WIZE

[ericjbard]

Mainline made a very smart move with CLICK. The intended purpose is not for a short lifespan, instead it is to evolve as a targeted Hot AC. The station is essentially attacking MIX but also filling a big void in the market with the listeners who sample Channel and don't enjoy the rhythmic tunes.

CLICK may not last forever. However, I believe it has a lot more potential than it is being given credit for. Country on 101.5 would have died a slow painful death. With that signal being so close into the market, it would always be the "second fiddle" which is not great with investors. Instead, use the station for your advantage, which MainLine did.

If anyone would ever switch to Country, I wouldn't be too surprised to see FLY and HOT switch dial positions someday, but that would be it at most. Maybe 96.9 being sold by EMF if they had a better inmarket signal. We have to remember that Clear Channel MUST sell off 2FM stations in Dayton at some point. Only company that could make a real move here is an outsider.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Cincinnati Kid, where have you been? Going back as far as 1990 and continuing now, you could hear high school football during various seasons on 740, 910, 1050, 1160, 1230, 1320, 1360, 1450, 1480 and on FM 97.7, 99.5, 106.7, and 107.5. And let's not forget the old 100.9 WHKK and the LPFMs in NKY. Usually the station is paid by another party, like Prep Sports Radio Network. That was the attraction, but other stations like WMOH and WPFB would produce it themsselves, as far as I know.

Anybody with more insight please speak up!

Elephant -

I've been here l o n g before 1990. Most of the stations you list can not be received in many parts of the area after dark (which, of course, is when most high school games are played). Perhaps of those named, 1360-AM does the best and it still has its problems after sundown. Some of those you list also did games of schools from other areas - like Northern Kentucky or Hamilton/Middletown. Perhaps the best was when WPFB-FM did some tournament basketball games that involved Cincinnati suburban high schools although that was previous to 1990. It's signal was pretty good. Please note, you referred to football coverage. Greater Cincinnati has had some nice basketball teams recently, too (like Taft & LaSalle this season). The stations here haven't covered them - even those with the minimal power from your list. That's my point as well.

 

[techie2]

For decades, I have questioned why a local radio station has failed to do high school sports of the teams in the Cincinnati area. From what I have seen, it has come down to no one was willing to commit to doing it. Doing high school sports begins with a management who is solid behind it and by putting together a staff who can deliver it. Any breakdown in the series beginning with management and going through announcers, sales, engineering, and publicity can present real difficulties.

I have personally seen problems at each of those levels. This includes: management who have no clue about the area high school sports scene and fail to listen to those who do; announcers who are unable to do play-by-play; sales people who could care less about sports and even openly talk it down; remote equipment that is faulty or is not properly set up to provide a good sound of an athletic event to the listener; failure to publicize the game broadcasts in the newspaper, promote them on the air or in the communtiy that is involved.

At the same time, you need to have interest and co-operation from the high schools you wish to broadcast the games of. For some, this may be hard to believe, but there are some persons in high schoool athletic programs who do not wish their games to be broadcast. Reasons given have included: having the games on radio keeps people away; having people from the radio station at games causes overcrowding of the facilities; or just failuing to get back to you for the go-ahead. At the same time, there are schools who will do all they can to assist in getting their games on radio. I, personally, have dealt with both.

It seems to come down to being able to have a group who work well together and are united on one goal. Any break in that chain usually hampers the product and ultimately stops the process.

I agree...as a play-by-play guy for high school coverage, there are a lot of moving parts that have to work properly. Along with the 8-to-5 day job (not in broadcasting...the one that actually pays!), football season burns up about 3 days of my week per week in the fall. One evening a week to host the coaches show, one evening for game prep and assembling my notes packet, and one evening to do the actual game. Tack on arranging all road game sites, and trying to help with finding sponsors and keeping them happy and it gets busy! Doing it "right" takes a lot of effort, and the same is true equipment wise. Using a sideline reporter involves dragging so much extra equipment around that it takes a 4U rack on wheels to fit it all, but having the extra guy on the field adds so much to the broadcast that it's worth it, and having extra mixer channels than the typical sports box lets me patch in ref mics (where available) and other extras.

Spring sports can be hard too, most baseball fields have little to no press facilities so we travel with a 10x10 canopy, folding table, and lots of extension cord.

