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WJERFM Gone.....December 10th.....

OMW is Lynn Kelly! Awesome Lynn, you write a GREAT blog!
 
Uhhh...no. In fact, if such were the case it would come as a great shock, I'm sure, to both Ms. Kelly and OMW, both of whom would need new underpants.
 
While you talk about WJER as if it were an inanimate object, you should keep in mind that to the people of this area this station was alive and meant alot. Gary Petricola built this station and poured his heart and soul into serving his community for 40 years. We have been well served by both him and WJER, and both deserve more respect. Before you bash him, the station, or the community, please remember that this is an emotional issue and that there are real people involved. I don't know how CC normally does business, but they were suppose to stay here and continue serving our community in the manner that Mr.Petricola did all his life.
 
"Poured Hhis heart and soul into serving his community"???? ??? Sorry, but selling that station was a CHOICE. He CHOSE to sell it to ClearChannel for MILLIONS of DOLLARS. ClearChannel has been buying out small user-owned stations for years....And moving them.
The success of this station isn't owed to this man, it's owed to the dozens of employees that worked their butts off through the years to make it happen! Current/Former employees will tell you this: The man was hardly ever around for a large portion of this station doing business!!!
Before you make this guy a saint please consider what he's personally done; Don't blame CC for being who they are!!!!
I feel sorry for the employees that poured their hearts into this station for 40+ years, and I feel bad for a community that lost their station based on greed.
 
:(The sad fact is that, under Mr. P's ownership, WJER dimmed to a meer candle of importance to local radio listeners. The Arbitron numbers prove it. It's not bashing him...it's just the facts. He is among the many local owners who didn't adapt to the changing landscape, for whatever reasons.
 
Yes, selling the station was certainly a personal choice, just as any of us would hope to choose to retire after 40 years. Please don't forget though that after finding out that CC was going to rip WJER out of the community, he also made another choice - he chose to lease it back to keep it here not only for us but especially for those employees. Wow, what a greedy man. Imagine coming out of retirement for the sake of his community and employees. Most of us - myself included - will hit the door running when retirement time comes! He didn't take the money and run. He stayed.
 
I honestly think he irritated the situation by staying, but that's my personal opinion of the guy...Selling to CC will always boggle my mind ??? He could've easily sold it to locals. I believe the owner of several stations in WV (the name escapes me) asked GP several times about the place. Why CC?? And if he really wanted to retire why doesn't he sell the AM to somebody in the area? I bet Ed S./WTUZ would love to take the reins....
 
Petracola sold that station for the money and the money only. But who would pass up that kind of money?? But why is it so great that he held on for so long? He is NOT a hero!! The only ones who suffered were the empoyees. He still has his 3 million $$. And I can't imagine Shoemacher would want the AM. He will own (or already does) Tusc County With his FM. I just wish CC would take 101.7 and end all this.
 
We've taken some hits at the Mighty Blog for our WJER items, and it's been bugging us for a while. (Yes, your Primary Editorial Voice[tm] has feelings.)

But the core is this:

Gary Petricola made the decision to sell WJER to Clear Channel, not I.

Clear Channel made the decision to move WJER to the Canton radio market, not I.

And Clear Channel made the decision to use the facility currently under construction at 22nd and Whipple, and set a date to take over operations of 101.7, not us. (By the way, a pre-blog posting - we're hearing the date is now expected to be closer to the end of the year. Anyone who's been watching the construction can tell you why...just the physical logistics would prevent a 12/11 launch date right now, which is 9 days away!)

I'm experiencing a rather large case of "shoot the messenger" syndrome, and it's not making me happy.

Unlike some of the commenters to our item, I take NO JOY in the prospect of job loss, which I'm not even sure will happen here - that would seem to be up to Mr. Petricola and how he plans to continue to operate 1450.

(And again, Mr. Petricola will make that decision, not us! We're just a blog, for crying out loud!)

I'm sure even the snarky commenters don't take joy in job loss, but they shoot from the hip and even manage to point out some facts that Mr. Petricola may not like.

For one, I find it very, very difficult to believe that he thought Clear Channel would keep WJER, particularly its FM side, in Dover/New Philadelphia. Clear Channel is well known for moving reasonably-decent rimshot FM signals from small towns to nearer large cities.

If I remember right, it was even in the process of happening with at least two signals in Ohio at the time that Mr. Petricola was accepting CC's offer. (I'm not 100% sure, but I think the former home of WFCB/Chillicothe had already been tagged as a Columbus move in - the station that's now WLZT/93.3 Ashville.)

Either he's naive, or...well, I won't say it.

I will say that if he wanted to sell the station to someone who would keep it in Dover, he should have done due diligence and sold it to someone other than Clear Channel.
 
If Mr.Petricola does sell the AM to someone locally, I hope to God that it would not be to TUZ. The people need a choice - and there's a large amount of us who would rather not hear our local news and events than to have to suffer through a country station to do it.
 
Oh, and though it's not normally a subject I approach...I'm not Lynn Kelly. :D

As correctly stated here, there's a slight gender thing that would prevent that...
 
I'm sure GP would have a host of individuals interested in purchasing the AM; doesn't necessarily have to be Ed S./WTUZ. He could even keep it in house/perhaps somebody like the GM/Scanlon would be interested....
 
I am a recent high school graduate of the WJER listening area, and have grown up listening to the station. It is something I will always hold very dear to my heart-- especially now, when I am far far away at college.

