ESPN New York moving to 98.7 FM (WRKS) KISS moves to 107.5 (WBLS)

[Bob Nelson]

Boston had a bit of a station merger when WKLB and WBCS merged to
become one country station on 96.9...and then there was the time when
WEEI moved from 590 to 850 and American Radio (IIRC) bought the
"intellectual property" of WEEI
Sports Radio, over to what had been WHDH.

Sid wrote:
> It's the current trend.  Industry forecasters predicted, at the beginning of the year, that talk formats of all types would be migrating to FM in substantial numbers this year.  An AllAccess bulletin just a few minutes ago stated that Atlanta is getting its first all-news station, which is at 106.7 replacing an oldies station.

And it continues, as people concentrate on FM. Many young people don't
touch the AM dial. Some people don't have AM-FM Walkmen but they do
have mp3 players with radios...which only have FM. At my post office,
you go by boombox after boombox tuned to WEEI-FM...and just as well,
as the 850 signal can't quite penetrate the building and its many
interference-laden electronics.

> AM stations plainly have to do something, because the 55-to-death demo is the hardest sell in radio advertising, and as people (especially boomers) age, that demo is narrowing and shrinking.  Moving previously AM-only formats to FM is an effort to attract the younger demos, many of whom already have listening habits that don't include AM at all.

Agreed. Some stations add an FM simulcast, even a small one, and the
websites and on-air mentions accent the FM frequency ("you're next on
93.7 WEEI"). WTAG, WPRO, WPKZ, WKXL (go to their website and it says
"103.9 FM 1450 AM") and sometimes they don't mention the AM at all.

As has been mentioned before, FM can have reception advantages,
including stations which change patterns or power down at sunset.
By the way the Atlanta FM station that is going all news is going
after a bit of a younger audience than older people who want strictly
hard news...lifestyle and
celebrity news will be added to the mix.