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Jack Casey, GM, Leaving WERS

R

Retro

Dr. Jack Casey will be leaving WERS-FM in Boston later in May to become a consultant. Casey has been general manager of WERS for 16 years.

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Jack Casey Leaving WERS - Radio Ink

Dr. Jack Casey will be leaving WERS-FM in Boston later in May to become a consultant. Casey has been the General Manager of WERS for 16 years.
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vmorrison99 said:
What on earth will ERS do after the Chiropractor leaves.
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Funny quote in that article: "College and university radio stations don’t have to be sandboxes. They can be competitive, revenue producing, major market media outlets.” Not sure that's what the FCC had in mind when they set aside that portion of the band for NCE. However, I am pretty sure the folks at Boston University think they've done a better job in all three categories.
 
TheBigA said:
Funny quote in that article: "College and university radio stations don’t have to be sandboxes. They can be competitive, revenue producing, major market media outlets.” Not sure that's what the FCC had in mind when they set aside that portion of the band for NCE. However, I am pretty sure the folks at Boston University think they've done a better job in all three categories.
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I am going to make a rather controversial comment on this. Besides both College and Public Btoadcasting stations. I find it rather odd on how an industry, Christian Music in particular, are able to work under the radar with a real lot of non commercial stations play their music full time.

Yes, there are commercial stations in that genre too. And local and even national Christians are serving a need, which is true also, however it is funny how the record companies are not non profit, directly benefit from this, KWIM?
 
Retro said:
however it is funny how the record companies are not non profit, directly benefit from this, KWIM?
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The FCC rules only require the licensee to be non-profit. Not the content they present. I guess with regards to Casey, he may produce revenue, but he doesn't create a profit.
 
TheBigA said:
The FCC rules only require the licensee to be non-profit. Not the content they present. I guess with regards to Casey, he may produce revenue, but he doesn't create a profit.
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Ahh, I get it, thank you! I guess that in addition to the local 2 college radions here, that the last time I checked, WGAO, "Power 88.3", Dean College in Franklin, MA, was all commercial music too.
 
Retro said:
Ahh, I get it, thank you! I guess that in addition to the local 2 college radions here, that the last time I checked, WGAO, Franklin, was all commercial music too
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It can be, sure. What is non-commercial music? Classical and jazz? Maybe the songs are public domain, but the recordings come from for-profit record labels.
 
TheBigA said:
It can be, sure. What is non-commercial music? Classical and jazz? Maybe the songs are public domain, but the recordings come from for-profit record labels.
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Yes, I guess what I meant commercial by definition, playing popular music, in which can be heard on several other stations across the dial, all across the Country.
 
Retro said:
Yes, I guess what I meant commercial by definition, playing popular music, in which can be heard on several other stations across the dial, all across the Country.
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There is nothing I'm aware of in any of the laws governing non-commercial radio that mentions that.

At the same time, the thinking was if you remove the advertising aspect from these radio stations, that music choice will be made based on factors that aren't based on demographics or attracting advertisers.
 
TheBigA said:
There is nothing I'm aware of in any of the laws governing non-commercial radio that mentions that.

At the same time, the thinking was if you remove the advertising aspect from these radio stations, that music choice will be made based on factors that aren't based on demographics or attracting advertisers.
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Yes, very true, I forgot about that aspect of it.
 
If they are not already at some point in the near future WERS will have to survive on underwriting and listener contributions as the Board of Trustees voted to eliminate the funding ERS received from the college. When I was on ERS as a student in the early 80's you would drop a class if it conflicted with the shift you got, be more than willing to work overnights, early mornings, or weekends. The competition for airtime was fierce. I now hear that they are paying some student broadcasters to fill shifts in addition to the morning and afternoon hosts. Back in my day there were 2 paid staff members, The GM who also taught a few classes and the engineer. ERS now has 8 paid staff members. With underwriting performing less than expected it is not going to be easy to meet their budget without other revenue sources.
 
what "they" intended and what happened are two different things.

Especially with "underwriting acknowledgements" being so close to what we would call a commercial, most lay people can't tell the difference..... which is the "call to action" part for the most part... you can't say "call them at 555-1212" but you can say "their phone number is 555-1212" for example.

As colleges, universities and other non-com's look at the cost for things like EAS compliance, and lack of interest from students or the community, the more of these licenses we will see being offered for sale or turned in.

In the case of my alma matter if it wasn't for the hockey program, they would have dumped the station long ago, and in fact did try an alliance with a local newspaper that failed... ( WUML and the Lowell Sun)
 
I'm surprised that the station at Emerson, known for its communications and performing arts programs, would be having so much trouble filling air shifts. You'd think an occasional music or theater major would want to dabble in radio, wouldn't you? Or is radio so much of a horse-and-buggy-era relic to the undergrad age group that there is no interest in getting involved with it at all?
 
MRBIboredop said:
what "they" intended and what happened are two different things.
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Correct. That's why the very next sentence in my post was "I am pretty sure the folks at Boston University think they've done a better job in all three categories."

CTListener said:
I'm surprised that the station at Emerson, known for its communications and performing arts programs, would be having so much trouble filling air shifts.
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My sense is that Casey ran the station with an iron hand. He told the students they had to play the music he told them to play. It's harder to get volunteers when you treat them like employees. But he wanted to give them a real world experience.
 
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