The all news operation currently operating on 101.9 and call themselves WEMP has had some major shuffling behind the scenes. Program Director Liz Aiello was relieved of her duties last Thursday, February 2nd. Aiello, who came to the station from Martha Stewart Radio, had been in charge of the news station since its inception last August. The station has made major tweaks to their on-air sound in the past few weeks, going from a format that was obviously aimed at young females to more of a traditional news approach. Still, though, the ratings have been dismal at best. In the last PPM, the station pulled a 0.5, down from the 0.6 that they pulled in December. Their cume also went from 621,300 to 539,500.
Those at Merlin Media, who operate WEMP, have said they are ow in the process of finding Ms. Aiello's successor. Company Chief Operating Officer Walter Sabo left the station just before the end of last year.
Obviously, things need to change drastically if this all-news FM format is to work out. What exactly does Merlin need to do? Are New Yorkers so set in their ways that they refuse to get their news anywhere but WINS or WCBS? Will a news or talk format ever work on FM in New York? There's been a few attempts at talk, and they didn't work. Now there's an attempt at news and all indications are it may not work either. Stay tuned. This may get interesting.
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