App for WANB to move

[kenhawk1160]

What I AM saying is that in a town with a growing population along Route 30 (North Huntington-Irwin is becoming the new Cranberry),

Most of the radio-listening population of the growing town turns the radio in their cars on when they leave for work, listen as they drive away from town to where they are working, then listen again on their way back home. The days when families huddled around the Atwater-Kent listening to Fibber McGee while sitting home at night are gone.

I mean, who would you hire if given the option? Someone with no radio experience but willing to learn, or someone with five years of experience in another town who's willing to do the job for the same amount of money that sounds better at the audition?

I'd go for the quality over local every time. The thing is, I'm saying that quality trumps local. If you hire the non-local talent over local talent because the non-local talent is better, then you've chosen quality instead of chosing local. Making that choice gives you the right to brag about your quality, but takes away your right to brag about being local.

WCCS airs a Sunday morning program

I'm not much impressed with anything that any station throws away in the Sunday Morning PSA ghetto. If you want to be able to brag about being local, then your local content needs to be during peak listening hours. If you just trot out your local content in the off-hours when it won't get in the way of regular programming, then it isn't anything to brag about.

The thing is, why can't you just be content to have a high quality operation? Why do you have to keep bragging on being "local", when the localness isn't what makes your stations good?

So based on your 'philosophy', if a radio station doesn't hire announcers from the local town, doesn't have an in-house orchestra, doesn't have those same local announcers read live copy instead of pre-recorded commercials, doesn't air anything other than local "news", then it doesn't deserve the label of local? That's ludicrous, Realist! Get out of here!

As for The Acoustic Hour on WCCS, it is NOT thrown in the Sunday morning graveyard. It airs at 9am every Sunday morning, when most people have already gotten out of bed and are on their way to church or wherever and when the station is at the maximum 10,000 watts. If it aired earlier than 8am, then I'd be inclined to agree with you.

 

[Parttimer]

Parttimer, your ideas definitely sound good. I would stay away from syndicated shows, though...if I understand correctly, those programs are already on in Pittsburgh. Sports formatted radio, I'm a little leery about...with ESPN 1250 and AM 970, we're the only market of this size that offers two all-sports stations.

I do like the idea of keeping the drive periods live and high school sports. The latter is almost guaranteed income, no matter how bad the team is. I would keep the brokered health programming during the midday, though...simply for the reason that they've been doing it for so long...even while Mel Goldberg still owned the station. There is an audience for that stuff...we aired a similar program on WKPA called "Here's to Your Health" and the response was just incredible. Plus, many of those programs, which are already paid for, are also locally produced.

Tampa -St. Pete has 3 sports stations.... 620 WDAE (one of the highest rated sports stations in the country), ESPN 1470, and 1010 (formerly WBZZ for a short time) although 1010 is a waste of 50,000 watts aimed mostly at cows.

970 in Pittsburgh is really only there to provide a home for long-form programming around the Steelers and Pitt. CC intentionally doesn't do anything with it in the morning because they figure they would jut be cutting into DVE's numbers, and all things must protect the mothership. 970 could be beaten with the likes of Tony Bruno and Savran on a good signal. But I'd do talk first....

The idea for the syndicated stuff is based on the success of 1040 WWBA in Clearwater. Left for dead as Clear Channel traded up to better facilities, they run a local morning show with a former WFLA host Mark Larsen, Boortz, Howard, and until recently, Hannity (Clear Channel pulled a power play on that one). With a signal that covers only half the market, they get better numbers than KQV or WPTT get in Pittsburgh. And they do have competition... WFLA has the local icons Jack Harris and Tedd Webb mornings, then Beck, Limbaugh and the Schnitt show (syndicated from their studios... and Schnitt replaced Beck when he went national, this is also where he came from). Hannity now runs on delay at night on FLA.

620's signal could do MUCH more than it does now. The national shows could gain full-market audiences, and local news,traffic and school closings for Westmoreland could drive local sales.

And one more sure-fire cash cow for that signal... NASCAR!!!!!!

More the brokered stuff to 770 and overachieve with that property as well... then simulcast most of that programming in Waynesburg.

 

[Radio_Realist]

So based on your 'philosophy', if a radio station doesn't hire announcers from the local town, doesn't have an in-house orchestra, doesn't have those same local announcers read live copy instead of pre-recorded commercials, doesn't air anything other than local "news", then it doesn't deserve the label of local?

