Danville......

[amfmxm]

Then of course there was WITY. When they were owned by the people in Jasper Indiana, they actually paid attention to the product. I am not sure who owns it now, but my guess is "the big red off switch" is a viable option.

Thirty years ago--okay, 35--when AM was still viable enough to invest real money in--we shoulda bought WITY and moved that directional rig about 30 miles south-southeast; maybe along U.S. 36 between the state line and Route 63. Probably would not have even required a change in COL. But what it would have done is thrown that back (south) lobe over Terre Haute and brought Champaign-Urbana & Lafayette-West Lafayette within the broader front (north) lobe. Might have even gotten it up to 5-kw fulltime. Coulda made a great regional news-talk operation.

Could we still do it today? Yeah... technically, at least. But dishing out major bucks to move, upgrade & rebuild an AM--any AM--in 2008 might be cause for involuntary commitment to the nearest mental health facility.

But what a signal. What a waste.

 

[radio_radio]

Good Idea...Damn hindsight.

Based on my pattern book, that would have been an easy upgrade to do.

 

[MACK184]

Mike Mitzlaff at WITY was a most interesting sort of a guy. I don't really know if you could say that that when Mike's father and his group owned WITY and the Jaspar station, and it seems to me that there was one more as well, that they were really paying attention to business in Danville. I think they managed to succeed in spite of themselves. If memory serves, Mike liked his fermented grain, and was more often than not, sort of MIA. Maybe his sales manager Tom De Fillippo helped keep things together. What I remember most about WIAI was that it really was a sleeping giant, and the people there were good people. Their sales manager Andy Demos was a great guy, and I think that if the Bresee brothers had wanted to have something much more than a toy, it could have been a major, major powerhouse. I do know that Paul's brother H.R. was much more interested than Paul about seeing WIAI grow, but Paul pretty much made the rules. It was interesting to see Marc Steenbarger's MAJAC name come up. I am from the Binghamton, NY area, and spent a lot of time in radio there, and Marc came along there, and apparently did the same deal he did in Danville. The world begins to shrink.

 

[amfmxm]

Mike Mitzlaff at WITY was a most interesting sort of a guy. I don't really know if you could say that that when Mike's father and his group owned WITY and the Jaspar station, and it seems to me that there was one more as well, that they were really paying attention to business in Danville. I think they managed to succeed in spite of themselves. If memory serves, Mike liked his fermented grain, and was more often than not, sort of MIA. Maybe his sales manager Tom De Fillippo helped keep things together. What I remember most about WIAI was that it really was a sleeping giant, and the people there were good people. Their sales manager Andy Demos was a great guy, and I think that if the Bresee brothers had wanted to have something much more than a toy, it could have been a major, major powerhouse. I do know that Paul's brother H.R. was much more interested than Paul about seeing WIAI grow, but Paul pretty much made the rules. It was interesting to see Marc Steenbarger's MAJAC name come up. I am from the Binghamton, NY area, and spent a lot of time in radio there, and Marc came along there, and apparently did the same deal he did in Danville. The world begins to shrink.

You managed to jog my memory (some things from 30+ years ago are getting kind of fuzzy), and I recalled that I had indeed returned to Danville for awhile in the seventies (1973???) and sold for Mitzlaff. You're right--WITY was not a well-oiled machine under his watch. He was a classic "command & control" type of manager--just the kind who does not tend to do well in the radio biz, which requires more of a creative/supportive/encouraging style in order to lead the kind of creative, achievement-driven people who populate both on-air and sales staffs.

The thing I remember most about working there at that time was how nearly everyone in the place was so humorless and unfriendly. I had already seen how things worked elsewhere, and recognized that "The Great 98" was screwed-up. I stuck around a few months until I landed a gig in Virginia--and since that day only returned to Danville to visit.

FWIW, I went on to program and manage a number of "legendary" radio stations in large & small markets--CHR, Country & Rock--and have always regretted that I was never able to give my hometown that kind of radio. Would've been fun!

 

[iac8135]

Oh my! I haven't check the board since Christmas.......greeting to all the IAI alum!

Quick update......Jeff Cosgrove is in Indy completely out of broadcasting, KB is in Kansas City managing a Christian AM station, Don Russell was recently informed that the position of Chief Engineer was being eliminated and he was welcome to stay on as a part-timer doing production stuff, and it was estimated that it would take $800,000 to rehab the Bresee Tower!

 

[str8forward]

Ken Ball ......Christian radio? People change. Not that ken was a bad guy just that I know things. However, we all have skeletons.

 

[MACK184]

Ken Ball ......Christian radio? People change. Not that ken was a bad guy just that I know things. However, we all have skeletons.

