WAMS doing live local programming with requests

[MikefromDelaware]

As many of you know that WAMS 1260 Oldies is back on the air (they had been hit by lightning). The repairs have been made and they are back, and doing live local requests 2pm-6pm. I spoke with the owner, on the phone, he said that he hopes to have a former WAMS jock live 6pm-10pm soon. He's hired a sales rep so hopefully the new guy will be able to increase the cash flow for their station. That sale of WAMS to someone from Washington DC (making the station Spanish) fell through. They do take requests at 455-WAMS. Their format covers the years '55-'82.

I hope he is able to make a go of it. Yes it's a mom and pop station, but he's put his money where his mouth is and that gives him the right to do it his way. Hopefully he's successful. For my ear, when I want to hear oldies 1260 WAMS beats WOGL and WVLT. I'm glad they're back.

 

[odomski]

It won't be long before the station goes off the air again and returns with another format, then goes back to oldies, then back to African American-targeted Religion, then to All Satellite oldies, then off the air again, then probably Spanish to serve the two Spanish families that live in the townhouses down the street from the Studios in Christiana...blah, blah, blah, etc.

I do wish them luck, however, I'm not expecting much. This station has a terrible reputation as of late. So, why should we trust them now to stay on the air for more than two weeks with one format?

 

[MikefromDelaware]

What we're all seeing Shawn, is what happens when a regular "Joe" like you or I, who are not business people, do get to have the dream of owning their own radio station. All of us at some time have dreamt how great it would be to get to own our own radio station. The problem is, most of us are broadcasters, newscasters, disk jockeys, and talk show hosts. We are familiar with the entertainment/news end of radio, the on air part. We all have ideas on what to program, etc. This former jock, now owner, has to learn the business side of radio and learn all the regs so that he can keep his station in compliance so that the FCC doesn't shut him down. You know how the government is, he's got all sorts of files to keep, etc, not to mention all the electronic issues, etc, that need to be kept with in the set parameters, etc. 1260 WAMS being a mom and pop operation with a very limited cash flow, he also now has to think of how he'll pay the bills, etc, and pay to fix things that break such as when his station was hit by lightning. So besides being the PD, the local jock, the owner, he's also the sales person (he just did hire a person to help with sales part time), the accountant, etc, etc. We got to talking, and he started thinking of the things he'd like to do with 1260 WAMS, to make it more like Newark's own WNRK when it was Newark's stations like carrying local high school football, Swap Shop, local news/weather/traffic, etc, but then he said all it takes is money. So obviously he's got to build the station slowly, doing what he can afford to pay for and not going into the hole, if possible. He explained that the few brokered preachers on 1260 WAMS are the main source of money right now for his station. He mentioned some other things he's done too that have brought in revenue, but he truly is walking a tightrope.

So he's got the dream of owning his own radio station and I think I'm glad I'm not in his shoes. His money is riding on the success of 1260 WAMS. Based on what some of the others here have said about the poor odds of AM, much less a weak signaled AM of surviving today, I think he's got an up hill battle with plenty of barriers to get in his way. So even though I may not understand or agree with some of the things he's done, I've got to give him a break and over look some of the things he's done that I wouldn't have done and enjoy his station when it's on the air playing oldies and hope he is able to pull a rabbit out of his hat and prove all the doomsayers wrong.

I was talking to him the other day and when I asked him about putting up some billboards to promote his station he said, some day, but the last time he bought a billboard was in Dover a few years ago and the price was $1000. So imagine what the price would be today on US 13/40, I-95, US 202, etc, prime locations in Wilmington/ Newark metro area.

I get the impression that he's riding by the seat of his pants trying to make it work, and for now he just wants to be able to pay his bills. I didn't get the impression from him that he's at the level yet where he's actually making any money yet. He may be tilting at "windmills" like Don Quoxti (sp), but I hope he can make his dream work.

 

[fred flintstone]

MFD: You have in the past expressed disinterest - even some contempt - for the business aspects of broadcasting.

