Link to more info about this change:

rochesterturning.com/2008/07/25/bill-press-on-wroc-format-change/

Dear Sales Manager:

While there are many reasons why radio succeeds or fails, the biggest problem with WROC is signal strength and promotion, not programming. As a progressive and a listener, I am outraged that you would abandon the format because you didn't know how to promote it. I see this because you have many examples of other stations that are doing well in their markets because they have done the right things.

No, I don't think that you will ever draw numbers like WHAM unless your signal reaches the entire Rochester area (most of the time you can't get the station in Wayne County) but it does have an audience. Just consider the crowd Franken got when he came to Rochester.

The key is promotion and signal. Your sports format will do no better so please reconsider!

Why in the world did you changed from the previous format when you had Laura Ingalls, Bill O'Rieley and Shaun Hanity.

you suck the station will now suck and why do we need two sports talk stations in rochester. you ruined it, get a better signal...suck

I think it was a poor decision to go to a sports format. We get enough sports from TV, radio, and the internet. It's boring to listen to these guys on the radio go back and forth with their opinions about teams and players. Oh well, you just lost a listener.

I think it was a poor decision to go to a sports format. We get enough sports from TV, radio, and the internet. It's boring to listen to these guys on the radio go back and forth with their opinions about teams and players. Oh well, you just lost a listener.

Unbelievable!The signal was weak,but better than nothing...good luck

Horrible move in an election year. There are enough sports talk radio shows.

This change is the worst move you could have possibly made, although I love sports I could and will never take the time to listen to it on the radio. I used to listen to 90% of your programming but now I will listen to you station guess how much 0. The programming is what used to carry me through the day while I was at work but I can care less about that crap your station is spewing now. In a year when the election is so important you decide to take the only programming that progressives can listen to off the air. I hope your ratings flatline.

I turned on my radio as usual this am and was stunned to hear sports!!! Now I'm reading it's an official change. What a HUGE disappointment and what a ridiculous move...another sport station! Oh goody. Now there is no alternative to the loathsome crap on 1040 & nothing for the left. Damn!! And yes...why was your signal so lamely weak!!

As they said in "The Godfather," it's not personal, it's business. Rochester is a big sports town. One can only hope that another local station will pick up the left-wing talkers.

Does Rochester really need yet another sports talk station? Come on give progressive programming
another chance.

I hate you people!!! First you let the most favored radio talk show host in America go, Brother Wease, and then you take Air America off right in the middle of the most important election in history. What's wrong with you people? Brain dead?

You should be embarrassed. In this vital election year of all times, to be shoveling more utterly mindless sports blather onto the airwaves. The Air America programming you were so weakly broadcasting was the best non-public radio this area had. Bad call, bad move, and I sincerely hope your revenues plummet. As a former dedicated listener, I am Gone.

Please have your program manager resign at once. Mike and Mike goosing each other in the AM slot is not what I want to hear. Let us know if you bring back Air America. A former listener.

Dear Ms. Cusac:
Loved your 950 AM Talk Radio in Rochester and actually listened to your ads, until today when I tuned in and got sports. Too bad. Lots of listeners in my neighborhood will tune you out for good now.
Tom Galvin, Rochester NY 14618

This is horrible...how many sports radio channels does this town need?

In an election year that is as important as this one, radio listeners in Rochester need more than just the conservative talk shows to listen to.

Bring Air America back!!

Boo. Lame. Will never listen again.

NO YOU “DIDEN'T”.

SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE.

ARE YOU KIDDIN’ ME?

You honestly, truly changed your format from Air America, etc. to a sports station????

I have listened to WROC 950 AM for as long as you had the guts to air liberal, progressive talk radio. I was very dismayed this morning when I turned on 950 to hear sports talk.

You have lost a faithful and appreciative listener.

Shame on you for, I assume, buckling under pressure.