Mr. Petricola has always been prevalent person in this community. Always supportive of the arts, sports and events both in New Phila and Dover. I participated in many events in and outside of my school, and it was almost certain that he would be either emcee-ing or sitting in the audience/bleachers. I find this admirable, because with a local radio station, it's important to actually know what's going on in the community. Some of you criticize this man for never "being there" at the station... as if he's emotionally detatched himself from the station and is just there to handle the money and business. I don't know anyone else who cares more about this community... or at least anyone who shows it more.

Things change. It's a natural form of progression. I love this radio station as much as anybody, but I've kept this concept in mind.

Oaktree... whoever you are... you are not in my good favor right now. For some of you, this matter seems to be a embittered personal vendetta. Frankly, I think this whole "lets blog, gossip, and make some audacious comments about things that don't sit well with us" is ridiculous. (Perhaps in writing this post I have just contradicted myself). There are worse things going on in our community that you all can become proactive about. Some of these comments are simply unjustifiable. These are both personal and business matters, and they will be resolved however they will be resolved-- with or without your petty gossip. So be nice. And please, just let go.
 
It's Petracola's stick...well not any more, however the point I am trying to make while we all hold near and dear the thought of a community radio station, the bottom line is...the bottom dollar.

I couldn't agree more with Shoebox that Mr. Petracola was greatly involved in the community, but in the end, he wanted to retire and he had the station for sale. Did Ed try to purchase the station? I heard that Donnie made an offer in the ballpark of 1.5 for the combo, but he sure wouldn't have kept it in T county. Bruce probably made an offer as well, but no one is sure of that.

I hate that everyone is bashing Petracola. I never worked for the man, but I worked in the area for three years in radio. We all got along very well. Tuscarawas county should be lucky that they even have a station left. Someone could have purchased 99.9 and 1450 and blew them up to increase signals in Akron or wherever.

If anyone knows how to operate "COMMUNITY RADIO" in the area, its Bruce and the boys at Coshocton Broadcasting. Okay, Okay....101.7, 95.3 yes they both sound like Amtrak and Norfolk Southern collided, but they are community radio. You carry the local high school sports, the college if there is one and you spike local businesses, do community toy drives and shareathons. Maybe both stations need to hire a Program Director that knows the importance of segues and music rotation, they both get the point of what you need to do to appeal to the community.

If Petracola holds onto 1450, that will be great. It would be even better if Bruce bought it! But I honestly see him selling to Ed. Oh well, we can all assume, but what good is it going to get us. No matter what we do, 101.7 is moving away. Eventually Tuscarawas County will become a part of the Canton Market. I really see that happening, especially if Next Media and Donnie back it up. Plus it would gain a few market placements when that happens.

Point being...its done, its overwith. Was Petracola at fault? I dont believe so, it was Petracola's choice! And OMW is right...it's his station. Yes, it was licensed to Dover/New Philadelphia, but there wasn't enough money to keep it in the city of license. If the community wanted to keep that station bad enough, they should have bonded together to save the stick and forced him to sell elsewhere. Greer wanted to purchase the stick at one time (Greer is an investment group that has part ownership of the ever popular West Virginia Radio Corporation).

I remember applying at WJER years ago and wasnt offered a job. Now Im programming in a market bigger than Canton...hmmm, isnt that funny! Oh yeah, and it's the top rated station in the market, and it also happens to be AC. Am I upset with Petracola? Nope. He just didnt feel as if I were talented enough to work as a weekend board operator. Enough said!
 
Sorry, Shoe. I don't have a personal Vendetta against the guy. I just hate seeing good talent and a good station be removed from the community.
Nothing I said was gossip; I worked there many years ago and I saw what I saw...That's how I know the employees made the station what it is today and not decisions made by management. Great guys like Steve Kelly that worked his ass off daily/forced to go elsewhere because of this guy. Sorry, that will always piss me off....can't let that go. I earned it! ;)
 
Thank you Shoe and Kentucky. Not normally a blogger myself, the pain felt locally forced me online and to speak earlier. Now that a few kind words have finally been spoken in the defense of a respected community leader, I can now put my blogging to rest. My heartfelt thanks, you have moved me to tears.
I agree that we have been so very lucky -WJER has been a wonderful part of our lives and that memory will always be cherished. It will be greatly missed, but it is now unfortunately also time to move on.
Wishing only the best to Mr.Petricola, his staff, and to the community.
 
Thanks to all. I am sure that Mr. Petracola will be happier without all this on his back. Did the community stand up in arms against him? Nope, everyone knows that business is business and we must all make decisions that at one point we would regret. Did he regret, im sure there were plenty of sleepless nights, but thats how the world turns.

Dreamweaver and Shoe, im happy to see you are both behind what radio means and what it was built on. I believe radio can still be a vital part of the community, its just our job to be with the times. I think WHBC A/F still do a tremendous service to the community and it shows in there ratings. For a city the size of Canton, they are still heavily involved in everything that Canton was built on. Mr. Petracola's ratings were dismal, yes I agree...however, that was due to product execution, not community involvement.

Will Tusky be at loss? I think there will be some community loss, but Ed will really step in and see WTNS to take on more of a Newcomerstown role as well. WKLM will for sure be more involved in Sugarcreek activites.

In the end, its just another day in Tusky county radio. Thanks for all those who support community radio. I just hope that all those stations realize that someday, they will need to work on the delivery and packaging of such a great product.
 
Just let WJER die. There are too many stations in the market as it is for such a shrinking listener base.
 
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