You say business people are not "Regular Joes" and are different from you. First off, business people are not so different. If you think about it, you may have friends or family members (Regular Joes) who are business people, who own and operate a restaurant, a hardware store, a copy center.... If you don't think a restaurant, for example, has to deal with government regulations and can be shut down for not being in compliance, think again. These people don't go to Wharton; they learn about business the same way the cat learns to swim.

Do you need to know about business to run a radio station? Absolutely not. Sallie Hawkins and EB are prime examples.

You say broadcasters deam of owning their own station. No! They dream of freedom. Freedom to do what they want. Freedom for the kind of SOBs who seem to rise to management positions in radio to inflinct their petty tyrannies on their subordinates. These are things "very occasional" part timers don't experience but they are real to those who do experience them. Ironically, those in radio who most seek freedom to what they want can themselves become the worst tyrants (here Fatso is the prime example).

What you seem to admire are underdogs, especially those who are underdogs as a result of their own incompetence and ineptitude. You admired WILM, a chronic money loser with an amateurish operation (but not WDEL, a successful and well-managed operation). You admire 1260AM, which keeps foundering and changing formats (but not WVLT, which has effectively carved out a place for itself).

BTW: It's Don Quixote (key-ho-tay).
And he was crazy.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Some clarification, I have nothing against WDEL or WVLT. I have only said, that for Oldies I prefer the mix of music and varied selections that 1260 WAMS plays. WVLT's jocks aren't that great and some times talk too much and say nothing. I was taught, as a young jock back when I was on Armed Forces Radio (during Viet Nam War) and later in civilian radio at WBBX in Portsmouth NH ( a Curt Gowdy station at that time) that a good jock doesn't talk too much and when they talk they should say something, and not just talk to hear themselves talk. That's why I don't like WVLT's programming and music as well as 1260 WAMS.

As far as WDEL goes, I listened to that station back before the 1970's when it was the powerhouse, the main station people chose for news as they were the NBC radio affiliate then, had a full service newscasts, etc. I used to really enjoy NBC radio's "Monitor" on WDEL back then. WDEL sort of lost its way in the mid 70's and 80's. Today, they've regained a lot of their former glory in terms of news and local presence. I have listened to WDEL's news and prefer WILM's much as one TV viewer will prefer Channel 3's news over Channel 6 or 10's news. All three do a good job. Same situation in terms of WDEL and WILM. In my opinion both WDEL and WILM do a good job, I just prefer WILM's newscast. You say tom ato and I say to mato. Different strokes for different folks.

As far as Tyrants as supervisors, radio doesn't have a monopoly on this. Industry is full of tyrants who have no business being a boss, leader, or manager, but somehow those are the folks who more often than not get promoted to those places of authority. The key is in how you deal with such a supervisor, be it in industry or radio.

Don Quixote may have been crazy, but he made a difference in those people's lives in the story, because he challenged how they viewed life. They were better people, because of it.

 

[odomski]

I'm glad to see we have a good discussion going on here. That's more than I can say for the racist drivel on the Philadelphia and Boston boards as of late (pro-whitey O'Hara on the Philadelphia board and anti-whitey Ciao on the Boston board).

I'm not trying to bash the owner of 1260 AM. I wish him the best of luck and I hope he is able to succeed. When I started in radio in 1995, I wished I could hit Powerball and throw away some dollars into a small station like WSER in Elkton (now WSRY), and bring it back to where it used to be with local programming, local high school and college sports coverage (like the station did when I was there) and so forth. However, I do understand that it's difficult to bring in money to support a small, 1,000 watt AM station like that. But I guess that's the glory of the challenge. Just give it a shot, and see what happens.

However, I refuse to buy into these "promises" made by these station owners, and they never deliver. That's what has happened with 1260 AM as of late. If my memory serves me correctly, the "promises" were made on this very board...and the station kept changing formats, going off the air, etc. And this was all BEFORE the station got hit by lightning...not after.

 

[fred flintstone]

I am sorry Kevin Fennessey hasn't been around much lately. I would love to see his comments on this.

I suppose every kid at some point wants to own a candy store. He actually did it and then walked away.

As Mister Spock said: "You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. This is not logical, but it is often true."

