John Fuller’s Full Power Radio has launched translator 103.3 W277DT Hartford CT as the FM side of “The Talk of Connecticut” 1360 WDRC Hartford.
With the launch, WDRC and simulcasters 610 WSNG Torrington and 1470 WMMW Meriden have shifted to what is being positioned as “Ultra Conservative Talk” branded as “Trump 103.3“. The station’s lineup now features local morning show “Brad Davis & Friends” from 6-9am, Mike Gallagher from 9am-12pm, local host Lee Elci from 12-1pm which also includes Bill O’Reilly’s new syndicated commentary from 1230-1245. The syndicated Dana Loesch, Michael Savage, Ben Shapiro, and Wayne Allen Root round out the daily lineup.
Full Power Radio announced today the launch of ultra conservative talk radio station “TRUMP 103.3 WDRC”. The station’s promos call for the firing of Governor Ned Lamont and demand “No New Tolls or Taxes for Connecticut”.
“There is a real hunger for the truth and “Trump 103.3” will report and uncover statewide waste and corruption that conventional media are afraid to touch, according to John Fuller owner of Full Power Radio. Listeners can expect investigative reporting and live and local talk shows. Trump 103.3 is the “Brave New Voice of Freedom”.
“Trump 103.3” is the FM simulcast of WDRC 1360 AM- Hartford, WMMW 1470 AM- Meriden and WSNG 610 AM Torrington. The station lineup includes Brad Davis and Friends in the Morning, Mike Gallagher from 9 to Noon, Lee Elci is live and local at noon with special guest Bill O’Reilly”. Dana Losch, Michael Savage and Ben Shapiro round out the afternoon. Wayne Allen Root will be heard in the evening. The station is a Fox News Affiliate and does local news on the hour with a state wide news team.
“Radio that makes you think” is another slogan that defines the station, according to Fuller, who says the innovation of Trump 103.3 FM, is to help unite conservatives in Connecticut for change and make it a red state.
WDRC- AM The Talk of Connecticut is celebrating 100 years of service to Hartford and we are delighted that the FCC granted us an FM simulcast station because of the outstanding community service the station has given to the community.
Wow, a spectacular job by them at alienating a significant chunk of the population with that branding and ensuring the demos will never improve beyond what they’ve got. And people wonder why talk radio is on life support.
Fuller is a Trump supporter. He contributed to Trump’s campaign in 2016. A couple of his DJ’s on his BOMBA-FM Spanish CHR network quit.
Pretty much shocking and surprising absolutely no one whatsoever.
CBS for Hartford in the first golden age … Hartford’s pop music giant in the second golden age … now the key station of a network that promotes reactionary views.
Such is how a once-vibrant radio station has devolved.
Tried in DC in 08 I believe– McCain 570 and Obama 1260 or something. DC also tried a blend of viewpoints on 1500 with a format described as “Left, Right, and Whatever We Want”. Didn’t last.
Daniel Snyder owned 570 and 1260 at the time, of course he did the “McCain 570” and “Obama 1260” branding on his talkers. “Obama 1260” actually lasted well after President Obama’s inauguration, but even then, neither station didn’t/couldn’t draw any ratings in the first place.
“3WT 1500” was, in retrospect, a stopgap format after “Washington Post Radio” before Bonneville took internet-only Federal News Radio and slapped it on the terrestrial signal.
Sounds like a branding thing in an attempt to take listeners away from WTIC, a flame-thrower that is local until noon and then again after Rush in afternoon drive. WDRC is still going to be mostly programmed with syndicated hosts. WTIC heavily covers state issues with a conservative slant, and it looks like WDRC wants that audience.
This lineup is a mess of third and fourth-tier hosts. Ben Shapiro is the only host with a smidgen of upside potential… but Dana Loesch? Mike Gallagher? Savage? Bill O’ Reilly? Come on. It’s the D-list against a heritage talk station in WTIC, in a format where heritage practically dictates the success or failure of the station.
Heck, I had no idea Wayne Allen Root even had a weekday show.
How can WDRC “attempt to take listeners away from WTIC” when it can barely crack a 1 share? Not only that, this move comes the week before Nielsen Audio issues the April ratings survey (and Hartford is a PPM market).