Ann

Lets see, World series, College Football, NFL, Hockey, yes its time to cash in, screw the community, lets go after the big bucks. You are like the rest of corporate America, beef up the bottom line. If I had anything to say about renewing your license it would be denied. This is only the biggest election we have ever had and you dump Air America for more brainless sports. I hope you tank and tank big time.

I am embarrased that you have made this move, in this time and in this political climate. You should be ashamed to dump a smart and fresh station for more mind numbing, endless sports talk. We in Rochester finally had a station and programming that gave us a voice instead of the hate spewing garbage on 1280. You have done a disservice to the community and to your companies long term health.

I am very disappointed.I doubt that I will listen to an all sports channel. Another one bits the dust.Thanks for nothing, Chuckyarla

Extremely disappointed! I thought something was wrong with my car radio. I was wrong. Forgot I was in the one-horse town, now with a broken leg. How timely this "$witch" took place. Well, it was just as easy to delete my pre-set's for 950, as it was to set them to the station when I realized we had something progressive happening. More spors? Why not? How about more weather news too? Pathetic.

What a disappointment -- what are we left with in Rochester?? Don't know what the Arbitron ratings showed, but a large, large segment of this area needed and supported the 950 format -- I like sports radio, but will never listen to it on 950 because of the switch. Where has Alan Harris been in all of this??

wtf i turn on my radio today looking for air america and i get to more goofs talking about the bills..what in the hell were you thinking?you just lost a large segment of the people who could actually get your station. wtf if i want sports im going to 1280am blah

I plan on boycotting your stations because of your bias in format, and the elimination of progressive radio.

You had a good thing going. WROC 950 AM Rochester had the only program of its kind. You represented viewpoints not expressed in this market....the Good Old American Way. Now you represent nothing more than the "same old,same old".
The real travesty here is that those wishing to listen to talk radio for information and news now have no way to hear and express all sides of an issue. You obviously really don't care.
Do you really think WROC is going to be able to compete with WHAM/WTLK? Who are you kidding!!?
Yes, its all about $$$$$$$$$$$ and WHAM/WTLK has it and WROC does NOT!
WKBW Radio 1520AM in Buffalo has a strong signal and has a very good Progressive format.
Sad as it is......"KB Radio" has what many of us need and want and that is where the dial on my radio will be turned to from now on.

I was so proud that Rochester had progressive talk radio. I listened all day, everyday, to learn about the issues beyond the right wing spin of all other media. When returning from trips to the South, Midwest etc. I could only listen to sports, religion and right wing talkers. I couldn't wait to return to Rochester to find out what was really going on in the government. Now you're no better than the midwest and southern stereotypical stations--lowest common denominater. You have a THINKING questioning, and questing population in Upstate NY and you just lost them all!! Why? Because you obviously failed to promote this station and its well known, acclaimed talk show hosts. Anyone who listens to sports, is surely not going to seek out weak, unknown 950 AM. You have misjudged and betrayed a loyal intelligent audience at election time when you could have been vital. Do you really think you will make more $$ with the same "visionary" program managing and a format that's a poor imitation of so many big, powerful sports stations?? I'm going to PBS.
Joyce

I was so proud that Rochester had progressive talk radio. I listened all day, everyday, to learn about the issues beyond the right wing spin of all other media. When returning from trips to the South, Midwest etc. I could only listen to sports, religion and right wing talkers. I couldn't wait to return to Rochester to find out what was really going on in the government. Now you're no better than the midwest and southern stereotypical stations--lowest common denominater. You have a THINKING questioning, and questing population in Upstate NY and you just lost them all!! Why? Because you obviously failed to promote this station and its well known, acclaimed talk show hosts. Anyone who listens to sports, is surely not going to seek out weak, unknown 950 AM. You have misjudged and betrayed a loyal intelligent audience at election time when you could have been vital. Do you really think you will make more $$ with the same "visionary" program managing and a format that's a poor imitation of so many big, powerful sports stations?? I'm going to PBS.
Joyce

I tuned my radio this morning to hear the Bill Press Show only to find you have taken this great Air America show off the air and replaced it with yet another sports broadcast. What are you thinking? That we don't need informed citizens this election year? Your timing is wonderful, NOT!