It gets a little easier when working with one "home" school and covering all their games, because the school will work with us to promote the broadcasts and link the audio feed on their athletic page. The newspaper is typically less than helpful in listing the games, probably because they own other radio stations. Half the time they list the wrong time or frequency when they do bother to print it.

As far as working with the road sites, I feel you. Some places are great, others have definitely made us feel unwelcome.

 

[alans613]

Mainline made a very smart move with CLICK. The intended purpose is not for a short lifespan, instead it is to evolve as a targeted Hot AC. The station is essentially attacking MIX but also filling a big void in the market with the listeners who sample Channel and don't enjoy the rhythmic tunes.

CLICK may not last forever. However, I believe it has a lot more potential than it is being given credit for. Country on 101.5 would have died a slow painful death. With that signal being so close into the market, it would always be the "second fiddle" which is not great with investors. Instead, use the station for your advantage, which MainLine did.

If anyone would ever switch to Country, I wouldn't be too surprised to see FLY and HOT switch dial positions someday, but that would be it at most. Maybe 96.9 being sold by EMF if they had a better inmarket signal. We have to remember that Clear Channel MUST sell off 2FM stations in Dayton at some point. Only company that could make a real move here is an outsider.

Eric, THANK YOU for your post! You and I share the exact same mindset on Click. I also think that they could hurt The X...there are some out there, myself included, that don't like all the hard stuff that 'XEG plays, like Mudvayne, Godsmack, and Disturbed. Long ago on this board I stated that perhaps someone should start up a Classic Alternative station...Click definitely plays their fair share of Classic Alt Rock tunes, so this station fits the bill. A Modern AC fills a void in the market. No matter how much folks liked Kiss Country, they must realize that once they moved to 101.5, K-99 would've slaughtered them. Could there some day be another Country station to compete with K? Perhaps, but what are the odds that they could compete with them? It's been proven again and again, the odds are slim to none, and slim long ago left town.

 

[Elephant]

Cincinnati Kid, so you're saying that you want a FULL MARKET signal to do high school sports. Is that right? Do you really think a station with the potential to draw full-market cume is going to give up that opportunity to appeal to an extremely limited audience? I think you're asking for something that no smart broadcaster would do, unless it's a huge event like the Skyline Showdown. On a full market signal, the loss of cume is devastating, even in evenings. That is really going to hurt.

The reason I listed those stations that CAN'T be heard all over the market, is because those are the stations that SHOULD do high school sports. Those stations have virtually NO CHANCE to draw substantial cume running regular formats. For these stations, high school sports is a way to draw cume and revenue. For the big stations, high school sports would be a way to LOSE cume and revenue.

The local stations are the ones that should be appealing to the audience inside their nighttime contours. I thought that was what all of the "local radio" people wanted? WPFB's signal is perfect for covering Middletown High School sports, not WSAI.

High school sports are very popular, as we all know, but not so popular that enough people will listen on radio outsude the immediate area of that high school.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

High school sports are very popular, as we all know, but not so popular that enough people will listen on radio outside the immediate area of that high school.

With regards to your last thought, I feel there is definitely interest outside of a particular high school's immedate area when they are in, for example, the state tournament semi-finals or finals. An example is the very recent games played by Taft & LaSalle in those venues. I may not follow them closely during the regular season, but for games like those, I have an interest because of their importance and I feel others do as well. Unfortunately, no stations (small, medium or large) around here thought that way. There are similar examples here going back over the decades.

You make very good points and I'm sure we have areas that we agree on. I'm just basing my thoughts on what I'm familar with in this area on this subject for well over 50+ years.

 

[stereolane]

From the experience of owning a few stations myself, I feel confident in saying that WIZE could likely bill $12,000 to $15,000 a month, if you were lucky, operated as a local Springfield station. The days of 40K a month, agency money from car dealers, fast food chains, and beverage distributors are long gone. I recall that Clark and Alex were paying Jerry Staggs a salary somewhere north of $80,000 a year as GM. My guess is that Jerry found himself making far LESS once he purchased the station from Great Trails.

Finally remembered the name of the PD who often hid in his office with the door closed... Mike Manley.

