Re: WCOP and the lawsuit.

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

>Interesting... when WKLB moved to 99.5, and WSJZ to
>96.9, the feeling was that smooth jazz listeners in
>greater Boston could pick up 96.9 more easily,
>while the 99.5 frequency (transmitter in Andover?)
>could better cover country fans in Boston,
>Northeast Mass., and Southern NH.

How's that working out for them?  Was one of those ideas that seemed like
(gasp!) a good one at the time.

The only benefit I could see to moving WBOS around on the dial, versus
bagging it altogether (which is rumoured), would be to give it some
bandwidth between 92.5 WXRV Haverhill.  I know, I know, WXRV is not a Boston
signal contendah, but WBOS's interest in an Andover repeater for 92.9 is not
accidently in Haverhill's back yard.

During WBOS's forgettable country phase, it was obvious that minimal effort
was employed to make it really happen.  They used an early
jukebox/touchscreen arrangement were not really "home" (eventually
studio-swapping with WZOU on Stuart St. and leasing space from WHDH), bland
stagers (live or otherwise, little difference), and a skew to the softer and
female vocals side of the genre (Holly Dunn, Forrester Srs., etc.)  To be
fair, the genre was still trying to find its own country pop niche, still
drawing from the A/C crossovers of the late 70s/early 80s who delivered
dollars for the labels and A&R people.  It seemed like a clear attempt to
counterprogram and not offend advertisers (nor, obviously, to wow them).

As for WOKQ, it seems ironic to me that with the greater competitiveness of
the format, with 99.5 covering a good chunk of their So. NH ADI, they seem
to be less of a player (the rest of NH notwithstanding).  Their morning show
seems far from what it was.  They always seemed to present as "the good
guys" with consistency and a kinship to the music.  OTOH, perhaps WKLB is
just doing a better job, by contrast, and WOKQ is just chugging along.

Bill (No Bubbas on this Bus) O'Neill

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