I couldn't believe when I thought I was turning on Air America and heard sports. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. Unbelievable........
I want to know why this isn't big news in Rochester. If you are uniformed enough to end this broadcast, I can only hope another station will pick it up. What a loss.....

That's just what this town needed was more sports. Thanks for keeping America stupid. Air America was a breath of fresh air for this town. Sports is just another way of keeping America "dumbed down" without anyone noticing. Nice going.

I will never listen to 950 AM ever again or any of your stations... Unless I find out that Air America is back on in Rochester. I was concidering advertising on your station!!! Is your company owned by a republican moran?

The HERD...YOU MUST BE KIDDIN me.

This is the worst decision you could've made. There are SOOOOO many progressive listeners here at UR (Roch's largest employee)who used to listen all day EVERYDAY...stupid business move
What's it really about? HMMMMM election time and GOP's got nothin....keep trying
Where can we get Air America, we are all going there and will gladly spend our $$$$$ with whomever picks it up.
Just like we will take it to 95.1 and their advertisers 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys should be ashamed. It took awhile for me to find out that there was a progressive radio station broadcasting here in Rochester. Before that, if I wanted an alternative to the Hannity's and the Limbaugh's out there, I tuned into the Air America signal coming out of Buffalo. Once I stumbled on 950, I listened to your station pretty much any time I had my radio tuned to AM, and as the election got closer and closer, I found myself listing more and more. I started actually making you're station one of the places where I got my news.

And now you've shut down the only progressive radio voice coming into this market. All because you couldn't figure out how to market yourself in a way that somebody, ANYBODY, knew you existed on the dial? Ridiculous. There's already a 24 hour sports radio station in Rochester, with considerably more signal strength and an established listening base. I honestly don't see how this move would have made sense on an economic level, much less for the community at large.

I'll be sure to assiduously avoid WROC from this day forward.

Have you reconsidered yet??? It's not too late. We'll all come flocking back to WROC. We promise.

We are so upset by this move!!!!!
No warning, nothing.
We LOVE the old programming, we listened all the time.
We have no interest in sports.
This is awful & right at the start of the republican convention.

I kept thinking it was a horrible mistake and for the third day in a row i tuned in to find Mike and Mike talking sports, again.... yawn.... I guess i will have to go back to my ipod, unless i can find Air america somewhere else. This was a horrible decision, it is like building a starbucks next to a starbucks.

I was very puzzled and then disappointed when I pressed my AM button and heard some loud sports guy instead of Bill Press...where is Air America?

I liked the entire line-up. It was a crackly signal in Canandaigua in spots, which was frustrating, but I listened anyway.

Bring it back!

Don't tell me, Maggie Brooks caught wind of what you were doing and that is why you changed format. Let's see, Brother Wease was fired and now Air America is canned. Now even the score and can Rush!!!!!! In the mist of the most historic election in our history, you pull the rug out from underneath us!! The right wing sucks, can Rush!!!!

Don't tell me, Maggie Brooks caught wind of what you were doing and that is why you changed format. Let's see, Brother Wease was fired and now Air America is canned. Now even the score and can Rush!!!!!! In the mist of the most historic election in our history, you pull the rug out from underneath us!! The right wing sucks, can Rush!!!!

This is a slap in the face to every independent and democratic voter and listener in the Rochester area. I say BOYCOTT ALL of the new sponsors of the new sports format. They are easy to find out, just look at their horrible web-site. Entercom wants their 30 sheckels of silver for selling America out, and flushing it down the toilet. The most craven and irresponsible move they could have made, and I know they will lose ad revenue money, which I am sure will be more than made up by bribes from the Republi-nazis.
Think about this -If sports is SOO popular in this town, why are the stadiums practically empty all the time and the city has to bail them out? This is a Republi-nazi hit squad tactic. Carl Rove comes to Rochester and slimes us all.