Sadly, I never saw the "good times" at WIZE. Springfield was a s**thole, where the sales staff, two people in their 60's, the other two in their early 20's, struggled with collections. The on-air staff was a dysfunctional group of people who didn't stand a chance of being hired anywhere else, which is why they were "exiled" by GT to WIZE. Station management was either incompetent, believing that "fear is a good motivator" (GM) or out of touch altogether, with little to no leadership abilities (PD). Whenever I was sent over there, I dreaded turning down that long driveway...

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

From some of these posts, it appears the first thing someone should do when purchasing WIZE is to begin by requesting a change of call-letters along with ownership for a whole new beginning. What stories! Certainly, I believe each of them and offer thanks to those who have shared them. You would think residents and business owners of Springfield who push for their own station. One that would provide local news, features and information.

 

[stereolane]

From some of these posts, it appears the first thing someone should do when purchasing WIZE is to begin by requesting a change of call-letters along with ownership for a whole new beginning. What stories! Certainly, I believe each of them and offer thanks to those who have shared them. You would think residents and business owners of Springfield who push for their own station. One that would provide local news, features and information.

We could turn it into a movie. Larry Hagman as Jerry Staggs, and a bearded Ed Begley, Jr as Mike Manley. Not sure who would play Clark Davis... :

I disagree on the call letter change. Good call letters that don't sound like a sobriety test are hard to come by these days. The "WIZE" tag probably has more good recognition than bad. At worst, it's likely "forgotten" or irrelevant as a 24/7 sports repeater station. In Jerry's office, there was a large floor to ceiling credenza behind his desk, with a large owl figurine perched on top. I never understood why the owl wasn't used in the logo somehow. When I asked Jerry about it, he told me that the owl was in the past, and they were doing something new. The air staff wasn't even allowed to say "Wize" as a word. They were instructed to spell out the call letters... "Your Springfield Station, 13-40 W-I-Z-E" each time. This was most likely implemented by Jim Richards, the consultant from Dan Vallie & Associates who often visited the station. I see nothing wrong with the positioner, but being forbidden to say "Wize" in any context, or use an owl in a printed logo seemed a bit arbitrary and silly to me... A consultant trying to justify change, for the sake of change.

Although, saying "Wize" on the air was one method of getting the PD to come out of his locked office.

 

[nmoore6676]

From some of these posts, it appears the first thing someone should do when purchasing WIZE is to begin by requesting a change of call-letters along with ownership for a whole new beginning. What stories! Certainly, I believe each of them and offer thanks to those who have shared them. You would think residents and business owners of Springfield who push for their own station. One that would provide local news, features and information.

We could turn it into a movie. Larry Hagman as Jerry Staggs, and a bearded Ed Begley, Jr as Mike Manley. Not sure who would play Clark Davis... :

I disagree on the call letter change. Good call letters that don't sound like a sobriety test are hard to come by these days. The "WIZE" tag probably has more good recognition than bad. At worst, it's likely "forgotten" or irrelevant as a 24/7 sports repeater station. In Jerry's office, there was a large floor to ceiling credenza behind his desk, with a large owl figurine perched on top. I never understood why the owl wasn't used in the logo somehow. When I asked Jerry about it, he told me that the owl was in the past, and they were doing something new. The air staff wasn't even allowed to say "Wize" as a word. They were instructed to spell out the call letters... "Your Springfield Station, 13-40 W-I-Z-E" each time. This was most likely implemented by Jim Richards, the consultant from Dan Vallie & Associates who often visited the station. I see nothing wrong with the positioner, but being forbidden to say "Wize" in any context, or use an owl in a printed logo seemed a bit arbitrary and silly to me... A consultant trying to justify change, for the sake of change.

Although, saying "Wize" on the air was one method of getting the PD to come out of his locked office.

The owl was used as the basis of the neon sign that hung on the old Salvation Army building when the WIZE studios were in it and the tower was on the roof. The owl was not used any after the move to Miracle Mile. In the very old days when WBLY was 500 watts and then 1000, daytime only, they used to identify as WBLY, Springfield's Most powerful and most popular radio station. WIZE at the old Class IV power of 250 watts countered with WIZE, your full time friend, we're still around when the sun goes down.

An aside, WHO in Des Moines till features an owl on their logos and all.

 

[pioneer71]

I thank everyone who has made comments on this post I started. It has really been fun to read all the different viewpoints.