No, I'm saying that you can label it "local", but it isn't sufficiently local to really brag about it like it was some sort of outstanding accomplishment in the annals of broadcasting history. A radio station owner of a station located in a small town that hires skilled talent from outside the market, fills most of the prime air time with recordings of national music acts, and that follows the basic rules of a quality fill-in-the-blanks format, and basically puts a nice, safe, high quality, cookie-cutter station on the air has as much justification to brag about being "local" as Anna Nicole Smith has to brag about her chocolate chip cookie recipe.

It airs at 9am every Sunday morning, when most people have already gotten out of bed and are on their way to church or wherever and when the station is at the maximum 10,000 watts.

Now you're splitting hairs. Just how quickly do advertisers usually scarf up the commercial slots in the 9:00 AM to noon Sunday show? Unless if it's an NFL Pre-Game show, which is a whole 'nother thing. What do the Arbitrons say about the total listenership on all radio stations in general on Sundays from 9:00 AM to noon?

 

[Snafu]

NASCAR is officially toast for over air. NASCAR's deals with Sirius, Comcast. Nextel, ESPN, Fox and their own website mean they could care less if a single station out there picks them up. Everything stays in house, especially the money, and they have creative control over every last second of their product (except when Junior is near a mike, then all bets are off). There is no money for them at 620 or 770 or anywhere else. They are in the 21st century.

All of these second line syndicated shows and AM stations are now competing with the Internet for ad revenue. They started losing the battle last year and the blood letting is growing by the day. Talk radio saved the AM band in the last decade but now something new had better come along or a good number of these places are going to be the moral equivalent of the town crier sooner than you think.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Parttimer, your ideas definitely sound good. I would stay away from syndicated shows, though...if I understand correctly, those programs are already on in Pittsburgh. Sports formatted radio, I'm a little leery about...with ESPN 1250 and AM 970, we're the only market of this size that offers two all-sports stations.

I do like the idea of keeping the drive periods live and high school sports. The latter is almost guaranteed income, no matter how bad the team is. I would keep the brokered health programming during the midday, though...simply for the reason that they've been doing it for so long...even while Mel Goldberg still owned the station. There is an audience for that stuff...we aired a similar program on WKPA called "Here's to Your Health" and the response was just incredible. Plus, many of those programs, which are already paid for, are also locally produced.

Tampa -St. Pete has 3 sports stations.... 620 WDAE (one of the highest rated sports stations in the country), ESPN 1470, and 1010 (formerly WBZZ for a short time) although 1010 is a waste of 50,000 watts aimed mostly at cows.

970 in Pittsburgh is really only there to provide a home for long-form programming around the Steelers and Pitt. CC intentionally doesn't do anything with it in the morning because they figure they would jut be cutting into DVE's numbers, and all things must protect the mothership. 970 could be beaten with the likes of Tony Bruno and Savran on a good signal. But I'd do talk first....

The idea for the syndicated stuff is based on the success of 1040 WWBA in Clearwater. Left for dead as Clear Channel traded up to better facilities, they run a local morning show with a former WFLA host Mark Larsen, Boortz, Howard, and until recently, Hannity (Clear Channel pulled a power play on that one). With a signal that covers only half the market, they get better numbers than KQV or WPTT get in Pittsburgh. And they do have competition... WFLA has the local icons Jack Harris and Tedd Webb mornings, then Beck, Limbaugh and the Schnitt show (syndicated from their studios... and Schnitt replaced Beck when he went national, this is also where he came from). Hannity now runs on delay at night on FLA.

620's signal could do MUCH more than it does now. The national shows could gain full-market audiences, and local news,traffic and school closings for Westmoreland could drive local sales.

And one more sure-fire cash cow for that signal... NASCAR!!!!!!

More the brokered stuff to 770 and overachieve with that property as well... then simulcast most of that programming in Waynesburg.

Wasn't thinking about NASCAR. Very good idea. I don't think there is a Westmoreland County outlet for it right now. I know WCNS doesn't air it.

 

[kenhawk1160]

So based on your 'philosophy', if a radio station doesn't hire announcers from the local town, doesn't have an in-house orchestra, doesn't have those same local announcers read live copy instead of pre-recorded commercials, doesn't air anything other than local "news", then it doesn't deserve the label of local?

