Why does religious format fail in ENC?
Or to be more specific, here in Wilson?
I wanted to stop and think about that for a bit, and then share some thoughts on it. Not to imply that I have the “gospel” answer, but to at least take some serious stab at it to see why there are (or were, depending on the time) so many religious radio stations in ENC, especially in Wilson, and why none of them are having any real success.
And I also realize that there are a ton of reasons why it is not working, and from a different eye one could validate a number of reasons. To be sure, many have talked about why AM stations have suffered so much, another can equally validate the format, or lack of decent equipment, or any number of things. But the question still remains, why do religious radio stations seem to fail in ENC, especially in Wilson?
To this date, there are four “religious” radio stations in Wilson, three of those are AM stations one is a LPFM station. At this very moment, one is currently up for sale, so technically there are three radio stations, but for sake of argument, let’s include WGTM.
I would love to hear other opinions as to why a city like Wilson can have four religious format radio stations, but collectively they all fail to make any impact on the city they serve. So I will start it out by giving my humble opinion, knowing that of all the people that make posts here, I am likely the least.
But I wanted to speak from a few perspectives. One, that I am a Christian, so this is not about “bashing” religious stations. Two, I have a degree in RTV from Western Carolina U, so I have an academic background. Three, I have worked for several radio stations since my graduation, which implies that I have some level of experience. And four, I know Wilson pretty well, so I have a decent idea of the community.
If somebody asked me why four radio stations in one town aren’t worth a hill of beans, I would first agree with them and give them whatever is behind door number 1. I won’t argue with anybody that collectively none of the radio stations here are worth one secular radio station in Rocky Mount. But why is this so?
There are a lot of ways to go at this, from mechanical issues, professional issues, legal issues, format issues and things like that, but I’d like to narrow it down to just a few factors: selfish management, lack of professionalism and oddly, lack of faith.
To me, and I might be a little over the top, but if you have not one, not two, but FOUR Christian radio stations in your city, it ought to help that city be one of the best in the state…and anybody working for those stations ought to be faith-filled Christians who are there to be a blessing to listeners all over the area. I mean think about it, if Christians in general are to be people that share faith, then how much faith ought to be in four radio stations in a single city?
But that’s not the case. And one of the reasons is that all four of these stations operate off selfish motives, and it shows in their management of the station. Management is based on delegation of authority, allowing others to do the job you hired them to do. But too often people who call themselves “managers” or even owners of radio are too busy looking out for number one.
One reason these stations are failing is because those in charge are in it for themselves…and no one else. One key example is WLLY and the late Wallace Bullock. I knew the man, and I say with my heart that he was a good man, and did good work for the community, but he refused to teach his employees how to excel in radio. After he passed a few years ago, one of the employees told me that she asked him to teach her how to run the board, to do logs and cut spots. He always refused, and never even wanted anybody to speak on the air, saying that “DJs were overrated”…yet every commercial on WLLY was by his voice…no one else.
She asked him to teach her, just in case something happens. His answer to her was, and I quote from her, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there”. When he passed away, the station was left with people who knew almost nothing about radio, and they could have easily have gone under if they had not gotten help from outsiders to teach them how to run a radio station.
WVOT operated the same way, with Pastor MK Smith paying an employee less than minimum wage to save him some money, and often took collections from the church to pay the station’s bills, rather than making the station more like a business than a charity. The LPFM station also seems self servant in that it seems to be a promotional tool for the owner to push his latest gospel CD.
A second reason I think these stations fail is because a lack of professionalism, in that most of the people who run these local stations really don’t know how to “do” radio. It’s almost like having a rich person inherit a business, and he might know just enough to tell people what to do, but not enough to help it prosper. WGTM has (had) the largest range of the stations, but the personnel there had no idea how to help the station, and lacked severely in finding qualified salespeople.
