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Anything new in West Virginia radio?

W

wrsg915fm

Since there have been no posts since late March, I thought I would correct that situation. I note that many posts get hundreds of views, yet only a handful if any replies. Is West Virginia radio so boring that no one chooses to respond to a topic? Due to our unique terrain and our low socioeconomic state, West Virginia radio should be a unique concept. Surely there are success stories out there, or stations that have resisted being bought up by major players (like WOAY-TV, "Worst On Air Yet," being bought from the Thomas family). Let's hear these stories, or at least see some actual replies to these posts. Inquiring minds want to know! ;D

Greg
 
wrsg915fm said:
Since there have been no posts since late March, I thought I would correct that situation. I note that many posts get hundreds of views, yet only a handful if any replies. Is West Virginia radio so boring that no one chooses to respond to a topic? Due to our unique terrain and our low socioeconomic state, West Virginia radio should be a unique concept. Surely there are success stories out there, or stations that have resisted being bought up by major players (like WOAY-TV, "Worst On Air Yet," being bought from the Thomas family). Let's hear these stories, or at least see some actual replies to these posts. Inquiring minds want to know! ;D

Greg
Click to expand...

Recently there have been some major changes in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Not in terms of formats but in personel.

WLTF-FM "Lite 97.5": Longtime Winchester,VA jock Joe Sanchez is their new morning guy and PD. He replaced Stacy Drake who was very well known in the Hagerstown, MD market.

WICL-FM ( the old WKMZ ) "True Oldies 95.9": recently lost their rights to air the Hagerstown Suns minor league baseball to Hagerstown, MD's WJEJ-AM. Also WICL dropped their Scott Shannon's True Oldies satellite feed. A return to local jocks? Ah no...WICL has no plans on doing that. Just sweepers, jingles and..well oldies. Though there was a rumor for a brief time about having one daypart being voice tracked by a former WKMZ jock (tracked not from Martinsburg but rather from Fort Collins, Colorado ) but those plans I have heard have since been dropped.

WEPM-AM "Sports Radio 1340": For many years ( 15 years ) their morning guy and PD was Jay Young. Sadly Jay suffered a massive stroke last month and of course, was forced to leave WEPM. Not sure who the new PD is at WEPM but some guy named "Nick D" is now doing mornings while Hans Fogel is the new news director, He replaced Chris Strovel who decided to get into West Virginia politics.
 
Ask and ye shall receive...thanks, mleach!

Many of you may know this, but disgraced former congressman Bob Ney has a show on WVLY 1370 in the northern panhandle. If anyone can receive his show (good luck on a 5000-watter that high on the dial), let us know how it's goin'.

If anyone knows anything else, please kindly share, and thanks!
 
Rumor has it the Burbach stations are for sales in Morgantown. Does anyone know anything about those facilities? How are they operated? Are they competitive? Can anyone compete with West Virginia Radio in that market?
 
FIDELIPACK said:
Rumor has it the Burbach stations are for sales in Morgantown. Does anyone know anything about those facilities? How are they operated? Are they competitive? Can anyone compete with West Virginia Radio in that market?
Click to expand...

Are they the old Tschudy stations? I am 98% sure they used to own WMQC..when they were broadcasting from a Ramada Inn in Morgantown back in the early 90s. Tschudy also owned some stations in Virginia such as WSIG-FM in Mount Jackson and they were..well...they had issues. WSIG had the listeners as they had always done well in the ratings but they ( WSIG ) for some reason reason just couldn't sell their product locally so they turned to Morgantown's WMQC. For a while one actually heard spots for Mountaineer Mall and that Ramada Inn...on WSIG. My guess is that WSIG wanted to air the spots to attract local sales..or perhaps give Virginia listeners the "idea' that WSIG had listeners in Morgantown ( nevermind the rather large distance between the two places)..either way it didn't work as Tschudy filed bankruptcy in 1992.
 
