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WKHB and WKFB: COL application

Plus, you're forgetting that approximately 70 percent of radio's audience is mobile.

Actually, I think I'm one of the few people in here who actually remembers that fact!

I'm not saying that providing extra services is a bad thing. I'm only saying that it isn't as critical as it used to be. If a station is playing Hot AC Hits, and they get word that a tornado is coming, and broadcast that warning, the only motorists driving in their cars who will hear that warning are Hot AC Hits fans. A warning of severe weather on the way that's broadcast on a Hot AC station isn't going to do country music fans one dang bit of good, regardless of where the transmitter or studio is located. That warning also isn't going to do much good for people listening to satellite radio or a CD player or tape deck. And, based on what I hear from the open windows of cars next to me at stop lights as I drive through traffic, CD players and tape decks are listened to at least as much as terrestrial radio.

This is also about the moving of an AM radio station from Irwin to Brentwood, so the real issue is how many Irwinians who would have received an advance warning about an upcoming tornado heading for Irwin would be left without any advance warning if the station moved to Brentwood.

Finally, please bear in mind that this is about advance warnings given to people in enough time that they can take appropriate measures. It doesn't matter much how many people phone a radio station or tune in to it after the tornado is past. Once the tornado has come and gone, it's a little late for emergency warnings.
 
Radio_Realist said:
Plus, you're forgetting that approximately 70 percent of radio's audience is mobile.


This is also about the moving of an AM radio station from Irwin to Brentwood, so the real issue is how many Irwinians who would have received an advance warning about an upcoming tornado heading for Irwin would be left without any advance warning if the station moved to Brentwood.
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None. The station plays brokered infomercials, it's safe to say that virtually no one considers it an important source for any information. It's totally irrelevant. They can put all the warnings on the air that they want, people have to be listening for it to be of any value.

If the station offered daily programming that anyone gave a flying wahoo about, then the ancillary services become of some importance. The Butler group, doing a fine job albiet caught in a time warp, is now the microscopic exception.

Small AM's just don't matter anymore as a voice of the local community, big market, small market, in between market.

It's ironic that in this information age, we've created an environment where local information is no longer available on any meaningful level.
 
Parttimer said:
The Butler group, doing a fine job albiet caught in a time warp, is now the microscopic exception.

Small AM's just don't matter anymore as a voice of the local community, big market, small market, in between market.

It's ironic that in this information age, we've created an environment where local information is no longer available on any meaningful level.
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I'll accept that first statement as a compliment, parttimer. :)

Small market AM's, on the contrary, still DO matter in some markets, though. One fortunate thing about Western Pennsylvania's older demo is that it's still AM driven. There's lots of successful AM stations on the dial in SW PA that do matter to their communities.

I know that today, that's more the exception than the norm. The thing of it is, it didn't have to be that way. The so-called "pioneers" and "innovators" who have supposedly contributed so much to the industry, have also done no favors to AM.
 
Since we are on the topic of KHB, was that PBRTV's editor Eric O'Brein I heard tonight on the Big 620 with reverb cranked up full blast? ;D
 
Jim Trefney said:
Since we are on the topic of KHB, was that PBRTV's editor Eric O'Brein I heard tonight on the Big 620 with reverb cranked up full blast? ;D
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Wow...Eric scored a commercial gig? Good for him!
 
Someone wrote:

Small AM's just don't matter anymore as a voice of the local community, big market, small market, in between market.

WRONG! KHB/KFB and many others are not the voice of their communities. But thousands still are....BIG TIME! And they have plently of listeners and advertisers.

Guys, seriously, if you don't like radio, go buy your XM, your Siruis and just don't post here anymore.
 
But thousands still are....BIG TIME! And they have plently of listeners and advertisers.

If there are thousands, then name ten small AM stations that are "voice of the local community" here in Pittsburgh. Heck, name just one small AM station in Pittsburgh that is the "voice of the local community". And I'm talking about that really being true, not just that being their advertising slogan.

This is, in case you hadn't noticed, the Pittsburgh radio forum.
 
Radio_Realist said:
But thousands still are....BIG TIME! And they have plently of listeners and advertisers.

If there are thousands, then name ten small AM stations that are "voice of the local community" here in Pittsburgh. Heck, name just one small AM station in Pittsburgh that is the "voice of the local community". And I'm talking about that really being true, not just that being their advertising slogan.

This is, in case you hadn't noticed, the Pittsburgh radio forum.
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Do you mean in Pittsburgh, or the Pittsburgh market, Realist? Here's some in-market examples:

WCNS Latrobe
WBVP Beaver Falls/WMBA Ambridge
WBUT Butler
WISR Butler
WMBS Uniontown
WANB Waynesburg (for a limited time, though)
WKST/WJST New Castle

And there's lots of others outside this market plenty like them.
 
Do you mean in Pittsburgh, or the Pittsburgh market, Realist? Here's some in-market examples:

I mean that to be the "voice of the local community", they are listened to by a majority of the people in the city on a regular basis. I don't mean that local folks might tune in once in a blue moon, I mean that they dominate the local Arbitrons, consistently drawing more listeners than out-of-town stations with more popular formats. I mean that if I were to walk into a local business where local people are gathered and ask "Who listens to W___ most of the time?", most people would raise their hands.

