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nephi1
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Sounds like 1370 WBZH the buzz is off the air.
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Jim Brownback here who, had I not taken a leave of absence 8 months ago, would have celebrated this past monday 57 years with wpaz/wbzh. Story is that you may have any format you wish if you have money to back it. Yet, when you start a station with little money and quickly spend that, and end up owing the real owner, four rivers broadcasting, some $35,000.00 in back mortage payments, it's a good indication that what you're doing isn't working. Hardly anyone under 40 listens to AM as "their station" these days. Yes, maybe a ball game, etc., but not music. Pottstown, which should be the prime source of revenue, is an older, blue collar community. Programming has to entice their listening to form that solid core of sponsor patronization. No response for the advertiser, no advertiser. The few sponsors that wbzh did snag never renewed account no response. Some have noted in a previous thread that they were hearing commercials. Truth is a sponsor might purchase 10 spots at a reduced rate, yet the station would run them a 100 times or more to give the impression of lots of business. Many of you may not know that all wbzh air personnel were volunteers. With the exception of 2 or 3, none had previous on air experience and hadn't developed that "on air personality" one learns at a broadcast school or college communications course. So, what's next, well it's already in the works. The wpaz call will return, and the format completely changed to suit pottstown listener tastes. If negotiatiions aren't successful, the current owner, four rivers broadcasting, who DOES own all land and buildings, was shrewd enough before purchase from Great Sccott Broadcasting to check zoning, the soil, drainage, etc., with a view of dropping the tower and otherwise developing the land.
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nephi1
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It now says thier internet stream will be back up next week. If you cant sell it on the air you wont sell it on the internet. I did find the claim in the newspaper article that they were at times getting almost 1000 listeners at a time on the internet almost totally disneyland. The music is nice to listen too but you would never get that many people listening to it.
Here's why WBZH failed:
1. Getting rid of the WPAZ call letters. Flushing 60 years of heritage down the crapper. Not a smart move. That station was highly reputable while the Scotts owned it. It was a weak move to reposition the station and try to get advertisers to respond.
2. There was no defined leadership structure. Who was running the show? Too many chiefs, not enough Indians.
3. Programming...I saw the lineup. Psychics? Honestly? How is THAT responsive to the people of Pottstown?
4. Those in charge at WBZH (not Four Rivers) were not real radio professionals. Not just people who were on the air, but solid radio professionals who can sell their product. Tell them to go out and sell their product. If they can't/won't do it, why should advertisers buy?
5. Treating it as a 'public access' enterprise. Amateur-sounding radio will be perceived as such by the local community. A solid, professional-sounding product will draw advertisers in.
6. Lack of community presence. Where was the local news? What they did have sounded like what they read out of the paper that was already a day old or better.
7. No promotions other than maybe on-air giveaways at best. You need high-visibility stuff that happens outside of the radio station. Parade broadcasts. Tie-ins with Chamber-sponsored events. If your town doesn't see your banner or van out and about every once in a while, how do they know you're there?
8. On-air consistency was a joke. I called their format AOR...as in ALL OVER THE ROAD. And when you're all over the road, eventually you're gonna get hurt.
When the station first went off the air, I heard all kinds of people bad-mouthing Mitch Scott and how he turned his back on his hometown. I have not met the guy. But I know his reputation as a businessman and a person. And with Faye and Herb before him. They are/were fine people.
Mitch has every right to position the company his parents left him in a direction that will allow it to thrive. He's done that, and I commend him for it. The only mistake Mitch made was pulling the plug on it BEFORE trying to sell it. He should have set those wheels in motion about a year before he gave up on it. That station never should have been allowed to go dark. But from what I've heard, Mitch is the kind of person who doesn't like messing with people's livelihoods and would rather not give up on them. But even the deepest pockets have a bottom sooner or later. And maybe he finally reached the bottom.
