spring book

[yonkstur]

WNAK did well in the books because it filled a gap. When WYZZ became Magic, there was a segment that gravitated to WNAK. Same thing with the old WICK pre oldies. When WBAX was sold to Shamrock, more listeners. Not Much., but some who needed to get their Guy Mitchell or Ray Conniff fix. Then when WEJL/WBAX stopped American Pop Classics, and Citadel dumped The Music of Your Life on 1550, more of those came over to WNAK. Small pieces I agree but combined, it made WNAK a ratings player.
I never met Margie but I was delighted when she simulcast on FM. So were others who could hear Sinatra, Tony Benett and Bobby Vinton on FM. Again, more fragments adding up. When the FM went to Lite 94, it became like everything else on the dial.
There was a gap, WNAK filled it with bits and pieces. Those small parts added up.
That's my take on it. Sorry I never worked there. Met Neilson once at Jim Ward's funeral.
Yonkstur

 

[masterg]

Rather than flaunt those big numbers and make a splash, he was content to have a small staff of dedicated people and sell ads to the small businesses in Nanticoke for a cheap rate.

Geez, I don't know. Was the guy that altruistic? Was he that purely motivated? Did he really forego profits to help the "little guy" in Nanticoke?

I neither met nor worked for him, but what I'd heard about him doesn't fit your experience at all. Most of what I heard was that he was fond of quoting chapter and verse about clean living, while at the same time paying staff far less than a living wage. There's a certain hypocrisy involved there, no matter how you twist and turn it. If I'm wrong, sorry.

As to WNAK's ratings, I have no position from which to further argue; you guys have statistical evidence, all I have is anecdotal evidence. But I will tell you this; Susquehanna never viewed WNAK as even the slightest threat. My guess is that some of the research geeks in York had spent hours getting intimate with diaries in Maryland and concluded whatever strength WNAK showed on paper was a fluke.

 

[NigelWick]

I never heard any programmer or manager say "Hey, it's working for WNAK. Why don't we try it."

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

I neither met nor worked for him, but what I'd heard about him doesn't fit your experience at all. Most of what I heard was that he was fond of quoting chapter and verse about clean living, while at the same time paying staff far less than a living wage. There's a certain hypocrisy involved there, no matter how you twist and turn it. If I'm wrong, sorry.

You're not wrong about certain aspects:

-- He wanted his staff to live and work HIS way

-- He didn't pay well at all (one of the reasons I left)

However, having worked for him, and having been at the station during meetings with certain clients, I can say that he had a soft spot for "the little guys" in the business world, probably because that is how he saw himself. While the other stations had big corporates behind them, WNAK was owned and operated by Bob N., who did not have those kind of resources. But, Bob had his moments when he completely forgot about profits for reasons only known to him. He had "Hymn Time" during a prime hour every day (6A) where there were no commercials. He gave long-term sponsors the opportunity to pay practically squat for their ads in order to help them out. (I even personally witnessed him give spots to a small business in Nanticoke for $5 a spot to help them during a tough financial time.)

When I worked for him, I hated the fact that he was a pompous, self-righteous, cheap individual. However, after mellowing over the years, I guess I just see a few bright spots in what he did...

 

[The Former Mac Austin]

I never heard any programmer or manager say "Hey, it's working for WNAK. Why don't we try it."

There was NO programming when I was there. You had a wall full of records, and each jock would play whatever he/she wanted (unless the album jacket had a track blacked out with the words "DO NOT PLAY" written there).

It wasn't about programming. It was about playing stuff for the old folks who had nothing better to do than fill out diaries every quarter. And it worked for years...

 

[MACK184]

The folks who are interested in hearing "The White Cliffs Of Dover" are now about 85. Not that there's not a ton of them out there, but longevity is a problem, and advertisers are not going to buy 65+. Putting 730 on 94.3 was no more inspired than putting WILK on FM 103. A total waste of a frequency. WNAK is what it is, and will continue to lose audience as they die off. I'm not being mean, just realistic.

 

[yonkstur]

A one and a two, now let's all harmonize..........

There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see

There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow, when the world is free

The shepherd will tend his sheep
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own little room again

There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see

The shepherd will tend his sheep
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own little room again

There'll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow, just you wait and see

Yonkstur

 

[NEPA_radiobored]

There was another factor that played into Bob N. That was the fact that he was a Mennonite. I never knew that until the obit in the paper but after finding that out...it all seemed to make sense. He ran that station into his 80's...He had his own formula on radio and how it worked...As funny as it sounded, that is what ALL local radio sounded like in the early days. He just chose to never make a change...

 

[yonkstur]

That's right. And the OBIT ran a good month and a half after he died if I remember correctly.

