In recent months, WROW's Sunday programming block has been slashed. Once the syndicated Sounds of Sinatra signs off around noon (ET), the station goes on auto-play with no DJ's until 7 pm and the syndicated Doo Wop Shop. The station dropped reruns of Dick Clark's Rock, Roll, & Remember 2 years ago, and not long after, pink-slipped weekend host Richie Norris. It is what it is.
However, what has happened in the Sunday equivalent of morning drive has been disturbing, to say the least.
We wrote before about how WYJB weekend host Joe Condon had disappeared from "Magic 590", leaving Albany Street in its present bind. WYJB afternoon host Jon Reilly had been tapped to succeed Condon, but his lone episode has been replayed every week but one, that week being a replay of a 2019 interview Condon conducted with Father Peter Young, in the latter's final appearance before his passing.
The reruns suggest that Reilly didn't fare too well in the ears & eyes of station management, and, while they're waiting to find a full-time host, haven't figured out that they need to start a Best of Albany Street. Preferably next week. Seems to me, though, that they're not getting enough ratings, and not enough attention, else they'd have done one of those two things already.
News, Views, & Interviews, with Aaron Mair now flying solo, has also suffered from rerunitis. Mair has always sounded a little nervous in the studio, even with Condon as moderator, more so now that he is going solo. Albany Broadcasting would do well to find a new moderator to help Mair out.
With the passing of Ramsey Lewis last week, the syndicated Legends of Jazz, a 2 hour show stretched to three thanks to extra commercials, ran an episode this morning that was either Lewis' last new episode or a rerun, I don't know for sure. We'll know what the plans are for United Stations, the series' syndicator and Legends in the coming weeks. The Sounds of Sinatra is now curated by Brian Mark, son of the late Sid Mark, who passed away earlier this year, with selected reruns filling the 10-12 noon block. I think Legends will take the same path.
But what of WROW? They cut local vet Bob Cudmore two years ago during the early months of the pandemic, and if the bridge is burned, Talk of The Town won't return at all when its needed now. Cudmore, based in Amsterdam, is enjoying retirement.
The solution?
1. Pick a full-time host for Albany Street, and move it to a more accessible time.
2. Pick a new moderator to help with News, Views, & Interviews. WYJB morning host and program director Chad O'Hara would be a good bet to fill both of those holes.
3. Move Legends and Sinatra to the afternoon block, and make use of John Gabriel, the Saturday morning host, on Sundays as well.
You can't go wrong.
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