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LOCALLY OWNED, LOCALLY PROGRAMMED. WECK IS LOCAL
- Thread starter Kal
- Start date
A couple of details I heard Harv just mention, WECK will air Channel 2 News at Noon, followed by Dennis Miller, Bill O'Reilly 4-6pm and then Brad Riter at 6pm.
Great to hear WECK this morning! 
I was so tired of the sensational sounding news (talk?) on WBEN in the morning. I mean talk about beating stories to death!! It tires the ears and mind.
Tom and Harv are a pleasure to listen to and I am sure many listeners will agree.
I was so tired of the sensational sounding news (talk?) on WBEN in the morning. I mean talk about beating stories to death!! It tires the ears and mind. Tom and Harv are a pleasure to listen to and I am sure many listeners will agree.
Well, if first impressions are important, WECK didn't make a good one on me this morning. Granted, this is the first day, so being critical at this point may not be fair. But first impressions are important in determining whether listeners will come back tomorrow. Spending 20 minutes on the Shriners Circus on a morning when the Governor is resigning just doesn't cut it. Were I not a radio head, I would have been listening to WBEN or NPR this morning for Spitzer coverage. Being hometown and local is a great positioning statement. But it needs to be good radio. What I heard this morning was not.
Now that WECK is rolling (pun intended), I wanted to respectfully resubmit my solicitation of:
-Hometown music, professional produced and cleared for broadcast, for our bumper music.
Send to my attention at 2900 Genesee, Cheektowaga 14225 (the mail works now).
-PSAs & community announcements (live and/or recorded) - please fax them to me at 783-9121.
Please spread the word if you like,
Schuh
-Hometown music, professional produced and cleared for broadcast, for our bumper music.
Send to my attention at 2900 Genesee, Cheektowaga 14225 (the mail works now).
-PSAs & community announcements (live and/or recorded) - please fax them to me at 783-9121.
Please spread the word if you like,
Schuh
topsound said:
Hmmm...
If at all possible, remember to try and find hometown bumpers that relate to the topic being discussed...I think that will also be good.
..but don't lose sight of the priority:
Make SURE you are putting on the most ENTERTAINING product you can.
The gimmicky "we're YOUR hometown radio station" is meaningless if you aren't more entertaining than whatever else is on.
You can play all the local band bumper music you want and it will make NO difference.
I have yet to meet someone who listens to a radio station on principle.
By the way, no one has less of a "hometown" feel than Dennis Miller.
Make SURE you are putting on the most ENTERTAINING product you can.
The gimmicky "we're YOUR hometown radio station" is meaningless if you aren't more entertaining than whatever else is on.
You can play all the local band bumper music you want and it will make NO difference.
I have yet to meet someone who listens to a radio station on principle.
By the way, no one has less of a "hometown" feel than Dennis Miller.
topsound said:
~
Tom,
Thanks for reposting WECK's comittment to local music and public service promotion.
Perhaps some clarification and detail on what you need would help us help you.
First ... NO, I do NOT personally play or sing in a Phil Spector 'Wall of Sound' Tribute band (... can you imagine?), but my sons do have a fairly well known local band. I'm sure many of us 'oldsters' have kids who do music and know other folks who do, as well.
What exactly do you mean by local music "cleared for broadcast"?
Are you looking for BMI/ASCAP licensed music? Is there another way to 'clear' music for broadcast?
Also, what genres of music? Pop, Country, Techo, Dance, Punk, Hard Rock, Standards, Death Metal, MOR? Vocals or instrumentals? What do you need and/or want? And how should be it be 'delivered'? CD, MP3, FTP?
As to PSA's and community events advertising, what are your requirements?
I have a few ideas myself, but posting to the board for topic 'discussion' may not be appropriate. Call me if you'd like and I'd be happy to offer my suggestions. (I do have a bit of past experience! LOL) You have my number.
So far, I like what I hear locally of Hometown Radio WECK.
(Can I have mine with heavy real horseradish on an actual WECK roll? None of that 'horsey sauce' or a Kaiser bun, please!)
Keith
A
AndrewLawson
Guest
Does "hometown" mean a radio station that's owned and operated by a local individual as opposed to those stations owned by mega media giants? If so, I can appreciate the "hometown" name. However, I thought "hometown" meant local programming throughout the day. I suspect I'm in the minority, but I just don't get what WECK is attempting to be. Perhaps the station isn't aimed at people like me who are in their mid to late 40s. In the morning, I listen to three different stations: 97 Rock, WBFO and WBEN. When I'm on sales calls (not radio sales) I listen to any number of stations, Star, 97 Rock, Mix104, WNED-FM, Q-107, even the Lake. After work, I check WBEN for traffic, WBFO for news and if I'm in the mood, WGR for some sports talk, although lately I haven't been able to stomach the smugness of WGR's talk show hosts. Thus far there isn't much on WECK that attracts my interest, but I still wish the staff and ownership the best of luck.