No. 100.9 Westover has been sold to Fantasia. Earl Judy still owns WPDX AM/FM

The Burbach stations are:
102.7 in Mannington
92.7 and 105.7 Clarksburg/Salem
The two Class IV's in Clarksburg
 
mleach said:
FIDELIPACK said:
Rumor has it the Burbach stations are for sales in Morgantown.  Does anyone know anything about those facilities?  How are they operated?  Are they competitive?  Can anyone compete with West Virginia Radio in that market?
Click to expand...

Are they the old Tschudy stations?  I am 98% sure they used to own WMQC..when they were broadcasting from a Ramada Inn in Morgantown back in the early 90s. Tschudy also owned some stations in Virginia such as WSIG-FM in Mount Jackson and they were..well...they had issues. WSIG had the listeners as they had always done well in the ratings but they ( WSIG ) for some reason reason just couldn't sell their product locally so they turned to Morgantown's WMQC. For a while one actually heard spots for Mountaineer Mall and that Ramada Inn...on WSIG. My guess is that WSIG wanted to air the spots to attract local sales..or perhaps give Virginia listeners the "idea' that WSIG had listeners in Morgantown ( nevermind the rather large distance between the two places)..either way it didn't work as Tschudy filed bankruptcy in 1992.
Click to expand...

They ran the spots because it was a gigantic trade for the Ramada facilities and the spots on WSIG and WSKO helped balance the local ads in Morgantown.  It sort of made sense because a driver going north on I-81 would perhaps exit onto I-68 toward Morgantown and stay there.  The mall was somewhere around the motel.
 
TomT said:
No. 100.9 Westover has been sold to Fantasia. Earl Judy still owns WPDX AM/FM
Click to expand...

Earl Judy died several years ago ( 2004 ? ), maybe his son "Earl Judy Jr." owns WPDX though after working for him for a few years I don't remember if he even had a son or not. Judy more/less kept his family life private.

I do remember the time Judy found himself into some hot water thanks to a woman named Norma Jean Shaw who at the time ( 1992 ) was working part time at Winchester, VA's WUSQ Q102-FM. Very odd story. As the story goes Judy had planned on hiring Shaw as the new PD for WSIG, even going as far as telling the staff with this "big news". Thing was ...Judy forgot to tell someone about those plans... Norma Jean Shaw !!! That was what Norma Jean Shaw had claimed at the time anyway, in other words she claimed she had no idea Judy had picked her as the new PD. Anyway WUSQ had found out this information through a second party and the stationdecided to fire Norma Jean for "her" failure to inform WUSQ over her promotion ( and the fact that WUSQ at the time had a strict rule that barred their on-air employees from more/less having much in the way of personal contact with employees at nearby radio stations ). Norma Jean soon filed two seperate lawsuits against both WUSQ and WSIG. I believe both suits were dropped even though WUSQ did more/less blackballed her from working at any station in the Winchester-Martinsburg market and Earl Judy went on to promote Les Irby as the PD for WSIG.

As to Norma Jean Shaw..I don't think she ever did radio again.
 
mleach said:
FIDELIPACK said:
Rumor has it the Burbach stations are for sales in Morgantown. Does anyone know anything about those facilities? How are they operated? Are they competitive? Can anyone compete with West Virginia Radio in that market?
Click to expand...

Are they the old Tschudy stations? I am 98% sure they used to own WMQC..when they were broadcasting from a Ramada Inn in Morgantown back in the early 90s. Tschudy also owned some stations in Virginia such as WSIG-FM in Mount Jackson and they were..well...they had issues. WSIG had the listeners as they had always done well in the ratings but they ( WSIG ) for some reason reason just couldn't sell their product locally so they turned to Morgantown's WMQC. For a while one actually heard spots for Mountaineer Mall and that Ramada Inn...on WSIG. My guess is that WSIG wanted to air the spots to attract local sales..or perhaps give Virginia listeners the "idea' that WSIG had listeners in Morgantown ( nevermind the rather large distance between the two places)..either way it didn't work as Tschudy filed bankruptcy in 1992.
Click to expand...

Burbach has 10 radio stations in West Virginia. Owned by Nick Galli from Pittsburgh & the guys who own Forever Broadcasting and Keymarket Broadcasting, Kerby Confer and Don Alt.
 
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