The LPFM station can be criticized as being unprofessional in similar fashion, with many wondering if the “Prophet” is actually advertising or underwriting his programs. Depending on your definition of “underwriting” one may have a different opinion. WVOT also fails in this level of professionalism in that their advertising is near zero, hoping for ministries to support the station when nobody is hitting the streets to make sales. I remember once talking to them about this and they asked if I was willing to write off my commission to the “house”. Are you kidding? Why would I secure a contract and give the station my commission?
WLLY, last I knew of it, had only one salesperson, but oddly enough, he was not allowed to use the gas account to do his sales. One of the co-managers used the gas account to fill up his vehicle and all he really did was drive to the main post office to pick up the mail, and drive to the bank to drop off the checks…that was his job, because he was not qualified to do anything else. But he refused to let the salesperson use the gas card, keeping it for himself.
And I guess all this is supported by a lack of faith in these “religious” stations. Again, as a Christian I am not sitting here to condemn them but to be sure there is a failure for these stations, and it is based on their lack of faith. I am willing to believe that regardless of the economy, the state of radio and all that, that a really Christian radio station can not only work, but flourish where others will fail. But when it does not operate in a Christian way, then it is destined to fail. It’s like one person said here, that these stations fail because they are not good stewards of what they have been given.
One of the primary charges that a Christian station ought to have is to serve the community…no different than a church, or a member of the church. Ask yourself this, how many times has these stations covered the Job Expo, or Business Expo in this town? How many live remotes have they done that DON’T include their own church? When was the last time you saw a station get out into the community and SERVE the people?
Isn’t this the foundation of Christianity, to love one another? Yet these stations are all self serving, expecting the community to support them. When WVOT went off the air awhile back, the general manager mentioned in the article of the newspaper that they were hoping for support from the community…why? If they had treated the station like a business, rather than a handout charity, they would have prospered. It is ironic that some of the worst places to work for a living are religious businesses, because there is a mentality that you ought to work for the lowest wages possible…and even lower if you want to do the “Lord’s work”.
The two co-managers at WLLY make minimum wage and I remember one of them telling me that after the minimum wage went up a few years ago, they had to wait about a month or two before they started getting paid the new wage. These people also work every day, no holidays, no benefits because they work about 6 hours a day…how can that make sense for a CHRISTIAN radio station? Trust me folks, the man that owns WLLY isn’t broke.
I have always questioned the LPFM station here because it just bothers me how a man can have a ministry, a recording studio, a radio station AND a religious supply store… and how many people does he employ? If a man is blessed to have a church, a radio station, recording studio and a religious supply business, he ought to have a good handful of people working for him, providing well needed jobs in the community. But if such a man only has a couple, then there clearly is a problem with him desiring to help anybody. Why would a Christian radio station go automated, and employ NOBODY, when you can employ and teach others how the business work?
There are, to be sure, numerous factors that play into why all four of these stations have virtually failed Wilson, and the funny thing is that if you asked the average person how many stations there were in town, most would be surprised if there was more than two. With these stations being virtually invisible to their own town, it just looks like each station is nothing more than a wishful money tree for these owners, but have turned more into a money pit.
Can AM stations thrive? Can a local station thrive? Can a local religious station thrive…I absolutely believe it can. A radio station that really cares about getting out to the public, providing local perspectives and is willing to care just a bit about the people living in their town can indeed succeed. It’s not totally about the regulations, the equipment and the formats, although they must be a major part. But I think any station has to start first with people…owners and employees that are know radio, rather than just hiring anybody off the street who can work cheap. I said it before and I say it again, I think when the FCC repealed the need to have a radio license back about 96 or 97, it changed how local stations employed people. It went from hiring qualified people to anybody that wants to “be a celebrity”. And thus, you got a profession that has unqualified people.
But it’s not hopeless folks, I am confident that if any of these stations start to realize the potential of serving their town, and stop being so selfish to line their pockets with nickels and dimes, then they can indeed get to the point where they can prosper and make much more than nickels and dimes. The four stations in Wilson really need to take heed of that before there are NO stations in Wilson.
Time’s running out on them.
I know I missed a few factors, I gladly wait for you guys to add on, I bet there is a ton of perspective that you can add.
