Happi 92-7 HD becomes Erie’s third CHR
The stunting is done and the thumping bass line has begun.
Happi 92-7 HD
Friday at noon WEHP/Lawrence Park-Erie became CHR Happi 92-7 HD. The launch song was Nicki Minaj’s “Va Va Voom,” followed by LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It.” Erie Radio Company partner Rick Rambaldo told the Erie Times-News that Happi would be “Erie’s new No. 1 hit spot.”
The previously mentioned website Happi927.com is not functional at this point, but the station is promoting their Facebook page.
WEHP is targeting WRTS’s market-leading radio shares, and has to also deal with WXKC-HD2 on the i104.3 translator. Happi becomes the second Erie market FM to adopt the HD IBOC technology.
So here’s the format run-down on the commercial FM band in the Erie metro (not including translators):
- 1 – AC (WXKC-HD1)
- 1 – Adult Hits (WXBB)
- 2 – Country (WTWF, WXTA)
- 3 – CHR (WEHP, WRTS, WXKC-HD2)
- 2 – Christian (WCGM, WCTL)
- 2 – Classic Rock (WQHZ, WRKT)
Editor’s Note: Special Thanks to Chet LaPrice for sharing his recording of WEHP’s sign-on with the We rocked Erie in the 20th Century Facebook group.
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While we’re talking radio, Classy 100 flipped to its seasonal Christmas music selections 3 p.m. Friday. Wish they would have waited a week, until the day after Thanksgiving, to fill the music logs with Christmas picks. I’m sure the folks at Cumulus have their own reason for switching when they did.
Could be a blow to I-104.3 since they mainly cover the city (unless you have an HD Radio & can listen at 99.9 HD2) & do not have a website or stream. I just do not see three CHR stations surviving unless Cumulus swaps 104.3 with 102.3 or 97.9. (Z probably being more likely than WXTA with a way better signal outside of Erie County than The Wolf.)
Hmm…Nicki Minaj
Even more yum…Ke$ha
Christmas tunes already???!!! You’ve got to be kidding!!! Classy just sees the Christmas holiday as a cash cow. They’re just as bad, perhaps worse than the malls and stores. We can’t even wait till the day after Thanksgiving to put on the holiday tunes. Too bad the FCC can’t issue fines or have a policy regarding this issue. I would have preferred if Classy would wait until Dec. 1 to roll out the Christmas tunes, perhaps two or three per hour until Dec. 24 when they could have gone all Christmas at 9A.M., 12noon, or 6P.M. They could also have committed an entire hour each weeknight , say 7P.M. or 8P.M., for all holiday tunes for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Classy managed to do these things years ago. I like holiday tunes, but not all the time, and certainly not this early, especially before Thanksgiving. When you stop and think about it, there are only so many holiday tunes out there. By the time you factor in the traditional religious and secular tunes, the novelty songs, and the more contemporary holiday offerings, there are probably around 200 or so songs. How many different versions of “Carol of the Bells” or “Sleigh Ride” do we really need to hear? I also don’t care for Classy’s branding of this– “we’re your official holiday station”. Who, exactly, deemed it “official”? And with the exception of Froggy 94.7 going all-Christmas for one year, several years ago, no other commercial station plays all-Christmas, all the time. By the way, I know of several Erie businesses that actually flip their radios from Classy to either 94.7 BOB-FM, or Star97.1 WREO when this ridiculous stunt occurs every year. I also find it interesting that Classy can manage to air songs by Johnny Mathis, Burl Ives, the Carpenters, Barry Manilow, etc. during this time; however, they won’t air any oldies or soft rock the rest of the year. As for Cumulus’ switching formats at this time, it’s probably just to ensure that they’re first in town to do this (just in case there should be competition) and the corporate executives at Cumulus only have $$$$$$$$$ on their mind. All I can say is that it certainly was a dark cloudy day when Cumulus came to town. Why, if they’re going to keep doing this, can’t they at least put the Christmas tunes on WXTA Country 98? We already have another hot country station in town with pretty much the same playlist and at the moment, country radio stations are not doing so well.
