Shades of WJIB in Santa Cruz: "Commercial" station asks for donations

[raccoonradio]

(Please keep this on the Boston board as my intent is to compare what's being done with WJIB; thanks!)

In Tom Taylor's free radio-info.com newsletter today comes word of a commercial talk station in Santa
Cruz CA that is appealing for donations from listeners. The owner of 1080 KSCO says he has
some advertisers but is having trouble making ends meet so he wants listeners to donate to
keep his programming on.

WJIB did the same thing (they too are lic. as a commercial station but Bob B doesn't run commercials;
he doesn't want snake oil remedies and colon cleaning products and high rate credit cards to
sell their products on his station!) a year or so ago, raising money from private people to keep
his quality station on air.

Check out Taylor's column (if you don't subscribe--free free free--why not?)

>>Zwerling tells Brad Kava at the San Francisco Examiner that operating his talk station under these conditions is “just a struggle. There’s a lot of things I want to do with that station, but I can’t do it unless we get some money coming in.”

 

[LA_Guy]

Bob's stations prove that CONTENT IS KING!. He runs two powered AM stations that have many thousands of loyal listeners who literally put their money where their mouth is! Why? They like what he plays. WJIB isn't a 50,000 watt FM stereo station. It's a 250 watt AM stereo station. WJIB isn't technically the best sounding station on the dial. It's difficult to make music even sound good on AMs these days-because the radios themselves suck. Yet, Bob gives his listeners what they want to hear, in a very low key way. He interacts with them personally. His stations are tied into their communities. He gives away airtime to worthy organizations. He literally runs a radio station the way a local station should be run! There's no secret to what he does-it's simple common sense.

Mark Mays, John Hogan, Farid Suleman and Lew Dickey could learn a LOT from Bob Bittner. He's forgotton more about radio then they'll ever know!

My only regret is that WJIB or WJTO don't stream online so I could listen to Bob's great music here in LA.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

It's a 250 watt AM stereo station.

Not anymore. WJIB has been in mono for a few months now, ever since bumbling NSTAR workers in the Fresh Pond area mistakenly sent a 600 volt surge into his station and fried his AM stereo transmitter. He went to a backup that doesn't have AM stereo.

I don't know whether he's planning on repairing or replacing the AM stereo transmitter or generator, but all references to AM stereo seem to have been removed from the station liners and jingles. I'd certainly understand if he doesn't want to spend money on a mode for which very few people now have receivers.

That was the last analog AM stereo station audible in the Boston area - day or night.

WJIB isn't technically the best sounding station on the dial. It's difficult to make music even sound good on AMs these days-because the radios themselves suck.

That's very true. WJIB still sounds good, even in mono, on a 1980s/'90s AM stereo receiver with wideband capability. He's still sending out the full allowable AM frequency response.

However, most of today's AM stations that roll off their analog response at around 2k for (or in preparation for) IBOC can not sound good on any analog radio, and today's afterthought analog AM radios don't go beyond that anyway (if they did, AM IBOC stations would sound all hissy in analog even when properly center-tuned).

My only regret is that WJIB or WJTO don't stream online so I could listen to Bob's great music here in LA.

Though that would be nice, it would cause him to have to spend all kinds of money in fees to various agencies that I certainly understand him not wanting to pay for.

 

[raccoonradio]

Tom Taylor's column right here at radio-info mentions the comparison to WJIB (which I'd noticed). To see
the whole column, subscribe (free) here at radio-info and get it in your email box.

TOM TAYLOR:
Commercial stations asking for donations? Bob Bittner’s been doing it for years.

...Bittner: “I asked for listener donations (non-tax-deductible) in the amount of $88,000 in 2007, and received it in six weeks. All requests for donations were over the air. I did the same in 2008, and now just started the 2009 campaign...I run the adult standards stations commercial-free – all year.” Bob resorted to this tactic when his music licensing fees at WJIB swelled from $6,000 to $34,000, and “now they’re well over $40,000 a year.”.... unlike the California station, Bittner doesn’t accept credit cards. The New Englander’s not a big fan of plastic or its tendency to seduce Americans into debt.

See the whole column via email by subscribing right here at radio-info

 

[N1WVQ]

I have 4 A.M. stereo radios & hope he does turn the stereo back on @ WJIB! No sense in broadcasting low-fidelity muddled mono when stereo IS available! WJIB is a top-notch station so why stop @ the transmission facility?! Yes, there ARE still radios being made. I bought a Sony SRF-AX51 from Audiocubes2; meduci.com makes an A.M. stereo tuner (I believe in the U.S.) & Fanfare makes a station-grade receiver either in the U.S. or Canada (fanfarefm.com). I believe it's U.S.-made.

Again, please Bob-don't give in to lowered standards when it comes to radios! Those with 3-5kc. bandwidth radios will just have to make do!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I have 4 A.M. stereo radios & hope he does turn the stereo back on @ WJIB! No sense in broadcasting low-fidelity muddled mono when stereo IS available! WJIB is a top-notch station so why stop @ the transmission facility?!

He can't just "turn it back on" when his equipment was fried by a 600+ volt power surge courtesy of NSTAR!

I don't know how much it would cost him to have that equipment repaired, but considering the financial status of the station, it may not be worth it. Only a few very serious aficionados know that they can purchase AM stereo receivers through the companies you mentioned. Most of the public nowadays has either never heard it or is completely unaware of it, and they can't get the receivers at the local Best Buy.

I also miss hearing WJIB in wideband AM stereo both at home and in my car (and I have all used '80s/'90s AM stereo receivers that I got on eBay), but I knew that, unfortunately, I could have counted the number of others enjoying it in that mode on one hand at best.