Or to be more specific, here in Wilson?
I wanted to stop and think about that for a bit, and then share some thoughts on it. Not to imply that I have the “gospel” answer, but to at least take some serious stab at it to see why there are (or were, depending on the time) so many religious radio stations in ENC, especially in Wilson, and why none of them are having any real success.
And I also realize that there are a ton of reasons why it is not working, and from a different eye one could validate a number of reasons. To be sure, many have talked about why AM stations have suffered so much, another can equally validate the format, or lack of decent equipment, or any number of things. But the question still remains, why do religious radio stations seem to fail in ENC, especially in Wilson?
To this date, there are four “religious” radio stations in Wilson, three of those are AM stations one is a LPFM station. At this very moment, one is currently up for sale, so technically there are three radio stations, but for sake of argument, let’s include WGTM.
I would love to hear other opinions as to why a city like Wilson can have four religious format radio stations, but collectively they all fail to make any impact on the city they serve. So I will start it out by giving my humble opinion, knowing that of all the people that make posts here, I am likely the least.
But I wanted to speak from a few perspectives. One, that I am a Christian, so this is not about “bashing” religious stations. Two, I have a degree in RTV from Western Carolina U, so I have an academic background. Three, I have worked for several radio stations since my graduation, which implies that I have some level of experience. And four, I know Wilson pretty well, so I have a decent idea of the community.
If somebody asked me why four radio stations in one town aren’t worth a hill of beans, I would first agree with them and give them whatever is behind door number 1. I won’t argue with anybody that collectively none of the radio stations here are worth one secular radio station in Rocky Mount. But why is this so?
There are a lot of ways to go at this, from mechanical issues, professional issues, legal issues, format issues and things like that, but I’d like to narrow it down to just a few factors: selfish management, lack of professionalism and oddly, lack of faith.
To me, and I might be a little over the top, but if you have not one, not two, but FOUR Christian radio stations in your city, it ought to help that city be one of the best in the state…and anybody working for those stations ought to be faith-filled Christians who are there to be a blessing to listeners all over the area. I mean think about it, if Christians in general are to be people that share faith, then how much faith ought to be in four radio stations in a single city?
But that’s not the case. And one of the reasons is that all four of these stations operate off selfish motives, and it shows in their management of the station. Management is based on delegation of authority, allowing others to do the job you hired them to do. But too often people who call themselves “managers” or even owners of radio are too busy looking out for number one.
One reason these stations are failing is because those in charge are in it for themselves…and no one else. One key example is WLLY and the late Wallace Bullock. I knew the man, and I say with my heart that he was a good man, and did good work for the community, but he refused to teach his employees how to excel in radio. After he passed a few years ago, one of the employees told me that she asked him to teach her how to run the board, to do logs and cut spots. He always refused, and never even wanted anybody to speak on the air, saying that “DJs were overrated”…yet every commercial on WLLY was by his voice…no one else.
She asked him to teach her, just in case something happens. His answer to her was, and I quote from her, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there”. When he passed away, the station was left with people who knew almost nothing about radio, and they could have easily have gone under if they had not gotten help from outsiders to teach them how to run a radio station.
WVOT operated the same way, with Pastor MK Smith paying an employee less than minimum wage to save him some money, and often took collections from the church to pay the station’s bills, rather than making the station more like a business than a charity. The LPFM station also seems self servant in that it seems to be a promotional tool for the owner to push his latest gospel CD.
A second reason I think these stations fail is because a lack of professionalism, in that most of the people who run these local stations really don’t know how to “do” radio. It’s almost like having a rich person inherit a business, and he might know just enough to tell people what to do, but not enough to help it prosper. WGTM has (had) the largest range of the stations, but the personnel there had no idea how to help the station, and lacked severely in finding qualified salespeople.
