DOES AM RADIO HAVE ANY FUTURE IN EASTERN NC???

[Sportsword]

I do believe that AM does have a future, but the problem has been that the people that run the stations have little to no real radio experience. For example, there are 4 radio stations in Wilson, three of them are AM, but all 4 are Christian formats.

Of those three AM stations one is currently off the air (WVOT) and WLLY is barely running by a couple of people who were left behind after the General Manager passed away a few years ago. WGTM boasts the most wattage but have major advertising problems.

And I think that right there is the key for the AM stations. The sales are so poor that it makes the AM venture seem like a loss cause. I think the stations are run very poorly because there is no qualified sales persons there. And the reason there is no qualified sales force is because the stations run a "non profit" mentality business. They expect work at the least amount they can get, or they will lean on churches to pick up the expenses. This is what was going on at WVOT, because their sales were terrible... almost non existant.

With WLLY, the sales force was ONE person, and up until a year or so ago, the people working there had no idea how to cut a spot. All they knew how to do was play music and keep logs. But when the General Manager passed away a couple of years ago, those two people had no idea how to run a station, let alone get sales to keep the station going.

(now ask me how I know about that)

With WGTM, most of their ads came from their religious supply store, or products they were selling anyway, but they also made money selling blocks of time to churches and ministries. I know that is still form of advertising, but one that hardly requires a qualified sales person.

If you ever get the chance to actually SEE the stations and how they operate, you'll see that these buildings are very poor looking and there is not a lot of money going into the actual building. Staff barely make minimum wage and the sales force is non existant.

As a guy that has worked in radio, like many of you, I still believe there is plenty of hope for AM stations, but it starts with treating a station like a profession, instead of a non profit branch of a church. I have no problem with Christian stations, none at all, but if you can't pay the bills, the lights still get turned off.

 

[ZAX Double J]

Again very well put Sportsword. And some of the same can be said for FM stations too when it comes to the sales force. The salespeople may be able to sell you a toaster, but radio time that is a foreign word for them.

 

[allenv]

No matter how good the product if it can't be sold it is all but useless...
A good topic might be how do you find,train and keep a good radio salesperson.


Allen

 

[tothedj]

I can't believe WLLY is running on a "shoestring" staff, i remember when 1350 AM played country music
when i grew up in Rocky Mount, and had a good signal, same applied for WVOT and WGTM.
I believe very soon we will see more small and non-metered market AM's go away, there may be hope
for others, depending on their power, but for the most part, this side of the radio band is in trouble.

 

[XTalker]

Of course the AM band suffers from an overabundance of man-made interference. With all the desktop computers and office equipment that is CPU based, there is little chance of receiving AM in any office setting.

And now with the proliferation of computer controlled traffic signals and other similar devices, the reception is suffering "on the road". Digital is not going to help, IMHO.

The real answer for AM lies in increased power, but that, of course, creates another set of problems.

 

[EncSpy]

just about all the AM's in ENC ALL SUFFER FROM THE SAME THING!!!!.....poor ground conductivity..(WCNC/WZBO barely put any listenable signal over gates county..., less than 20-30 miles away from either station)....you look at stations out in the midwest broadcasting with 500-1000 watts and have coverage areas as large as WPTF's!...a lot of the AM's around ENC are owned by churches and ran as nonprofits (and...a non profit organization must make a profit to stay in business), most cannot really garner a profit otherwise except for a few lucky ones....most are in poor condition and just doing enough to get along using whatever equipment the previous owners left...you look at the churches that the station own and its like walking into a palace....the other stations are just satellite relays making less than $1,000 a month in sales, usually with high frequencies, little or no nighttime power and anemic coverage areas because of poor ground coductivity, and on the other end i've seen a Class A FM and a 1kw am make more in profits for a radio group than its two 100KW Fm sister stations in ENC.....

 

[Sportsword]

You make a very good point Encspy about how many AM stations are run by churches and the "non-profit mentality". The article about WVOT being off the air had a quote by the Program Director that said that they are a non-profit station....

Uh...I don't know about that.

Maybe someone can check that out, but as far as I remember, the station had a commercial license, and I don't think that every changed. WVOT is not a non-profit radio station, not as far as I remembered, and I seriously doubt that they could have petitioned the FCC to change that, nor would they have wanted to, even though their sales force was anemic.

But you're right, the stations are run in the idea that they think the community should support their lack of sales, which is what WVOT is expecting. I don't think that is a wise way to run a station because it creates an extra burden on the congregation to pay bills for a station that isn't going anywhere.