I remember at the time I was there that Ken and his wife were both very involved with the Church of the Nazarene. Russ Bredholt was also in that denomination, and I think that they all went to the same church. As far as skeletons, I figure we've probably all got a bunch of them. Also, FYI, Russ Bredholt has his own [non-broadcast] consulting firm. I traded a couple of emails with him a few years ago. Apparently he is doing very well.

 

[317C50KW]

I've been debating whether or not to reply to this thread. Louis Otto Mitzlaff III was at one time a real go getter from what I was told.
That all ended when his first wife left him and he started drinking. His second wife was really a nice person, but the divorce shattered Mike. People who knew him well said he never was the same. The Breese Brothers torpedoed WITY's attempt to aquire an FM frequency (it would have been 96.1 or 96.5, that one went of course to Lafayette). Back then the FCC would actually listen to any sob story about how any additional competition would "hurt" existing properties and Paul and bro played "cry me a river" to the max. WITY's past technical compliance issues with the FCC probably didn't help issues either (you don't build AM DA's over abandoned coal mine). Me thinks WITY would have been a pretty good FM operator and I'm guessing the initial format would have been a hybrid top 40/album format.
The AM was also saddled with a ridiculous news commitment due to the past FCC problems and Mike couldn't/wouldn't pay for the man power to live up to those promises (and having Mutual as your "network for news and sports" certainly wasn't the answer either). But you know, the short time I spent there was worth it, given what I learned and where it's taken me 30+ years later. And some reasonably decent people came through there....Neal Funk and a guy who called himself Charlie B. Tiger (Ric Lippencott) both went on to slightly better things as I recall. Plus another alum just got a station and format named after him in Little Rock (Tom FM).

What was that late 1980's incident with the manager all about?

 

[stuckinthe50s]

I've also been a little hesitant to join this thread. But I did work in Danville radio in ancient times so I joined Radio-Info just so I could do so. I was hired by Elzer Marx back in 1957. Worked there on and off until the early '60s. It was a friendly place then. Lots of good people. It was my first broadcast job and I learned a lot. In retrospect, Elzer was one of the better GMs I've worked for.

BTW, I think Elzer is semi-retired; He's in his mid-80s. Had a heart attack a few years ago - while playing tennis - but recovered well. I occasionally read the Commercial-News online.

I visited Danville and WITY about 10 years ago and was surprised at the changes. All automated with a music programming feed. Then this past August I listened to it while driving on I-57 up to Wisconsin. I could hear it almost to the northern state line. Sounded better. Actually live. My wife remarked, "It sounds just like it did when we were there"! News (and commercials) seemed aimed at a rural audience. With that powerhouse signal mostly over rural areas that probably makes sense.

It was a great time for radio back in the '50s/'60s. Work was fun. But things changed and I slowly migrated to engineering and TV in the mid '60s and retired from that a couple of years ago.

 

[MACK184]

I've also been a little hesitant to join this thread. But I did work in Danville radio in ancient times so I joined Radio-Info just so I could do so. I was hired by Elzer Marx back in 1957. Worked there on and off until the early '60s. It was a friendly place then. Lots of good people. It was my first broadcast job and I learned a lot. In retrospect, Elzer was one of the better GMs I've worked for.

BTW, I think Elzer is semi-retired; He's in his mid-80s. Had a heart attack a few years ago - while playing tennis - but recovered well. I occasionally read the Commercial-News online.

I visited Danville and WITY about 10 years ago and was surprised at the changes. All automated with a music programming feed. Then this past August I listened to it while driving on I-57 up to Wisconsin. I could hear it almost to the northern state line. Sounded better. Actually live. My wife remarked, "It sounds just like it did when we were there"! News (and commercials) seemed aimed at a rural audience. With that powerhouse signal mostly over rural areas that probably makes sense.

It was a great time for radio back in the '50s/'60s. Work was fun. But things changed and I slowly migrated to engineering and TV in the mid '60s and retired from that a couple of years ago.

Back when I was at WIAI, they had a farm department headed by a woman named Joyce Cutright. Joyce was very smart, and I believe, if my leaky old brain remembers correctly she went on to get her Ph.D. and on to bigger and better things in agricultural broadcasting. From what I understand from when this thread began, WIAI has moved out of Danville and is no longer a country format. That would leave a rural/farm audience to be served. It would be a good move for someone, whether it by WITY or maybe WDAN to serve that audience. Maybe that's what they're doing.

