Is WVKO AM in trouble??

[redsfan1966]

Noticed that tonite (5/1) that the VKO website has been "account disabled", also happened to tune in occasionaly on 4/30 to hear the trouble with the Jones Radio feeds with Bill Press and Ed Schultz....(Thom Hartmann was aired in Big Ed's slot)...could the progressive format already be in trouble here in C-Bus?

 

[gr8oldies]

That's one way to get someone to pay their web hosting bill!

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

As of about 9:45pm Thursday (5-1), the website has only a message that says:

"WVKO 1580AM. We are moving to a new server. Please check back soon!"

 

[SeanMGilbow]

The WVKO website is back up and running.

As for why listeners heard Thom Hartmann on Wednesday: The station was having problems with the feeds going out from Bill, Stephanie and Big Eddie. Ed Schultz was also off that day and MSNBC's David Schuster was filling in.

All was back to normal yesterday, though the final decision regarding 3 to 6 p.m. hasn't been made yet in the wake of Randi Rhodes leaving Air America.

Bill Press will be here two weeks from today--doing his show live from the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189. And he will take part in a dinner and book signing the night before (Thursday, May 15). Details at wvko1580.com.

 

[redsfan1966]

Many apologies for my panicky post---the website is back up and the feeds seem to be back to normal.....WVKO is apparently not in trouble...

 

[gabigley1]

I noticed that The Bill Press and Stephanie Miller show was cutting in and out very often last Wednesday morning....
It was so bad that they were only able to air about ten minutes an hour of programming from those two popular WVKO shows. Not to mention the random outages of the shows and the poor audio.

At about 11:00 AM they decided to ditch the problem http://www.wcpt820.com/ internet feed from WCPT 820 in Chicago in favor of a West coast feed from radio station http://www.krxa540.com/
KRXA 540 AM in Monterey, California. That station dose not carry the Big Eddy show so that might explain why the Big Eddy show was missing on Wednesday.

From 11:00 AM to Noon WVKO aired KXRA AM liners. They also aired commercials and traffic reports
from Monterey, Calf.
Even heard a traffic report for Gillmor, Calf. Anyone here ever heard of a town called Gillmor, Calf??

Hopefully WVKO can get their Satellite Dish up and running in the near future. This would offer
a much more reliable audio feed from the Jones radio Network. This would be much better option for their listeners and fans of these three shows from the Jones Radio Network.

 

[pbf1]

That station dose not carry the Big Eddy show so that might explain why the Big Eddy show was missing on Wednesday.

Didn't he already say Eddie was off on Wednesday?

 

[SeanMGilbow]

Re: Expect the trash talk between SeanBoy Gilbow and JohnBoy Crenshaw to go on

Now that the Arbitron numbers released today show WVKO-AM and WYTS tied.

And it's more than just continuing snarky remarks between an advertiser who supports progressive talk vs. a radio person behind pulling the plug.

It's Stephanie Miller vs. Laura Ingraham : (enough said)
It's local news in morning drive with Michael Alwood vs. news from a dish
It's local talk with Mike Cole and national perspective from Rachel Maddow 8) vs. lack of perspective from Michael Savage
It's Clippers vs. Reds :-[
It's local talk on Saturdays (Radio Outlook and The Blue State Diner) vs. Bill O'Reilly :
It's ex-football player turned political pundit Ed Schultz vs. Jim Rome, whose online biographies indicate he never held a real football in his life (much less a political one)
It's former CNN Crossfire host Bill Press and local news from Columbus vs. Quinn and Rose and the occasional news and traffic reports from Pittsburgh
It's local high school sports coverage vs. Cavs basketball :-\
It's local weather updates twice an hour during the day vs. practically none :-X
It's a dedicated staff led by General Manager Gary Richards working specifically for this station vs. no staff, unless the people are borrowed from one of the other seven stations owned by a company that still can't get banks to approve its plans to go private

And most importantly...

It's a station committed to preserving its heritage and community identity vs. a station which has lost the community identity it once had. :'(

Stay tuned. The coming months should prove to be real interesting. 8)

 

[SportsRadioDoc]

It's also a station putting some effort in to it vs. a station on auto pilot 24/7. With all due respect, if the station on auto pilot put just a little effort in to it, they would blow the "little station that almost could" away.