No, I'm saying that you can label it "local", but it isn't sufficiently local to really brag about it like it was some sort of outstanding accomplishment in the annals of broadcasting history. A radio station owner of a station located in a small town that hires skilled talent from outside the market, fills most of the prime air time with recordings of national music acts, and that follows the basic rules of a quality fill-in-the-blanks format, and basically puts a nice, safe, high quality, cookie-cutter station on the air has as much justification to brag about being "local" as Anna Nicole Smith has to brag about her chocolate chip cookie recipe.

It airs at 9am every Sunday morning, when most people have already gotten out of bed and are on their way to church or wherever and when the station is at the maximum 10,000 watts.

Now you're splitting hairs. Just how quickly do advertisers usually scarf up the commercial slots in the 9:00 AM to noon Sunday show? Unless if it's an NFL Pre-Game show, which is a whole 'nother thing. What do the Arbitrons say about the total listenership on all radio stations in general on Sundays from 9:00 AM to noon?

Splitting hairs? Hardly. Arbitrons don't say much of anything in non-rated markets like this one (although according to Tapscan, WCCS is number one). That's why a show like that has five different local (as in non-agency) sponsors. For what it costs to air it (which is practically nill) it's a moneymaker in an otherwise dead daypart.

As for your definition of local vs. my own, I'll just say at this point "agree to disagree" because we can beat that into the ground for another five or six pages at least.

 

[kenhawk1160]

NASCAR is officially toast for over air. NASCAR's deals with Sirius, Comcast. Nextel, ESPN, Fox and their own website mean they could care less if a single station out there picks them up. Everything stays in house, especially the money, and they have creative control over every last second of their product (except when Junior is near a mike, then all bets are off). There is no money for them at 620 or 770 or anywhere else. They are in the 21st century.

All of these second line syndicated shows and AM stations are now competing with the Internet for ad revenue. They started losing the battle last year and the blood letting is growing by the day. Talk radio saved the AM band in the last decade but now something new had better come along or a good number of these places are going to be the moral equivalent of the town crier sooner than you think.

Many station operators that I know personally are not picking up any network programming unless the syndicator guarantees that there's no ads from XM, Sirius or Wal-Mart among their network ads. That's tough to guarantee these days.

 

[Snafu]

Then that means they don't get NASCAR this year. Like I said NASCAR is making tons of money through all of the outlets mentioned and now realize that they don't need small AM stations as much as the stations need them.

I don't blame the stations for rejecting ads for XM or Sirius at all. They are two more things that are upsetting the financial apple cart.

 

[lash]

Concerning WANB

The company will begin conducting surveys in the coming month to determine whether any changes will be made in the station's programming.

103.1 FM and 1210 AM will each have separate programming. 103.1 FM may change from the existing country music format because it will serve a larger area that may already have a country music station.

103.1 WYDD

 

[kenhawk1160]

Concerning WANB

The company will begin conducting surveys in the coming month to determine whether any changes will be made in the station's programming.

103.1 FM and 1210 AM will each have separate programming. 103.1 FM may change from the existing country music format because it will serve a larger area that may already have a country music station.

103.1 WYDD

Chris, I read somewhere that Bob applied for 104.1 to be put in Waynesburg. I confirmed it on the FCC website today...he's applied for it but there's a competing application to Duquesne University to put that same signal in Somerset and Ligonier. From what I see, it's simply a translator.

 

[Don Niles]

Would'nt a 104.1 in Waynesburg even as a Translator be out of the question with WDCI in Bridgeport,W.Va.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Not entirely, Don. A translator is not like a full-powered station. If they're proven to interfere with a same or adjacent channel, they have to shut down immediately (Stan Wall had one in New Ken that he had to pull the plug on because someone complained). Translators operate typically with a power of about 10 watts...they're intended to extend signal of a nearby co-owned FM.

 

[Snafu]

Duquesne is trying to extend the reach of DUQ into the Central part of the state. There is a small window of opportunity for an NPR station between Johnstown and Altoona. About the same idea that QED had with the translator on Channel 6 tower that puts them in that market. Doesn't cost them all that much and they pick up the little bit of audience.