 

[odomski]

Kevin has posted here and there, but not as much as he used to. There is a thread on the Northeast PA board, asking about Kevin. Most of it is a bunch of crap (unprovoked attacks, dumbfounded accusations, the list goes on). The thread deals with insecure, jealous "broadcasters" bashing Mr. Fennessy. Read the thread for yourself. It's pretty pathetic.

 

[WTUX]

I noticed something interesting in the News-Journal's annual Delaware Almanac which was in yesterday's paper. It includes a listing of all radio stations that can be heard on a regular basis in Delaware. A lot of format errors, to be sure - hey! its the News-Journal. But for the 2nd year in a row, no 1260 frequency for Newark was included in the radio listing. And the WAMS call letters are still listed for 1600 in Dover.

When that happened last year, wouldn't you have thought Vince would have pointed out their mistake and tried to make sure the station was included this year? Ignoring little things like this says a lot about the station's ownership. The major paper does not even know the station exists.

 

[fred flintstone]

Ignoring little things like this says a lot about the station's ownership.

It says a lot about the News-Journal, too.

Of course, even more disreputable than the News-Journal is the radio station which steals news from it.

 

[Keith Thompson]

1260 WAMS reminds me quite a bit of the most bizarre radio career experience I had. Early in my career when I was still living in Southwestern Virginia, I became aware of a brand new station that had signed on about 45 minutes down the interstate from where I was living. I was intrigued because I liked the format (a gold-based hot AC) and was familiar with all of the jocks on the station, since they all were veterans of the New River Valley area where I am from. I wasn't completely happy with the station I was working for in Roanoke, and was intrigued enough with this new station to call them about coming in for an interview. I briefly spoke with the station manager who was eager to have me come in the next day for a chat. The next day when I arrived, I was first taken on a tour of the station by the program director. I was impressed with the brand new state of the art studios and was impressed with the programming formatics he had laid out...he obviously knew what he was doing. After touring the station, I then met with the general manager and that's when the meeting turned completely surreal. I was sitting in his office while this GM was spilling his guts to me about everything that was wrong with the station...and keep in mind, I've never met this guy before. He went on to tell me that they had sunk a lot of money on getting the best equipment and hiring the best airstaff they could find, but yet they had no money coming in because they had neglected to hire a sales staff and had neglected to do any kind of marketing to alert potential listeners and advertisers to the fact that there was a new station in town (the only reason I knew about it is because I was scanning the dial and heard a new station at a spot on the dial where there wasn't one before). At the end of the interview, the GM sort of offered me the opportunity to do sales (despite the fact that I've never done sales in my life) and I left with the sudden realization of what I missed when I was listening to this station...commercials! I never bothered to call the station again (nor did they contact me) and within a month, this brand spanking new FM station dumped their staff and programming to put on brokered religious programming.

The moral of this story is that there is more to a radio station than the sound coming out of the speakers. There has to be an infrastructure in place to back up the sound that is coming out of the speakers. There has to be a relationship built up with the community...both the sales community and the community of listeners. There has to be a lot of work put into building relationships within the business community and there has to be a lot of marketing efforts put into making the public aware that you exist. By the way, those marketing efforts don't have to be big things like running billboards or signs on DART buses. I'm talking about simple street-level promotions like showing up for community events or having a station vehicle to drive around town as a moving billboard. It even comes in such simple ways as WTUX mentioned, by getting updated information for the newspaper station listings.

I don't know much about the WAMS operation, but it seems as if they're saying "if we put it on the air...the people will listen and the advertisers will buy time." That was the same sort of atmosphere I encountered years ago with that station I checked out in Virginia. As long as WAMS doesn't have any infrastructure or connection to the community, it will remain a whisper instead of a voice.

 

[WTUX]

WAMS is hardly "live and local" during the afternoon. That is Voice Tracked by the sound of it. Very generic short statements that anyone, anywhere could record.

 

[Radioeng500]

Not true, John Murphy and Lorrie Valentine are live 10a-2p and Larry Edwards is live on Friday nights at 6P with the all request show.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

WTUX:

WAMS is hardly "live and local" during the afternoon. That is Voice Tracked by the sound of it. Very generic short statements that anyone, anywhere could record.