I agree that high school sports is not for everyone but let's look at one station. What is the game plan by C.C. with 1360 WSAI? We all know its a strech when they try to sell WCKY as the local sports station when they are only local in afternoon drive and WSAI is where the national sports scene is. WSAI is a station that is never going to get the ratings. So why not build up the revenue and make some kind of an impact on the local sports scene?

Does anyone know the kind of rates they are getting for WSAI? This is the station that could do the high school sports scene with play by play and various coaches shows. I know there are real opportunities to put a lot of revenue on that station doing high school sports and putting on other local sports elements.

However, its not in their DNA to make money on the local high school sports scene.

 

[stereolane]

WSAI is a station that is never going to get the ratings. So why not build up the revenue and make some kind of an impact on the local sports scene?

For the same reasons I cited for why they won't do it on WIZE, because it would take 3 or 4 people, equipment, and a station vehicle to do the job. That's a big jump in payroll taxes and general expenses on something that's purely speculative. It would likely be a huge chore to educate the AE's on how to sell it. I'm not saying that I agree with this - I'm just giving you the excuses for why it will not happen. WSAI is most likely there to clear inventory for national buys, and nothing more. It's the same reason Art Bell / George Noory are on every single AM station overnight.

 

[alans613]

Vallie/Richards/Donovan(As they're known now and are the folks consulting Click)consulted Z-93 in the glory days of the late 80s/early 90s when they were the #1 station in town doing the "4 In A Row With No Talk" gimmick and 13 share. These were back in the days of Alan Kaye and Joe Mama "The Z Morning Zoo" 5-9AM, Ron Scott middays 9AM-2PM(Not "Rockin'" anymore), Randy Ross afternoons 2-6PM, Flyin' Brian nights 6-10PM, and Jason Roberts nights/overnights 10P-2A, along with Fast Art Simpson overnights 2-5A. Jeff Ballentine was PD then. I've heard a lot of stories about his tenure, that's all i'm saying.

 

[techie2]

I thank everyone who has made comments on this post I started. It has really been fun to read all the different viewpoints.

I agree that high school sports is not for everyone but let's look at one station. What is the game plan by C.C. with 1360 WSAI? We all know its a strech when they try to sell WCKY as the local sports station when they are only local in afternoon drive and WSAI is where the national sports scene is. WSAI is a station that is never going to get the ratings. So why not build up the revenue and make some kind of an impact on the local sports scene?

Does anyone know the kind of rates they are getting for WSAI? This is the station that could do the high school sports scene with play by play and various coaches shows. I know there are real opportunities to put a lot of revenue on that station doing high school sports and putting on other local sports elements.

However, its not in their DNA to make money on the local high school sports scene.

WSAI 1360 already does high school football. They broadcast St. X games last fall. The announcers were supplied by St. X so I assume some rich boosters are paying for the airtime, similar to what Prep Sports Radio Network used to do on that station where they bought the time and sold their own advertising.

 

[stereolane]

Vallie/Richards/Donovan(As they're known now and are the folks consulting Click)consulted Z-93 in the glory days of the late 80s/early 90s when they were the #1 station in town doing the "4 In A Row With No Talk" gimmick and 13 share.

I already know this. It still doesn't explain why the services of Jim Richards were needed at WIZE. One good thing I can say about WIZE is that when the station was programmed locally, it played a LOT of music. Most of the "gold" product were songs that WIZE appeared to have played in the past. WIZE was an AC station, but played tunes like "Gemini Dream" by Moody Blues, or "Ah! Leah!" by Donnie Iris. I remember currents from the new Roy Orbison album being played ("You Got it") and fringe AC bands like Waterfront ("Cry") Soul Sister ("The Way to Your Heart") and the big remake by Simply Red ("If You Don't Know Me by Now") that gave WIZE some flavor. A couple of the aforementioned dysfunctional staff members were using the Gavin Report. That gave the music a bit of an edge for an AC station. WIZE sounded unique.

After Jim Richards was done, Mike Manley told the staff (while wearing an ugly plaid dress shirt with a pink 80's sweater tied around his neck) that Jim had "trimmed all the fat" from the music library, and the station would sound much more focused. I think the currents / recurrents were pruned from 28 down to 5. The "Gavin Report" subscription was cancelled, and all future currents were hand picked by Jim. The "library" went from 1,500 songs to about 400. It wasn't long, and the station began to sound like any other tired soft AC station. The former "Star 107-7" sounded brighter.

