This is what small town (NOT SMALL MARKET) radio should sound like. Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a MAJOR difference between "Small Market" and "Small Town" Radio.
Example: Clarksville, Cookeville, Jackson, etc. is considered SMALL MARKET.
Waynesboro, where WWON is the only station in the town & county, &
is SMALL TOWN RADIO, NOT SMALL MARKET. Chris has nobody to compete with.
RATINGS don't mean a damn thing in SMALL TOWN radio. You go out in the commuity, meet the community leaders, speak to your Owners & Managers of the businesses in the area. This give you a good idea of the target demo. Owners of SMALL TOWN stations should tell Arbitron to go to hell! We conduct our on survey's here!
I have found, as far as music is concerned in some SMALL TOWN stations, it really doesn't matter what you play, it HOW MUCH LOCAL PROGRAMMING you do, such as a local morning show from a popular "mom & pop" restaurnat is great, where the mayor, city council officals, the local police chief, etc can be on the show to inform the community of what is going on in town. Another program for coaches, some teachers from the schools, school board officials, etc. is a great idea.
THAT IS SMALL TOWN RADIO....PERIOD! And this is what the businesses want.
Chris has done his homework, collected surverys, etc. The former owner didn't have time to do this because his interest lied somewhere else, like other SMALL MARKET owners that own other stations that serve larger areas and the little SMALL TOWN AM STATION is just a write off for them.
This my friends should tell you that corporate out of LA, San Antonio, Chicago, New Youk, etc, has no business owning a station in a little town like Waynesboro. The owner must live there, be a part of the community, and know what's going on!
All you music people can argue with me all day long, but this is the way SMALL TOWN, (not small market) radio should be done.
Scott Bailey
WMRO Radio