Bad radio format ideas

[firepoint525]

Play-by-play of all PGA tournaments plus Ryder Cup, Masters, US Open and British Open has been on Sirius XM for several years. It's a niche format, obviously. Since most people who don't follow golf find it boring to the nth degree, it's no surprise that there's hardly any casual audience for the sport on radio, and it's also no surprise that the mainstream response to the concept of golf on radio is laughter and derision.

Do the announcers whisper like they do on TV? Golf on TV on Sunday afternoons always reminds me that I have not had my Sunday afternoon nap yet!

 

[anotherguyTN]

I guess this is my official return to RD. I've been watching for a while and have tried to find the right point to return, so this is it.

I missed the last couple of pages and didn't realize that WCTA in Alamo, TN had been brought up again. To update everyone they're on daily from sunrise to sunset, so they're staying legal. But they're still just doing NOAA weather radio and news from CBS and the Tennessee Radio Network, with the same generic music for filler. Nothing really local, other than the same occasional taped message claiming of "new programming" coming that hasn't happened other than CBS news, and still no ads of any type. So they're on the air and legal, but they're still a waste of airspace.

 

[firepoint525]

Thanks for checking in, AG. We were in Crockett County last month, passing through on 412, but we didn't even bother trying to tune them in. I was under the impression that they were off the air, except for running just enough NOAA audio to stay "legal." But if they don't ever come up with that "new programming," even the most diehard "listener" will lose interest.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I do tune in to WCTA to hear the weather forecast occasionally, but that's usually for not over the 5 or 10 minutes it takes to catch it and then it's on to something else. I still think they're on just to stay legal in hopes of selling to someone else, but I still have my doubts that will happen and I wonder how much longer they can keep going like this until whoever is paying the bills will run out of money.

 

[firepoint525]

If Dyersburg State or some other local school ever started a radio broadcasting program, WCTA could definitely be donated as a "tax write-off"! But I am not sure if WCTA can even be heard in Dyersburg.

 

[anotherguyTN]

It's listenable in cars. I've actually caught them on the outer edges of Memphis, but it was in my 2005 Dodge Caravan, which has a good radio.

 

[firepoint525]

Maybe they should make lemonade out of the lemons that have been handed to them: "WCTA: all NOAA radio, all the time!"

 

[anotherguyTN]

Good idea!!!

 

[firepoint525]

They should thank us, AG! They have gotten a lot of FREE publicity from us this week!

 

[JeffM]

Play-by-play of all PGA tournaments plus Ryder Cup, Masters, US Open and British Open has been on Sirius XM for several years. It's a niche format, obviously. Since most people who don't follow golf find it boring to the nth degree, it's no surprise that there's hardly any casual audience for the sport on radio, and it's also no surprise that the mainstream response to the concept of golf on radio is laughter and derision.

Well then, at the other extreme, why is auto racing popular on radio? Listening to a guy holler over the racket of cars going aroundandaroundandaround in circles for hours. You can't even see the crashes, which is probably the only reason people watch the "sport" on TV.

As a kid I remember someone doing a spoof of the world's worst radio show; a variety show featuring a juggler, a strongman act, and a magician. (On the other hand, Edgar Bergen, a ventriloquist, was huge on radio!)

If you're ever chased in your car by a Southerner, just turn right...they'll never know where you went!

 

[umfan]

I see auto racing on radio's primary benefit as providing the ability to get the position of the drivers fairly quickly. The announcers do update quite often. I doubt that many listen for any significant length of time, but dial back to the station for an occasional update. Golf on radio seems like more of a challenge.

 

[ftballfan]

And the FCC likely doesn't have the staff to oversee the station, and likely no one in Alamo still gives a damn enough to try to report them. It is situated between Jackson and Dyersburg, and is likely better served by stations in those locations. The county is relatively small, just like the county where I live. We lost our only hometown station last year, and despite efforts to bring it back, I don't see it returning. The station became a joke, and this station at Alamo still is a joke.

Fairview, here in middle TN, lost their station, too, but I don't think anyone ever really missed it.

Speaking of communities losing their stations, two communities have lost their stations in Michigan recently.
Fremont's daytimer AM WSHN went silent a few years ago with its license being cancelled in 2012. At the end, it was ESPN Radio straight off the bird with no IDs. The FM (then WSHN, now WVIB) that had been licensed to Fremont was sold and moved to Muskegon in the early 2000s.
Benzonia had WBNZ, an FM at 99.3 that started in the late 1970s. It served Benzie County well until it went silent in late 2012 or early 2013 with no notice. The station had moved to 92.3 in 2009, with a rock station taking over 99.3. The station (50kW C2) is still licensed and there is a sister station still on the air in nearby Traverse City.

 

[rnigma1]

As a kid I remember someone doing a spoof of the world's worst radio show; a variety show featuring a juggler, a strongman act, and a magician. (On the other hand, Edgar Bergen, a ventriloquist, was huge on radio!)

Sounds like Buster Keaton's short "Grand Slam Opera," where he was a contestant on a Major Bowes-type radio show and his act consisted of juggling and magic tricks.
Edgar Bergen wasn't the only ventriloquist to hit it big on radio; there was his British counterpart, Peter Brough, whose "Educating Archie" ran for years on the BBC (and, early on, had Julie Andrews as featured vocalist).