And you're also right about many stations working with equipment left behind. Again, WVOT is a perfect example, and WLLY is working with equipment that is older than I am. Maintenance is going to be the end of that station, when they REALLY need a new board, or if their cart machines break down (they have I think 2 left), and the carts are running out too.

It just seems like time is slipping away for these AM stations because they operate on the least amount possible, and hope they can get through.

 

[allenv]

Station that sell spots and solict donations from the community have always bothered me. I understand the need for survival but its a tough tightrope to walk. In Feb 1990 I was working for a commercial station(southern Gospel) that decided to start asking for donations...I felt really awkward being a part of that but I wanted to get paid.The station continued the fundraising stuff through I guess 2000...I begged to the owner to consider a different format if the gospel wasn't paying the bills when the fundraising started in 1990. I really have a hard time with stations that want it both ways but I understand the need to stay afloat as well. I understand it alot more now at 42 than I did when I was 23-24.
I was always taught if your format wasn't working you try another...Even 18 years ago AM had a tough time in this market and its 10 times tougher today..

Allen

 

[firecop947]

These are all excellent points. It is very sad to see the death of am radio. Rush and talk saved am for a little while but, I think the time is about expired for the band. I can remember when am stereo came out and everyone thought that was going to be the thing that saved it.

I still believe that if given the right format and serve the community a little am could work! One can only hope.

Kris

 

[ZAX Double J]

And they think HD Radio is going to give AM a shot in the arm, I doubt it. Thexpense to retool your studios for HDR is too much for most AMers to handle. Most can't even pay the light bill let alone the overhaul an HDR would cost. But then again I know of an AM that spent a ton of money going to HDR plus increasing power and makes less than 60 bucks a day in sales. What a huge waste of money. If they have that much money laying around and they want to do somehting with it I would be more than happy to take it!

 

[Sportsword]

Excellent points here, I agree with every single one of them. I tend to believe that stations that run off the hope of community donations are a by-product of a station that has no sales force...or a very poor one.

It's almost of the mentality that such owners are saying, "my toy doesn't work, buy me some new batteries", when they could buy it themselves. Now what I mean by that is in many cases, the stations could go out and make sales, but because they don't have the skill to sell spots and create revenue, they take the "bailout" but trying to convince the community to support it.

I'm not the best sales person in radio, not by a long shot, in fact I hated it. But when I did local sports, I had to hit the streets and find local businesses that could help support the games. It sometimes meant going to some businesses and saying, "let me run a spot for you free of charge during a game, if you like it then maybe you'll consider us for future ads". Some worked, some didn't but in the end, we got it done with sales.

I think many local radio stations with the Christian format seem to think that the community owes them money because they are "serving the community". I have a problem in that because when it comes to radio stations in my town, they never come out their door to do anything unless it's for themselves. Case in point:

Just recently our city had a Job Expo, and almost every year I go check it out (because they give away freebies...). Almost every year I see at least one radio station from Rocky Mount, but NEVER any radio station from our city...and we have FOUR in town.

Same when it comes to the Chamber of Commerce Expo, none of the local stations show up for a live remote. These are the times when an AM station can make an impact in the town, simply by showing up. But they don't, yet turn around and expect the community to support them on a commercial license.

Stations around here used to get out in the community a lot more years ago, and I don't necessarily mean 50 years ago. Even a mere 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, there was more interaction by these stations than there is today. What happened to a live remote in the downtown area during a celebration? Why can't a station to a live remote in the mall, or visit a school or something like that? It's not that it can't be done, it's more that the staff are not qualfied and they don't see the value in it (as well as likely not having the equipment).

I really think that AM is in trouble, but in small towns where there are AM stations, they can create interest by truly serving their community and making it personal for their town. People want to hear about things going on in their town, and there are businesses who want to advertise. I spent a bit of time talking to many local businesses and I know they would like to advertise, but just don't have the venues in our town.

Any future for AM, well, sure, but it starts with getting knowledgable people in there, but sadly this is the opposite of what we have. It just seems that these local stations are happy with people who just know enough to keep the station on the air.

 

[ZAX Double J]

Excellent points here, I agree with every single one of them. I tend to believe that stations that run off the hope of community donations are a by-product of a station that has no sales force...or a very poor one.

It's almost of the mentality that such owners are saying, "my toy doesn't work, buy me some new batteries", when they could buy it themselves. Now what I mean by that is in many cases, the stations could go out and make sales, but because they don't have the skill to sell spots and create revenue, they take the "bailout" but trying to convince the community to support it.

