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WGR: Live & Local for 3 days

Wow. I heard them promoting it and didn't give it much thought initially. Afterall, it's just sportstalk, right?

Well, listening to the station late at night---and actually hearing a live person talk on-air to live local callers about---even sports--was cooler than I thought it would be.

It really struck me how alive the station sounded when there are people on locally around the clock. It's not just the local sports references, but all of the other chatter (that locals can relate to) sprinkled in all over the place.

I know, I know, late night radio doesn't make money, etc. etc. Maybe the image of constant relatability is more important than a guaranteed profit in every daypart. Wouldn't that help the overall value of the station in the minds of an audience? Perhaps a valuable loss-leader in the big picture? If people all knew that whenever they tuned in, the station was talking to them, about their local situation, wouldn't that make the station resonate more than one that sounds like an empty warehouse?

I'm not a big sportstalk nut and I don't normally scream and carry on about the need for more live and local, but this was a pleasure to hear. Surprisingly so. This full-service type thing has gradually eroded so much, that I didn't even realize what I was missing. I just know that radio stations these days sound like nobody's home most of the time, so why should anyone have any affinity for them? Why would anyone. They're bland and often uninspired.

Still, how sad that having a live & local staff around the clock is so incredibly rare now, that doing it is considered a publicity stunt.
 
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I agree. I'm a night owl, so it was cool to hear local in the middle of the night. Felt like I was in NYC!
 
The question is, how long will this continue? It's very likely due to ESPN now on 1520. There has to be differentiation between the two stations, so taking WGR live is the responsible thing to do. In all likelihood, the late night/all night guy is probably making WalMart money, but give Entercom credit for making the move. With all the harping here over the years about the need to be live and local, you'd think more readers would respond (favorably) to this thread.
 
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