Who's minding the store?

[KevinFodor]

It's sad to see what's happening with Springfield's WULM...and it appears to be getting worse.

The station is obviously playing the same music schedule over and over and over (songs are playing at
the same time today that they played yesterday...and the day before).

Not to mention the dead air and the apparent lack of identification. (Maybe they are identifying, but I haven't caught an ID yet.)

It makes one wonder: who's minding the store? Is anyone taking transmitter readings? Is anyone
doing an hourly ID? Are they powering down at night?

Perhaps. But, it would be a shame, especially for the bank that holds the note if the FCC came in and shut them down due to rules violations.

Something needs to happen here. And happen quickly.

 

[kozmickitsch]

The only question I have an answer for is that yes, they are powering down at night. I work and Piqua and can't pick them up on my drive to work in the morning. The transmitter is set to power up and down on its own at specific times (which obviously change throughout the year). IDs *should* be prescheduled into the automation system, but they're using Arakis which isn't what we wre running when I left the station... so I don't know how they had it programmed. I know they brought back in a board op that hadn't been working there for several months, but that's all I've heard. I hope he (I'm assuming just Eli is running it) can get the station moving in the right direction, it would be truly sad for Springfield to lose their only radio station.

 

[KevinFodor]

In fairness, I did finally hear a sweeper on the station yesterday, so it would be my guess that they are
ID-ing as they should.

However, the bigger problem is hearing "Muskrat Love" by the Captain and Tenille every day at 5:15 pm.
and "I Can't Wait" by NuShooz at about 3:45, immediately followed by "Baby Hold On" by Eddie Money..every
day.

 

[gr8oldies]

The templates we set up are still in the system, but the hours seem to be repeating and aren't configured correctly. I'm hearing legal IDs on the half hour or the 45 minute mark, and over the weekend, despite the fact that they were set up correctly, the wrong hour was playing Saturday and Sunday..especially noticeable when the Urban Light show, scheduled for 8:45am was airing at 10:45pm. Arrakis is a very easy system to use compared to the old DRS...no reason for it to be off kilter.

 

[Limp73]

The phones are still not being answered..with the exception of the Saturday morning sports show and "Speak Out with Larry Spicer." but nothing else...same old repetition..."Blue Morning, Blue Day" by Foreigner seems to be the theme song here..it's being played to death!
Website says: "Excuse the mess..we are under reconstruction. 1600 WULM,We'll be here for you."

(When???)

The on again/off again audiostream still sounds distorted yet lacking proper volume...sounded much better by comparison when it was still "Rock n' Soul Classics."

Is it still for sale or not??? The rumour mill is grinding away.
My gut tells me it's gonna end up in receivership soon though I hope it doesn't.
Don't hear commercials aired whenever I tune in.

What would John Hall have done???

 

[gr8oldies]

No liners or imaging, just continuous music, music into spots and Tony P doing the weather. Apparently Bob Pitsch is in the building as I heard hom doing a Coachworks commercial. Receivership is inevitable if a sale does not happen soon. I saw a station in Dowagiac, MI that just sold for $90,000 so Security National getting what it wants is likely not to happen. It's doubtful that anyone is calling on accounts.

 

[kozmickitsch]

Can't give much news on the webstream. I was in on Thursday trying to fix it.... but I didn't have the time I needed to sit down and fool with i. A different program is being used from when I was there. The one we used was set up by Bob and had a catch so that if the stream stopped it would start itself after 2 seconds. There's a different program in use now. Gr8, if it wasn't broke why did you fix it?

 

[kirkiefan]

Something needs to happen here..which is why I mentioned Radio Maria in a previous post on the Contemporary Christian boards as they are looking for a Dayton area station. WULM would be their only option. RM's coordinator Mary Pyper in Beavercreek would possibly like to see the 5kw upgrade study that Smilin' Bob did back in the 70s. It should be found and forwarded to RM..otherwise they may not be interested in a 1kw AM station which must power down at sunset,but this is their only option if they want a station that covers the lower portion of the Miami Valley(WHJM-FM covers the Upper Miami Valley and a portion of the Limaland area.)

Give RM a call and ask how to reach Mary.

http://www.radiomaria.us

 

[DaytonRadio]

personally, id love to see the station return to its rock-n-soul classics days... however i realize that will probably never happen... it's sad to look back at what the station was two years ago and what it is now..

and i don't think contemp christian would do anything on wulm.. the market is flooded with contemporary christian on FM as it is. WQRP in Dayton, WVSO in South Vienna, and WOKL in Troy. Not to mention WFCJ, WCDR, and WEEC, which are all going in the contemporary direction.

 

[radiogeek07]

Radio Maria is a very different animal. It's not quite what you would think of as a traditional CCM station. It's catholic for one thing.

 

[exradio]

Looking at Radio Maria's facilities on radio-locator.com, they seem to have bought or built a group of stations to serve small towns with Catholic teaching in a cost-effective way. Of their three AM signals, one is far superior to anything in Dayton, another, in Springfield-sized Port Arthur TX is similar to WHIO by day but only has 1000 watts at night, and the third is similar to WIZE by day but weaker by night, but adequate to serve the small town of New Iberia, LA.

Their worst FM is 100 watts serving Natchitoches, LA, but in terms of potential listeners this signal serves that town far better than WULM reaches Clark County.

Even with 5000 watts, they would have to move the transmitter site SW toward Dayton to reach that market, and I'm guessing that area has some of the most expensive real estate in Clark County. They'd also likely need a fair amount of it because of needing multiple towers, and they'd probably want to have a separate nighttime tower location, ideally in Dayton if that's legal, otherwise downtown Springfield, because 34 watts on 1600 won't reach that many souls in the 'burbs. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd likely have to reduce power to 1000 watts for critical hours. These types of issues might explain why nothing was ever done with that 1970's upgrade study, back when AM was a hell of a lot more viable.

Even if they only wanted to serve Springfield, this station would have about the worst potential of any station they own. A 100 watt FM would serve them better there, if there was a way to get a license for one.

If they really want to cover the Miami Valley, why not buy WONE?? It would cost more to buy, especially because of the 20 acres at the Rahn Rd. tower site, but it would be available to a ton of people, and Clear Channel might be more willing to sell it to RM than to Cox or Radio One.

It's not like Clear Channel's doing anything significant with it.

 

[LocalGuy]

Not to mention WFCJ, WCDR, and WEEC, which are all going in the contemporary direction.

Either there's a huge difference in how we all define "contemporary," or there's somehting you know the rest of us don't.

 

[DaytonRadio]

these stations

Not to mention WFCJ, WCDR, and WEEC, which are all going in the contemporary direction.

Either there's a huge difference in how we all define "contemporary," or there's somehting you know the rest of us don't.

i don't my any means consider these stations contemporary but more recently it hasn't been uncommon for them to play some contemporary music.

 

[northernlightsmedia]

Wow it is amazing to hear everything that that is going about WULM. It will be ashame if it does go dark, but I think that is highly unlikely. Being the last Locally Owned & Operated Station in Springfield it would be a shame to see it go into anybody elses hands. I would assume Eli is praying hard on what to do, I would also assume that he is running the station by himself. WULM has good potential, and a new format would help alot. I have heard IDs and some liners but no live air talent. Let's just hope that God jumps in and gives that station a well deserved gift. I would say that this is not the end of WULM

 

[gr8oldies]

Format changes would not help the situation when there is no cash flow, period, and thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, including to BMI, Clear Channel and Radio One. WULM is gone in its present form. If a buyer is found, then its a whole new ball game (and it's a strong "if").

 

[northernlightsmedia]

I don't think there would be a problem finding buyer for the station. God has blessed worth situations, God continues to open doors all the time. Faith is what is important, if God is truley blessing this station and Pastor Eli then something will happen. I think if the stion did a talk format, maybe even Christian Talk it could start to turn it's self around. The current format has already proven that it won't and formats in the past years have not. I am not sayin hat any one employed their did a bad job, I have respect for rmployees who stay, I have worked for stations in the same or even worse condition. I worked for a station that had the biggest trade book, almost everything was a trade. I have to say that Eli and the rest of the Urban Lights Boad must pray. Whether it's a sale to a new owner or just digging in and trying again. I would just hate for some coporate radio puyer wind up with it. It would just either become a satilite station broadcasting some national program. Trust me when it comes to a radio station there is always a buyer somewhere. Eli if he decides will have no problem selling.

 

[KevinFodor]

What kind of kool aid are you folks drinking?

Look, don't get me wrong. I'm a Christian and I hope for the sake of all that a reasonable answer comes out of all this.

But, look at the facts: $700 grand (or so) of debt on a property that's only worth about 75-100 grand at best. No assets to speak of. Little, if any, cash flow. No multiples to figure by.

If my information is correct, the bank involved has rejected one buyer because the offer was only for about half of the total debt. They're nuts. They won't get what they need to get to erase the debt, unless they find a really stupid buyer. As it stands, the station is simply not worth that much money.

What's on the air right now is a waste of spectrum space. Springfield deserves better. A new format is needed...but not what most of you suggest. About the only way that station can be made profitable is with a locally delivered format. Music (and DJ's) must be secondary. No one listens to AM for that anymore. DJ's, for the most part, are totally unnecessary. It needs to be a local format with community news and information. Local high school and college sports. And a few other ideas which I'm going to keep to myself for the moment.

Such a format would likely, over time, get the city and its' business community behind it. Clear Channel operates WIZE as an afterthought. Kiss Country is moving. (If we are to believe what Radio One has filed with the FCC.) This station could become "Springfield's Radio Station". With the right owner, and the right management. The question is...will Eli...the bank...and everyone involved do what needs to be done?

We'll see.

 

[northernlightsmedia]

I will agree with you the answer is community , new imaging Drop Springfileds's Sunshine Station and go community. More sports, that is how WMVR in Sidney survives is the Sports program. They are aggresive with their program and it pays off. I think the station can turn it's self into something with the right people there. I will disagree about announcers, now they are not needed all the time but during drive Morning and afternoon. The rest of the time auto it. Then dig intot he community do old fashioned community radio, get involved get the guests on the morning show. Go for the small business person who can not afford CC and Radio One or Cox. Get together a Kick A local sports program. Have a communtiy heart! Become Springfiled's Community Station. Become a resource for the community. If that can be done then look out. Any new employees will have to have HEART., love the community and the county. It Can Be Done!!!

 

[kirkiefan]

Format changes would not help the situation when there is no cash flow, period, and thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, including to BMI, Clear Channel and Radio One. WULM is gone in its present form. If a buyer is found, then its a whole new ball game (and it's a strong "if").

The format still sounds the same,same repetition of music,no liners or imaging ,but a couple of spots at 20 past the hour and Eli returned to the control room for "Crossing Over." Plus,the website and logo is once again taking on a different look...which is good,but like gr8 said..where's the cash flow?

A community theme is good..seems that WULM wants to suddenly take on the personna of WTTF in Tiffin(jockless music when sports/talk programs aren't on) with the revamped website construction in progress..if that is what I think it wants to do..but the bottom line is,will that save them from receivership?
It's gonna take a miracle and if gr8 is right on the money,then their time is limited. Some bucks needs to be poured in,(which should have been done from the get-go back in 02/03) bringing back ag programming,Metro Networks news,traffic,weather and CNN which is what it was doing before "Rock n' Soul Classics" was thrown by the wayside. Eli needs a miracle to keep it afloat.

 

[gr8oldies]

The bank is very much aware of what it would take to turn things around..including a selling General manager, a sales and programming staff, and when there's no money to offer, no one wants to work there. Community-based radio is exactly what we were doing there since the summer, focusing on Springfield and dropping all pretenses of being a Dayton station. We built a strong morning show, more giveaways with local winners than even some of the Dayton stations and were an advertising resource for smaller businesses in the Springfield community. Some of you may recall the Shop Springfield campaign we did last fall and some businesses still have the signs up.

A substantial amount of ag programming was tried, and met with a collective yawn by agri-ad buyers. WMVR is a great example of a smaller market station, but it does have the advantage of being on FM and being somewhat more isolated from the larger markets. They pretty much have Sidney and Shelby county to themselves as far as radio advertising dollars.