What Would You Do with A New York FM?

It is certainly possible that the end of WEPN (98.7 ESPN) New York’s lease to Good Karma Brands next August will end with 98.7 FM doing something other than returning to the world of mainstream music outlets. Maybe EMF will buy it as a better signal for Air-1. Maybe it’ll be sold to another operator of brokered religious stations. Maybe it’ll switch to sports betting. Those have certainly been the likely outcomes of a major-market station being sold these days.

But in a market that has been left with several major holes recently, a new music-FM launch is fun to consider. When I poised the question to Facebook friends, Country and Alternative — the two formats recently vacated — were certainly on their list. But the leading choice of Ross on Radio readers was to bring back WEPN’s predecessor, Adult R&B WRKS (98.7 Kiss FM). Readers want Kiss back even though there’s an existing competitor in WBLS, as well as throwback Hip-Hop WXBK (94.7 the Block). 

But Kiss was a viable station that went away, something which wasn’t happening at a regular clip in 2012 like it is now. “It was loved and it did not go away because of bad ratings,” says Ellis B. Feaster, one of several readers who suggest that the station come back as Classic R&B. R&B radio veteran Cedric Hollywood similarly suggests that the new Kiss be modeled on KTWV (The Wave) Los Angeles’s crossover version of Adult R&B. 

There are questions about whether the Kiss name would be available. When Kiss left Adult R&B, it entered into an intellectual property “merger” with WBLS, although a source familiar with that deal says the name may no longer be protected. Another is that it’s less common to see two competitive Adult R&B outlets both succeeding than it was 12 years ago, although it’s still happening in markets like Washington, D.C., or Charlotte, N.C.

There’s also the specter of another well-known brand coming back. For years, the notion of a new WABC-FM, playing the ’60s/’70s oldies left behind by Classic Hits WCBS-FM, was a favorite of message-board posters, but entirely unlikely to those in the business. But the success of WABC-AM under new owner John Catsimatidis, a rare example of an emerging secular buyer for major-market radio, makes that scenario a little less fanciful. (Mike Johnson votes for putting Scott Shannon’s True Oldies Channel on the frequency.)

There were also a number of suggestions for Soft AC, which in many cases over the last five years has overlapped with the simultaneous resurgence of ’60s/’70s oldies. “Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Elton John, Chicago, Madonna, Eagles, etc.,” says Mike Edwards. “Cox has always had success with this in Tampa and Miami. Plus, it targets the demo that still actually uses radio.” “Ask [KOAI (The Wow Factor) Phoenix PD] John Sebastian to program it,” says Bruce Tennenbaum.

Soft AC would seem to have an opening at a moment when heritage AC WLTW (Lite FM) is playing Metro Boomin’, David Guetta, and other push-the-envelope titles. But Lite FM was also quick to readd Peabo Bryson, Air Supply, and similar artists after the success of sister KISQ (Kiss FM) San Francisco, even before anybody in New York was rumored to be considering the format.

“Country hasn’t had a full FM signal in New York since ’96, when WKTU replaced WYNY,” adds Bill Schultz. “Artist support is strong, concerts sell out around here, audience pockets in New Jersey and Long Island are strong.” Every comment advocating Country was immediately answered by somebody talking about the departure of its most recent contender, WNSH (Country 94.7). But that was before the recent format resurgence. “The hole is Country, and as I look at the top albums right now, it’s a pretty big hole,” says Marty Bender.

Other reader suggestions:

• Dance (Mostly Classic): “New York still loves its freestyle, hi-NRG, Euro, pop dance and EDM … Every time New York has had a dance station, it’s worked,” says John Parker. “Put on Chris Shebel’s KGAY Palm Springs, Calif., format,” says Harry Legg. 
• Alternative (Mostly Classic): “I guarantee success,” says Jerry Rubino. Even in the year following the departure of WNYL (Alt 92.3), the return of WNNX (99X) Atlanta and KITS (Live 105) San Francisco have given the gold-based version of the format more currency.
• All-podcasts, suggested by Bill O’Brien as another option that works with radio’s existing demos. There were also votes for hot talk, including MusicMaster’s Joe Knapp.
• Block-programmed: Specifically, Rick Schmidt suggests bringing the formats that have lost their frequency to the same frequency — giving Country, gold-based Triple-A, and Active Rock each 6-8-hour blocs. 
• “Bring back Howard Stern to terrestrial radio.”—Debra Grobman
• Sports Betting: For Jered Petrey, that choice would be deliberate, not desparation.
• There were also calls for Active Rock, Smooth Jazz, a full-signal Triple-A; Adult Hits, and several suggestions for TikTok Radio, which currently exists on SiriusXM.

Despite nearly 400 Facebook comments, there were no votes for doing a second CHR or trying to do the format in some way differently from WHTZ (Z100). In general, the only call for anything younger-skewing came from TM’s Dave Bethell, who calls for “a station that genuinely serves a younger audience,” citing the UK’s Kiss. “Go where listeners will give you 40 new years of loyalty to radio,” he suggests.

Among the more whimsical suggestions:

• The return of not just Kiss 98.7, but predecessors 99X and WOR-FM (going back to its ’60s progressive era);
• The return of the short-lived Blink-FM incarnation of WNEW — J.J. Kincaid;
• Bringing the Pirate Radio brand to New York, to play sea shanties — Alex Roman;
• “All Gregorian chants, all the time.” — James Rabe;
• “An all-day flea market” — Edwin Santiago;
• Des Moines, Iowa’s Mike Wickett and Chicago’s Tom Keif were both willing to be simulcast to NYC;
• “Mongolian Throat Singing is underserved” — Mark Reid.