Yonkstur

 

[Mothership]

Nice book, but the River still sounds embarassingly bad.

 

[masterg]

As funny as it sounded, that is what ALL local radio sounded like in the early days

Which is how WARM became #1. WARM broke from the pack and ran away with things in the late 50s and early 60s. Surely other station owners/managers thought these people were insane. Realizing how big WARM was even into the mid 80s makes it all the more sad to hear what's left of The Mighty 590.

FWIW, and like a lot of others here, I worked for a "WNAK-like" radio station in the 70s...it was downright depressing. It was pathetic to walk into a station each day knowing that the place was at least a decade(more like two decades) behind the rest of the radio world.

 

[ceaser]

I worked back in the 1990's at ward and it was another one of those "behind the times" stations as well.It was run by a real class act in Jim Ward,rest his soul.As for warm 590 back in the day they had until 1968 i believe no top 40 competition plus take into account the lack of other music options not around then.I-pods,mp3's,internet streaming,cd players etc.Back then you had record players and until the late 1960's not much else.As far as top 40 i think that was just about it,warm 590 and not much else.But man did they make the valley rock!I shed tears for the once mighty 590 when i hear it nowadays. :'(

 

[masterg]

Stubborn and pointless refusal to change has been the downfall of many businesses over the years. Oftentimes, it's no more than ego. Owners firmly believe their way is the only way, so they dig in their heels. Before long, gone, good-bye.

There was until recent years a really great camera shop in Lackawanna County, the kind of place that amateur, and pro, photogs just love to linger in regularly. The owner refused to acknowledge and deal with the digital invasion of photography. His refusal, and I heard him myself, was based on philosophy alone. It cost him his business. Gone.

A lot of radio station owner/managers were the same way, and they paid the price. Listeners made clear what they wanted, but these suits knew better, that believed they knew what was good for listeners. In many ways, that type of thinking led to WARM's failure at maintaining a respectable share of this market, which it should have been able to do.

 

[MadDrummer]

Remember Elliot Abrams? He was the guy that surveyed clubgoers at the bars during the early 70's and came up with a list of what "everybody" loved to listen to. He turned that list into a major "radio consultant" business. That seemed to give the station owner the basis for everything "vanilla".

 

[masterg]

Remember Elliot Abrams? He was the guy that surveyed clubgoers at the bars during the early 70's and came up with a list of what "everybody" loved to listen to.

What's that I said about knowing the market of which you speak? Not even close...

 

[Sgt Friday]

What's that I said about knowing the market of which you speak? Not even close

Masterg......I couldn't agree more.

Hope Elliot isn't still tallying up those survey's................ ;D

 

[yonkstur]

I'm pretty much done with WARM. Can't get it in the house and on the car, forget it. I'm streaming the feed from the True Oldies Channel from the website. And tuning in to Gem on the WB frequency. Loved it for what it was, enjoyed seling it when it was talk, made decent money and got them marquee advertisers, but I'm done. Can't hear it. I give up, they beat me.
Yonkstur

 

[MACK184]

Stubborn and pointless refusal to change has been the downfall of many businesses over the years. Oftentimes, it's no more than ego.

Gee..that's what this board is all about...If we could only go BACK to the days of WARM. If only we could have cart machines in the studio again...if only there were no computers. The world has changed people!!!! Move into the 21st century and learn what it has to offer. WARM was great in days gone by, so was the Packard. Now they're BOTH Edsels.
WARM and the Top-40 Sensational 7 ain't ever comin' back! Deal with it.

 

[waunderlust]

Nice point Mack, BUT that "feel", that "vibe" has to come back. Remember BIG station events at local amusement parks? I was more a BAX listener in the mid-late 70's, but I still have a prescratched album from some unknown artist that I got at one of those events. (Cold Chicago's Got Me-Andy Bown ring a bell to anyone?) Radio needs to do this NOW. To serve the listener. To talk to them and still be bigger than life. If it's not, just go to your ipod or mp3 player. Believe it or not, people listen to the radio for more than just the music or the background noise. Whether subconsciously or not, they LIKE to hear "neat" stuff between the records. Or.. I could be wrong.

 

[emo474]

Agreed.. I gave "True Oldies" listen too.. there isn't anything new, inventive, personal, or listenable about the station. I was just in OC, MD the other day and heard a similar format.. "Real Oldies"... same canned ham. Can anyone tell me what format fed through the bird ever made it in this market? I don't want to go back and revisit WARM, but can't someone take a station like this and devote some money on real local talent and promotional exposure.... remember the WARM softball softies? Plenty of good will, good fun, and exposure throughout NE PA. You won't get that from a satellite.