Speaking to the local community doesn't make a station the "voice of the local community". Being listened to does.
 
Radio_Realist said:
Do you mean in Pittsburgh, or the Pittsburgh market, Realist? Here's some in-market examples:

I mean that to be the "voice of the local community", they are listened to by a majority of the people in the city on a regular basis. I don't mean that local folks might tune in once in a blue moon, I mean that they dominate the local Arbitrons, consistently drawing more listeners than out-of-town stations with more popular formats. I mean that if I were to walk into a local business where local people are gathered and ask "Who listens to W___ most of the time?", most people would raise their hands.

Speaking to the local community doesn't make a station the "voice of the local community". Being listened to does.
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And "speaking to the local community" drives a station's success, if what that voice is what the local community wants to hear. Arbitron ratings mean nothing in small market. I have seen scenarios where an AM was Arbitron rated #1 in the market, but they couldn't get any local revenue because the local businesses didn't like what the station played. I have always preferred to sell reputation, as opposed to ratings. Because a book printed in Baltimore says you're Number 1, that doesn't mean you're Number #1 in your community.
 
And "speaking to the local community" drives a station's success, if what that voice is what the local community wants to hear.

The thing is, I've never encountered a small market station, even when I lived in small markets, that enjoyed the kind of listenership and reputation you describe. As long as out-of-market FM stations can be received with clearer reception and (usually) better or more popular music content, small market AM stations are like small market newspapers. Most people are glad there is a local newspaper, but very few actually read it.
 
WCNS Latrobe
WBVP Beaver Falls/WMBA Ambridge
WBUT Butler
WISR Butler
WMBS Uniontown
WANB Waynesburg (for a limited time, though)
WKST/WJST New Castle



I think you're confusing merely still having an audience with being important to the community in at least some of these cases.
 
Most people are glad there is a local newspaper, but very few actually read it.


I just love these sweeping unproven generalizations.
 
I just love these sweeping unproven generalizations.

You mean like:

Small AM's just don't matter anymore as a voice of the local community, big market, small market, in between market.

There's lots of successful AM stations on the dial in SW PA that do matter to their communities.

But thousands still are....BIG TIME! And they have plently of listeners and advertisers.

And there's lots of others outside this market plenty like them.

Is there any particular reason why you picked that one specific example of "sweeping unproven generalizations" instead of any of those others in recent posts?
 
Parttimer said:
WCNS Latrobe
WBVP Beaver Falls/WMBA Ambridge
WBUT Butler
WISR Butler
WMBS Uniontown
WANB Waynesburg (for a limited time, though)
WKST/WJST New Castle



I think you're confusing merely still having an audience with being important to the community in at least some of these cases.
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Last time I checked, you needed an audience to have relevancy in your community.
 
Radio_Realist said:
And "speaking to the local community" drives a station's success, if what that voice is what the local community wants to hear.

The thing is, I've never encountered a small market station, even when I lived in small markets, that enjoyed the kind of listenership and reputation you describe. As long as out-of-market FM stations can be received with clearer reception and (usually) better or more popular music content, small market AM stations are like small market newspapers. Most people are glad there is a local newspaper, but very few actually read it.
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If you're listening to a station for music or regional/state news and for no other reason, then I'd be inclined to agree with you. If you care what happens in your own backyard, then you'd listen...provided that the bigger stations aren't already offering it. Do the FM stations we have now serving Pittsburgh licensed to Braddock, New Kensington, Beaver Falls or Duquesne providing the kind of service I'm talking about? No. They're in the "no repeat 9 to 5, listen while you work, 30 minutes of non-stop music every hour" music business.

The successful local AM stations offer full-service local news, high school and local college sports, some talk, and other such programming. For those stations that still do play music, it's role is very secondary. Here's a quote from the December 27, 1999 issue from the Trib: "Broadcaster of the Year an oldie but goody"...

"You need to concentrate on your area of influence. Other stations have oldies, we have oldies; you can get oldies on a CD and listen to them anytime you want. But it's what we do between the music that makes these stations unique."

That's from former PAB board member John Longo, who owns WCNS in Latrobe. He also won the 2000 Radio Broadcaster of the Year for PAB.

You tell him that small market AM radio is like you just described above. He bought two dog stations (and the FM he later sold was an absolute joke before he got it) and made them into true success stories.
 
No need to look any further than WMBS in Uniontown. By far, the most listened to radio station in that community. Its so strong there, that its the reason it shows up in the Pittsburgh Arbitrons.

Realist as once again been defeated.....its a great day!
 
lash said:
No need to look any further than WMBS in Uniontown. By far, the most listened to radio station in that community. Its so strong there, that its the reason it shows up in the Pittsburgh Arbitrons.

Realist as once again been defeated.....its a great day!
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WMBS is indeed a great example, Chris. It's rare that standalone AM's do well...but that also is proof positive that it can be done!
 
Someone really does need to start a new thread....Kenhawk is even boring himself to death, not to mention the rest of us.
 
radio--refugee said:
Someone really does need to start a new thread....Kenhawk is even boring himself to death, not to mention the rest of us.
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Floor's yours!
 
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