I wanted to share something I went through, something that involved a Wilson station, and something that I learned in radio, that sometimes the worst thing that can happen is when two people are too prideful in their work to work together.
A few years ago I was trying to help WLLY get back on their feel (don't laugh) after the late Wallace Bullock passed away. One of the things I felt would give the station a real shot in the arm was to bring back local sports, which was non existant the year before.
I felt we could do it ourselves, but I wanted to call a person I worked with in the past, a person I (used to) have respect for, to call the football games. I called a guy named Alton Britt, who had done local sports for years.
The proposal I gave him was that we could pay him $100 per game, and he told me that he was in the midst of maybe working with another radio station, (which I believe was likely fluff, to see what we would do). I offered to pay his partner, FT Franks, $50 per game as well. From what I understood, FT had worked with Alton about 10 years, but was never paid for being the color commentator. That's cool if he was fine with it, but I believe that if a man worked, he ought to get paid.
So we offered the deal to Alton, and he and FT came to WLLY to talk business. I was willing to do anything to help save the station, because I felt sorry for the lady who was left in a crumbling station, with no experience at all in radio.
So we talked about working together, and it was when Alton told me something about WLLY and Wallace Bullock. He told me that he approached the late Bullock a few years ago about doing sports, and was told by Mr. Bullock that they could not do ball games because when the power down at night, the signal could not reach over the Hominy swamp (or about 2 or 3 blocks).
Alton also told us that he used to work with WVOT until MK Smith decided that they would take over all advertising, and wanted to raise the rates. Alton said he advised against it, but MK was determined to keep the rates higher. As it turned out, they could not sell any spots for the games, and he (Alton) had to scramble up the sponsors to keep the season.
In any case, we had a problem, because if Mr. Bullock told Britt that the signal was no good to broadcast ball games, then we were sunk. So what we proposed to do is the old fashioned "drive-out-and-see-the-range" technique.
On one evening, we got together and when WLLY powered down (rundown at sundown), we split up in different cars to see how far the nighttime signal would go. I remember we got as far as Sharpsburg before the station started breaking up, and in other points we clearly saw that we could cover Wilson. This meant that we could do the ball games.
But it also raised a question. Mr. Bullock surely knew the range of the station at night; why did he tell Alton the range was only for a couple of blocks, when we found out that it could cover all of Wilson? For awhile I wondered about it, but the more I learned about the station, the situation and other things I think I understand.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bullock, and he was a very nice man. I owe him because he agreed to be my first guest when I used to be a television host for a local station. But Mr Bullock was also very prideful in that the station WLLY was run by him, and he refused to let anyone else have any part of it. I know that because the co-mananger there told me that she asked him more than once to teach her about radio, but he always refused, not even allowing her to talk on the air. She asked him, "what if something happens to you", to which she said he answered, "we'll cross that bridge when we get there". It just seemed that although a good man, Mr. Bullock was very prideful in being able to be in absolute control of the station at all times, and for that reason, was not willing to share it with Alton Britt.
But it goes both ways, as Alton Britt was just as much to blame. I know what he told me about WVOT, but what would MK say about that situation; was it any different than what Alton said? I don't know. But I do also know that when I talked to Bishop Suggs a year or two ago about doing sports there, he told me that Alton had approached him about it and he didn't like the way Alton tried to pressure him to do the games. Suggs told me that he felt that Alton felt that he had a right to tell Suggs what to do on his own station, rather than ask permission and work out a deal. For that reason, Suggs said he didn't want to work with him.
Further, I learned how fleeting a friendship and business would be, as the co-manager told me near the end of the football season that Alton had called her, and asked if there was any way WLLY could do the games WITHOUT me. He didn't think she would tell me that, but on the day she told me, I saw that maybe I made a mistake in giving him the job, because pride seemed to be the problem we were facing. Alton ALWAYS got paid, and reinbused for anything he spent, and FT always got his check, and the station got their check, but because the finances were low, I didn't make any money personally. But I made sure the people that worked for me got paid. But after all that, it was tough to hear Mr. Britt go behind my back and work to take the very job I gave him from me.
I know none of us are perfect, and I certainly an chief of that, but what I now understand how pride can be such a detriment when it comes to working in radio, sometimes we get our heads so swollen up that we become self-righteous in what we do, forgetting that radio is bigger than all of us.
Is it any different for many local stations now, especially struggling AM stations? In that small room at WLLY, I stood there with Alton Britt, FT Franks, and Nancy, the co-manager of WLLY by default, and I was determined to try to do what I could to help the station, and offered people I respected a job with pay. It was ironic that the same pride of the station that prevented them from working together then, while the late Mr. Bullock was alive, would be the same pride that would surface again.
I am sure we all have similar stories of things like this, I am likely one of the younger guys on the forum. But it is disappointing at times when you see pride like this in radio, rather than pride in making something work and being successful.
Anyway, life has to move on, and although disappointed in all sides, I know we have all done things like that in some manner. Whether small or large, I think as fun as radio is, we have to be mindful of not being overcome with pride. Something I humbly learn when I think of my experiences, which are likely the least here, with so many rich with radio experience.
A few years ago I was trying to help WLLY get back on their feel (don't laugh) after the late Wallace Bullock passed away. One of the things I felt would give the station a real shot in the arm was to bring back local sports, which was non existant the year before.
I felt we could do it ourselves, but I wanted to call a person I worked with in the past, a person I (used to) have respect for, to call the football games. I called a guy named Alton Britt, who had done local sports for years.
The proposal I gave him was that we could pay him $100 per game, and he told me that he was in the midst of maybe working with another radio station, (which I believe was likely fluff, to see what we would do). I offered to pay his partner, FT Franks, $50 per game as well. From what I understood, FT had worked with Alton about 10 years, but was never paid for being the color commentator. That's cool if he was fine with it, but I believe that if a man worked, he ought to get paid.
So we offered the deal to Alton, and he and FT came to WLLY to talk business. I was willing to do anything to help save the station, because I felt sorry for the lady who was left in a crumbling station, with no experience at all in radio.
So we talked about working together, and it was when Alton told me something about WLLY and Wallace Bullock. He told me that he approached the late Bullock a few years ago about doing sports, and was told by Mr. Bullock that they could not do ball games because when the power down at night, the signal could not reach over the Hominy swamp (or about 2 or 3 blocks).
Alton also told us that he used to work with WVOT until MK Smith decided that they would take over all advertising, and wanted to raise the rates. Alton said he advised against it, but MK was determined to keep the rates higher. As it turned out, they could not sell any spots for the games, and he (Alton) had to scramble up the sponsors to keep the season.
In any case, we had a problem, because if Mr. Bullock told Britt that the signal was no good to broadcast ball games, then we were sunk. So what we proposed to do is the old fashioned "drive-out-and-see-the-range" technique.
On one evening, we got together and when WLLY powered down (rundown at sundown), we split up in different cars to see how far the nighttime signal would go. I remember we got as far as Sharpsburg before the station started breaking up, and in other points we clearly saw that we could cover Wilson. This meant that we could do the ball games.
But it also raised a question. Mr. Bullock surely knew the range of the station at night; why did he tell Alton the range was only for a couple of blocks, when we found out that it could cover all of Wilson? For awhile I wondered about it, but the more I learned about the station, the situation and other things I think I understand.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bullock, and he was a very nice man. I owe him because he agreed to be my first guest when I used to be a television host for a local station. But Mr Bullock was also very prideful in that the station WLLY was run by him, and he refused to let anyone else have any part of it. I know that because the co-mananger there told me that she asked him more than once to teach her about radio, but he always refused, not even allowing her to talk on the air. She asked him, "what if something happens to you", to which she said he answered, "we'll cross that bridge when we get there". It just seemed that although a good man, Mr. Bullock was very prideful in being able to be in absolute control of the station at all times, and for that reason, was not willing to share it with Alton Britt.
But it goes both ways, as Alton Britt was just as much to blame. I know what he told me about WVOT, but what would MK say about that situation; was it any different than what Alton said? I don't know. But I do also know that when I talked to Bishop Suggs a year or two ago about doing sports there, he told me that Alton had approached him about it and he didn't like the way Alton tried to pressure him to do the games. Suggs told me that he felt that Alton felt that he had a right to tell Suggs what to do on his own station, rather than ask permission and work out a deal. For that reason, Suggs said he didn't want to work with him.
Further, I learned how fleeting a friendship and business would be, as the co-manager told me near the end of the football season that Alton had called her, and asked if there was any way WLLY could do the games WITHOUT me. He didn't think she would tell me that, but on the day she told me, I saw that maybe I made a mistake in giving him the job, because pride seemed to be the problem we were facing. Alton ALWAYS got paid, and reinbused for anything he spent, and FT always got his check, and the station got their check, but because the finances were low, I didn't make any money personally. But I made sure the people that worked for me got paid. But after all that, it was tough to hear Mr. Britt go behind my back and work to take the very job I gave him from me.
I know none of us are perfect, and I certainly an chief of that, but what I now understand how pride can be such a detriment when it comes to working in radio, sometimes we get our heads so swollen up that we become self-righteous in what we do, forgetting that radio is bigger than all of us.
Is it any different for many local stations now, especially struggling AM stations? In that small room at WLLY, I stood there with Alton Britt, FT Franks, and Nancy, the co-manager of WLLY by default, and I was determined to try to do what I could to help the station, and offered people I respected a job with pay. It was ironic that the same pride of the station that prevented them from working together then, while the late Mr. Bullock was alive, would be the same pride that would surface again.
I am sure we all have similar stories of things like this, I am likely one of the younger guys on the forum. But it is disappointing at times when you see pride like this in radio, rather than pride in making something work and being successful.
Anyway, life has to move on, and although disappointed in all sides, I know we have all done things like that in some manner. Whether small or large, I think as fun as radio is, we have to be mindful of not being overcome with pride. Something I humbly learn when I think of my experiences, which are likely the least here, with so many rich with radio experience.