Southern Illinois Withers Takes 4 Silent in Southern Illinois

[PTBoardOp93]

From Lance:

Withers Broadcasting Takes Four Stations Silent In Restructuring

Withers Broadcasting shut down four of its stations on June 1. Going silent were Millennial Hits "Wish 98.9" WISH-FM Galatia/Marion

radioinsight.com

Withers has a lot of scale in these southern Illinois markets, so if these stations aren't viable for them, there's a good chance that they get cancelled in a year.

On the other hand, some of them seem to have marginal formats. I can't imagine Classic Hip Hop is in high demand in Southern Illinois.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

From Lance:

Withers Broadcasting Takes Four Stations Silent In Restructuring

Withers Broadcasting shut down four of its stations on June 1. Going silent were Millennial Hits "Wish 98.9" WISH-FM Galatia/Marion

radioinsight.com

Withers has a lot of scale in these southern Illinois markets, so if these stations aren't viable for them, there's a good chance that they get cancelled in a year.

On the other hand, some of them seem to have marginal formats. I can't imagine Classic Hip Hop is in high demand in Southern Illinois.

One of the problems with all of these signals was... the signals. WISH.... a mostly rural rimshot. Its iffy in Marion.

WMCL, and WISH along with WQRL had been in Benton but some years ago moved to the Marion studios alongside W3D

WMCL and WISH had very little local on the air

 

[ted chittenden]

I was surprised that WMIX-AM wasn't also on this list as its format skews older than that of WILY. That said, unlike the stations on this list, it does have a fairly decent, if directional, night time signal.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

I was surprised that WMIX-AM wasn't also on this list as its format skews older than that of WILY. That said, unlike the stations on this list, it does have a fairly decent, if directional, night time signal.

WMIX-AM & FM were the original stations acquired by Russ Withers, the father of the current owner, in the 1970s. They'll probably be kept operating as usual, for sentimental reasons if nothing else.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

WMIX-AM & FM were the original stations acquired by Russ Withers, the father of the current owner, in the 1970s. They'll probably be kept operating as usual, for sentimental reasons if nothing else.

I met Russ in 2010... colorful guy, to say the least.

 

[secondchoice]

I bet the local economy isn't that good in the heartland. Corn, wheat, and soybean farmers can be victims of geo-politcal driven markets and events.

IMHO: The on again and off again tariffs aren't helping things either.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I bet the local economy isn't that good in the heartland. Corn, wheat, and soybean farmers can be victims of geo-politcal driven markets and events.

IMHO: The on again and off again tariffs aren't helping things either.

Ag is not the big economy driver in southern Illinois where some of these stations are.. its one of the smaller parts of the economy.. manufacturing, higher education and healthcare is.

I worked for a station not far from WISh... so id recall/know.

 

[JJSPC]

It's not really the "heartland" that's suffering...it's just Illinois because the state is a tax hell. The communities and area these stations are in have been suffering outward population and business migrations for years, unlike the states of Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin which are growing.

I bet the local economy isn't that good in the heartland. Corn, wheat, and soybean farmers can be victims of geo-politcal driven markets and events.

IMHO: The on again and off again tariffs aren't helping things either.

 

[secondchoice]

You learn something everyday. I didn't know the local economy in that part of the state was reliant on manufacturing. I know some agriculture based manufacturing happens around Moline (John Deere) but I don't know about that particular part of Illinois had manufacturing too.

The reason for my post about the agriculture economy. Last year Illinois was #2 in US corn production. 2.4 billion bushels only Iowa produced more 2.8 billion bushels. Also Illinois was the US's largest producer of soybeans. That's a lot of money going to someone in Illinois.

Illinois has the 5th largest GDP of the US States. The nine countries around Chicago* generate around 75 to 80% of the income and grow very little corn due to urban sprawl. The other 93 counties produce the majority or the crops.

When I worked at KIUL the Ford dealer ordered new cars and trucks based on the dryland wheat crop production and the price of cattle.

* Just like Atlanta a lot of people have to move Chicago for a better job. My Dad had to go to the Chicago office for a promotion.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

You learn something everyday. I didn't know the local economy in that part of the state was reliant on manufacturing. I know some agriculture based manufacturing happens around Moline (John Deere) but I don't know about that particular part of Illinois had manufacturing too.

The reason for my post about the agriculture economy. Last year Illinois was #2 in US corn production. 2.4 billion bushels only Iowa produced more 2.8 billion bushels. Also Illinois was the US's largest producer of soybeans. That's a lot of money going to someone in Illinois.

Illinois has the 5th largest GDP of the US States. The nine countries around Chicago* generate around 75 to 80% of the income and grow very little corn due to urban sprawl. The other 93 counties produce the majority or the crops.

When I worked at KIUL the Ford dealer ordered new cars and trucks based on the dryland wheat crop production and the price of cattle.

* Just like Atlanta a lot of people have to move Chicago for a better job. My Dad had to go to the Chicago office for a promotion.

SIU Carbondale is pretty big and like almost abywhere else, so is healthcare