Radioeng500:

Not true, John Murphy and Lorrie Valentine are live 10a-2p and Larry Edwards is live on Friday nights at 6P with the all request show.

Radioeng500, please re-read WTUX's post... He said "during the afternoon"... Neither 10a-2p nor Friday nights are considered "during the afternoon" in radio...

 

[WTUX]

Exactly. I was listening around 4pm. One day it has the sound of a live jock. Next day it is obviously V/Ted.

Consistancy is vital in broadcasting. The lack of same has killed many small radio stations. Again, as during the entire WAMS experiment, lack of consistancy has hampered any chance of success.

 

[fred flintstone]

If it weren't for this board, WAMS might not have any listeners at all.
Maybe "Mom" should send them a bill. :

As it is, they probably have more people talking about them than actually listening.

And what the [edit] is Scott Shannon doing on an Oldies satellite-delivered format in the first place? This guy is a New York FM CHR jock. He did never did AM Top 40 or Oldies. He's been around enough long enough to qualify to do Classic Hits, but not Oldies.

ABC was the class act of AM Top 40 radio and its talent roster included some legendary Top 40 jocks: Cousin Brucie, Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, Dick Biondi, "Superjock" Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards, John "Records Landecker, Kris Erik Stevens, Joel Sebastian, Dave Prince, Lee Allen, Joey Reynolds and even Jeff Christie (also known as Rush Limbaugh) among others - not even mentioning the jocks who worked for ABC Radio (or Contemporary Network) Top 40 affiliates. And instead they use Scott Shannon???

 

[WTUX]

It is not a matter of "they" using Scott. ABC already had oldies channel(s). It was Scott's idea and ABC decided to give it a shot. He is a long time oldies fan and just wanted to see if his idea would work.

So far, Orlando is the only market with any ratings. It really looks like the oldies format is, if not dead, at least on life support.

 

[fred flintstone]

So far, Orlando is the only market with any ratings. It really looks like the oldies format is, if not dead, at least on life support.

Turnkey formats don't get ratings - especially in large and major markets. Not for Oldies or any other format. Besides the obvious lack of a local flavor, nobody has done a turnkey format that didn't sound canned, processes, homogenized, and pasteurized. Turnkey formats are to local music radio what Velveeta is to cheese.

Listen to Scott Shannon in morning drive on New York's Hot ACWPLJ95.5. It's real cheese. May not be your favorite variety of cheese but it is cheese.

Oldies ain't dead yet in smaller and medium markets. This has been and is discussed at some length on the Oldies board (with similar discussions, for fans of the former 1290AM, on the Adult Standards board). Stations in what Julius calls "minor markets" are less tied to demographics and less dependent on revenue from ad agencies, which make buys based on demographics. These stations get their money from local advertisers. Local advertisers buy because of their relationship with the station, the station owner or the sales rep - because they like the music - or because people they know like the music (personal word of mouth). The latter is sort of like people on the Philly board who used to say "everbody I know likes Danz music." For a lot of people, everybody they know is their personal Arbitron.

An example of this close to home is WVLT 92.1 in Vineland. No Arbitron numbers but a nice load of local spots. Also local jocks, except in the off-hours when they run Jones' Oldies 24/7 format.

!260's Problems:
Poor signal over much of the market.
Music on AM is no longer acceptable sound quality
No promotion.
No format stability so they have blown any chance to catch on through word of mouth.
And a turnkey canned format (OK, some local - sometimes - maybe, there doesn't seem to be any consistency on this either).

 

[odomski]

If they are going to be local at certain dayparts, then stay local during those times. It seems like they have a live jock on one day, then have the satellite running the next day...during the same daypart where they had a live jock the day before. Please stop "playing radio" and be real broadcasters...or shut the station down. There is no consistency. The only consistent thing is they can't seem to figure out what they are doing.

 

[WTUX]

And now our most "posted about station" has another revenue problem. Religion on Sunday was paying the bills. Now at least one of those shows has dropped. Just tuned in to hear the 11am program, which has been on the air since the 70's, and its no longer there. That has to hurt.