RIVERS FAMILY TAKES CONTROL OF VALDOSTA STATIONS

[fwillis]

The whole story is at www.wgovradio.com

 

[radionut925]

The whole story is at www.wgovradio.com

Good move for that company. It's good to have a locally owned and operated radio company in control of the stations, responding to local needs and wants. Valdosta is one of the few markets in the nation where Clear Channel or some other major conglomerate hasn't come in, and bought up the vast majority of stations, not to mention cut back on staff, or water down the quality of programming for the sake of pleasing a few people on Wall Street. The stations that stay on the air in some form in the years to come will and must have that local commitment. The fact the Rivers Radio Group has regained control of WAAC and WGOV demonstrates that commitment to Valdosta and surrounding areas.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

I wish SOMEONE other then current ownership would take control of 910 WFVR.... If you know them like I do you'd wish the same.

'Nuff said.....

 

[fwillis]

I finally picked up the 910 signal.I'm 56 miles from Valdosta.Barely audible on a decent pioneer car am/fm.Big variety of oldies,all over the road,definately not all hits.

 

[BarryATL]

It is better than the old days. When they changed the call letters to WFVR it stood for Florida Vacation Radion. They had billboards on I-75 getting people to tune in. At the time, they had a directional pattern that went north/south up the I-75 cooridor. Basically the programming was all commercials, all the time.

 

[fwillis]

The format is ok,just expected a stronger signal.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

Im willing to bet Rama Communications is operating WFVR at low power without an STA, they don't even have a tower site....

 

[fwillis]

I visited Valdosta this weekend,and had the chance to listen to WFVR.It sounds like they are using a regular unbalanced,unequalized phone line.On very low power.Quite a bit of dead air,CNN news every thirty minutes,with oldies fom the 50s-90s.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

Did you look around for a longwire? lasty I knew, they were using one running thru the parking lot of a hotel along the highway...

I wonder where the programming is coming from..

 

[fwillis]

I don't know Paul,whoever put it together,obivously knows engineering,but didn't have too much to work with.I'd be willing to bet they are using an old volumax limiter,the way the modulation clips.It's definately a blast from the past.

 

[PaulBWalkerJr]

I'm willing to bet I know who the engineer is that put it together and Im surprise it sounds as good as you say.. LOL

 

[Caveman]

I wish SOMEONE other then current ownership would take control of 910 WFVR.... If you know them like I do you'd wish the same.

'Nuff said.....

Why should you care, you don't live/work in Georgia?

 

[tiftonpd]

Valdosta is one of the few markets in the nation where Clear Channel or some other major conglomerate hasn't come in, and bought up the vast majority of stations, not to mention cut back on staff, or water down the quality of programming for the sake of pleasing a few people on Wall Street.

I must say, have you listened to the programming in Valdosta lately? The only thing any one has going is 95.3 WJYF as far as REAL programming. The other stations are either bird programmed, or programmed from another state. Most of the programmers in Valdosta, not saying all, but most do not even follow R and R, local wants, sounds, imaging in the area is VERY poor overall. Stations sound like crap, mainly. All of course except WJYF.

 

[oldbuzzard]

Sounds to me like everybody already hates almost all of the stations in the market, maybe CC would be a godsend!!!!

 

[radionut925]

Valdosta is one of the few markets in the nation where Clear Channel or some other major conglomerate hasn't come in, and bought up the vast majority of stations, not to mention cut back on staff, or water down the quality of programming for the sake of pleasing a few people on Wall Street.

I must say, have you listened to the programming in Valdosta lately? The only thing any one has going is 95.3 WJYF as far as REAL programming. The other stations are either bird programmed, or programmed from another state. Most of the programmers in Valdosta, not saying all, but most do not even follow R and R, local wants, sounds, imaging in the area is VERY poor overall. Stations sound like crap, mainly. All of course except WJYF.

What about WAAC or WGOV? Both stations are locally owned, aren't they?

 

[Art Sutton]

Valdosta is one of the few markets in the nation where Clear Channel or some other major conglomerate hasn't come in, and bought up the vast majority of stations, not to mention cut back on staff, or water down the quality of programming for the sake of pleasing a few people on Wall Street.

I must say, have you listened to the programming in Valdosta lately? The only thing any one has going is 95.3 WJYF as far as REAL programming. The other stations are either bird programmed, or programmed from another state. Most of the programmers in Valdosta, not saying all, but most do not even follow R and R, local wants, sounds, imaging in the area is VERY poor overall. Stations sound like crap, mainly. All of course except WJYF.

Back in the 1950s, Valdosta Georgia had more radio stations per population than any market in the nation. It's always been a tough market but over the years some operators there did pretty well. One reason may be that with all those stations..radio was top of mind to advertisers.

Rome, Georgia is another market which has always had a lot of radio stations. At one point in the 1940s, or 1950s, I read it was called Radio City of the South. While we have a lot more radio stations in most places, it's important to remember that in many places we still have the same total number of operators. For instance in Greenville, SC, there were always three major operators going back to the 1950s. It's still the same way now except each operator has more stations under their wing.

If consolidation has helped any where, it's in smaller markets where you had two or three operators dividing up the pie so much, no one could make it. Brunswick, GA might be an example of such a place. One time you had WMOG, Kirk, and the folks who had the 790 station and it's FM. WMOG, an AM standalone, did the whale's share of business.

I'm not an advocate of more consolidation but my point is I feel the demise of small market radio has more to do with who is running the business now that the mere fact that a single operator has multiple stations.
What about WAAC or WGOV? Both stations are locally owned, aren't they?