They Are Moving On
Written May. 15, 2009 by Sean Ross in Terrestrial Radio with 3 Comments
I take format changes more seriously than most people. But even in this dismaying year, it's been a long time since I was as bummed about any one format change as I am about the reports that WAMO-FM Pittsburgh and its two sister stations have been sold, have laid off 35 people, and will likely go religious.
Since there's already a Rhythmic-leaning Top 40 in rival WKST (Kiss FM), chances are excellent that the move would leave the market without an Urban FM for the first time in 35 years.
In 1996, WAMO traded a better signal for its current frequency -- sending such a shudder through Pittsburgh's African-American community that a fictionalized version of the sale is one of the key plot points in August Wilson's final play, "Radio Golf." So imagine the likely reaction in Pittsburgh tonight.
The sale announcement comes at the end of a week when broadcasters have been rallying listeners against any potential performance royalty by emphasizing the threat it poses to Urban radio. Six hours ago, you could have chalked that up to the hyperbole that has marked both sides of that debate. Now, WAMO's sale emphasizes just how many issues Urban radio has to deal with in 2009 -- with or without a performance royalty.
Meanwhile, anybody who might have been waiting for the big groups to turn radio back over to the smaller, dedicated operator is going to have to wait a little longer. Former Citadel honcho Larry Wilson, who announced his return to radio this week, and WAMO's new owners are both getting bargains as radio's current malaise claims smaller owners (not that Paul Allen, Wilson's seller, needs your tears).
WAMO's call letters are said to have come from Pittsburgh's Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. But its slogan for many years was, "We Are Moving On." And it's devastating to think that this time "moving on" doesn't mean "moving forward."
Reader Comments
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Sorry to see Pittsburgh lose WAMO and the other Sheridan stations. Hopefully this is an isolated incident and not the start of a trend with urban radio.
I'm truly sad to see WAMO end. I worked for the station when I first began my career. (Air Geno and Mitzi in the morning) What a sad day this is. I never understood the signal change but still WAMO had such a strong place in the community.
Long before Sheridan, WAMO was the radio voice of Pittsburgh's African-American community. The calls, on AM and/or FM, have represented this commitment since late 1957 or early 1958, when the stations acquired the air staff and format of another that switched to mainstream top 40 (WEEP). 50+ years is a lot of heritage to abandon. What a shame.