I didn't stay long at GT after that - but I do know that eventually, Jerry Staggs flipped the station to standards (perhaps after he bought the station) and the programming came off the bird. Nothing better than programming to a dying demographic in a dying factory town. Now that's thinking ahead! :

 

[pioneer71]

Was WIZE ever a challenge to WKSW for the audience and revenue?

Also tell me more who Jim Richards and Mike Manley were...

 

[stereolane]

Was WIZE ever a challenge to WKSW for the audience and revenue?

Also tell me more who Jim Richards and Mike Manley were...

To the first questions, yes, and yes. There were frequent closed-door meetings in the GM's office, where yelling and pounding on the desk occurred, usually over competitive rates and promotions that Kiss Country was doing. One of the older AE's (her name was Andrea) was usually doing the yelling. Jerry Staggs (the GM) came from sales at Great Trails (I believe from one of the TV stations, IIRC...) and thought highly of his own abilities. I always had the impression that Jerry didn't like the music on WIZE. Pre-set #1 on his Acura was probably WKSW. Somehow, major market TV sales didn't translate very well to a standalone AM in a decaying mid-western rustbelt city.

Jim Richards was the consultant from Dan Vallie & Associates, hired to "fix" WIZE. It only accelerated WIZE's demise.

Mike Manley was the PD at WIZE.

 

[KFodor]

Was WIZE ever a challenge to WKSW for the audience and revenue?

Also tell me more who Jim Richards and Mike Manley were...

To the first questions, yes, and yes. There were frequent closed-door meetings in the GM's office, where yelling and pounding on the desk occurred, usually over competitive rates and promotions that Kiss Country was doing. One of the older AE's (her name was Andrea) was usually doing the yelling. Jerry Staggs (the GM) came from sales at Great Trails (I believe from one of the TV stations, IIRC...) and thought highly of his own abilities. I always had the impression that Jerry didn't like the music on WIZE. Pre-set #1 on his Acura was probably WKSW. Somehow, major market TV sales didn't translate very well to a standalone AM in a decaying mid-western rustbelt city.

Jim Richards was the consultant from Dan Vallie & Associates, hired to "fix" WIZE. It only accelerated WIZE's demise.

Mike Manley was the PD at WIZE.

Valley/Richard/Donovan is very good at FM music stations...(they did help Z-93 get to #1), however their record with the AM's here is less generous. They also were brought in at the end to oversee WING. After seeing the station fire all but one newsperson, the station cut it's news commitment back only to morning drive, then played "10 great oldies in a row every hour
from 10 AM to 5 AM.

The problem is: WING was an information station that played songs between the info...when you took the info away, the station collapsed...then came the bird...and later, Steve Kirk's retirement.

 

[alans613]

It sounds like Vallie/Richards/Donovan were into cutting out chatter and playing more music(See: 4 in a row with no talk on Z-93, and before that 50 minutes of music every hour and the best new music first). That works on FM, BUT as Jason said on AM(When AMs actually played music)it doesn't work as well.
Also...who were the news folks at WING that were let go? I was never a listener of WING-AM so I was just wondering who some of the news folks were around that time. I think Kim Faris did the news on both Z and WING. I know there was a news booth somewhere in that building that she once did the news from.

 

[zburns]

IF someone was to do anything with any station in Springfield, Wize included, it would need to #1 hyper serve the local community. And #2 which is actually #1, be able to sell spots and bring in the revenue.
Without the almighty dollar nothing can happen.
Identify the need. Fill it and be true to your local community, be willing and able to run in the red for the foreseeable future and maybe just maybe you can pull it out in the end.
I do not know about the end at WKSW, but in my tenure they sold spots and made money. I heard they made money on highschool sports, but honestly do not know.
As far as moving the radio station wksw (now wcli) to Enon, it makes sense in an effort to increase the overall portfolio value of the mainline Dayton stations.
I do not know anything about anything, but I would not be surprised if mainline did not have an article written about them having cash issues and wanting to divest of some stations once the market heats up.
With Dayton continuing to slip as a market, I am sure there is money there, but there is money everywhere if you know how to mine it. Hyper serve, local, local local....... it means loyalty and loyalty means $$$$.