The LPFM station can be criticized as being unprofessional in similar fashion, with many wondering if the “Prophet” is actually advertising or underwriting his programs. Depending on your definition of “underwriting” one may have a different opinion. WVOT also fails in this level of professionalism in that their advertising is near zero, hoping for ministries to support the station when nobody is hitting the streets to make sales. I remember once talking to them about this and they asked if I was willing to write off my commission to the “house”. Are you kidding? Why would I secure a contract and give the station my commission?
WLLY, last I knew of it, had only one salesperson, but oddly enough, he was not allowed to use the gas account to do his sales. One of the co-managers used the gas account to fill up his vehicle and all he really did was drive to the main post office to pick up the mail, and drive to the bank to drop off the checks…that was his job, because he was not qualified to do anything else. But he refused to let the salesperson use the gas card, keeping it for himself.
And I guess all this is supported by a lack of faith in these “religious” stations. Again, as a Christian I am not sitting here to condemn them but to be sure there is a failure for these stations, and it is based on their lack of faith. I am willing to believe that regardless of the economy, the state of radio and all that, that a really Christian radio station can not only work, but flourish where others will fail. But when it does not operate in a Christian way, then it is destined to fail. It’s like one person said here, that these stations fail because they are not good stewards of what they have been given.
One of the primary charges that a Christian station ought to have is to serve the community…no different than a church, or a member of the church. Ask yourself this, how many times has these stations covered the Job Expo, or Business Expo in this town? How many live remotes have they done that DON’T include their own church? When was the last time you saw a station get out into the community and SERVE the people?
Isn’t this the foundation of Christianity, to love one another? Yet these stations are all self serving, expecting the community to support them. When WVOT went off the air awhile back, the general manager mentioned in the article of the newspaper that they were hoping for support from the community…why? If they had treated the station like a business, rather than a handout charity, they would have prospered. It is ironic that some of the worst places to work for a living are religious businesses, because there is a mentality that you ought to work for the lowest wages possible…and even lower if you want to do the “Lord’s work”.
The two co-managers at WLLY make minimum wage and I remember one of them telling me that after the minimum wage went up a few years ago, they had to wait about a month or two before they started getting paid the new wage. These people also work every day, no holidays, no benefits because they work about 6 hours a day…how can that make sense for a CHRISTIAN radio station? Trust me folks, the man that owns WLLY isn’t broke.
I have always questioned the LPFM station here because it just bothers me how a man can have a ministry, a recording studio, a radio station AND a religious supply store… and how many people does he employ? If a man is blessed to have a church, a radio station, recording studio and a religious supply business, he ought to have a good handful of people working for him, providing well needed jobs in the community. But if such a man only has a couple, then there clearly is a problem with him desiring to help anybody. Why would a Christian radio station go automated, and employ NOBODY, when you can employ and teach others how the business work?
There are, to be sure, numerous factors that play into why all four of these stations have virtually failed Wilson, and the funny thing is that if you asked the average person how many stations there were in town, most would be surprised if there was more than two. With these stations being virtually invisible to their own town, it just looks like each station is nothing more than a wishful money tree for these owners, but have turned more into a money pit.
Can AM stations thrive? Can a local station thrive? Can a local religious station thrive…I absolutely believe it can. A radio station that really cares about getting out to the public, providing local perspectives and is willing to care just a bit about the people living in their town can indeed succeed. It’s not totally about the regulations, the equipment and the formats, although they must be a major part. But I think any station has to start first with people…owners and employees that are know radio, rather than just hiring anybody off the street who can work cheap. I said it before and I say it again, I think when the FCC repealed the need to have a radio license back about 96 or 97, it changed how local stations employed people. It went from hiring qualified people to anybody that wants to “be a celebrity”. And thus, you got a profession that has unqualified people.
But it’s not hopeless folks, I am confident that if any of these stations start to realize the potential of serving their town, and stop being so selfish to line their pockets with nickels and dimes, then they can indeed get to the point where they can prosper and make much more than nickels and dimes. The four stations in Wilson really need to take heed of that before there are NO stations in Wilson.
Time’s running out on them.
I know I missed a few factors, I gladly wait for you guys to add on, I bet there is a ton of perspective that you can add.