Forget 100.7 versus 96.9, what about...

[Radio_Realist]

Re: what about...

> > Their sales staff isn't big, but it does exist. Part-timer
>
> > is correct that having additional programming to sell
> would
> > create more opportunities for more sales. Perhaps some
> sort
> > of semi-brokered system might do well for them, with
> > entry-level air talent who work a few hours on the air and
>
> > spend the rest of their day selling spots on commission.
> > That also describes my own first entry level radio job
> many,
> > many years ago.
>
> You know, that's a hell of an idea.
>
> But, do people nowadays have the interest in doing that?
> Not to hate on folks my age, but they want the glory of the
> airshift and the fame, but not any of the hard work to go
> along with it (including show prep in many cases). No
> wonder radio's dull anymore.
>
> But with the right talent, and a good mentoring salesman, it
> is infinitely workable and the best policy for lots of the
> fringe market stations.

Do people in general have such an interest? Probably not. But could a station find three or four people who'd go for such a deal? Probably yes. I'll wager that if WJPA went looking for such people, they could find enough. Especially if they included middle-aged second career people instead of just young rookies. Such a deal might be perfect for a baby boomer who has been the victim of corporate downsizing.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Re: what about...

> > Exactly. And, to add to your point, even if you're using
> > Pittsburgh ratings (for two rimshot, out-of-market
> signals),
> > who cares if one station gets an 0.8 and the other an 1.0?
>
> > In the overall scheme of Pittsburgh radio, there are far
> > more competitive ratings scenarios to be played out.
>
> And besides, WJPA kicks Pickle's sat-fed ass!

You're half right. WJPA-FM is an example of just how good a station in a small town that's close to a major city can be. Their "New sound of the oldies" format is fun to listen to, and never boring with the same few songs played to death. Their on-air people are good. Their local new coverage is better than most of the big city stations. They also serve their local area extremely well. You'd have to go a long, long way to find a better station than WJPA-FM.

On the other hand, WJPA-AM, which merely simulcasts WJPA-FM most of the time, is a waste of radio bandwidth. It could be a second outstanding station for Washington, PA, carrying spoken word programming and other local alternatives, and providing a second revenue stream for Washington Broadcasting Company. But it isn't. All WJPA provides is the "Old sound of the oldies", in crappy AM monaural sound. It's a shame that such a potentially valuable resource is going to waste.

Actually, WJPA-AM is NOT going to waste per se. They still use the AM side for broadcasting high school football, Sunday morning church broadcasts, and it serves as a second broadcast outlet whenever one of the local high schools make the playoffs. They make tremendous amounts of money doing this because no Pittsburgh station wants to abandon their music format to serve their communities (as per FCC requirement?). Though the majority of the program originates from WJPA-FM, there are no references to the AM side as 'our sister station' or anything that hints at bastardizing it. The AM is very well promoted. Michael Siegel is very adamant about the image of that AM...to him, they're one in the same. And contrary to popular belief, that AM is very successful in its own right. It doesn't cost much to run that transmitter, and it still maintains a modicum of local identity, though not in the traditional sense.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"Actually, WJPA-AM is NOT going to waste per se. They still use the AM side for broadcasting high school football, Sunday morning church broadcasts, and it serves as a second broadcast outlet whenever one of the local high schools make the playoffs. They make tremendous amounts of money doing this because no Pittsburgh station wants to abandon their music format to serve their communities (as per FCC requirement?). Though the majority of the program originates from WJPA-FM, there are no references to the AM side as 'our sister station' or anything that hints at bastardizing it. The AM is very well promoted. Michael Siegel is very adamant about the image of that AM...to him, they're one in the same. And contrary to popular belief, that AM is very successful in its own right. It doesn't cost much to run that transmitter, and it still maintains a modicum of local identity, though not in the traditional sense."

No, everything you've said simply proves the point that WJPA-AM is going to waste. Every example you give (and they are good ones) about how well WJPA-AM does when it broadcasts something different from WJPA-FM demonstrates how much better WJPA-AM could be if it did even more separate programming.

I don't know what you're referring to in saying that the AM is "very well promoted". I lived in Washington PA for twenty years, and the only promotion for WJPA-AM I ever saw were the ads that either said "WJPA-FM 95.3 / WJPA-AM 4150" or WJPA FM 95.3/AM 1450". That's good promotion overall, but hardly something that gives the AM a distinct image. And referring to the AM transmitter as a "sister station" wouldn't be accurate anyway, since WJPA-AM and WJPA-FM aren't "sisters", they're Siamese Twins, except the FM twin is attractive and the AM twin is ugly.

