But Sam...just think if they did it the way WE would have done it!!! But both stations will wither on the vine now. Sad actually...but I think the biz is SO bad for some opereators, that they just can't SELL AM radio on a local level with SO much competition around them now. And there are MORE stations on the air since their PRIME years as THE medium in their respective communities. So I kinda feel bad, but at the same time, I don't. I worked at WCTC. What a heritage. But only 80 year old shut-ins were tuning in for the most part. They left it on all day, I think because they forgot how to turn the dial...or they listened because it was a habit...like WOR is in NY for the elderly. I'm being honest here...and with NO disrespect to the management or either WCTC or MTR, but without being able to capture ANY younger audience, they were doomed. WABC manages, but because they have superstars and the signal from the heavens. But even THAT ain't enough anymore in MOST AM cases. There are some exceptions...KDKA, KYW, KFI, WINS, etc... But Sam is correct in a sense. I can't TELL you how many times I'd tell someone in Central Jersey that I was the morning guy on WCTC..and they would THEN say: "oh...I used to listen to that for the school closings". I would then say, when was the last time you listened to that station and what is the frequency?"... Most said when Jack Ellery was on (they had NO idea he was On and OFF the station for YEARS...he was ON ironically at that time in PM drive..)
They remembered the BRAND, but didn't USE it..or didn't know where to FIND it because of conditioning that ALL radio is on FM (that was 5 years ago). So...YOU make the call. If YOU were Greater Media...what DO you do with a station that couldn't crack a one share any longer in a market that has the BIGGEST of the BIG signals crawling up your back? Same thing for MTR? With sales departments that just don't KNOW how to sell older demos, or the reality may just be that it is not worth their while IF they also sell FM signals with higher rates and commissions that can at least show some ratings in the respective markets? All valid questions and comments. PERSONALLY I think they should have simulcasted WJRZ..yeah...all three stations..that would have enabled them to at least have a JERSEY IMAGE, but we know what station has THAT taken care of so well. I don't know. I ain't there now..
I do feel badly for the people I know there. I hope that they will find a way to stay afloat. Many will just leave radio and throw up their hands. Some will land somewhere on the air but the competition for GIGS is tremendous now. And whoever will work REALLLY cheap will get some of those gigs.
Sam..you're also kidding yourself about the 8k dynamic range. More like 5 if you're lucky. My cell phone sounds better than some AMs. Sad SOOOO SAD. But I saw it coming. It started in the 60's...and the AM death march just continues until now a whole generation or two of people have NEVER even LISTENED to an AM station...and NOW we have a whole generation that's abandoned FM too in the lower demos especially. Satellite ain't exactly burning down the house either as the churn-rate is high. I STILL hear people say...I won't PAY for radio.
I still hear people say "can I hear my favorite station on satellite?" "Uh..no..it's a different BAND altogether". "Can I hear NJ 101.5 anywhere in the country?" "Uh..no..it is a totally different bunch of channels with the music channels commercial free and SEVERAL talk channels and specialty channels of all kinds." "Oh...I won't pay for that." or "Is that where Howard Stern went? I don't like him so I won't pay for that garbage". Or "Is that where Howard Stern is? I'll pay DOUBLE just to hear HIM back on the radio."
Anyway...I've taken enough bandwidth up today.. I just hope the REST of the Jersey chain of Greater Media doesn't have yet another bloodbath like this one and the one from a year and a half ago that I was ALL too familiar with. Pretty soon, stations ALL over the country will either feature Rush Limbaugh, or Tom Kent, or Kid Kraddock, or....well you get the drift. SO many jobs lost...and the public STILL has not really caught on yet. SOME have...but those are the radio geeks who post of stuff like WE read. The guy driving down the Parkway of life doesn't KNOW that a station like WJRZ is voice-tracked 2/3's of its broadcast day. TWO THIRDS. And maybe they don't CARE. But I do! When WABC has NO local shows left, will ANYONE care? When the top CHR station in PHILLY and the big URBAN station there has a NY talent on in the morning...does ANYONE care? I do. When ALL local radio can't compete with OTHER stations, let alone the last standing NEWSPAPERS will ANYONE care? I do.
THESE ARE REAL PEOPLE that LOSE their LIVELIHOODS. THESE ARE CARING, TALENTED PEOPLE that are just tossed out like the garbage. These companies wonder why radio is treated so BADLY these days as I just read yesterday and almost puked? It's BECAUSE you screwed it UP...and don't GET it anymore.
Why the TOP guys aren't HUNG out to dry is beyond me. If personality isn't brought screaming back to radio ESPECIALLY in smaller markets..and to some degree the BIG towns too, it will time to fold up the towers and send them back to the factories that they came from...putting even MORE people out of work. How's THAT!
My head hurts. Somebody bring me a Tylenol. Generic please because I can't afford the real thing.
But..
BE BIG!
Jay
