Maybe it's time for WJR to power down and go off the air

[TC Talks]

Those are miserable numbers. Management should be embarrassed.

I wonder how much of their demo has moved a little farther down the dial and listen to Adel's offering?

More likely, they're now dead.

[MWmetalhead]

WFDF likely has pulled some folks from both WJR and WDTK.

If WFDF weren't programming conservative news/talk, I suspect WJR would be maybe a half share higher.

WFDF has a very small weekly cume, but that small bunch of listeners tunes in religiously. TSL is sky high.

WJR has quadruple the cume of WFDF, but the TSL of the typical WFDF listener is nearly double the TSL of the typical WJR listener.

[billmich88888]

Those are miserable numbers. Management should be embarrassed.

I wonder how much of their demo has moved a little farther down the dial and listen to Adel's offering?

wouldn't moving from 760 to 910 actually be moving "up the dial"?

[FredLeonard]

If anybody wants to have a taste of what 'JR once WAS, click on the link below. You'll see a film called "WJR One of a Kind," which was produced in 1966 for ad agencies and potential advertising clients. The introduction was by Lowell Thomas, one of the most famous radio news commentators from the 1930's through the 70's. Thomas was also a major stock holder in Capital Cities Broadcasting, which owned WJR at the time. You'll also see J.P. and find out why J.P. never made it on television. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U6LcA61dVk

[aaugusti]

Why stop at WJR? Shut down the entire AM band. It has had a 105 year run. Time to let it go. WJR is not the only Detroit station that once represented the pinnacle of radio and is now nothing. If the owners think a format is worth saving, they can move it to FM.

WJR once was not just for white collar baby boomers. Boomers listened to WJBK, WXYZ, Keener or CKLW. All now bottom of the heap, too. Back then the elites listened to WJR. Word is they once ran ads from auto parts manufacturers targeting only three people - executives at each of the big three who could buy their parts to put in cars. Of course, today WJR is returning to its roots. It was once a bastion of right-wing hate speech and came close to losing its license.

You may be right but I've heard that "AM is dead" and "No one listens to AM" since the late 1980s. There are still 4,000+ US AM stations out there. Lots of them are ethnic stations that are inexpensive lifelines for the community. Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mexican, Indian, etc.

What's left of AM? Preachers selling Bibles autographed by Jesus. Right-wing hate speech. I'm not sure foreign language radio is such a good thing. Radio and newspapers in English once helped immigrants become fluent in English. Now foreign language radio is a way for them to avoid becoming fluent in English and to avoid assimilation.

Baby boomers grew up with AM. Those born later did not. For them, AM radio is alien - like shortwave. Radio wasn't yet dead in the late 80s but it was dying.

Starts with the "right wing hate speech" trope. Makes a xenophobic comment in the next sentence.

On brand

[FredLeonard]

Starts with the "right wing hate speech" trope. Makes a xenophobic comment in the next sentence.

On brand

Bull! It is not "xenophobic" (look it up in the dictionary) to point out that people living in an English-speaking country are at an extreme disadvantage if they can't speak English fluently. That's not to suggest that they should give up their ancestral language. Being bi-lingual actually gives one a distinct advantage intellectually and in learning ability. Narrow mindedness is not limited to the right. Foreign language broadcasting is like training wheels. As long as parents keep the training wheels on the ground (which most do), a kid is never going to learn to ride a bike.