• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Oldies 700 in Dothan

It's true. Oldies 700 was sold over the weekend. The entire airstaff was canned without notice. Sounds a lot like something the corporate giants would do. Not an owner who claimed the staff was "family".
 
Doesn't surprise me. They had great sounding jocks, but a crappy signal. I couldn't bear to listen for all the power line interference and static...in Dothan on the circle! Plus being AM did not play well in their favor either.
 
Let me tell you the truth about OLDIES 700. There is a sale pending to a religious group that will not take over the OLDIES 700 studios or any equipment. As I understand it, the plan is for them to rent a small building or one room if they can find one, downtown with a computer to run the station along with their other stations. Until the sale can take place they plan to LMA it and take it over ASAP. As for OLDIES 700 it is still trying to stay on the air as an oldies satation. Just music, jingles and the few commercials it had since it went on the air March 1. Some of what I have read is correct, IT DIDN'T LAST LONG! It appears that was Jack's plan all along. Buy it, try to build it up and sell it quickly. Supposedly, the negotiations to sell took place over last weekend and the staff was notified by phone Monday morning. No warning, nothing! Typical, but sad and somebody is right....GREAT AIR STAFF with the possible exception of an over the hill morning show, and an awful signal!
 
You know, somebody should come up with "getting screwed by management insurance" for disc jockies.
On the other hand, they would probably loose their a$$ in payouts.
 
All things considered, sales, signal, sound (that all of you armchair station owners complain about), wouldn't you sell your station if you could get DOUBLE what you paid for it? As far as the staff is concerned, nobody was fired. The Jocks were told on a Thursday that there was a possibility of a sale, but it didn't happen until the next Saturday. Both Mr. Morgan and Mr. Larkin had elected to do their programs from their homes (Atlanta and DC) via remote, but knew in advance it might only be for a short time. Mr. Gale's motivation was to own one last station, not money. If he was just looking for a quick turn around, there are better choices than the problem plaged 700AM. He could have stayed retired in Central Florida and continued his very successful voice over business from his home instead of all the headaches that come from building a station from scratch. Oldies 700 proved there is still a market for clean, fun, personality radio.
 
Simian said:
Oldies 700 proved there is still a market for clean, fun, personality radio.
Click to expand...

Please explain how it >proved< this. It was only on the air for a few months and is sold to a religious group.
It would not be going away if there was a market for it.
Don't hold your breath waiting for another station in this market to pick up and continue this highly lucrative format.
 
Well, another untruth told here! I have talked to both Kevin and Chris and have known one of them for a very long time. Neither thought broadcasting from their homes would be for a short perion of time. As a matter of fact Chris talked to Mr. Gale and his wife before leaving Dothan to broadcast from his home and asked if he was in this for the long haul. Mr. Gale told Chris he had all his money tied up in this station and planned to stick it out. And, no I wouldn't sell for twice the money under the circumstances if I had made statements to my staff, people who believed me and in me. Sorry, still a bad deal for several people.
 
C'mon man I called this one ages ago, actually a very smart deal by Mr. Gale. I am just surprised that he was able to turn it over so quickly, if I were ole Jack I would snap up a couple of other stations and turn them around as well. Go get em jack! BTW- webstream already gone!
 
I'm sure gonna miss "The Big Wheel". I've enjoyed their audio stream on the Internet and would have it on through out my home in Indiana. Thank you Mr. Gale, for bringing back fun radio to those of us who appreciated your efforts, even though it was only on a small stick, it sounded bigger than life to me on the web!
I wish you well.
 
I'm really shocked by this, having talked to Jack a month ago. I know they lost their sales manager, and Jack's wife was doing the sales. This may have played a huge part in excepting the offer. While it lasted, it was AM radio the way it should be done!
 
that's just what Dothan needs....another friggin' religous station.....my personal opinion.....not my employer's (since everyone knows who i am and my employer's name is part of my screen name)....how many are there in Dothan now including the so-called "non-commericial" FMs?
 
Let's face facts. Religion makes money, especially for AM stations. Oldies 700 had an uphill battle at best. Oldies radio can be done on AM radio if done RIGHT. Oldies 700 had great talent but was headed down the wrong oldies road and with no sales to boot. How many programmers can produce a successful Oldies station on AM? I can think of 2 right now.
 
Oldies and oldies playing Oldies and radio "the way it use to be" just doesn't work. Period. Sorry that is just the way it appears. Next time you hear someone say "radio legends" (Oldies 700) "radio is fun again" (Burt and Kurt) or "radio the way it use to be" (both of the aforementioned) you will know the station will not work.

If you need proof, sit back and watch what is going to happen to Fun 101.1 in Birmingham.
 
Well, it was great while it lasted. Great stream, great quality, great presentation, and great fun. Was Mr. Gale a con artist? Did he screw his staff? Did the undertaking prove to be to much for him? Did someone simply come along and make an offer he couldn't refuse?

Hopefully the truth of the matter will surface. But one fact already is apparent....Mr. Gale knew how to create a great product. (Whether it was the "wrong product" or "doomed from the start" is another conversation).
 
It was indeed a great product for the vein it was in.
Definitely hobbled out of the gate by signal problems as well as an aging, deaf, & dying target audience.
Sure... some of us old radio guys loved the presentation. But that won't pay the bills.
 
Any news on Oldies 700? I was told it was sold to a religious group. I think it was all a hoax to cut costs of having live dj's and the owner may be operating from a private home without notifying the FCC. :'(
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom