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WDYT-AM TV Commercial

C

Call Me Sherlock

I saw a commercial for Danny Fontana's WDYT on WBTV's 6 o'clock News tonight. Does this mean they've increased their power? Or, are they promoting a station and a morning show that hardly anyone can hear?

Also, Gary Hattaway indicated several months ago that David O'Donnell, ex-GM of MAGIC 96.1, was to be the General Manager of WDYT. Yet, I noticed that a woman was quoted in the recent Charlotte Observer article concerning the station.

What's the story? Who's running the show?
 
Has there ever been a startup AM station that has knocked off a heratage AM anywhere or even come close? I don't think so but if anyone knows of one I'd like to hear about it.

MS
 
Has there ever been a startup AM station that has knocked off a heratage AM anywhere or even come close? I don't think so but if anyone knows of one I'd like to hear about it.
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Indeed...exactly 42 years ago it happened in Charlotte as upstart WAYS blew WBT out of the water.

History, if anything, is prone to repeat itself in the broadcasting business.

Later....
Matt Smith
WGSR-TV
 
I think that's a bit of a tenuous claim, considering it had been on the air for 25 years by that time. It was flashy and a major ratings getter for years, but it never acheived prolonged wins over WBT.

Even in the days of Murphy in the Morning and Jay Thomas, WBT was still pulling a 20-30 share, more than twice its closest competition.
 
As good as Murphy was, I don't think he ever beat Bob Lacy during that time period!
 
It's a good thing Danny Fontana airs excerpts of his talk program on "I-Life TV" which airs on some cable
systems, mainly in the digital lineup, because even if WDYT has increased their power, no one can compete
with 1110 WBT, maybe they should have went FM, which might have given them a chance.
 
WDYT-AM 1220

It is sad that a small town like Kings Mountain can't even keep it's AM station. We should just move every radio station in the Carolinas to the Great State of Mecklenburg. The world does revolve around Charlotte! :(
 
True- It doesn't really seem fair to take the local station away, but think about this. The new signal will cover many times over the number of people it covers now- and there will be IMPROVED service to King's Mountain. And is it really better to let the station stay in KM at 1000 watts and slowly drift into bankruptcy, then go dark because the local merchants can't or won't support it?
 
nextline said:
True- It doesn't really seem fair to take the local station away, but think about this. The new signal will cover many times over the number of people it covers now- and there will be IMPROVED service to King's Mountain. And is it really better to let the station stay in KM at 1000 watts and slowly drift into bankruptcy, then go dark because the local merchants can't or won't support it?
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There is nothing wrong with increasing the station's power, but that doesn't mean it has to automatically focus on Charlotte. There is nothing wrong with keeping it local. And, I wouldn't call it IMPROVED service to Kings Mountain. Taking a local station away does not IMPROVE the service. We don't need to save every small town radio station from bankruptcy, because not every small town radio station is struggling. No, they may not be bringing in millions, but they are doing just fine serving their communities.

The only local coverage those of us living outside the Great State of Mecklenburg can get is thru the local newspaper or our AM station. If we turn on the FM dial or TV all we hear about is Charlotte.

I guess if the big city owners run out of FM stations to move-in then they will start grabbing up the AM's. Watch out WRNA, WRKB, WEGO, WSPC, WZKY, WIXE, WDEX, WLON, WGNC, WSAT, WSTP, WAME, WSIC, WKBC, WTLK, WYCV, WADA, and the list goes own.....they will be coming for you next.
 
Johnny Caudle said:
I guess if the big city owners run out of FM stations to move-in then they will start grabbing up the AM's. Watch out WRNA, WRKB, WEGO, WSPC, WZKY, WIXE, WDEX, WLON, WGNC, WSAT, WSTP, WAME, WSIC, WKBC, WTLK, WYCV, WADA, and the list goes own.....they will be coming for you next.
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Ha ha, I'll bet the owners of those stations hope so! Then they can retire.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
Johnny Caudle said:
I guess if the big city owners run out of FM stations to move-in then they will start grabbing up the AM's. Watch out WRNA, WRKB, WEGO, WSPC, WZKY, WIXE, WDEX, WLON, WGNC, WSAT, WSTP, WAME, WSIC, WKBC, WTLK, WYCV, WADA, and the list goes own.....they will be coming for you next.
Click to expand...

Ha ha, I'll bet the owners of those stations hope so! Then they can retire.
Click to expand...
Mike Sheridan said:
Johnny Caudle said:
I guess if the big city owners run out of FM stations to move-in then they will start grabbing up the AM's. Watch out WRNA, WRKB, WEGO, WSPC, WZKY, WIXE, WDEX, WLON, WGNC, WSAT, WSTP, WAME, WSIC, WKBC, WTLK, WYCV, WADA, and the list goes own.....they will be coming for you next.
Click to expand...

Ha ha, I'll bet the owners of those stations hope so! Then they can retire.
Click to expand...

Ha, ha...there is one in every crowd.


I didn't make any money working in small town radio, but I was happier there. My small time spent working at a big station in Charlotte wasn't nearly as fun as working in Albemarle.
 
Johnny Caudle said:
Ha, ha...there is one in every crowd.

I didn't make any money working in small town radio, but I was happier there. My small time spent working at a big station in Charlotte wasn't nearly as fun as working in Albemarle.
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Well as someone who worked in Charlotte I didn't make much money either! Even working in Charlotte these days isn't as much fun as it used to be!
 
Ha, ha...there is one in every crowd.


I didn't make any money working in small town radio, but I was happier there. My small time spent working at a big station in Charlotte wasn't nearly as fun as working in Albemarle.
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Considering I had to dig old AP teletype paper out of the storage closet to use as TP at WABZ, I think my experience was quite different. That was back when the mighty 100.9 was in the old bank building downtown.

Other WABZ adventures - watching one fo the few actual DJs make out with a married woman on the fron couch while her son played around the building. The morning no lights would come on. the many times I would hear "we may not make payroll this week." WZKY was fun, except for having to fill in at WJRM. The only thing that got me about WJRM was that it's at the end of a prison camp road.

It's a shame that so many small town AMs are moving in or going dark. I think in communities like Troy or Albemarle, WJRM and WZKY can do some good home town radio and not worry as much about competition. King's Mountain is basically surrounded by mega FM signals, so this may be the best option for the former WKMT.
 
NewsNow said:
Considering I had to dig old AP teletype paper out of the storage closet to use as TP at WABZ...
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...probably because the station had an abundance of teletype paper that would NEVER again be used in a teletype machine. Cutting the AP wire, meant saving bucks!! We recycled the stockpile of teletype paper to hand-write the forecast as we transposed it off the NOAA weather radio!!

Eric
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