By the way, would someone at Lily Broadcasting/WSEE please address the technical issues that keep occurring on WSEE at latenight/overnight. I was watching an episode of “Matlock” which airs Friday latenight/early Saturday morning recently, when the screen went blank, then a minute of CBS Network Saturday morning children’s animated cartoon programming came on, then that was followed by a color test pattern with no audio for several hours. It seems that WSEE is constantly having technical issues on latenight/early morning hours and nobody from Lily pays any attention to them. You can’t even get through to a live person at the station when you call. Don’t they have at least ONE SINGLE PERSON to monitor what is going over the air? I would think that if they have a blank screen, a color test pattern, or a still image, an alarm would go off in the control room if this went on for a period of time. I can’t even believe that perhaps an employee at home wouldn’t check on the channel from time to time and get ahold of someone at the station. At the very least, couldn’t WSEE run a scroll on the screen informing viewers of an audio/visual, or technical problem, so that at least viewers would feel comforted knowing that the station is at least aware of the problem and is working on it. This helpful info. used to be put on the screen years ago, why can’t the current broadcasters do it today? After all, I know it wasn’t an issue of a downed transmitter, or absolutely no picture, as I could receive the color test pattern still, and the other two Lily channels were unaffected. The technical issue scroll idea should be rather easy to implement, as Lily certainly loves to cover up the screen with weather radar images and scrolls, and school/business closing scrolls. By the way, could you manage to repeat that “Matlock” episode Sunday latenight as I saw 2/3 of it and would like to see the ending?
@ERE —- ” Too bad the FCC can’t issue fines or have a policy regarding this issue. ”
Surely you jest. The last thing we need is more government micromanagement of anything. However, I agree with you 100% otherwise about Christmas music and the associated formatics.
P.S. — With respect to your other comments regarding WSEE’s apparent technical problems stemming from unattended operation overnight, just Google “Harris Corporation :: Broadcast Communications / Predator II-GX”. Here is a bit of its description copy-and-pasted from the list of features — ‘ ….extensive alarm monitoring capabilities — ability to monitor numerous video and audio faults such as loss, freeze, black, metadata loss, audio silence or over level; range of response options including onscreen notification… ‘ There are probably other such devices available as well. That’s just the first one I found. So in that context, your remarks are on-target.
It is a pet peeve to me that most commercial stations in Christmas mode only play holiday songs from the Great American Songbook during the holiday season. I am a fan of various styles of music which includes some Sinatra, Deano, Brubeck, etc. I try to feature more programs that feature such artists Sunday afternoons (3-9pm) on “88.5 Jazz FM”, and we added a new show last week called “Martini Mix” from 3-5pm. With three CHR stations in the market now, such an alternative is really needed on the dial along with WYNE 1530.
I’ve always wondered why radio stations have always launched a new station/format by being jockless for the first month or so. I understand that in this particular case, Rick is still getting the studio up and running, but the rule generally seems to be to run it sans announcers and then phase them in. To me, that’s like opening up a new restaurant with only half your menu in place. This period the PERFECT time to showcase your music AND your personalities (ie your ful menu)w/out commercials.
Hmmm, I may switch to 92.7. Star 104 is always commercials, and 104.3 never comes in clear and sucks.
Jim, I agree with you. A music listener can listen to music from any of a number of sources these days. But what makes radio stand out from the crowd? The Radio DJ! I need someone to tell me about the music before I can truly appreciate it. Tell me what it is that appeals to you, Mr. DJ, and perhaps I can share your enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is something that dwells within the human spirit. I truly want to be a part of your world, Mr. DJ. Tell me about yourself, your town, etc. How about getting me excited about the big game at the stadium this weekend. I know that people cost money and the professionally minded people cost even more, but I still stand by my thoughts…. You just can’t get enthusiasm or excitement from an iPod! I have often wondered why you would have empty radio studios behind former department store windows?!? If I were to invest in a college education with the hope of becoming a Radio DJ, what kind of message does an empty radio studio give me? Radio needs to be ACTIVE! There is no such thing as Radio Passive! (…and you may quote me.)
If the music is not worth listening to then the DJ is never gonna get heard. I was really disappointed when 92.7 went CHR/Top 40. That music has no longevity. There is no feel to it. Most of the “artists” are flash in the pans. In 20, 30 years will people remember Justin Bieber, Flo-Rida, Ne-Yo or LMFAO? But we all remember the Stones, KISS, Beatles, Aerosmith, Led Zep, and so many more.That music lives on, todays not so much. Without a reason to listen, the great DJ may as well be talking to a wall.