This station can succeed. Here's what it will take:
1. A satellite-delivered music format (syndicated talk is oversaturated in that market) that's either Oldies, AC, or Adult Standard. You can make satellite work on AM radio if you do it right. I'll explain it later.
2. High school sports...football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, whatever will sell. I have never seen a market that DIDN'T buy high school football.
3. A network audio news service. This was a longtime ABC affiliate. Bring it back.
4. A REAL website. Not for streaming audio, but as a companion for the radio product. Offer local news and sports, community calendar, and sell ads on that as well. Point listeners to it in the top-of-the-hour station ID.
5. LOCAL NEWS...Pottstown and the surrounding area. With a local reporter to do the field work. Police beat, meeting coverage, the works. Or if you can't afford it, enter a partnership with the local paper to voice newscasts for you. Depending on the relationship, it can be a win-win if egos don't get in the way.
6. If you don't want a satellite music service, outsource the on-air voices. There are plenty of services out there...Voice Exchange is a great resource. But you can manipulate satellite music formats to work to your advantage if you have the on-air board set up properly.
7. Outsource traffic and billing functions. VCreative does this, as well as third-party production.
8. A hands-on owner or general manager that's not a desk jockey. Someone who goes out and sells...but can also do on-air work and production. And keep an eye on others assigned to these tasks.
9. If someone wants a specialty program, they pay for the time. Period. And confine said programs to WEEKENDS ONLY.
10.Join the chamber of commerce. Listen to feedback from them and their members.
And that's how you do it.
1. Getting rid of the WPAZ call letters. Flushing 60 years of heritage down the crapper. Not a smart move. That station was highly reputable while the Scotts owned it. It was a weak move to reposition the station and try to get advertisers to respond.
2. There was no defined leadership structure. Who was running the show? Too many chiefs, not enough Indians.
3. Programming...I saw the lineup. Psychics? Honestly? How is THAT responsive to the people of Pottstown?
4. Those in charge at WBZH (not Four Rivers) were not real radio professionals. Not just people who were on the air, but solid radio professionals who can sell their product. Tell them to go out and sell their product. If they can't/won't do it, why should advertisers buy?
5. Treating it as a 'public access' enterprise. Amateur-sounding radio will be perceived as such by the local community. A solid, professional-sounding product will draw advertisers in.
6. Lack of community presence. Where was the local news? What they did have sounded like what they read out of the paper that was already a day old or better.
7. No promotions other than maybe on-air giveaways at best. You need high-visibility stuff that happens outside of the radio station. Parade broadcasts. Tie-ins with Chamber-sponsored events. If your town doesn't see your banner or van out and about every once in a while, how do they know you're there?
8. On-air consistency was a joke. I called their format AOR...as in ALL OVER THE ROAD. And when you're all over the road, eventually you're gonna get hurt.
When the station first went off the air, I heard all kinds of people bad-mouthing Mitch Scott and how he turned his back on his hometown. I have not met the guy. But I know his reputation as a businessman and a person. And with Faye and Herb before him. They are/were fine people.
Mitch has every right to position the company his parents left him in a direction that will allow it to thrive. He's done that, and I commend him for it. The only mistake Mitch made was pulling the plug on it BEFORE trying to sell it. He should have set those wheels in motion about a year before he gave up on it. That station never should have been allowed to go dark. But from what I've heard, Mitch is the kind of person who doesn't like messing with people's livelihoods and would rather not give up on them. But even the deepest pockets have a bottom sooner or later. And maybe he finally reached the bottom.
This station can succeed. Here's what it will take:
1. A satellite-delivered music format (syndicated talk is oversaturated in that market) that's either Oldies, AC, or Adult Standard. You can make satellite work on AM radio if you do it right. I'll explain it later.
2. High school sports...football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, whatever will sell. I have never seen a market that DIDN'T buy high school football.
3. A network audio news service. This was a longtime ABC affiliate. Bring it back.
4. A REAL website. Not for streaming audio, but as a companion for the radio product. Offer local news and sports, community calendar, and sell ads on that as well. Point listeners to it in the top-of-the-hour station ID.
