Merkel out at 3WS

[FreddyE1977]

"Only the Good Die Young" is the anti-Catholic song referred to, and 3WS also plays that one. They do play alot of Billy Joel, and I do like his music quite a bit. Off hand, from what I can remember, they play, Movin' Out(Anthony's Song), She'a Always A Woman, It's Still Rock & Roll to Me, Uptown Girl, My Life, You May Be Right, She's Got A Way, Big Shot, and The Longest Time. But none of these equal the airtime of Piano Man, my original subject of scorn. Sorry to keep rambling about Piano Man, but it's provided for some good comments.

Yep, I know. Guess my sarcasm just isn't obvious enough these days!

 

[corporateradiosucks]

I also remember the DVE daily playing of "Can't You See" by Marshall Tucker Band. But that was less annoying, because I honestly can still listen to that song every day. Somewhere out there probably is a listener who loves hearing Piano Man every day.

 

[loeper]

WJPA does a lot of local sports because it produces a lot of revenue for the station. they still have bills to pay and payroll to meet. plus it does keep there identity as a local station. that's where there ad dollars come from, the local community. they also do a real good job of serving what used to be called "the community of license". they deserve to to well, it's a really sound radio station.

 

[Talk_Dude]

WJPA does a lot of local sports because it produces a lot of revenue for the station. they still have bills to pay and payroll to meet. plus it does keep there identity as a local station. that's where there ad dollars come from, the local community. they also do a real good job of serving what used to be called "the community of license". they deserve to to well, it's a really sound radio station.

You're also dead-on correct about WJPA doing it's best to be a true "local" station. I can remember seeing them doing remotes from the Washington County fair every year. They carry the Washington Wild Things, W&J sports, and as much in the way of local high school sports as they can. As I recall (it's been years since I traveled much through Washington), even their commercials seem to be mostly from local businesses.

 

[Parttimer]

even their commercials seem to be mostly from local businesses.

Because they're a 3,000 watt station and you can't hear them anywhere else.

 

[Jkf]

WJPA is NOT always locally programmed. Nights/overnights come from Dial Global's oldies service. Some of their "filler" songs, those ran by the network when local stations do not insert local breaks, are quite interesting at best. You might even hear a Janet Jackson or obscure Debbie Gibson song from the 1980s.

 

[hypwr]

Many of WJPA's staff members have been with the station for many years. I enjoy listening to them. I go to alot of Wild Things games and, listen to the one's I miss on JPA. On Sunday mornings they carry a program called "Found Cuts"....music from the 70's.

All in all, it is a great local radio station. Some of the "biggies" would do well to use WJPA as a role model.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Yep, they are a great example of what you can do with a local station if you
have the right people and care about serving your local community. I don't
know what their books look like, but it certainly sounds like they aren't having
a lot of trouble selling ad time to Washington County businesses.

 

[Talk_Dude]

Yep, they are a great example of what you can do with a local station if you
have the right people and care about serving your local community. I don't
know what their books look like, but it certainly sounds like they aren't having
a lot of trouble selling ad time to Washington County businesses.

As I recall, they didn't seem to carry many ads from agencies buying spots all over the country. I have to admit that usually whenever any station I'm listening to goes to commercial, I hit the button for another station, so I'm not the most knowledgeable about what commercials are on any station. But if my rather shaky memory is accurate, on Pittsburgh stations I recall there being a mix of local business and national/regional business spots. On WJPA, the national business spots seemed to be a lot fewer. What I'm getting at would be that on WDVE you'd hear a national agency produced commercial to "visit your local Ford Dealer", while on WJPA you'd hear a locally produced spot to "visit Washington Ford". Like I said, that's not something I carefully researched, that's just a vaguely remembered recollection.

 

[Talk_Dude]

WJPA is NOT always locally programmed. Nights/overnights come from Dial Global's oldies service. Some of their "filler" songs, those ran by the network when local stations do not insert local breaks, are quite interesting at best. You might even hear a Janet Jackson or obscure Debbie Gibson song from the 1980s.

I wouldn't know about that. During those hours, I was always either asleep or at home. And if I was home, I could watch TV so I had no reason to turn the radio on.

 

[Parttimer]

Yep, they are a great example of what you can do with a local station if you
have the right people and care about serving your local community. I don't
know what their books look like, but it certainly sounds like they aren't having
a lot of trouble selling ad time to Washington County businesses.

As I recall, they didn't seem to carry many ads from agencies buying spots all over the country. I have to admit that usually whenever any station I'm listening to goes to commercial, I hit the button for another station, so I'm not the most knowledgeable about what commercials are on any station. But if my rather shaky memory is accurate, on Pittsburgh stations I recall there being a mix of local business and national/regional business spots. On WJPA, the national business spots seemed to be a lot fewer. What I'm getting at would be that on WDVE you'd hear a national agency produced commercial to "visit your local Ford Dealer", while on WJPA you'd hear a locally produced spot to "visit Washington Ford". Like I said, that's not something I carefully researched, that's just a vaguely remembered recollection.

National ad buys are based on ratings, so even though they're a locally-focused station, they have to compete with all the full-market signals for those national dollars. Sometimes stations like this might have a relationship with a national rep who can steer an occasional buy their way, but it's usually sell locally or perish for this type of operation.

 

[Jkf]

Remember though, some of those national ads could be from the Dial Global service. Depending on their affiliation setup they may run them throughout the day - whether during local programming or from the satellite. The worst of these, repetition-wise used to be the Hooked On Phonics program, or Valu-Rite pharmacies. Now its Wal-Mart or Home Depot nearly every national break.

 

[Boss Radio]

WJPA has an amazing number of spots from car dealers. Bud Baer spots are on constantly, and John Steigerwald and Lanny Frattare do spots for other dealerships.

 

[loeper]

WJPA is a well run, well programed station. other owners who have low powered suburban stations around the nation would do well to spend a week in Washington county Pa. listening to this station. they serve the community with solid local news and quality local sports coverage...plus there music programing is very good. they know who they are and they go with it. and unlike alot of other stations in the same situation, they MAKE MONEY. local business people advertise on the station because , guess what, they get results...IT WORKS for them so they keep advertising . I love listening to the station ( espically on Sunday nights) they are old school radio...

 

[Parttimer]

WJPA has an amazing number of spots from car dealers. Bud Baer spots are on constantly, and John Steigerwald and Lanny Frattare do spots for other dealerships.

Bud Baer has always used local radio. He used to be a big client on WKEG as well.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

I was just flipping around stations last night (around 1:30) and ended up on 3WS. The second song that came on after I left it there was...you guessed it...Piano Man. I LOLed. The really funny part is that this was when they were on the overnight satellite programming.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I too heard Piano Man on 3WS in the car at 9:30 on Saturday morning.
I am thinking that a drinking game along the lines of "Hi, Bob!" may be
in the offing here.

 

[db59]

It was on again in the 10:00 hour this morning. Le'ts all have a drink as "we're talking to Davy who's still in the navy, and probably will be for life."

 

[pkffrom724]

Is it true that 3WS has a much shorter playlist (about no more than 400 classic hits)? I am so sure that 3WS can do better than this. For example, one day at work, I heard Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way", and the next day, heard it again 24 hours later. Now I know they can do better than this. They can go deeper. They have much more than 400.

 

[Boss Radio]

I understand the complaints and even agree with them. Yet the ratings are better than they've ever been, even with a crappy playlist and voicetracking that's taken the energy and personality out of the station. Go figure.