I'm just plain disgusted with your format change. It makes no sense from a business point of view, whatever you say, so I can only conclude that it's political dirty tricks. Not a surprise, but a big disappointment. I listened to your station for several hours each day, but will listen to NONE of your stupid sports programming. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. I hope your station goes bankrupt and you all get fired!

Since 2004, I have listened to this station to pass the long hours of my workday, even more than the clear music braodcasts of FM music radio. I have endured the aggravatingly weak signal of this station, straining to hear the text and content through static and fadeouts, because it was important stuff they were discussing.

Now all I hear is just inane, trivial blather on and on about WHO CARES trivial sports BS! You can watch the games and see the scores, you don't need a bunch of guys microanalyzing the petty shit for hours and hours on end!

The stuff you USED to broadcast was important, so much so that many people endured your pitifully weak signal to suck it out of the air....

You want more ratings, boost your signal strength.... Don't remove the only quality informative radio programming in the city for crissake!
You just lost a listener.
Dave H.

Since 2004, I have listened to this station to pass the long hours of my workday, even more than the clear music braodcasts of FM music radio. I have endured the aggravatingly weak signal of this station, straining to hear the text and content through static and fadeouts, because it was important stuff they were discussing.

Now all I hear is just inane, trivial blather on and on about WHO CARES trivial sports BS! You can watch the games and see the scores, you don't need a bunch of guys microanalyzing the petty shit for hours and hours on end!

The stuff you USED to broadcast was important, so much so that many people endured your pitifully weak signal to suck it out of the air....

You want more ratings, boost your signal strength.... Don't remove the only quality informative radio programming in the city for crissake!
You just lost a listener.
Dave H.

Since 2004, I have listened to this station to pass the long hours of my workday, even more than the clear music braodcasts of FM music radio. I have endured the aggravatingly weak signal of this station, straining to hear the text and content through static and fadeouts, because it was important stuff they were discussing.

Now all I hear is just inane, trivial blather on and on about WHO CARES trivial sports BS! You can watch the games and see the scores, you don't need a bunch of guys microanalyzing the petty shit for hours and hours on end!

The stuff you USED to broadcast was important, so much so that many people endured your pitifully weak signal to suck it out of the air....

You want more ratings, boost your signal strength.... Don't remove the only quality informative radio programming in the city for crissake!
You just lost a listener.
Dave H.

I am very disappointed in your change to sports. I miss Stephanie Miller. We have enough sports stations in this town. You have one less listener. Please reconsider.

We don't need another all-sports station. Air America may have flaws in its format at times, but it is certainly provocative, and well worth keeping, especially in this political climate. It is an ENORMOIUS disservice to the community to take it off the air. I regret its loss and strongly protest its removal. I will no longer listen to 950.

Thanks for the contact information. I am going to call her and tell her what a great thing she did. I love Mike and Mike in the Morning! She has gained a listener! I am going to tell all my friends about the change and they will listen too!
It looks like they actually want to make money at the radio station instead of losing money because no one was listening. They cannot promote what people are not listening to!

People hear enough bised Liberal-programming on the major networks on tv, the majority of people want refuge from that at work. Great move WROC

Still waiting for you to correct your colossal error in programming!!

My Boy friend and I are very disappointed with your station. Air America and liberal radio now has no voice in Rochester. It is once again all one sided right wing garbage. I doubt that I will listen to any of your stations!!! What a bummer!

Typical Rochester New York ... now out of touch with mainstream America once again!

I can't wait to leave this "hayseed" little town.
Only two decent radio stations and one (WROC 950) drops Air America.

What is it about Rochester that it can't stay up to date with the reat of the country? Answer, dying local economy where no one (including radio stations) can make a decent living anymore!