Disclaimer: The opinion above is in no way is a reflection of the local management at CC. I believe their hands are tied on this one. It's most likely a San Antonio thing. AKA $$$$.

 

[Don62]

It's also a station putting some effort in to it vs. a station on auto pilot 24/7. With all due respect, if the station on auto pilot put just a little effort in to it, they would blow the "little station that almost could" away.

Disclaimer: The opinion above is in no way is a reflection of the local management at CC. I believe their hands are tied on this one. It's most likely a San Antonio thing. AKA $$$$.

So CC can just monopolize frequencies so no one else can have a chance?
Put on automated programming? Just keep it on the air, but pay little attention to it.

Have zero people working for that station?

People who run radio stations like that shouldn't be allowed to own stations.

 

[pbf1]

News flash, Don:

They're not the only ones doing it. Not by a long shot.

 

[KFodor]

For what it's worth, here's my two cents. (And, I'm taking the politics out of it, unlike many posters here...I'm just talking broadcasting.)

Okay, WVKO, you're on the board. But, to succeed signifcantly with local direct advertiser buys, you need to get the 12 plus numbers to about a 1 1/2 to a 2 share. Above a 2 and you'll get agency buys.

Tying 1230 is a start...you can do a little celebrating for being on the ratings board. But, don't whoop and holler too much...you've got a ways to go yet. You've only tied a radio station whose ownership, apparently, considers just a "flanker". That's like beating a guy with both hands tied behind his back and a blindfold on. You need to be aiming at 'TVN...even if, realistically, the signal can't pull it off.

Keep working for consistancy in your product (which is what the former owner largely failed to do on both AM and FM.) So you're running the Clippers? Are you running promos? Are they current? Do they change every day? Are all of the audio problems noted on this board fixed? If not, get it done ASAP, if not sooner.

Yes...they need to get a Starguide and satellite ASAP. Airing promos and traffic reports from a station in California is simply bush league. (that's "bush" with a small "b". Please note the correct meaning here.)

Are the promos for the talk shows constantly updated?

Are the promos for any local talk updated? (complete with local phone clips)

Are you thinking ahead to the Presidential race? Are plans being formulated to cover the election? If not, start thinking about it...it's one area in which you could (if you do it right), impress.

And, Sean: I'm not taking a shot at the station here. I can't listen where I am unless it's online. These are merely common-sense tips any news-talk consultant would give. But, it's important...and stuff the station needs to pay attention to.

 

[willcail]

Well there is that local dentist infomercial on the weekends if you count that, and local traffic updates.<Sarcasm> WVKO AM have a good start. They are beating "computer in a closet" WYTS AM. CC just want to owned many stations in a market as much as they can to stifle local ownership. How about a new FCC rule that if a station proves to exsit just to occupied a place on the FM AM dial then the must sell it off. CC have WLW (so far) in Cincy, WTVN in C-Bus and WTAM in Cleveland. Those are on decent 5K sticks. WVKO is on a decent 3200 watts and they are getting new advertisers.

 

[SeanMGilbow]

For what it's worth, here's my two cents. (And, I'm taking the politics out of it, unlike many posters here...I'm just talking broadcasting.)

Okay, WVKO, you're on the board. But, to succeed signifcantly with local direct advertiser buys, you need to get the 12 plus numbers to about a 1 1/2 to a 2 share. Above a 2 and you'll get agency buys.

Tying 1230 is a start...you can do a little celebrating for being on the ratings board. But, don't whoop and holler too much...you've got a ways to go yet. You've only tied a radio station whose ownership, apparently, considers just a "flanker". That's like beating a guy with both hands tied behind his back and a blindfold on. You need to be aiming at 'TVN...even if, realistically, the signal can't pull it off.

Keep working for consistancy in your product (which is what the former owner largely failed to do on both AM and FM.) So you're running the Clippers? Are you running promos? Are they current? Do they change every day? Are all of the audio problems noted on this board fixed? If not, get it done ASAP, if not sooner.

