There was a time when games of chance like bingo on regulated stations violated the Communications Act, or the FCC regulations. Right? I don't think I'm hallucinating about this. When did it change so games like bingo became permitted?
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So what other stations broadcasting from 4TS will be off the air...
- Thread starter Spareparts
- Start date
Miss Tuned is referring to a station in the UK.
But here's one that was in the United States ... and I have the recording to prove it!
Every weekday morning at 9 am, WJBM-FM in Jerseyville, Illinois, whose 50 kw signal reached well into the northern St. Louis suburbs, had "Bush's Cover-All Bingo", sponsored by Bush's IGA in Carrollton, Illinois.
One of two station employees would turn a drum. The other employee would pull out several numbers and call them out. Then the drum would turn again. Then more numbers. And so on.
About halfway through, the festivities would pause while WJBM phoned Jerry Bush to describe the specials on offer that day, including lines such as "Ralph and I are back here in the meat department, cutting pork steak and chicken" and descriptions of his trips to the produce market in St. Louis, "maybe I left a quarter before 4". "We've got some lovely peaches in this morning" and "We've got a big display of 7-Up".
After that conversation, it was back to the bingo until 9:30.
The recording is from May 26, 1980, which happened to be Memorial Day.
Every weekday morning at 9 am, WJBM-FM in Jerseyville, Illinois, whose 50 kw signal reached well into the northern St. Louis suburbs, had "Bush's Cover-All Bingo", sponsored by Bush's IGA in Carrollton, Illinois.
One of two station employees would turn a drum. The other employee would pull out several numbers and call them out. Then the drum would turn again. Then more numbers. And so on.
About halfway through, the festivities would pause while WJBM phoned Jerry Bush to describe the specials on offer that day, including lines such as "Ralph and I are back here in the meat department, cutting pork steak and chicken" and descriptions of his trips to the produce market in St. Louis, "maybe I left a quarter before 4". "We've got some lovely peaches in this morning" and "We've got a big display of 7-Up".
After that conversation, it was back to the bingo until 9:30.
The recording is from May 26, 1980, which happened to be Memorial Day.
As long as listeners did not have to buy the cards but could get them free, that is perfectly legal.
As I recall, there was no charge. And the prize, at least that day, was $20! (Approximately $77 in today's dollars)
Actually, Miss Tuned was referring to a station in Ireland.
Sorry, I mistakenly thought she was referring to Northern Ireland... now I see the location!
WJBR seems to have a very potent signal. You might also be able to pull in WRVE from the Albany market or perhaps even WCRB from the Boston area...
I also checked a few times yesterday morning and afternoon, and again this morning. They were on at all times.
It reminds me of an experience from literally 50 years ago. I was listening to WBAI about 3:00 on a weekday afternoon. They were doing a live pledge drive of some sort, which caught my ear while tuning through the band. The announcer-host was repeatedly giving out a phone number to call and make a pledge. After listening to his pitch for a few minutes, the announcer said they were not getting any calls. None. Zip. Nada. He concluded, live on the air, that no calls must mean there was nobody listening, and that being the case, he might as well sign the station off. He proceeded to do so, reading a very thorough sign-off script, at the end of which, the carrier dropped. As a young radio junkie, I was blown away. The station stayed off the air for the next 5-10 minutes, before coming back on.
Back then, I could only imagine what the heck was going on in the office after this stunt. in hindsight, all these years later, maybe this move was applauded.
Supposedly was rescheduled - No word on when...
I noticed that WBAI's ratings have disappeared from the public numbers. They used to report a 0.1 or 0.2 every month without fail, but haven't reported at all for a couple of months.
Stations that are not subscribed are not listed in the public release data. My assumption is that they are no longer paying for ratings (non-coms have different deals than for-profit stations). However, it could be that, simply, nobody is listening
In the user's book, WBAI had a 0.0 in March and 0.1 in April. AQH listening of 400 people, and a cume of 46 thousand vs 2,623 thousand for WHTZ. WBAI is either a 0.0 or 0.1 in last 10 books. It had one 0.2 in both May and June of last year. It has been lower and lower ever since.
Of course, they have always said that "their listeners" don't accept to carry PPMs, so they write off the ratings as being biased against them. Of course, that is standard procedure for them against any criticism or bad news and has been for decades.
Standard operating practice for those who are leaning far enough either to the left or the right. If the ratings are poor, it's because the ratings are biased, and if only the real ratings came out, if only the truth was known, then we'd be up there with WLTW. It's Big Radio trying to keep us down because they know we're better. And so on. Often, this sort of thing is "backed up" by apocryphal tales of "I heard it in three taxis last week" and so on.
Those of us who sit further toward the center tend to be turned off by such "bollocks".
I'll repeat what Owen Charlebois, the former CEO of Arbitron told me...
There are three kinds of ratings user. The ones that went up up know that they are geniuses and the book proved it. The ones that stayed the same don't say anything. The ones that went down know that the ratings are bad, the sample is bad and it is Arbitron's fault.
But they can do neither... mostly because potential benefactors might listen and notice that the content is not compelling or relevant.
Maybe that’s why the bingo is sponsored by a hospice group....
So you don’t want to listen to “Cat Radio Cafe” (which is not about cats at all) or “Law and Disorder” (also known as “a Pacifica Foundation board meeting”)?
WBAI Radio - NYC
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