 

[MACK184]

I've been debating whether or not to reply to this thread. Louis Otto Mitzlaff III was at one time a real go getter from what I was told.
That all ended when his first wife left him and he started drinking. His second wife was really a nice person, but the divorce shattered Mike. People who knew him well said he never was the same. The Breese Brothers torpedoed WITY's attempt to aquire an FM frequency (it would have been 96.1 or 96.5, that one went of course to Lafayette). Back then the FCC would actually listen to any sob story about how any additional competition would "hurt" existing properties and Paul and bro played "cry me a river" to the max. WITY's past technical compliance issues with the FCC probably didn't help issues either (you don't build AM DA's over abandoned coal mine). Me thinks WITY would have been a pretty good FM operator and I'm guessing the initial format would have been a hybrid top 40/album format.
The AM was also saddled with a ridiculous news commitment due to the past FCC problems and Mike couldn't/wouldn't pay for the man power to live up to those promises (and having Mutual as your "network for news and sports" certainly wasn't the answer either). But you know, the short time I spent there was worth it, given what I learned and where it's taken me 30+ years later. And some reasonably decent people came through there....Neal Funk and a guy who called himself Charlie B. Tiger (Ric Lippencott) both went on to slightly better things as I recall. Plus another alum just got a station and format named after him in Little Rock (Tom FM).

What was that late 1980's incident with the manager all about?

When I knew LOM2 he was a drunk and a liar. I'm not sure which one he did a better job at. He had been married to Sandy Songer, who's family owned Songer Chevy in Catlin. At any rate, he may have been a good guy at one time, but when I knew him he was a bum. As far as the Bresee's beating WITY on the FM..if you will remember that particular time, the NAB had actually lobbied..and won legislation from congress to force Detroit to put FM radios in cars as part of their standard package. And, the FCC was trying to promote new FM owners. It was also at that time that there was noise afoot to split up AM/FM ownership. That never happend, or even came close to happening, but the fact that an independent owner wanted to put up an FM whether it was the Bresee brothers, or Lauhoff Grain, they would have gotten a certain amount of preference. And, you are correct, WITY did have some major engineering problems that the FCC was keeping an eye on, and especially back in those days, if you got on that "mud" list the FCC tended to ignore whatever you might have to say.

 

[MACK184]

Oh my! I haven't check the board since Christmas.......greeting to all the IAI alum!

Quick update...... and it was estimated that it would take $800,000 to rehab the Bresee Tower!

Is the Bressee building now totally empty??

 

[amfmxm]

Wow! Look at all the ex-Danvillians dropping in on this. We're going to have to order another keg.

I was wondering about present-day Big D radio. I'm guessing that DAN-DNL-RHK gobble up at least half the radio bucks in Danville--maybe $1.5 to 2 million a year? Leaving maybe $300K for WITY and maybe the same for the Kool-Kiss Indiana sticks... and a few bucks for 99.1--assuming they focus most of their sales efforts on C-U. Would I be in the ballpark? Am I way off base?

Are 92.9 and 103.1 a combo? Are they living off $5 spots from Covington and Veedersburg? Or are they really players in Danville? Did Kiss swoop in and pick up WIAI's Country discards--accounts--when Saga flipped it to whatever-in-the-hell WXTT's format is (Eighties, right)?

I saw in the last published ratings for Champaign that 99.1 was slogging along in 7th place, just ahead of Police Calls. Did Saga blow this one by making it too much like The Chief? Is it a hit in Danville?

And last, but not least, what's the scoop with the LPFM on 105.7, "The Maxx" WLBM? R&B? I thought all the low power assignments went to churches or schools or community organizations. Check out their website at www.wlbmfm.com (I think)--it looks like a thinly-veiled commercial outfit, complete with a link marked "advertise" and even a rate card ($10 to $15 for :30s). I'm gonna guess that these guys don't quite get the whole "non-commercial" thing...

 

[iac8135]

The only things left in Bresee Tower are two cell sites, WILL-FM's translator, and WAND's translator.

WIAI switched to WXLS playing 70's and 80's rock in September of 03 and KISS in Covington went country immediately! At that time Key was talking about building studios on the east side of Urbana near the Wal-Mart. Saga bought it in June of 04 and became WXTT.

Following Key's format change on WIAI, WDAN made a stab at the ag market, but gave up on it.

amfmxm - WLBM - "I'm gonna guess that these guys don't quite get the whole "non-commercial" thing..." you're right!

 

[MACK184]

Wow! Look at all the ex-Danvillians dropping in on this. We're going to have to order another keg.