K104, every musical era has its flash in the pans and one or two hit wonders. I can remember people saying the same things about Madonna in the early 80′s and now she’s in the RR Hall of Fame (for better or worse) and still can fill up a concert arena. We’re here to debate the practicality of 3 CHR’s in market #176.
WCTL is going to all Christmas music on Black Friday. After all it’s the one time of the year where everybody else plays and sings our songs
Jim, there is no practicality of 3 CHR’s. Not in this day and age. Maybe if we were in a much bigger metro area but not Erie. Maybe if they mixed more genres in with the top 40 as back in the K104/Jet days but we all know thats not going to happen.
I had thought that Christmas was going to come early last Friday, Nov. 16 in the form of a new oldies formatted radio station at 92.7f.m. I based this partly on the fact that the automated loop of songs included a disco hit from 1979 (Edwin Star’s “H.A.P.P.Y. Radio”, R.E.M.’s ” Shiny Happy People”, and Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, two hits from the 1980′s. Oldies/Classic Hits stations will play songs from the ’80′s as well. I also had thought that the station handle– “Happi Radio” would be appropriate for this type of format, which is often billed as “good times and great oldies” or “fun songs that you can sing along with”. Obviously, I was very disappointed when I tuned in at noon and heard another CHR/Pop (Top 40) station on the radio dial. Trust me, I was not glad that I tuned in at noon– I’m not at all “happi” about it. I managed to listen for an hour and a half to the new station, and it was pretty much the same rotation I can hear on the other two CHRs in town. Nicki Minaj and LMFAO are absolute garbage! Going jockless for 30-45 days (probably until Jan.1) is stupid and I definitely agree with Jim on this. Individuals may sample the station, find it nothing special, or that it sounds exactly like i104.3 (automated), and not bother to listen to it in the future. You should come out of the gate strong. It only takes a person, say 15 seconds to a minute to size up someone else (or for a person to leave an impression), a radio station should keep this in mind. And it’s no wonder why young people can’t spell anymore– why the dumb spelling of Happi? It may be an attention-grabbing tactic, but a station need not do it if they offer a good service or product, instead. The Erie market has had more than one CHR/Top40 station at the same time in the past, only to see one fold up. I can recall having K-Hits 104 /WCCK with its rhythmic top 40 format trying to take on long-time market leader Jet 102. Granted, top 40 radio in the late 80′s/early 90′s was hurting; however, K-Hits only lasted a couple of years, and Jet abandoned top 40. WSEG red hot Stereo 102 even tried to include some top 40 in its rotation to compete with K104 (which did the same) and Jet 1400, but this experiment, too, ended. Pittsburgh, PA , around 1992-1994 saw two country upstarts– K-Garth 100.7, and a country station at 104.7 taking on Y-108, but both lasted less than a year. There may, indeed, be room in this town for two top40′s, but it’s doubtful that three could actually survive. Star 104, with its 50, 000 watt strong signal will easily dominate in the ratings, at least over the other two weaker signal upstarts. I personally don’t see the on-air announcer/music personality concept having much of an effect. Radio stations usually rely on their cash cow, their a.m. drive, as the main focus of their stations. Younger persons, I believe, really don’t care for a lot of talk, or aren’t concerned about d.j.-less, automated radio. (After all, they’re used to their music-only ipods). And that brings me to this point– why is there so much attention given to top 40 and its younger audience when they already have plenty of other means of acquiring this same type of music. After all, the new station isn’t just competing with Star 104, it’s competing with mp3 players. youtube videos, on-line only radio stations, satellite radio, etc. and if the corporate radio entities are trying to replicate those aforementioned sources, they’re probably going to fail. This is due to the fact that those sources don’t have to take commercial breaks, and some of them have the ability to cue up whatever song the listener wants immediately. Regular radio isn’t able to do this. Pertaining to Rick Rambaldo’s mention of a couple of yet to be determined HD formats/channels, it really doesn’t matter. Very few people have HD radios, they’re not cheap, and it’s not a very practical idea, as one would need to have a few (in the car, bedroom, kitchen, workplace, etc.) to fully utilize/enjoy it. Rick could put oldies or r&b on an HD subchannel, but it wouldn’t do me any good, or most Erieites for that matter. I’m sorry to have to say it, but personally I hope that one of the CHR/Pop (Top 40) stations fails, as I still yearn for a true full-time, f.m. oldies station, or even a classic hits station that manages to include some 60′s/70′s tunes, or a soft rock (soft/lite ac) station. It appears that older listeners don’t really matter to the powers that be; the only listener they really care about is the tween, teen, or 20-30 year old girl shopping at the mall. It’s ridiculous that this town has so many similarly formatted stations. What’s next– another all-sports station? (I had just read that Cumulus was converting their ESPN Radio stations to CBS Sports Radio, and that NBC Radio Sports was being launched.) I wouldn’t be surprised if 1330 picked up ESPN, or if WPSE A.M. 1450 wouldn’t abandon its struggling, ratings-starved business format for all-sports.