Yes...they need to get a Starguide and satellite ASAP. Airing promos and traffic reports from a station in California is simply bush league. (that's "bush" with a small "b". Please note the correct meaning here.)

Are the promos for the talk shows constantly updated?

Are the promos for any local talk updated? (complete with local phone clips)

Are you thinking ahead to the Presidential race? Are plans being formulated to cover the election? If not, start thinking about it...it's one area in which you could (if you do it right), impress.

And, Sean: I'm not taking a shot at the station here. I can't listen where I am unless it's online. These are merely common-sense tips any news-talk consultant would give. But, it's important...and stuff the station needs to pay attention to.

I can address a few of the points as an advertiser, Jason, and leave the rest to the GM:

As the saying goes, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

As I mentioned on the News/Talk board, the significance of the winter ratings is in two things. First, WVKO was of the air for more than a year. When the transmitter went up and got cranking last June, Spanish-language programming aired until the decision was made to put GM Gary Richards in charge of what would be the first station to bring back progressive talk in any market after nearly a year.

And the core listeners know exactly where the bread is buttered. While local advertisers continue to increase, with new ones added every few days, local sports (particularly Columbus Clippers baseball) are also a major revenue stream. And when the Clippers play, the progressive talk continues on the online stream: www.wvko1580.com.

As for the bush league stuff, the situation was a one-day thing. It was corrected. The board ops have worked to avoid any liners from WCPT in Chicago, where the station is getting Bill Press and Ed Schultz at the moment. The Jones folks have supplied the commercials that need to run. Granted, it's not perfect, and Gary is working to get the satellite issue resolved ASAP. But it is much better than constantly hearing the ads from New York via Air America's flagship station during the time WTPG existed. I've been to Clear Channel's Columbus studios several times over the 2 1/2 years WTPG was on the air, and not once was there a person in the studio. Apparently, the situation has not changed.

The local hosts do update their promos. And the national host promos are being freshened up on a regular basis.

Afternoon drive is one challenge Gary Richards is currently dealing with since Randi Rhodes jumped Air America. The "host du jour" may not be around for long. This should be ironed out once the satellite issue is resolved.

But as I've also said, and there is increasing agreement among the core listeners: Air America is not the focus. The center of the format is the three Jones Radio hosts: Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz. Stephanie has already returned to Columbus, Bill arrives next week, and Big Eddie will be back at the end of July.

In my brief phone conversation with Gary last Friday, I don't think WTVN was on his mind. The next targets are WLW and WRFD, followed by WTDA. If WVKO starts getting more listeners than WBNS (1460 The Fan), then going after WTVN would certainly be on the agenda.

But everyone involved with WVKO has learned not to put the cart before the horse.

 

[willcail]

Sean Gilbow is right. WVKO is off a good start and aiming to beat the lower rated talk stations first is the right thing to do. WVKO AM beats WYTS and the station needs to beat the other local low rated (since WLW AM is from cincy and on a 50K watts stick) talkers.

 

[SportsRadioDoc]

WLW and WRFD, reachable. WTDA and WBNS-A, not reachable.

 

[willcail]

WTDA not reachable the lowest rating that WTDA gotten was a 0.9. Witch is really reachable. Too bat you fave hate speech talker Savage is getting beat by Progressive Talk.

 

[HappyPappy]

WTDA not reachable the lowest rating that WTDA gotten was a 0.9. Witch is really reachable. Too bat you fave hate speech talker Savage is getting beat by Progressive Talk.

Holy cow! I'm not sure I've ever encountered anything that was this hard to read. Uhhhh.....what?

 

[DaytonRadio]

WTDA not reachable the lowest rating that WTDA gotten was a 0.9. Witch is really reachable. Too bat you fave hate speech talker Savage is getting beat by Progressive Talk.

Where's my Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring when I need it.

 

[SportsRadioDoc]

WTDA not reachable the lowest rating that WTDA gotten was a 0.9. Witch is really reachable. Too bat you fave hate speech talker Savage is getting beat by Progressive Talk.

I don't care about witch's, bat's, Brett Favre, Savage or progressive talk. I do care about WTDA's line-up and the 2.1 we just pulled in the winter book (M-SU: M 25-54), up from a 1.6.