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Without a Trace: The WGST Mystery

E

Ears On

Guest
Has any radio station ever disappeared from view as quickly and completely as WGST? Two years ago, this board was filled with Kimmer-killers and Kimmer-guys. Okay, not filled - but there was was Rush to ditto or dump on. Hughes in the morning was a grumpy old pro or just old. Even Denny - (his name will come to me) was worth debating.

Now, under the master tutelage of Messrs Hogan, Deskins and Doomquist - you could yell WGST in a crowded theatre and no one would put down their popcorn.

The station has gone from a struggling, proud lineup (with no PD worth a damn for seven years (and counting)!) but still posting down but respectable numbers. They would kill now for a 2.7. WGST has gone from a feisty niche station to a complete non-factor ... perhaps soon to be 5th ranked on the AM dial!

Can this be anything but the worst managed station in the market? I think this makes RB et al longshots for the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.
 
I know this PD out in Albuquerque...I think his name is Andy. He might be interested in moving east.
 
15-20 years ago (wow--has it been that long?) WGST was kicking WSB's butt as loyal Democrat Anne Cox Chambers was trying to put a homegrown Air America on WSB. Then WSB got Clark, then Boortz. WGST countered with an unknown named Sean Hannity. Picked up the Bravos and also the 105.7 FM signal. Then came Planet Radio--a disaster for sure, but even Planet Radio was pulling in better numbers than today.

I think that WGST lost its way when:

-- Sean left and they floundered around with possible replacements. Glenn Beck never really took over the timeslot (while Sean lost to Boortz, he did hold his own), plus they stuck with him too long. Almost seemed like WGST was just filling the slot with cheap syndicated Premiere talent and consigning themselves to losing to Boortz.
-- In a shrewd move, WSB extended Boortz's schedule to 1 PM, causing Boortz listeners to miss the first hour of Rush, and often forget about changing the station to Rush.
-- Did not pick Sean back up when he went national.
-- Ditched the FM signal for Mix 105.7 (just what was that format, anyway?), and then oldies.
 
A lot of WGST's decline had to do with WSB finally waking up and modernizing. Former PD Greg Moceri was charged with getting that done and succeeded. And then, as Jabba mentioned, WSB stole the Braves.

Then Hannity took the job at Fox News Channel. WGST replaced Hannity with Ian Punnett. Initially Punnett was weak and did not fill Hannity's shoes. Then, looking at declining ratings, WGST tried Planet Radio, which of course hurt more.

When Clear Channel was able to upgrade 105.7's signal, the company saw 105.7 as an opportunity for an additional profit center and urged listeners to move to 640 AM, which of course did not happen, especially since WGST's night signal doesn't get out to many of the suburbs.

By that time, the ball was rolling down the hill and gaining momentum.
 
One more thing. I was told at the time that WGST (whoever was above Pat McDonnell in the CC structure) would not return the Hannity people's calls. Then WSB picked up Hannity for the after 6:20PM period for what on most nights was less than an hour because of baseball. The idea was to expand Hannity if response was good.

WGST then did WSB a huge favor by offering to carry Hannity in afternoon drive. WSB was then forced to move Hannity to afternoons in order to keep him, which turned out to be a good thing for WSB.
 
Is there anything ANYONE could do with WGST at this point? Ever? Maybe now's the time to blow it up and put on a satellite format so opposite of what's been done that it might work. Music of your life...all infomercials, all the time...Polka classics and the best of 1947?
 
Pat MacDonnell - on his watch - split the signal, thereby driving off the last PD of stature WGST ever had.
He also managed to piss off and run off both Georgia Tech and the Falcons.
 
If you read the "drained" post here, you'll get a pretty good idea of what the people on this board think happened to "Planet Radio"
 
Surfer said:
Is there anything ANYONE could do with WGST at this point?
Click to expand...

Bring back CONELRAD. Maybe people will listen to 640 then--radio to listen to in an emergency, because there's nothing else on anywhere else.
 
As I once said, Atlanta radio philosophy goes as follows;

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, it's rating would be just about the same as WGST's.
 
Having seen the comments on this thread I am given pause to wonder...

IS WGST ABLE TO BE IMPROVED OR, SHOULD WE JUST SHUT OFF THE SIGNAL?
 
We operate in small markets where it's still possible to have one on one contact with listeners and advertisers. Despite the community emphasis, we find in our small towns that the days of bringing back an AM allowed to die are behind us. A really good sales person can find a way to make some money on such an AM but bringing back its community prominence and listenership acceptance is practically impossible. If it's impossible in a small town, I would think it's even harder to do in a larger market like Atlanta. WGST is accustomed to playing second fiddle to WSB...that is pretty much the history of the two stations in Atlanta but now they aren't even in the same concert hall.

They to a successful AM today is maintaining a good one and folks in the front office have to be committed to its preservation.

Surfer said:
Is there anything ANYONE could do with WGST at this point? Ever? Maybe now's the time to blow it up and put on a satellite format so opposite of what's been done that it might work. Music of your life...all infomercials, all the time...Polka classics and the best of 1947?
Click to expand...
 
Seriously, here are the options as I see them:

1) Do what it take$$$ to get the eastern clear channel on 640 (it's open, not counting the other local signals elsewhere in the eastern US that would have to be taken dark or powered down in the PM). Put the transmitter on the 105.7 or 105.3 stick and go directional southward and/or eastward if you have to (I don't know if you can do that with one stick--I'm not a radio engineer). If you have to build a multistick field from scratch, do so (on the western side of the ATL, please, for optimum directional coverage of the ATL). WGST cannot do sports, cannot do PM drive in the winter, and will have tremendous difficulty programming its night hours (and using it as a farm team for talent) without a good night signal. THAT is one reason 680 is kicking 790's tail--680 is 10kW directional night (covering most of the metro except parts of Cobb and most of Gwinnett, despite Gwinnett being the location of 680's transmitter field).

2) Go sportstalk and give 680 a run for its money. Heck, buy Zone and move it to 640. Again, can't do that without item 1, though.

3) Open up the checkbook and poach some talent away from WGKA. Talk about a station that does more with less (and on WGST's old signal to boot)! This is about the ONLY option that will work without the night signal.

4) Develop a homegrown talent as part of your lineup--maybe Royal Marshall or Herman Cain when their K's with WSB are up. Or maybe Chris Krok. Even Ralph from Ben Hill would be a step in the right direction. If you can get the night signal you can park some n00bs until they get an audience, then move them into daytime.

5) Keep the news in the AM drive, and keep Rush. Put an AM-friendly music format (nostalgia, Americana, classic country, oldies) on during the other hours. Pull it off a satellite if you wanna be cheap about it.
 
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