New morning show on WYDE

[ALRocker]

Heard them say will be on this coming Monday. Any ideas on who it is or if a new format will start Monday also?

 

[passtheword]

Mancow's now on WYDE, mornings from 5-8 am. With all this talk programming being added back to the station's lineup, it appears that Birmingham might be back to having 4 talk stations again (WERC, WAPI, and WYDE-AM and FM). Do we really need this many talk stations here in the Magic City? :



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[Nate Wesley]

Mancow's now on WYDE, mornings from 5-8 am. With all this talk programming being added back to the station's lineup, it appears that Birmingham might be back to having 4 talk stations again (WERC, WAPI, and WYDE-AM and FM). Do we really need this many talk stations here in the Magic City? :

Isn't it really only three talkers, seeing how WYDE-AM is a simulcast? Though I suppose if you count the sports talkers, the count is really five.

Anyway, this really should have been the approach applied to the "Source", opting for simple talk radio entertainment instead of masquerading as a news station with talk radio content. Crawford had the bigger companies beat to FM. But instead of clearing a Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, or some other half-competent national show, they eventually relied on Lee Davis and Burt & Kurt. Those acts might have gotten some local buys on 850, but it wasn't going to bring them a ROI for what was paid for 101.1 FM.

Which brings me to another point about The Source: It honestly should have debuted on 93.7, after a longtime simulcast to move WDJC listeners to 101.1. But that ship sailed years ago--WDJC 93.7 is too entrenched as the breadwinner of the group, when it could have been the talk station.

 

[tomservo]

With WDJC being the breadwinner, why would the move it to a station whose signal in the city is second-best?

It never crossed my mind at the time, but ponying up for some bigger talkers like O'Reilly and maybe trying some hot talk or an uncleared high-rated sports talker might have helped them considerably. Having an all (or mostly-all) local lineup is worthy of applause, but not when your signal serves three or four vastly different metro areas.

 

[Nate Wesley]

With WDJC being the breadwinner, why would the move it to a station whose signal in the city is second-best?

It'd be one whopper of a move, I know. (Stupid, even.) It's just that I have half of a mind to think that a GOOD effort at news/talk on 93.7, sufficiently covering the Birmingham metro, could have eventually become their breadwinner. But half-minded seemed to be the actual effort put into The Source in the first place, regardless of dial position.

 

[passtheword]

With WDJC being the breadwinner, why would the move it to a station whose signal in the city is second-best?

It'd be one whopper of a move, I know. (Stupid, even.) It's just that I have half of a mind to think that a GOOD effort at news/talk on 93.7, sufficiently covering the Birmingham metro, could have eventually become their breadwinner. But half-minded seemed to be the actual effort put into The Source in the first place, regardless of dial position.

No, it wouldn't be a wise to move WDJC to 101.1, but then again, these are the same folks who went through the multiple name change when they dropped the talk programming a year ago. And I agree that the Source wouldn't have really done very well, in the manner it was programmed previously, regardless of which of the stations were used (93.7 or 101.1). I think Crawford would have only realized a small advantage, ratings-wise, by putting the talk format on 93.7 with the better signal. Moving WDJC to the weaker 101.1 signal, though, would have more of a negative impact. I've talked to other Christians like myself who don't care too much for WDJC and we have similar problems with them...too many commercials, chit-chat, and the music needs to be tweaked. When Reality 101 came on the air, some of WDJC's listeners flocked to the new station, but with that weaker signal over Birmingham, it never was able to make much progress. Of course, some of Reality's problems weren't just limited to the signal, though, one of which included spending money that was unnecessary. I never understood why the folks at Reality had their offices in Brookwood Mall. It was great visibility for the station, but they were spending way too much money to rent the space there when they could have done it elsewhere, much cheaper. If you're just starting out in business, go with what's reasonable and affordable.

Back to the subject at hand, though...even considering WDJC's longevity in Birmingham and their Christian audience here, I believe WDJC would suffer if it wound up moving to the 101.1 frequency. Mind you, it wouldn't totally devastate the station, but WDJC would definitely suffer the consequences in doing so by being unable to cover Birmingham with the quality signal that listeners have come to expect.

