Thought Gisclair would hold out before he told the faithful, But instead made front page news in Thibodaux Daily Comet.
http://dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050616/NEWS/506160317/1013
June 16. 2005 3:00PM
Larose station to change hands
By Emilie Bahr
Staff Writer
A South Lafourche radio station known for its call-in talk show and focus on local culture is in the process of changing hands.
Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the Las Vegas-based owner of more than 200 radio stations across the country, is set to buy KLRZ-FM from Coastal Broadcasting of Larose for $6.5 million, according to the industry publication radioandrecords.com.
On Wednesday, Coastal Broadcasting owner Jerry “Truck” Gisclair confirmed the planned buyout and described the sale as one of the most difficult decisions in his life.
Since its inception in 1993, Gisclair’s station has undergone a series of format transformations, he said, settling in five years ago to a schedule that includes Louisiana music of the sort rarely found on commercial broadcasts, along with local sports programming and a daily talk show that regularly garner the top radio listenership slots in the parish.
“I feel we’ve created a big awareness of what we have,” Gisclair said, “... our culture, our heritage … and there’s been a lot of programs to help bring back the French, (to) pump life back into the music.”
So why sell?
“The offer was hard to turn down,” he said.
Gisclair said the sale of the station is awaiting approval of the Federal Communications Commission, and, if ratified, final transfer of ownership is probably another few months away.
He said he is unsure of Citadel’s plans for the station.
He hasn’t yet spoken to anyone at the company, he said, but expects the station would be geared more toward the New Orleans market.
“I hope that Citadel will continue doing what we’re doing, but I doubt that they will,” he said, “and that hurts.”
A spokeswoman for Citadel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A company Web site proclaims that Citadel is “Reaching Across America One Station at a Time.”
It describes the broadcasting company, which already owns talk, sports, Christian, popular rock and R&B stations in other parts of the state, as the fifth-largest in the nation in terms of net broadcasting revenue.
The most popular of KLRZ’s programming is “Talk on the Bayou,” Gisclair said. Broadcast daily, its emphasis on local politics and current events attracts parish and state leaders for live discussion with a dedicated band of listeners and call-in commentators, many of whom have attained local celebrity.
Parish Councilman Brent Callais said the station makes Lafourche Parish one of the few places in the state, if not the nation, where elected officials are made readily available to residents through real-time radio broadcast. And in spite of his suggestion that the show’s host sways too frequently against his own view of local politics, Councilman Daniel Lorraine, who like Callais appears on the show monthly, called it a “good service to the community.”
Howard Dufrene is one of the show’s regulars. He calls in just about daily, he said. Afternoons, he listens to the station’s music programming.
“I’m in a wheelchair,” he said, and often alone. “… It makes my day to listen to that station. It makes you think about what’s going on.”
Plus, he added, “you hear people you know, but you haven’t seen in years.”
Others agreed.
“All your local representatives, you know them, and it’s not because I’m that much informed, it’s because I listen to the radio,” said Thomas “Tee Pee” Dardar. “Everybody listens to that channel,” he said over the drone of the station playing in the background Wednesday afternoon.
Preston Roddy Jr. – a caller who goes by Mr. X on the show – said he doubts the station will attract the same loyalty under a new owner, even if the current format remains unchanged.
“People are not going to be as forthcoming,” he said. “… It’s not like talking in the kitchen with your family … It’s an outsider that’s coming in and you don’t relate the same. You don’t confide the same way … There’s some aspect of the show where people are being themselves … Truck has a certain understanding of the people that he works with. You bring in another human being and it’s gonna change.”
Callers also stressed the station’s cultural significance.
“… It’s home people, you know,” said Kathy Blanchard, known on-air as “Madame Chevrette” for her promotion of the shrimping industry. “… It’s a good place to speak what’s on your heart … and they accept your opinion. I believe in holding on to our culture and the Rajun’ Kajun is part of us.”
Gisclair said he is aware of the sense of loss that will accompany change at his station.
“I know it’s gonna affect our listeners,” he said, “but … we’re not out of the broadcast business. We have other opportunities ahead of us.”
Gisclair said his future plans include making optimal use of KLEB, Coastal Broadcasting’s AM station, based in Golden Meadow.