WPSE I believe has added NBC Sports Radio for a few segments.
Erie Radio Enthusiast …well said!
Is just me or are other people bothered by the fact that the audio and video are not synchronized on the news film clips on 12 and 35. HD is great, but no wonder 24 has the most newscast viewers. Thanks for listening.
I asked before and I will ask again? Why doesn’t the FCC get with the times and ditch the arbitrary broadcast restrictions? There are 210 broadcast markets for television in the US (don’t know how many for radio). Why not have one television broadcast market for every state and territory, or just a single universal one? It’s working good for broadcasters overseas. Plus one advantage is that they will put out a better content product. Now what does everybody think? Though, I still believe radio should stay local.
Me too Woodburner! It’s like watching a freakish Japanese horror film. Turn on the CC and it gives you subtitles.
Erie Radio Enthusiast, Thank you for saying what I have been feeling since the launch of crappi 9-2-7!! I had hoped for either an “Oldies” or an Alternative format. I guess Rick and crew were determined to do CHR despite the fact i104 beat em to the punch! (facepalm)
Why should we tune into the new 9-2-7 over Star or i? HD Of Course!!! They are pushing the “HD” in every ID, like the target demographic of said format really cares.. In fact, does this target demo even listen to FM radio anymore, let alone know or care about “Hybrid Digital”??? Ask any 23 year old this: “HD Radio or Pandora?”
I have HD radio in my car and there was no HD running on Friday (11/23) or Saturday (11/24) on 9-2-7 mc. I wonder how well the HD signal will do when the analog has to fight BX 93 (London ON) on Milfair Road between Rts. 5 and 20!!!
Perhaps Rick will throw the true radio enthusiasts an HD-2 bone so we can hear intermittent and broken pieces of digital programming that occasionally pierce the silence as we drive only few miles away from the 9-2-7 tower…
I congratulate Rick R. for his new FM and wish him the best, its good to have a a local station with local ownership. Im not surprised that when you spend that kind of money to get a license in this size community that you would go after the top rated format. But as far as serving the community, I was hoping for an FM oldies or talker, maybe the established stations will consider these formats down the road their ratings change.
Congrats Rick on the new station !
I saw the announcement on WJET tonight.
I was excited to see Sherri(McBride) is back in Erie. I remember her as Sherri & The Shark in the morning. (Mark Richards) they were a great team. I know the station will be a success and is great news for Erie listeners.
What I can’t stand about this crap is it’s so poorly run that it interferes so bad it covers my FM dial at 5th & Raspberry. Clean up your act
Greg, without knowing more details, it sounds like what you are experiencing may be more of a case of front-end overload in your tuner than any operating or technical deficiency on the part of the licensee. Doubtful that the FCC would let them transmit a spectrally ‘dirty’ signal for very long, especially for FM stations whose carrier frequency is not particularly far away from the air navigation and communications band. Also you can bet at least some of their competitors in town would be on the phone to their own Washington lawyers and the FCC Enforcement Division pretty darn quickly with screencaps of off-air spectrum analyzer measurements made by the corporate engineer giving the fax machine a workout.
Sounds like the time Bill Shannon & then Country 98 station owner Bob Winters were upset when WGOJ put the 98.7 translator on at the WICU tower. I mentioned it to Bill but he wasn’t too concerned about it until the next day when he drove by the area & it crushed out 97.9. He said lawyers were going to be called but I never heard what came about.