5. LOCAL NEWS...Pottstown and the surrounding area. With a local reporter to do the field work. Police beat, meeting coverage, the works. Or if you can't afford it, enter a partnership with the local paper to voice newscasts for you. Depending on the relationship, it can be a win-win if egos don't get in the way.
6. If you don't want a satellite music service, outsource the on-air voices. There are plenty of services out there...Voice Exchange is a great resource. But you can manipulate satellite music formats to work to your advantage if you have the on-air board set up properly.
7. Outsource traffic and billing functions. VCreative does this, as well as third-party production.
8. A hands-on owner or general manager that's not a desk jockey. Someone who goes out and sells...but can also do on-air work and production. And keep an eye on others assigned to these tasks.
9. If someone wants a specialty program, they pay for the time. Period. And confine said programs to WEEKENDS ONLY.
10.Join the chamber of commerce. Listen to feedback from them and their members.
And that's how you do it.
Instead of pure satellite, I'd pick up the Dial Global Storq (SP?) Product. Do Gold. What's great about this is the music is stored on your hard drive and VTs are tracked and sent to your system. Once an hour, based on a schedule set up, the talent will do a local break..could be a PSA..could be a breaking news story...the local station has control.
And I agree totally with the rest of your points. Lots of HS sports...local news....and clean up the audio chain. It could be a profitable station with some work.
And I agree totally with the rest of your points. Lots of HS sports...local news....and clean up the audio chain. It could be a profitable station with some work.
I worked at WPAZ for 15 months full-time while it was Music of Your Life.
One of the great things about that format: It took a lot of pressure off of the local PD. Local jocks just have to play the music as logged by MOYL, concentrate on local content like weather, promoting the weekend's upcoming local play by play, etc.
I guess Dial Global is the current equivalent. So that sounds like a good idea.
I think any music format on AM has to be older than the oldest on FM.
The oldest in the area on FM is WOGL. So, do oldies on 1370 centered around the 60s ... some late 50s, some early 70s, to about 1973. WOGL is slowly leaving the 60s and early 70s behind for the 80s.
And I agree you could sell this locally.
With the downgrading of the Pottstown Mercury, a two-person local news staff that's allowed to concentrate on reporting rather than the number of newscasts they produce could be a good thing for the community. Concentrate the news in AM and PM drive with a newscast at noon. Free up the news people to report during the day and evening local meetings.
One of the great things about that format: It took a lot of pressure off of the local PD. Local jocks just have to play the music as logged by MOYL, concentrate on local content like weather, promoting the weekend's upcoming local play by play, etc.
I guess Dial Global is the current equivalent. So that sounds like a good idea.
I think any music format on AM has to be older than the oldest on FM.
The oldest in the area on FM is WOGL. So, do oldies on 1370 centered around the 60s ... some late 50s, some early 70s, to about 1973. WOGL is slowly leaving the 60s and early 70s behind for the 80s.
And I agree you could sell this locally.
With the downgrading of the Pottstown Mercury, a two-person local news staff that's allowed to concentrate on reporting rather than the number of newscasts they produce could be a good thing for the community. Concentrate the news in AM and PM drive with a newscast at noon. Free up the news people to report during the day and evening local meetings.
I totally agree with radiophiler and kenhawk in their suggestions. I'd also make sure to get the ABC Entertainment affiliation back. As i mentioned in an earlier post, keep AM and PM drive news-intensive. I'd bring back the lady from the Chamber of Commerce to do a midmorning interview show. Have a comprehensive newscast at 12 noon. If Paul Harvey Jr. was still doing News and Comment, I'd grab that too. Remotes and sports as much as we could handle. Also a wire service; is UPI still doing that? If not, then AP.
I forgot about Dial Global STORQ. I have heard about it, but I don't know much about it. Not a bad idea if you don't need proprietary automation hardware to make it happen.