Same thing I was thinking- not an all star lineup. I like Gallagher, but I can’t say he’s a big name- or even the second team. Savage is just nuts. O’Reilly isn’t a bad add, but it’s not going to mean anything, especially against Rush (which is where their target audience will be.) I had to look up Root on Google- and I listen to middle- and conservative voices (for clarity’s sake, I am libertarian as opposed to conservative. My philosophy is do what you want as long as you’re not hurting people.) I see nothing competitive in that lineup. And in Connecticut, as well? Ummmmm… no, not happening.
Sounds like this is a stunt format.
If the owner is as dye-in-the-wool with his politics as is being suggested, this is not only not a stunt, but WDRC is going to ride this branding as they sunset to a 0 rating and total irrelevance.
Not to be political or anything but will stations like this eventually lose their licenses for continuing to support Donald Trump? Will they follow him all the way to prison or fascism, whichever comes first?
Talk radio stations are apparently content to see their audiences literally die off. Very few of them have any salable demos whatsoever, it’s why they are brokering out the weekend lineups just to stay afloat.
That’s nuts. You need to get a grip and stop letting politicians manipulate your views.
“Not to be political” but orange man bad orange man bad. Trump has been amazing for talk radio ratings. Onwards and Upwards.
The ratings books would strongly disagree. Outside of WMAL and WLW, most talk stations are underperforming or have no ratings whatsoever (WABC, WOR, KEIB, WLS, WXKS and KABC). The format is almost impossible to draw solid audiences in the 25-54 demo and the hosts (Rush, et al) are so toxic it can’t be sold.
Funny thing is, Trump has been a major boon to NPR member stations and public radio talkers, many of whom now have record numbers.
Progressive talk failed nationwide even in “blue” New England.Some New Eng talkers still do conservative talk and at least stay afloat–hosts like Howie Carr and Dan Rea.
Meanwhile, I note that at least one of the syndie hosts, Ben Shapiro, is said to be a “Never Trumper”.
I suppose DRC (AM) could have gone the route that WSNO in VT did–get an FM translator and switch to top 40.Appeal to teens not aging political junkies.
Liberal talk radio just couldn’t work as a 24/7 format. The reasons are numerous, but the biggest one to me is just in the method of presentation. Simply flipping the script and having the hosts do what conservative hosts have done wasn’t a good strategy in retrospect. (As it is, both Rachel Maddow, the Young Turks and Al Franken have – or had – been much more successful after leaving radio behind, Rachel especially.)
Ben Shapiro is still very green as a talk host. I get why Cumulus has put a lot of stock in him because of his podcast success, and they are clearly committed to developing him. But in terms of “NeverTrump,” Salem’s Joe Walsh is far and away a better example, his opposition to Trump has remarkably never wavered.
If this “TrumpFM” branding bombs and the ratings crash, the only thing left to do would be your latter point… launch an FM music format on WDRC and have the branding ignore the AM entirely.
With those calls at his disposal, it’s a natural for a 60s-70s based oldies format, especially if he can lure any classic DRC jox back to do shows or at least VT shows for the station.
Frankly, there is enough political talk. Left, right… all of it is designed to play to your emotions and manipulate you into thinking a certain, pre-programmed way. Just look a few posts upstream in this discussion. When I lived just outside of Hartford, working in Farmington and living in Simsbury, I listened to Howie Carr on the way home out of Springfield, not because of his politics but because he made me chuckle a lot, and it was fun to find out how often he was factually wrong about whatever was on his mind. I’ve been known to fact check Hannity and Maddow as well. You just can’t invest yourself in politicians or talk show hosts.
They’ve had an Oldies station in that cluster for a number of years already. 990 WNTY/96.1 W241CG is part of the “Kool Oldies” network along with sister stations in Springfield MA and Rhode Island. http://www.koololdiesradio.net/
Whatever value the call letters had got blown away with this branding, and the owner painted himself into a hole by saying he only intends to cater to a small portion of the general public with a bad lineup and a toxic brand.
WDRC needs to have a DNR tag.
Wait, isn’t Trump a trademarked business name?
I haven’t seen anyone impose any trademark claims against stations that have used “Trump” as a stunting brand (the reborn WPAY-FM comes to mind) but those were meant to grab attention and lasted for a few days.
The may have paid a licensing fee to use the name as a brand.