I agree with the previous comments, Rochester, New York is a town with no diversity anymore. If you want to live somewhere where you have choices, then don't move to the dying town ... not city ... of Rochester, New York.

No Air America ... what a third rate town Rochester is becoming

Typical Rochester, New York at its finest.

This place couldn't run a lemonade stand properly.

Practically everything good (or interesting) that comes to this little "hayseed" town dies after a short period (Jullian's Sport Bar, High Falls, The Canadian Ferry, etc.). Rochester ( and most of western New York on a whole) is full of a simply "no-talent" local crowd that tries to be "big-town" but can't. With the Rochester economy in total decline, there's simply no money or "crowds" in town anymore to support anything for any great length of time.

WROC could have improved their signal strength and increased its promotion for Air America ... but the local talent running things at WROC are simply
local "hicks" with no "big city" experience to pull this off. WROC should have fired its management and brought in people from the outside who really could make a go of Air America. Instead
they get these locally grown "hayseeds" who are clueless as to how to make anything work like it does at towns equal to Rochester's size.

Rochester's Air America problem is just symptomatic of a problem that has been plaguing
Rochester for years ... a declining population (one of the worst in the U.S.), a local economy in very serious collapse, 20-30 year olds leaving the area in droves, and a serious lack of vision and money investment. Rochester and WROC are just to "poor" and "clueless" as to how to make it in today's world. Look at cities like Columbus, Ohio,(a growing place of similar size compared to Rochester), and they have Air America ... and have been able to make it work there.

Plain and simple ... Rochester New York is a town (not even a city), where "D" team talent exists everywhere (not even the "B" or "C" team)... and its never going to be anything more. Never was never will be. Rochester is a place where people dream of becoming a better thriving place but always fall short of that goal. WROC and their handling of Air America are a prime example.

My advice, if you really want to be in a place that offers exciting diversity and is always introducing new opportunities ... move out of Rochester and Western New York as soon as you can.
Rochester, as did WROC's dropping of Air America, will let you down and disappoint you every time!

It's about time. Air America sucks. They had to file for bankruptcy protection. The hosts talked more about body parts and make-believe politics than what was happening in the real world. I'm surprised you hung on this long. I believe in having many viewpoints served, but s-p's can tune into public radio to get more s-p talkshows.

What a dissappointment! Another sports station whoopi!!I will never listen to you or any other of your stations again. I guess it is true the media can be bought by the right wing conservative THIEVES! And I thought the people elected the president - not dollars>(from your sponsors)

right wing media wins I doubt it when all the media outlets are owned by a small set of giant corporations which all are spinnless liberals who can't deal in reality!

right wing media wins I doubt it when all the media outlets are owned by a small set of giant corporations which all are spineless liberals who can't deal in reality!

Very upsetting to know that Air America is no longer at 950AM. Will boycott any station related to Entercom.

Thank god, air america was such a waste of air, we get enough of liberal media across abc, nbc and cbs.

Sports 24/7 ????? you're kidding.
I play sports and love sports.
But not to the exclusion of being informed about the state of the nation, economy, banking industry, stock market, international affairs...the list goes on.
950 am has not served the public interest by eliminating an alternative perspective to national issues. A balance in coverage of US governing is essential for producing a healthy country and government. This move certainly hurts America. Certainly, (with failures in Wall street, banking industry, mortgages, health care costs), it is time for ALL Americans (950 am included) to realize that government activity needs some oversight.
In the least, 950 AM should open up a discussion group to obtain some public feed back on how the change in viewing content is received.
More than 5 minutes of sports news in one stretch is simply a waste. Our brains should be challenged and not side-tracked by radio coverage content.

Regarding the 950 AM switch to an all sports format,the purpose of buying radio ad time is to communicate with a consumer base that has the financial wherewithall to purchase your products and/or services. With that in mind, who is going to listen to ads on an AM jock station? Probably a bunch of losers who were tapped out before they ever turned the radio on.