As for a wire service, not sure about that. I haven't needed one for years. If you can navigate the internet, a wire service really isn't a necessary expense. It might be good for sports scores and such, but that's about it.
Insofar as news...keep the AM and PM drive periods and the noon hour news intensive. But do a one or two minute headline break after ABC at the top of each hour around the clock. Record one cart to run hourly in the evening, and a different one for overnight. Then update them hourly throughout the day that you have a live body in the studio.
As mundane as it sounds, people still DO turn their radios on for routine police blotter stuff in the small markets. Obituaries, too.
Insofar as music, not a bad idea with running older on this as the oldest on the FM. 1973's a wee bit early...I'd say 1978. But don't look at it as a cure-all, and here's why:
If you play music that's catering to a 25-54 audience base, like AC, it will attract young families starting out, but it won't negate the older folks. You'll get the older audience by default simply because it's AM radio. But that tune-out factor that young people have doesn't exist with folks as they get older. They're more likely to tolerate the music because they know it's still the local source for everything local about Pottstown.
When I worked at 1160 WCCS in Homer City, PA, we had a satellite affiliation for 23 years with SMN (now Dial Global) and their Starstation format. We were very news and information-oriented, and about half the businesses in town had us on.
Since there's some WPAZ alums on this board, maybe some of you can answer questions for me...was this station up to the end a profitable enterprise for the Scotts? Or was it propped up by the other stations in the portfolio? Or was it profitable at one point, and then the management and sales staff just started coasting and didn't stop and the numbers were slipping?
As for a wire service, not sure about that. I haven't needed one for years. If you can navigate the internet, a wire service really isn't a necessary expense. It might be good for sports scores and such, but that's about it.
Insofar as news...keep the AM and PM drive periods and the noon hour news intensive. But do a one or two minute headline break after ABC at the top of each hour around the clock. Record one cart to run hourly in the evening, and a different one for overnight. Then update them hourly throughout the day that you have a live body in the studio.
As mundane as it sounds, people still DO turn their radios on for routine police blotter stuff in the small markets. Obituaries, too.
Insofar as music, not a bad idea with running older on this as the oldest on the FM. 1973's a wee bit early...I'd say 1978. But don't look at it as a cure-all, and here's why:
If you play music that's catering to a 25-54 audience base, like AC, it will attract young families starting out, but it won't negate the older folks. You'll get the older audience by default simply because it's AM radio. But that tune-out factor that young people have doesn't exist with folks as they get older. They're more likely to tolerate the music because they know it's still the local source for everything local about Pottstown.
When I worked at 1160 WCCS in Homer City, PA, we had a satellite affiliation for 23 years with SMN (now Dial Global) and their Starstation format. We were very news and information-oriented, and about half the businesses in town had us on.
Since there's some WPAZ alums on this board, maybe some of you can answer questions for me...was this station up to the end a profitable enterprise for the Scotts? Or was it propped up by the other stations in the portfolio? Or was it profitable at one point, and then the management and sales staff just started coasting and didn't stop and the numbers were slipping?
DG02816 said:Have heard both Starstation and Stardust; very well done. Had Starstation at 2 former employers and it worked well. As to automation, the simpler the better; I'd use Simian or ZaraRadio. As for news, you could set up a Twitter account ; most news sources are there these days.
We have Simian where I'm working now...LOVE IT. Buy the program, trade out for a PC, and you're on the air.
kenhawk1160 said:This station can succeed. Here's what it will take:
1. A satellite-delivered music format (syndicated talk is oversaturated in that market) that's either Oldies, AC, or Adult Standard. You can make satellite work on AM radio if you do it right. I'll explain it later.
In an era where you have much innovative or other music with some appeal that's getting ignored by many if not most mainstream broadcasters, I feel small AM stations can and should fill that gap. This is more critical in the metropolitan areas. Out in the suburbs (as Pottstown is), you can go with a more mainstream format. Either way, a satellite-delivered format is not necessary. In Westminster, Maryland; WTTR (owned by Pat Sajak) has a locally-run oldies format that is doing respectable well http://wttr.com/.