I was rather harsh in a post based on what I heard the first day on WECK. I said I didn't think it was good radio. After 10 days, Tom, I'm hearing some things I do like and some things that I don't think are working. Take this for what's it's worth -- unsolicited advice from someone in the market who shares your passion for radio. First and foremost, let Harv play music. He's out of his element, especially when Tom Donahue isn't available as a sounding board. I think a mix of news, traffic and weather on the 9s and a bit of music WOULD provide a nice hometown alternative to other stations. I've tuned in a few times to hear Harv reading from some magazine article about cooking or handling stress. And it just doesn't work. There's nothing there. Let the man play some music. That's what he's great at. I'm sure he'd be able to share a story or two about the artists he'd play. It doesn't have to be standards. The Beatles, Elvis, Chicago, whatever.
What I do like is Scott Leffler. You've got a great talk show host there. Scrap the Tradio, which many of the "experts" on this board (including me) believe doesn't belong in a market of Buffalo's size, and put Scott on for two hours. He would be a wonderful and potentially serious competition to Bauerle. I tell you, I'd tune into Scott over Bauerle. The guy impresses me. He knows how to do talk radio. Use him!
Tom, I think your half-hour news summary at 12:30pm has improved over the course of the past ten days. You're mixing in Fox News and Business with local reports that include some sound. It's what I'll be sampling when I'm out and about during the lunch hour. And Brad Riter is a top notch sports talk host. I get a sense from some sports blogs that a segment of WGR listeners doesn't like Mike Schopp, so Brad might be able to attract some of them during the 6:00 hour. When the Sabres are on, I'm sure his audience dwindles. But once the season ends, and should Dennis Williams leave WGR for a TV gig elsewhere (as he probably will do), Brad can no doubt compete with the kids playing radio on WGR.
I would agree with a previous poster who questions just what is meant by the term Hometown Radio. Saying WECK is Buffalo's "only" station serving the community is silly. WBEN sets the standard for serving the local community, especially during winter storm situations. And I would think both WNED-AM and WBFO would argue they do a lot as well for this community.
One more thing. Fox Sports on weekends? Ain't gonna work. We already have ESPN Radio in this market. I haven't seen specific numbers, but I would presume the audience is miniscule for national sports radio in Buffalo. I understand you need to put something on to keep the meters moving. But adult standards I would think would be preferable to what you're doing now.
I have all the respect in the world for you, Tom, and what you're trying to do. So, I hope you take these comments in the constructive spirit in which they're offered. Best of luck to you.
What I do like is Scott Leffler. You've got a great talk show host there. Scrap the Tradio, which many of the "experts" on this board (including me) believe doesn't belong in a market of Buffalo's size, and put Scott on for two hours. He would be a wonderful and potentially serious competition to Bauerle. I tell you, I'd tune into Scott over Bauerle. The guy impresses me. He knows how to do talk radio. Use him!
Tom, I think your half-hour news summary at 12:30pm has improved over the course of the past ten days. You're mixing in Fox News and Business with local reports that include some sound. It's what I'll be sampling when I'm out and about during the lunch hour. And Brad Riter is a top notch sports talk host. I get a sense from some sports blogs that a segment of WGR listeners doesn't like Mike Schopp, so Brad might be able to attract some of them during the 6:00 hour. When the Sabres are on, I'm sure his audience dwindles. But once the season ends, and should Dennis Williams leave WGR for a TV gig elsewhere (as he probably will do), Brad can no doubt compete with the kids playing radio on WGR.
I would agree with a previous poster who questions just what is meant by the term Hometown Radio. Saying WECK is Buffalo's "only" station serving the community is silly. WBEN sets the standard for serving the local community, especially during winter storm situations. And I would think both WNED-AM and WBFO would argue they do a lot as well for this community.
One more thing. Fox Sports on weekends? Ain't gonna work. We already have ESPN Radio in this market. I haven't seen specific numbers, but I would presume the audience is miniscule for national sports radio in Buffalo. I understand you need to put something on to keep the meters moving. But adult standards I would think would be preferable to what you're doing now.
I have all the respect in the world for you, Tom, and what you're trying to do. So, I hope you take these comments in the constructive spirit in which they're offered. Best of luck to you.
Philip_Airtime said:
I agree 100%. That was going to be one of my first suggestions after hearing them after the first couple of days.
Even if they only played five to seven songs an hour---maybe out of spot breaks---it would give Harv a lot to play off. I think the full-service approach, at least in the mornings, would be a GREAT thing.
WECK has been on the air for little more than a week and already members of this august body are advocating the morning show play the hits because the morning guy sounds out of his, ahem, element? It's a news-talk station, fer cripe's sack! The morning guys just need to get things worked out. News-talk stations don't play music. They do news-talk. Eventually the morning guy(s) will get comfortable doing the news-talk thing and everything will fall into place. Maybe they need Doug Young to line up guests and interviews. If it's like this a year from now, then maybe it'll be time to play The Drifters, Elvis and Dusty Springfield. Patience, grasshopper, patience.
I haven't heard WECK but sitting here thinking about the issue, it might be refreashing to hear somethat that was a little rough and not so polished. It just might be fun to listen and see how things develop!
A
AndrewLawson
Guest
We might be willing to cut WECK some slack, but in the real world, radio consumers aren't a patient lot. They want what they need, when they need it; they're not going to wait around until a station *gets its act together.* More than likely, they'll continue listening to 930, 970, 88.7 and other established news and talk radio stations.
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