WECK

Infobox Radio station
name = WECK


city = Cheektowaga, New York
area = Buffalo, New York
branding = Hometown Radio 1230 WECK
slogan = Buffalo Radio on a Roll!
airdate = 1956
frequency = 1230 kHz HD Radio
format = Talk radio
power = 1,000 watts
class = A
callsign_meaning = KummelWECK
former_callsigns = WNIA
owner = Dick Greene, dba Culver Communications
webcast =
website = http://www.weck1230.com/
affiliations =

WECK (1230 AM) is a radio station located in the Buffalo, New York, area. Founded in 1956 as WNIA-AM, the station currently is owned by Dick Greene (dba Culver Communications). WECK airs a talk radio format.

From early 2006 until March 2008, WECK aired the Jones Radio Network's classic country format.cite news |work=NorthEast Radio Watch |title=Thie Week's Bloodbath: Citadel |first=Scott |last=Fybush |url=http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2008/080303/nerw.html |date=2008-03-03] Prior to that, WECK ran an adult standards format for nearly twenty five years.

History

The 1230 AM frequency was known as WNIA under the ownership of Gordon P. Brown, who also owned WSAY-AM (now WXXI-AM) in Rochester, NY. After his death, WNIA was sold to Quid Me Broadcasting, a group headed by local broadcast account executive Chet Musialowski. Musialowski was also General Manager of the station during the Quid Me years (1980-88).

Shortly after the Quid Me takeover, in spring of 1980, the station switched from Urban/R&B to a Current Top 40/Oldies hybrid format. Original air personalities included Chuck McCoy, Jeff Reinhardt(P.D.), Mark Phillips, J.R. Russ, Barbra Lynne and Partitimers Art Zelasko, Mike Brown, Dr. Jim Rose and newsperson Pam Kloc. To tie in with the local call letters named after the popular local sandwich of roast beef on a kimmelweck roll or "beef on weck", WECK branded itself as "The roll that rocks".

Less than a year later, in the spring of 1980 and following dismal ratings (resulting from "churn" of the previous Urban audience and the era of rapidly declining AM listenership), the station switched formats, to the Adult Standards/Nostalgia based "Music of Your Life" format.

J.R. Russ was elevated to Program Director and the station maintained a live on-air staff including Jim Nowicki in mornings (and earlier, Guy Michaels), Joe Kozma, Aaron Christopher (Russ' alter ego) Tim White, Lynn Dixon, Ray Rogers, News Director Bruce Allen and Sports Director Walt Hankin.

Previous owner Gordon Brown saved EVERTYHING and a knee-deep basement of albums yielded a 2,000 plus library of hit titles. While licensing the "Music of your Life" name, the station rapidly shifted from the tight-rotation "MOYL" tapes to a much larger playlist produced entirely in-house.

The lack of repetition proved worth the effort and the format was a big hit with of Buffalo's large adult population. WECK grew from a "no show" in the ratings at the time of the format change (on 4/4/81) to an all-time high of #4 in the market in late 1983. The 1,000 watt station garnered a 7.2 share of 12+ all listeners, beating most FM, and every area AM station (including 50,000 watt WWKB) except #1 WBEN. The Radio and Records Directory also listed WECK as #4 in the entire U.S. in Average Quarter Hour listening (AQH) among stations with similar formats.

After the station was sold by Quid Me in 1988, it continued with a nostalgia music format, but became satellite automated, maintaining only a live, local DJ show in morning drive. Portions of the station's programming came from the Music of Your Life network, although the station switched to Westwood One's Adult Standards satellite feed for a time.

WECK picked up play-by-play of the Buffalo Bisons in 2005. Beginning in 2008, those rights will return to WWKB.

In February 2006, WECK abruptly pulled the plug on the standards format and, as an attempt to hedge the CBS cluster's most dominant station, Country WYRK, and switched over to a satellite classic country format.

WECK's ratings have since plummeted, with the station also now ranked behind AM rival WXRL; in the meantime, standards powerhouse CHWO AM 740 in Toronto has increased its market share in Buffalo, presumably picking up former WECK listeners.

The station was sold to Regent Communications along with the rest of the CBS cluster in 2006. On Monday, November 5, 2007, local resident Dick Greene, owner of WLVL-AM in nearby Lockport, NY, announced that he had purchased WECK for $1.3 million through his company, Culver Communications. Greene launched a new talk radio format, mixed with local and syndicated programming, in the middle of the night on March 12, 2008.

WECK acquired the broadcast radio rights to the University of Buffalo Bulls football and men's basketball games prior to the 2008 season. Previously these rights were held by WGR and WWKB.

Programs

*First Light
*Tom Donohue and Lorraine O'Donnell, mornings
*Tradio
*Reason with Scott Leffler - A local libertarian talk radio program.
*WGRZ Channel 2 News at Noon
*Dennis Miller, 1-4 PM
*"The Radio Factor" with Bill O'Reilly, 4-6 PM
*Brad Riter, 6-9 PM
*Jim Bohannon
*Fox Sports Radio, overnights and weekends
*Fox News Radio
*Costas on the Radio with Bob Costas, weekends
*Ron Dombrowski, polka (shared with WXRL, another locally owned station)
*Joe Major, weekend news

Harv Moore co-hosted the morning show with Donahue from March to September 2008, but was replaced by O'Donnell due to budget cuts.

References

External links

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