I was wondering about present-day Big D radio. I'm guessing that DAN-DNL-RHK gobble up at least half the radio bucks in Danville--maybe $1.5 to 2 million a year? Leaving maybe $300K for WITY and maybe the same for the Kool-Kiss Indiana sticks... and a few bucks for 99.1--assuming they focus most of their sales efforts on C-U. Would I be in the ballpark? Am I way off base?

Are 92.9 and 103.1 a combo? Are they living off $5 spots from Covington and Veedersburg? Or are they really players in Danville? Did Kiss swoop in and pick up WIAI's Country discards--accounts--when Saga flipped it to whatever-in-the-hell WXTT's format is (Eighties, right)?

I saw in the last published ratings for Champaign that 99.1 was slogging along in 7th place, just ahead of Police Calls. Did Saga blow this one by making it too much like The Chief? Is it a hit in Danville?

And last, but not least, what's the scoop with the LPFM on 105.7, "The Maxx" WLBM? R&B? I thought all the low power assignments went to churches or schools or community organizations. Check out their website at www.wlbmfm.com (I think)--it looks like a thinly-veiled commercial outfit, complete with a link marked "advertise" and even a rate card ($10 to $15 for :30s). I'm gonna guess that these guys don't quite get the whole "non-commercial" thing...

If you're gonna order the keg, order something like Grain Belt...good for nostalgia. What's to sell in Covington & Veedersburg these days except the Beef House? I assume that's still there!

 

[amfmxm]

If you're gonna order the keg, order something like Grain Belt...good for nostalgia. What's to sell in Covington & Veedersburg these days except the Beef House? I assume that's still there!
[/quote]

Grain Belt! Actually, I'm so old that the cheap beer of my misspent youth was Sterling. Evansville beer, I think. Buck and a quarter a six-pack. And tasted like it!

Oh, there must be a grain elevator and a farm implement dealer still hanging on over in the Covington-Veedersburg Metroplex, isn't there? Gotta have a Farm Report. Just remember, the word "ewe" is pronounced "you," not ee-wee.

 

[MACK184]

If you're gonna order the keg, order something like Grain Belt...good for nostalgia. What's to sell in Covington & Veedersburg these days except the Beef House? I assume that's still there!

Grain Belt! Actually, I'm so old that the cheap beer of my misspent youth was Sterling. Evansville beer, I think. Buck and a quarter a six-pack. And tasted like it!

Oh, there must be a grain elevator and a farm implement dealer still hanging on over in the Covington-Veedersburg Metroplex, isn't there? Gotta have a Farm Report. Just remember, the word "ewe" is pronounced "you," not ee-wee.



[/quote]
ee-wee??? ee-wee??? Oh Dear God!! I don't remember Sterling.

 

[amfmxm]

Oh, yeah--Sterling and Wiedeman's (sp?) and Falls City and Cook's, were all wretched beers brewed with pristine & sparkling Wabash River water down in Evansville. And, yes, back in the sixties and seventies they'd go on sale for 99 cents a six-pack (ever notice how beer and gasoline prices have always sort of followed each other???). I believe that Pittsburgh Brewing Company now owns the "brands"--but don't know if you can still walk in to an E-ville bar and get a cold Sterling.

Still, the burning questions: Does the Neuhoff cluster basically take nearly every dime of Danville radio ad revenue, nowadays? Is 99.1 a competitive factor? And who will tell the LPFM guys to stop selling ads before they lose their license?

In other words, are any present-day Danville area radio people reading this thread?

 

[MACK184]

Oh, yeah--Sterling and Wiedeman's (sp?) and Falls City and Cook's, were all wretched beers brewed with pristine & sparkling Wabash River water down in Evansville. And, yes, back in the sixties and seventies they'd go on sale for 99 cents a six-pack (ever notice how beer and gasoline prices have always sort of followed each other???). I believe that Pittsburgh Brewing Company now owns the "brands"--but don't know if you can still walk in to an E-ville bar and get a cold Sterling.

Still, the burning questions: Does the Neuhoff cluster basically take nearly every dime of Danville radio ad revenue, nowadays? Is 99.1 a competitive factor? And who will tell the LPFM guys to stop selling ads before they lose their license?

In other words, are any present-day Danville area radio people reading this thread?

Falls City..I do remember that beer. Also...when was Marc Steenbarger's Majac group operating in Danville?

 

[iac8135]

Still, the burning questions: Does the Neuhoff cluster basically take nearly every dime of Danville radio ad revenue, nowadays? Is 99.1 a competitive factor? And who will tell the LPFM guys to stop selling ads before they lose their license?

In other words, are any present-day Danville area radio people reading this thread?

Things are so good in Danville that WKZS has petitioned to move to Thomasboro; and it will probably take the FCC to get the LPFM guys attention!