"A place where Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Atilla the Hun can all spend a little time together."

[captainsblog]

I go way back in the Wayback Machine with the local FM station at 107.7 FM. 

Not long after I first moved here, it switched its format from a Rural Radio Network station, spewing the venom of Pat Robertson, to the short-lived but awesome free-form format of a station known as WUWU. "Justin Case" woke us up in the mornings, while others came over from the somewhat counterculturish station known as "The Wizard" (soon thereafter, and still today, a mainstram top-40 outlet known for decades as "Kiss 98"). After coming over after the Kiss-switch, the jocks made clear that they were determined to fight off creative differences with the owner of the station, a Williamsville dentist who they derisively referred to as "Dr. Teeth." When the latter tried to change format on them, they amscrayed from the studio and broke into the transmitter in rural Wyoming County (motto: "More Cows Than People!"), broadcasting their real new music until sheriffs' deputies evicted them.

When WUWU died, its replacements were: first, WBYR, an independent album-rock format known as "Buffalo's Bear" (morning jock Tony Magoo would serenade us with calls from suburban high school students wanting their buildings to be "blowed up real good" on his occasional "Super Demolition" morning feature); next, WBMW, "The Wave," which played jazz-fusion and, more frighteningly, dared to promote itself in the Rochester market that I'd moved to by that time; and briefly, WNUC "New Country" and/or "The Bullet," which favored local favorites over the Tim McGraw/Alan Jackson drek of the day.  These latter developments caused me to take them off my car presets, even after moving back here, until other events intervened.

Events on skates, as it turned out. When the Buffalo Sabres were purchased by the then-local cable monopoly, they decided to add a radio station to their media empire (most famously, and most-missedly, with their development of the local Empire Sports Network as the flagship of their games); Dr. Teeth finally sold out, and for a few brief shining years, WNSA was the FM alternative to the rant-and-rave brand of sports talk that had been on the one AM station dedicated to such stuff.  They brought in newer, younger, smarter voices from other AM stations, and even from Rochester, to compete in the market, and by the early 2000s, WNSA was winning the ratings battles. Then, sadly, the owners of the station, the Sabres and the cable empire wound up doing the corporate perp walk, and all of the properties wound up on the open market. Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano bought the Sabres; Empire was left to die on the vine, its channel ultimately given over to the Mets (hence my general lack of complaint;); and 107.7 got bought out by its primary sports-radio competitor, Entercom Communications, with the effective, if not proven-intentional, purpose of stifling their competition.

I blogged about this change when it happened, with a major mix of emotions (this was so long ago, I can't even find a link to the post in my Gmail): Entercom killed the radio sports star, but replaced it with a truly awesome mix of progressive album-oriented artistry that I could hardly complain about having. It was mostly computer-generated (live-voiced hosts appearing only briefly throughout the days), but the music selection was largely what I would put on a radio station if I was programming it. In the course of a 150-mile drive, I'd rarely be off-put by ANYTHING I heard coming out of the speakers from them. They never stepped on songs, had limited commercials, and promoted live local music and concerts. All to the good.

Until tonight.

----

Driving home from the gym a few hours ago, the Sabres were in a first-period break, my old-school Rochester sports-talk show was babbling about NCAA hoops, and the Mets weren't coming in on the Fan just yet, so I flipped to the Lake.... and got Shawn Fucking Hannity? The same drek as is on the top-rated local AM station?

Erm, yeah.

Alternative music fans may not like the change, but news junkies won’t complain.

The Lake, 107.7 FM, is moving to the HD realm, meaning you will need an HD receiver to get the station. In its place on the FM dial, Entercom will simulcast WBEN-AM 930.

The change takes place today. The Lake, WLKK-FM, plays album rock songs and pledges never to play the same song more than once a day. It will be available at 107.7 FM-HD2.

WBEN-AM, a news and conservative talk channel, will expand its signal by broadcasting on the FM dial.

The good news is, the Lake we knew and loved is still available online at 1077TheLake.com. The not-so-good is, their mobile app, which had been streaming the station (and the sports competition which killed WNSA, AND the nutjob AM station that already streamed all their hateful shit) has yet to catch up with this shift. If it does, I will regard it as no-harm-no-foul and just stream it in the car off my phone. Otherwise, I may need to track down the longlost Dr. Teeth to see if this hideousness can be extracted.

Comments

[luckycee.livejournal.com]

That's very sad news. I enjoyed The Lake whenever I could tune it in.

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

I remember WNUC and the Lake...sad it's only on HD now! Though I wonder if it'll stream internationally...

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Try the link. I think it does work ootside the country; the sports station (which I wish they'd moved to FM rather than that nutjob stuff), because then I could listen to Sabres games on my mp3 player.

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a try once I get home tonight. :) Sadly, NFL games are no longer simulcast/streamed, which is what I really miss...