 

[Oldbones]

Bob's stations prove that CONTENT IS KING!. He runs two powered AM stations that have many thousands of loyal listeners who literally put their money where their mouth is! Why? They like what he plays. WJIB isn't a 50,000 watt FM stereo station. It's a 250 watt AM stereo station.

With pretty limited options. He is the only game in town if you want to hear the stuff an AC/MOR station would have played in 1972. Yes there is an audience for it, but not one that many advertisers care about.

Mark Mays, John Hogan, Farid Suleman and Lew Dickey could learn a LOT from Bob Bittner. He's forgotton more about radio then they'll ever know!

Whatever that means.

 

[N1WVQ]

I have 4 A.M. stereo radios & hope he does turn the stereo back on @ WJIB! No sense in broadcasting low-fidelity muddled mono when stereo IS available! WJIB is a top-notch station so why stop @ the transmission facility?!

He can't just "turn it back on" when his equipment was fried by a 600+ volt power surge courtesy of NSTAR!

I don't know how much it would cost him to have that equipment repaired, but considering the financial status of the station, it may not be worth it. Only a few very serious aficionados know that they can purchase AM stereo receivers through the companies you mentioned. Most of the public nowadays has either never heard it or is completely unaware of it, and they can't get the receivers at the local Best Buy.

I also miss hearing WJIB in wideband AM stereo both at home and in my car (and I have all used '80s/'90s AM stereo receivers that I got on eBay), but I knew that, unfortunately, I could have counted the number of others enjoying it in that mode on one hand at best.

AFTER it gets repaired! Plus, you don't know how many people were listening to it in A.M. Stereo. What I don't get is that if you miss hearing the station in stereo, why not ask for it back? It sounds like you want him to keep it in boring old mono. Plus, I can't speak for him but maybe it's worth it to him even if there are only a few or a few thousand radios picking it up. If & when I get a station, I'm adding it. No mono, no "HD". C-QuAM stereo is the only way to go! Eli, I know you from AMSF & you seem like a good guy but it also seems like you've lost the faith. Maybe I'm wrong & I hope I am. I just don't think that we should all have to suffer because of a boneheaded electric provider crossed the wires (speaking of which, why aren't they paying for damages incurred?)!

 

[N1WVQ]

Bob's stations prove that CONTENT IS KING!. He runs two powered AM stations that have many thousands of loyal listeners who literally put their money where their mouth is! Why? They like what he plays. WJIB isn't a 50,000 watt FM stereo station. It's a 250 watt AM stereo station.

With pretty limited options. He is the only game in town if you want to hear the stuff an AC/MOR station would have played in 1972. Yes there is an audience for it, but not one that many advertisers care about.

Mark Mays, John Hogan, Farid Suleman and Lew Dickey could learn a LOT from Bob Bittner. He's forgotton more about radio then they'll ever know!

Whatever that means.

The people listed are the current C.E.O.s & managers of big radio companies. Mays & Hogan are with Clear Channel, Suleman is with Citadel & Dickey with Cumulus. As for the advertisers, probably not the national advertisers would be interested but maybe the locals are. Then again, only Bob knows. Maybe he's had inquiries aside from the infomercials. Hey, a 1 share 12+ for a 250 watt station is pretty good. Yes, yes I know: the 12+ doesn't mean anything but it shows the station DOES have an audience!

 

[JIBGUY]

I intend to get the stereo back up & running on WJIB. - As to inquiring potential advertisers, they are just about all 'colon-cleansing types'. They come knocking 7 days a week. Apparently they seek out stations with ratings that they've never done business with before. They often double-up on commissions.... 15 to 20% off the top, then a second agency wants another 15%, so station ends up with about 65%... and is sometimes paid 90 days later. WJIB sounds better without that stuff anyway. - The amount of inquiries from 'traditional' businesses are extremely minimal. - So, listener support IS the way to go. Should have thought of that back in 1991!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

AFTER it gets repaired! Plus, you don't know how many people were listening to it in A.M. Stereo. What I don't get is that if you miss hearing the station in stereo, why not ask for it back? It sounds like you want him to keep it in boring old mono. Plus, I can't speak for him but maybe it's worth it to him even if there are only a few or a few thousand radios picking it up. If & when I get a station, I'm adding it. No mono, no "HD". C-QuAM stereo is the only way to go! Eli, I know you from AMSF & you seem like a good guy but it also seems like you've lost the faith. Maybe I'm wrong & I hope I am. I just don't think that we should all have to suffer because of a boneheaded electric provider crossed the wires (speaking of which, why aren't they paying for damages incurred?)!

I'm glad to see (above) that Bob plans to restore AM stereo to WJIB and I certainly look forward to listening to it in stereo again, both at home and in the car! "Lost the faith"? No, and I wouldn't throw away my AM stereo receivers even if there continued to be no stations in the Boston area broadcasting in that mode! My concern was purely financial, money is tight these days, and we're talking about an independent station owner who chooses to reject crass commercialism on his station and keeps it going on listener donations! I would understand if he had decided not to spend money on something that, realistically, just a few aficionados such as you and I appreciate nowadays, but I am glad he has decided to do it!

 

[N1WVQ]

Bob, two words to you: THANK YOU! That you want to bring back stereo & not "run what they brung" like so many stations do now (A.M.s & I believe, some F.M.s). The broadcast bands are littered with that sort of trash but that's not any grand revelation!
Eli, I'm glad to hear that you haven't lost the faith! I'm glad you have the receivers & I hope to be able to work with you in the future!

 

[DG02816]

To amplify what Dana is saying, WJIB, WJTO, and CFZM are prime examples of well programmed AM music stations. I've heard Bob when I've been home visiting; you can't find a better programed station in the U. S. It might behoove some stations to look at how both WJIB and especially CFZM are programmed; the audience might not be the mass appeal segment, but but they do have a good deal of discretionary income....