WROR/WBMX

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 8 Aug 2007 at 0:00, Eli Polonsky wrote:

> #1): They tried it ten years before on 1150 AM, and though it was
> fun to listen to, it wasn't ultimately successful. Granted it was a
> fairly weak AM signal which couldn't survive once WODS came on the
> air, but that brings me to the next reason. 

I suppose, but the main problem was exactly that: it was a fairly 
weak AM signal.  And it was an AM signal.  It apparently did 
reasonably well until WODS came along.  WMEX on FM doing that music 
might have worked.  At that time.   Probably not now because the 
demographic for the WMEX calls and that era oldies is older now.

 > #2): The original WMEX was always an AM station,
> WROR was FM. For those who remember Boston radio, an FM revived as
> WROR seemed more "authentic" than reviving an AM-only call on an FM
> station. 

I'm not impressed with this reason.  Plenty of call letters have 
migrated from AM to FM, including WCRB and WBOS.  An even better 
example is, several years ago, when WPTR in Albany became WDCD, an FM 
station in the area picked up the WPTR call letters.  Eventually, it 
dropped them and 1540 resumed the calls.  Since then, the format and 
calls were swapped with a co-owned FM.  So if the WPTR calls could 
migrate to FM, why not WMEX?
 
> #3): People who remember listening to the original WROR may
> remember doing so from the late '60s right through the '70's and
> into part of the '80s. That's a somewhat younger demographic than
> listeners who would remember the original WMEX which was all done
> as a Top 40 and music station by the mid '70s. 

This is true.  They were going for a younger demographic by using the 
WROR calls.
 
> At this point I don't think the call letters matter a heck of a
> lot. Any nostalgia for "heritage" calls wears off quickly, then the
> station must stand on the quality of the programming that it is
> offering currently. That's what gives it ratings in the long run,
> not nostalgia for old call letters. 

True, but it may attract a certain number of listeners to try the 
station out.
 
-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
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