New program on WLVL?

[tbolt909]

There are a lot of stations that were owner-operator propositions that did little more than provide a guaranteed income with no boss to report to. The owner would trade a lot of items, like their personal car and restaurants and A/C/heating for his home, and the station would produce a little cash.

You forgot to mention trade for carpet stores, gym memberships, hair salon, etc.. I knew a guy who got all those services free by simply "trading air time for stuff".
Sometimes the staff had to worry if their paycheck was going to bounce though...

 

[davideduardo]

You forgot to mention trade for carpet stores, gym memberships, hair salon, etc.. I knew a guy who got all those services free by simply "trading air time for stuff".
Sometimes the staff had to worry if their paycheck was going to bounce though...

Absolutely true. But those were stations in Show Low, AZ or Alpena, MI or Blythe, CA.

Also tires, auto repair, roofing, travel agent, mens wear.

Biggest trade was restaurants, as they never could pay cash reliably so trade was a good way to get something out of them.

 

[radiofan2023]

And those of us in radio know how exciting and what a audience magnet interviews with clients are!

Nothing gets me to spin the dial faster

 

[four4rock]

And those of us in radio know how exciting and what a audience magnet interviews with clients are!

Absolutely no doubt that is true on average. In the WLVL-Lockport area case - at least as it was - their environment was self-contained everyone-knows-everyone... if not literally, most definitely in essence. So, yeah, Mrs Farfenshnoodle on Market Street would love to hear Elbert from Zimmie's Tires chat for bit... and it would probably be a topic of the evening at bingo. The owner was very keen to this, despite his prior experience in the relative raging metropolis of Buffalo. He was/is, after all, an adept salesguy... and knew how to 'read the room', mirror and assimilate.

Along these same lines, live broadcasts of high school football was huge for WLVL at the time. C'mon, really? Even the "big" rivalry games in Western New York State were not being broadcast by anyone. At WLVL even the most insignificant Niagara County games were gold... again, 'cuz lotsa folks wanted to hear if butcher Hank's boy made the big play or not. For perspective, remember this is the northeast... not Texas... and long before "Friday Night Lights" was a lexicon of folks in these parts.

Now, I cannot say how unique WLVL is/was. There may be a million other similar stations. Though I've never heard it, I understand that a station in Springville, NY is/was similar. Maybe.

To be sure, WLVL gave me the creeps... but, man, they had their chosen business model nailed.

 

[davideduardo]

Absolutely no doubt that is true on average. In the WLVL-Lockport area case - at least as it was - their environment was self-contained everyone-knows-everyone... if not literally, most definitely in essence. So, yeah, Mrs Farfenshnoodle on Market Street would love to hear Elbert from Zimmie's Tires chat for bit... and it would probably be a topic of the evening at bingo. The owner was very keen to this, despite his prior experience in the relative raging metropolis of Buffalo. He was/is, after all, an adept salesguy... and knew how to 'read the room', mirror and assimilate.

"Oh, and the new Firestones are so smooth... they ride like a magic carpet!"

There is no way anyone can buy interviews with clients as being interesting in any size town or city. It's just an advertisement masked as an interview,

Along these same lines, live broadcasts of high school football was huge for WLVL at the time.

And was... and still is in some markets. In places where the local station was a daytimer, they'd even push the limits and stay on the air to broadcast those Friday night home games. Whether football or basketball, in towns with no "league" team, the high school events were part of city pride. Not just in Lockport.

Now, I cannot say how unique WLVL is/was. There may be a million other similar stations. Though I've never heard it, I understand that a station in Springville, NY is/was similar. Maybe.

Yes, there was a lot of terrible local radio at small stations, combined with things the whole community shared interest in. That does not make WLVL unique. But that era is gone, swept away by everything from big screen TVs to the Internet.

To be sure, WLVL gave me the creeps... but, man, they had their chosen business model nailed.

You mean they knew how to suck as much money from the little retail stores in the city as they could... until Walmart or K-Mart or Tartget came to town and killed them all.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Like many cities its size, especially as it relates here, Lockport is insular. Very.

Irish, German, Italian. They worked the construction of the canal and locks. They worked at Harrison Radiator.

The community heralds its own and protects its own. Tom Joles, Hank Nevins, Clip Smith ... Lockport legacies, born there, went to school there, worked there when it was WUSJ (the call letters now assigned to an FM Country station in Jackson, Mississippi.)

For many years the station's moniker was "Hometown 1340." It was fitting. If you weren't "from Lockport"... defined as being born in the city or town of ... you were an "outsider." To this point, a friend in the business, also a Lockport native, recounts a story about a woman he knows. Call her Vivian ... her family lived in Lockport for two generations, still lives there. While on vacation in Pittsburgh, Vivian's mother gave birth to her. When recounting the story, one of the old scold Lockport legacies responded, "Oh, so you're not from here."

There continues to be an East Niagara County (Lockport) vs. West Niagara County (Niagara Falls) mindset, even among the young. Might as well throw "NT," North Tonawanda ("Tond-a-wanda") in there too, although NT's rival is Tonawanda, across the creek, in Erie County.

See what you folks who aren't "from here" learn on a radio board?

 

[KurtLockport]

WLVL was live at the Pirate Fest in Olcott on Saturday. Unplanned, on the spot interviews (not paid advertising) revealed the owner of the former Maggie's Kitchen not only loved WLVL, but needed WLVL and the praise of the station was shocking even to me as a loyal listener. Maggie's closed (can't find help and owner is in his 70s) but everyone relies on the station.

 

[KurtLockport]

Like many cities its size, especially as it relates here, Lockport is insular. Very.

Irish, German, Italian. They worked the construction of the canal and locks. They worked at Harrison Radiator.

The community heralds its own and protects its own. Tom Joles, Hank Nevins, Clip Smith ... Lockport legacies, born there, went to school there, worked there when it was WUSJ (the call letters now assigned to an FM Country station in Jackson, Mississippi.)

For many years the station's moniker was "Hometown 1340." It was fitting. If you weren't "from Lockport"... defined as being born in the city or town of ... you were an "outsider." To this point, a friend in the business, also a Lockport native, recounts a story about a woman he knows. Call her Vivian ... her family lived in Lockport for two generations, still lives there. While on vacation in Pittsburgh, Vivian's mother gave birth to her. When recounting the story, one of the old scold Lockport legacies responded, "Oh, so you're not from here."

There continues to be an East Niagara County (Lockport) vs. West Niagara County (Niagara Falls) mindset, even among the young. Might as well throw "NT," North Tonawanda ("Tond-a-wanda") in there too, although NT's rival is Tonawanda, across the creek, in Erie County.

See what you folks who aren't "from here" learn on a radio board?

It's still Hometown 1340, Hank Nevins is still there, and WUSJ is still over the door.