WJIB article

[raccoonradio]

http://scoutcambridge.com/archives/4482

Easy as the breeze and enjoyed by more people
than you'd think

 

[TheBigA]

I've said this on a lot of boards: This is the future of AM radio. Maybe of all OTA radio at some point. No question that people love the convenience of radio. The problem comes when those people age out of the advertising demographic. What if you could eliminate advertisers and strictly program to subscribers, the way Sirius does? You'd end up with stations that have a broader music mix than typical commercial stations. In a way, it's a different business model.

 

[Unregistered]

I've said this on a lot of boards: This is the future of AM radio. Maybe of all OTA radio at some point. No question that people love the convenience of radio. The problem comes when those people age out of the advertising demographic. What if you could eliminate advertisers and strictly program to subscribers, the way Sirius does? You'd end up with stations that have a broader music mix than typical commercial stations. In a way, it's a different business model.

It was certainly a good move for a station such as WJIB, which with their limited signal is not commercially viable. Calling this the future of AM is a bit of a stretch. How many such stations could a market even the size of Boston support? Not very many, could you picture 1510 with their 50kW transmitter and high site rent being able to attract enough donations to even pay the electric bill?

 

[raccoonradio]

Interesting--and there have been some list. supported AM stations; public ones like WNYC 820

 

[TheBigA]

Interesting--and there have been some list. supported AM stations; public ones like WNYC 820

Quite a few actually, like WHA-AM in Madison WI and WNED-AM in Buffalo.

 

[davideduardo]

Easy as the breeze and enjoyed by more people
than you'd think

I would be a greater supporter of those who program music forms that are not longer on commercial radio were they not to feel the urge to state, in one way or another, that "music is so horrible today" and that, ergo, their music is so much better.

It's not better. Its just different. Some people like it, some don't. That goes for any kind of music, from classical to hip-hop. Panning one style to reinforce another is both wrong and reeks of snobbery.

It's too bad these attitudes are common among niche broadcasters because, as BigA concludes, this kind of operation may save many AM stations while at the same time preserving kinds of programming we would otherwise not have.

 

[Unregistered]

Well written article! More broadcasters across the country - particularly those with marginal facilities and especially on AM - should take notice!

 

[K6JHU]

"What if you could eliminate advertisers and strictly program to subscribers, the way Sirius does?" Sirius is programming to the subscribers. That is why they are starting to downsize/eliminate specialty channels.

 

[TheBigA]

That is why they are starting to downsize/eliminate specialty channels.

There are some formats that are difficult to sustain in some places even with listener sponsorship.

 

[Groove1670]

The station is in a large populated area. With operating costs kept to a minimum, only a small fan base is needed to keep the station in the black. Kudos to Mr. Bittner to be able to run a unique format, and making it successful.

 

[Wimmmex]

I would be a greater supporter of those who program music forms that are not longer on commercial radio were they not to feel the urge to state, in one way or another, that "music is so horrible today" and that, ergo, their music is so much better.

Well stated David

 

[cyberdad]

^ Agree 100% with David on this one. In fact, I had said more or less the exact same thing earlier today in a conversation with my son when he was trying to compare the music of 1965 with that of 1993. There is no "better". There is no "worse". Just "different".

And if we're talking about listener-supported "narrowcasting" AM radio, how about KBRD in Lacy (Olympia), Washington? They also stream.

 

[Unregistered]

I would be a greater supporter of those who program music forms that are not longer on commercial radio were they not to feel the urge to state, in one way or another, that "music is so horrible today" and that, ergo, their music is so much better.

It's not better. Its just different. Some people like it, some don't. That goes for any kind of music, from classical to hip-hop. Panning one style to reinforce another is both wrong and reeks of snobbery.

It's too bad these attitudes are common among niche broadcasters because, as BigA concludes, this kind of operation may save many AM stations while at the same time preserving kinds of programming we would otherwise not have.

There are a pair of oldies stations in western Michigan, WGVS/WGVU at 850/1480 from Muskegon and Grand Rapids which are listener supported.

http://www.wgvu.org/realoldies/