I'm not the best sales person in radio, not by a long shot, in fact I hated it. But when I did local sports, I had to hit the streets and find local businesses that could help support the games. It sometimes meant going to some businesses and saying, "let me run a spot for you free of charge during a game, if you like it then maybe you'll consider us for future ads". Some worked, some didn't but in the end, we got it done with sales.

I think many local radio stations with the Christian format seem to think that the community owes them money because they are "serving the community". I have a problem in that because when it comes to radio stations in my town, they never come out their door to do anything unless it's for themselves. Case in point:

Just recently our city had a Job Expo, and almost every year I go check it out (because they give away freebies...). Almost every year I see at least one radio station from Rocky Mount, but NEVER any radio station from our city...and we have FOUR in town.

Same when it comes to the Chamber of Commerce Expo, none of the local stations show up for a live remote. These are the times when an AM station can make an impact in the town, simply by showing up. But they don't, yet turn around and expect the community to support them on a commercial license.

Stations around here used to get out in the community a lot more years ago, and I don't necessarily mean 50 years ago. Even a mere 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, there was more interaction by these stations than there is today. What happened to a live remote in the downtown area during a celebration? Why can't a station to a live remote in the mall, or visit a school or something like that? It's not that it can't be done, it's more that the staff are not qualfied and they don't see the value in it (as well as likely not having the equipment).

I really think that AM is in trouble, but in small towns where there are AM stations, they can create interest by truly serving their community and making it personal for their town. People want to hear about things going on in their town, and there are businesses who want to advertise. I spent a bit of time talking to many local businesses and I know they would like to advertise, but just don't have the venues in our town.

Any future for AM, well, sure, but it starts with getting knowledgable people in there, but sadly this is the opposite of what we have. It just seems that these local stations are happy with people who just know enough to keep the station on the air.

Very well put my friend. This is what I have been trying to say for a while now. You can't possibly expect listeners if you don't get out in your community and let them know you're there. But as you say they may not have the talent to do it nor the equipment or both. The Christian station owners see it as they see their church a one way operation. The congregation gives the church the money (offering) but the church gives little back to the congregation to keep them coming back. Eventually the church folds because no one wants to do any of the work without getting paid. At a church it is the love of God that you volunteer your time to help the church. Note the word volunteer and this is how these station owners see it as you volunteering your time and effort but do it for the love of the community and too many people today don't want to do it for no pay. The community doesn't want to give because they see it as a business and it should support itself.

Another thing that has destroyed AM is deregulation. This allowed one company to own most if not all stations in a market hence no competitiion. I say it's fine that you own four stations in one town, but each one should be run as if they were seperate entities. Yeah your competeing against yourself, but to the public they perceive it as four seperate stations and would possibly be more inclined to buy time on one station rather than all four or be "forced" to buy one station and the other at half cost or somehting.

Sales is tough you have to be a good BSer and I am not a good BSer. I sold elecrtronics for 4 years and I was OK, but as commissions fell I saw that there was little incentive for me TO sell so I got out of it before the commissions went away. I could not sell radio airtime that is even tougher than selling electronics and in this downturn economy even more so.

 

[XTalker]

I'm not the best sales person in radio, not by a long shot, in fact I hated it. But when I did local sports, I had to hit the streets and find local businesses that could help support the games. It sometimes meant going to some businesses and saying, "let me run a spot for you free of charge during a game, if you like it then maybe you'll consider us for future ads". Some worked, some didn't but in the end, we got it done with sales.

Try this next time you are trying to sell and they say "nobody listens" .. "well, I guess you won't mind if we run an announcement that your business has no interest in having our listeners as customers. We'll just say you aren't accepting new customers. Is that OK?"

I remember an old-timer in Wilmington who used that line all the time. You'd be amazed at how much new business he picked up.

 

[ZAX Double J]

I'm not the best sales person in radio, not by a long shot, in fact I hated it. But when I did local sports, I had to hit the streets and find local businesses that could help support the games. It sometimes meant going to some businesses and saying, "let me run a spot for you free of charge during a game, if you like it then maybe you'll consider us for future ads". Some worked, some didn't but in the end, we got it done with sales.

Try this next time you are trying to sell and they say "nobody listens" .. "well, I guess you won't mind if we run an announcement that your business has no interest in having our listeners as customers. We'll just say you aren't accepting new customers. Is that OK?"

I remember an old-timer in Wilmington who used that line all the time. You'd be amazed at how much new business he picked up.

That's a good one! ;D

 

[allenv]

I used that one time to a sell mobile home place...I think the guy soiled himself
when I suggested running a spot saying since no one was listening don't buy from blah blah mobile homes they'll rip you off..He bought the motown story the station was running and became a good client for hs football as well and I bought him some new tidy whities for Christmas....

Allen