Some Belt Tightening at WCRN-AM?

[DavidZ]

Has the axe fallen at WCRN? About 4 weeks ago I noticed that morning show producer/sidekick Kerry Mathieson was out. Now News Director Alec Callendar who was recently hired away from cross town rival WTAG with much fanfare seems to be gone as well. There is no longer any mention of Alec on their website and according to the talk schedule lineup, Mike Roberts is back in a.m. drive on news and Matt O’Donnell is doing the local news updates in p.m. drive.

In the same press release announcing Alec’s arrival, Program Director Hank Stolz touted the addition of local T&G columnist Dianne Williamson to the program schedule after the New Year. With Hank now starting at 1 p.m. which was rumored to be her timeslot, it would appear that idea has been shelved, too.

 

[raccoonradio]

Yes originally it was to be Dianne 1-2 pm and Hank 2-6, but then they picked up Howie again, 5-7,
and originally I think they said Hank would be 2-5 but now it's 1-5.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Yes originally it was to be Dianne 1-2 pm and Hank 2-6, but then they picked up Howie again, 5-7,
and originally I think they said Hank would be 2-5 but now it's 1-5.

I have to wonder whether there was some failure of communication between Stoltz and WCRN management--that Stoltz thought he had approval for the hires but did not. WCRN must still be losing $$$ (probably a lot of $$$ for a market the size Worcester/central Mass). The Carberry's have never struck me as huge risk takers. That they should have bought into these hires at this financially very uncertain time seemed out of character to me. This episode certainly doesn't appear to have the potential to build the station's prestige in the minds of either advertisers or listeners. It takes more than just a good signal to climb to the top; a station needs good content and it needs a base of advertisers and listeners who believe in the product. WCRN has the first of these requirements (the signal). With the additions to the air staff and with the exception of the horrendous (leased-time) Drew Mortgage program, it appeared headed for the second (content), which might, in time, have allowed building the third (advertiser and listener loyalty). But it was an expensive strategy and management must ultimately have shot it down. Will a return to brokered time for most of the day be the next chapter for WCRN?

 

[FPB]

>Will a return to brokered time for most of the day be the next chapter for WCRN?
>
A nice treat would be if they went back to oldies, but without that horrendous "True Oldies Channel" satelite feed.

 

[DG02816]

Even bringing back Swing 830 would be interesting....

 

[FPB]

>Even bringing back Swing 830 would be interesting....
>
Agreed. And anyway, what kind of a real splash have they made since switching to talk? If money's the problem they could have people do voice-overs for pennies compared to a talk host doing a live shift.

 

[DanStrassberg]

>Even bringing back Swing 830 would be interesting....
>
Agreed. And anyway, what kind of a real splash have they made since switching to talk? If money's the problem they could have people do voice-overs for pennies compared to a talk host doing a live shift.

I really enjoyed Swing 830 but my understanding was that billings were nil. Apparently billings improved with True Oldies but were still weak. They must have improved further with True Talk but this is a bad time for radio in general and the expenses must have gotten too far ahead of revenues. It's axiomatic that you can't cut your way to a leadership position, which leaves management to find the compromise that either maximizes profit or, if that's impossible, minimizes the losses. It doesn't make for good listening or provide much reason to even bother turning the radio on, but leased time probably does the best job of paying the bills. Sad!