I don't know whether any type of format, talk or otherwise, would help WYDE or any of Crawford's other Birmingham stations. WDJC is the only one that does well and has survived the "test of time". I know I've discussed this previously, but I really do believe that, aside from the programming issues, the reason Crawford never seems to fare too well with the secular formats is because they're trying to be both a Christian and secular broadcaster, and from a spiritual standpoint, this just doesn't work (The Bible tells us a "house divided cannot stand"). Crawford Broadcasting started out as a Christian broadcaster and it wasn't up until a few years ago, they started to dabble into these secular formats. Their attention is divided between the two...wanting to share the gospel as a Christian broadcaster while trying to "put their foot in the door" of the secular world. I do believe that for in order for God to bless us, we have to be within His will, and I don't see how operating stations which play music with all sorts of explicit lyrics could be what God wants. All the secular formats that Crawford has tried (at least here in Birmingham) have failed miserably. WDJC is the only one of the stations in the bunch that seems to prosper, I believe there's a reason for that. God can't and won't bless people, be it a Christian ministry or otherwise, when things are done outside His will. Our personal lives are no different. We can live life the way we want to and find out the hard way it's not going to work, or we do it God's way since He knows best and, in turn, be blessed.

btw, you're right about there being three talk stations instead of four in Birmingham since WYDE is a simulcast. I just said four because, even though it's a simulcast, the AM is still available as an option to listen to. Sometimes if I'm listening to AM, I'll flip it over to WYDE-AM to see what's going on over there instead of switching it back to FM. I'm lazy, I guess...

Thank you all for reading my "book" and "attached sermon"...


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[DaleGriffin]

I personally find this move to be hilarious.

Do the "Crawdaddy Stands" still play in the morning.

 

[passtheword]

I personally find this move to be hilarious.

Do the "Crawdaddy Stands" still play in the morning.

To what "move" are you referring?

I haven't listened to WYDE a lot in the past month or so, but it's likely the "Crawford Stand" (or the "Crawford Gripe" as I like to call it) is still being aired. I really get tired of hearing these segments as well. I'm not really sure why Mr. Crawford thinks we want to hear a daily, two-minute tirade from him regarding political issues; when "The Stand" comes on, I immediately change the station as I have no desire to listen to that drivel. I admit as Christians we're supposed to be concerned about politics and there's nothing wrong with discussing such, but Crawford seems to take this to an entirely different level and seems very fixated on politics. If I have to hear "The Stand", I'd much rather hear more about spiritual matters and less of the political. As a Christian broadcaster, you'd think he'd be much more concerned about the former than the latter.

Listening to WDJC, I truly believe their staff is committed to sharing the gospel with others and their hearts are in the right place. With the ownership, I'm not so sure. Crawford really needs to spend more time trying to fine-tune WDJC by determining what the listeners want and don't want with the station instead of wasting time doing a two-minute gripe session every day about what's wrong with government.


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[duncanalausa]

i like the crawford stand segments. it's a political stance akin to paul harvey but with teeth.

the music on 'djc is good but does need tweaking. no, segmented is the word i am looking for. drivetime, music that is uplifting and positive, midday, music that is smaltzy and can help a mom/wife get the humdrums done (dad/husband if that be the case too). evening, bring back the southern gospel caravan 6-10. overnight, i never listen but i think that would be a time for praise and worship to slip in there with the christian rock.

 

[bamalistener]

I personally find this move to be hilarious.

Do the "Crawdaddy Stands" still play in the morning.

I wonder what the Christian Mr. Crawford thought about Mancow interviewing the owner of www.onlinebootycall.com last week?

 

[DaleGriffin]

That is why I find bringing Mancow on so amusing.

Crawford must be spinning in his grave.

 

[tomservo]

That is why I find bringing Mancow on so amusing.

Crawford must be spinning in his grave.

Didn't Mancow take a jog to the right a while back? I seem to recall his grisly visage appearing on Fox a few times arguing some conservative points of view. Perhaps that image stuck in some Crawford decision maker's head and they didn't bother to find out he's still pretty much a shock jock... A boring, unfunny one at that.

 

[passtheword]

That is why I find bringing Mancow on so amusing.

Crawford must be spinning in his grave.

I suppose they could have chosen someone for a morning show who was a lot worse, but it just demonstrates they're, IMO, not really focused on Christian broadcasting anymore. Mancow's a pretty strange fellow and very hyper, lol. My wife told me she read online somewhere that Mancow is bipolar. Of course, that information is coming from the internet, lol, so who knows whether that's factual or not.

If the older Mr. Crawford were alive today (the one who started the company), this "secularization" of Crawford broadcasting might not have ever happened, and if it did, I don't think he'd be too pleased with all of it. As far as him "spinning in his grave" right now..I don't think he is. I figure most people who have passed on from this life to be with the Lord are no longer concerned with earthly things. He's just enjoying his time up there!



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[rangerscotty]

As far as wdjc, Where is wayne wallace ?

 

[passtheword]

As far as wdjc, Where is wayne wallace ?

Wayne Wallace is now on WXJC-AM and FM (850 and 92.5)...until, of course, Crawford decides to move The Caravan again as they've done so many times already.



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[rangerscotty]

Thanks.