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WTAM
- Thread starter skiwest
- Start date
The Crystal Radio Awards are for community service.
No distinction is made for market size, and 10 stations are chosen each year.
Well, early this morning [3 AM-ish] was scanning across the dial and radio locked on WTAM. I assume they must have decided to start following the Americans With Disabilities act and programmed dead air for their deaf listeners. From 3:02-when my scan stopped on it-to 3:16, nary a sound.
Was that Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time? As you know, we "sprung ahead" last night.
Heck, I can't remember. I lost track of the time. I'm not even sure what century it is.
They did not get "the finger". They just did not win. Think elections, sports, the Oscars.
I just checked. It's on.
Its like getting a car to run - sometimes when you turn the key and it doesn't start, you need to whack the dashboard with your hand and say a couple of cuss words to get it going.
Something didn't trip a switcher (if they're still running their sat rx through a Broadcast Tools switcher driven by the automation like most places I've seen).
Speaking of WTAM, per @lanceventa, PD Ray Davis is among the latest round of layoffs at iHeart, ending a 36-year association with AM 1100. (He had been there THAT long?!? I thought he came in when Booth American took over in June 1990.)
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That is a surprise given how successful WTAM became in the late 1990s, or at least after 1100 changed calls after being 3WE for a long time.
At the same time, the station skews way old nowadays and has struggled to adjust to the loss of half their weekday lineup. Plus their news department has been managed out of WLW for several years now.
I'm honestly wondering if this now portends significant cutbacks at WTAM.
It is inevitable in the radio biz that you will eventually be fired, regardless of your history of contributions to the station.
That is pretty much the case in any biz, not just radio.
Where does WTAM go from here after losing its PD?
My wild spitball guess is consolidated management, either with both Keiths (Kennedy and Hotchkiss) or WLW management assuming oversight.
One Facebook group I’m in noted Ray intended to have retired this year. I can’t say I’m surprised he fell victim to very bad timing; Jeff Harris from WFLA was also fired last week in advance of a planned retirement following a long career in his own right.
Unfortunately the axiom is correct: you’re hired to be fired. It’s just more pronounced in radio and TV because it’s a more public position than most other jobs.
He survived quite a long time at WTAM. Best wishes to him.
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