And you're 100% right about Michael Siegel being very adamant that to him, the AM and the FM are one in the same. To everyone who lives within range of WJPA's signal, the only difference between the AM and the FM is that the music sounds great on 95.3 FM and sounds like crap on 1450 AM.

As for the AM being "successful in its own right", how are you measuring that success? Aside from the occasional times when the AM station carries something different from the FM, is it possible to buy commercials on the AM side only?

Don't get me wrong. Like I said much earlier, I think WJPA is an excellent example of a really, really good small town station. I wish I could receive WJPA's FM signal at work, because when the guys in our office who like oldies get to pick the radio station for the day, I'd rather hear the really great music selection of WJPA on an FM stereo radio than the 12 songs that 3WS plays over and over and over. But as great as the music selection is, it's not good enough to overcome the crappy sound of the AM band. AM is still quite adequate for spoken word formats like sports play-by-play, or any sort of talk format. If only WJPA had someone with the same level of imagination for spoken word programming that Pete Povich has for music programming, and a willingness to use the AM transmitter for more than an occasional sports event, then Washington Broadcasting would probably increase their profits by 20%, 30% or even 40%!

 

[kenhawk1160]

I am measuring WJPA-AM's success in dollars and cents, as with any business. Insofar as promotion, I'm referring to what you already know. When I worked there from 1999-2001, we aired the high school sports broadcasts, and whatever time-brokered programs we could get our hands on (Purity Products infomercials, mainly). Of course, it doesn't generate the revenue the FM does, but it still makes it worth keeping the channel on the air, unlike other operators who have turned their licenses in to the FCC and totally given up altogether.

You have to see WJPA as a whole from more than a music standpoint. If you've truly listened to the FM, you'll notice that there's local news on there every hour all day up until 6pm. It's the only resource that Washington County residents can turn to for breaking local news as it happens. The fact that it has an oldies format is an added bonus...they're doing what their overconsulted, overmarketed and overrated counterparts don't. As long as WJPA-AM is making enough money to sustain itself (it's all that and more...as a former employee, trust me on this!), then why make the investment and set yourself up for disappointment when it doesn't live up to expectations? After you've made all this expense on a 'maybe'?

In the words of Dick Cavett, "put up or pay up".

You say WJPA-AM is going to waste. Listen to stations like the old WASP-AM, WESA-AM, and WCVI-AM and then say that again. THOSE are the stations that are truly going to waste...NO independent programming of ANY kind. Compared to them, WJPA-AM is doing all right.

But I digress. Make of that what you will.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"As long as WJPA-AM is making enough money to sustain itself (it's all that and more...as a former employee, trust me on this!), then why make the investment and set yourself up for disappointment when it doesn't live up to expectations? After you've made all this expense on a 'maybe'?"

What "investment"? To turn WJPA-AM into something that was mostly separate programming from WJPA-FM, the only capital investment they'd need would be to build a second air studio. They already have an excellent news staff that produces the local news for the FM side. That same staff could handle a simulcast FM and AM newscast on the hour and a repeat on the AM side on the half hour. And it wouldn't cost much extra.

This would work. Run Povich's morning show on both AM & FM. From what Margie Constantine has told me, she'd love to switch to doing a talk show, and I think she has the talent to do it. So, let her continue her same shift on AM doing talk and find someone to take her place playing music on FM. Get an intern from W&J to serve as her call screener. WJPA already has some really good sports people, let one of them do a drive-time sports show. Evenings are pretty much filled with ball games and other sporting events, so they're not a problem. Simulcast from the end of the live sports events until the end of Povich's show the next day.

What that does is adds about eight new billable hours per weekday that can be sold, at a cost of an entry-level DJ to take Margie Constantine's music show, a small raise for whoever does the sports talk show, and a few interns from W&J. How much of a gamble is that compared to the extra revenue that can be generated?

In any case, I reject any example of someone doing something badly as proof that something done well won't work. The fact that the old WASP-AM, WESA-AM, and WCVI-AM are nothing to write home about doesn't prove that WJPA-AM couldn't be tweaked to make more money for Washington Broadcasting.