High school sports...football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, whatever will sell. I have never seen a market that DIDN'T buy high school football.
LOCAL NEWS...Pottstown and the surrounding area. With a local reporter to do the field work. Police beat, meeting coverage, the works. Or if you can't afford it, enter a partnership with the local paper to voice newscasts for you. Depending on the relationship, it can be a win-win if egos don't get in the way.
Couldn't agree more! The former is especially a must do! The latter definitely during AM and PM drives; possibly a noon-time show as well. WAMD Aberdeen MD has a partnership with a newspaper called "The Dagger"
If someone wants a specialty program, they pay for the time. Period. And confine said programs to WEEKENDS ONLY.
I feel evenings as well as weekends could be a good time for specialty programming. On a station like 1370, I feel it would be better to implement a hybrid revenue model whereby the station survives not only on advertisement, but donations and promotions as well. Examples of such can include (but don't have to be limited to) holding a for-profit dance, sponsoring a car show, sponsoring a festival; and so forth. For advertisement, you should also look to unconventional sources of income as well.
In today's day and age, if you're running an AM station, especially a small suburban outlet or a minor-player in a major market, you MUST innovate! Call me someone who lives in the past, but I believe some of these smaller AM stations don't have to be limited to 'tried and true' formats, but can and should try something different. Face it: There are artists whose material won't get touched by mainstream broadcasters yet a smaller broadcaster maybe willing to air such material. If a small station was to be a voice for local, up-and-coming, and non-conventional talent, it could be a positive force in the community.
These are examples of some AM stations doing unconventional programming. Granted, these are non-commercial operations, but are decent examples of how to innovate in 'the land of the kilohertz': http://www.openaircpr.org/ ; http://radio1190.org/ ; http://www.radiok.org/.
also not a bad idea.Join the chamber of commerce. Listen to feedback from them and their members.
DG02816 said:Don't forget that Bob Bittner's WJIB 740 Cambridge MA is listener supported; he's doing a Standards/EZL format. His other station, WJTO 730 Bath ME, is also listener supported with a somewhat more contemporary format.
I'm familiar with "The Bittner Twins" as I call them. IMNSHO either that or a hybrid revenue model is what I suggest for a station like 1370! FWIW I always thought both WJIB and WJTO simulcasted each other. I guess I was wrong.
klutch00 said:There are artists whose material won't get touched by mainstream broadcasters yet a smaller broadcaster maybe willing to air such material. If a small station was to be a voice for local, up-and-coming, and non-conventional talent, it could be a positive force in the community.
And you put artists like those in a special program to be aired on the weekends...not in the regular rotation.
klutch00 said:I feel evenings as well as weekends could be a good time for specialty programming. On a station like 1370, I feel it would be better to implement a hybrid revenue model whereby the station survives not only on advertisement, but donations and promotions as well. Examples of such can include (but don't have to be limited to) holding a for-profit dance, sponsoring a car show, sponsoring a festival; and so forth. For advertisement, you should also look to unconventional sources of income as well.
Donations...no. In my opinion, it's tacky to sell radio ads and then ask for donations in addition to that. Promotions are necessary. Sponsoring a car show or festival, that's a given.
This is why I push the importance of a website. You sell ad space on that in addition to airtime. Plus value-added (promotions).
klutch00 said:I feel evenings as well as weekends could be a good time for specialty programming.
Depending on what it is. I think if you air AC during the day and Oldies or country at night, that's not bad. We did that at another station I worked at in the late 80s. But it would have to be automated. I don't see enough revenue there to sustain the presence of a live body.
You put weird stuff on like psychics, heavy metal, garage bands that can't book a non-paying gig, you're gonna lose. Unless of course, they buy the time from you (and pay in advance). Then they can sell their own sponsorships to offset costs. That's the only way I do specialty programming.
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