADA to acquire WLYK (102.7 Cape Vincent), a class A signal that covers the Kingston market from just across the St. Lawrence River, they faced a challenge: on a radio dial full of formats from big owners Bell, Corus and Rogers, plus local college radio and lots of signals from across the border, how do you stand out?
When Rogers ended its long-running lease on the 102.7 signal at 1 PM on March 1, shutting off the “Kiss” top-40 format it had been programming, Pole and Dickson answered that question by launching “102.7 the Pole,” promising a format of nonstop rhythmic hits, rap and rock of the sort that would be played in gentlemen’s clubs.
Wait – what??
It’s a stunt, of course, but “Music for the Grind” is a particularly clever one, first launched in Denver a few years back by consultant Paige Nienaber and executed especially well by the creative team at Pole and Dickson’s Canadian stations.
(It also needed a US engineer to handle moving the WLYK connections out of Community Broadcasters’ Watertown studios and out to the transmitter site in Cape Vincent, and that turned out to be us here at Fybush Media. They didn’t tell us we’d be paid entirely in dollar bills…)
What’s actually next for 102.7 now that it’s picked up local attention with the stunt? We’re waiting to hear, too, as it goes up against Bell’s country and AC formats, Corus’ classic rock and hot AC, and Rogers’ remaining lineup of country and rock.
WE’RE WELL INTO 2025…
Do you have your Tower Site Calendar yet?
Now is the time to get it — and we have reduced the price. It’s now 20 percent off!
This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).
We have quite a few calendar left and are still shipping throughout the week.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025 ready to ship, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the next calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!