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WKMC 1370

R

rtetro

I was in the Altoona area last week and did some dial twisting on both AM and FM. I stumbled on oldies station WKMC out of Roaring Springs, just south of Altoona, and was quite impressed. I know that they are running some satellite programming (Charlie Tuna, et al); but it sounds like a good deal of their daytime programming is local. What I was hearing was a very well executed oldies format, that captured very well the presentation of Top 40 radio from, say, the early 70s.

I can't seem to find very much information about them online. No website that I can find, no streaming, etc. Does anyone know anything about this station?
 
WKMC used to be owned by the "beloved" Lou Marhoffer or is it "Maierhoffer"...I never knew the exact spelling. It was, what he called "Town and Country" then. Out of those who worked there was a guy named Jack Sickle. He went to WEDO outside of Pittsburgh. Another was a guy who ended up buying a religious station up around Altoona...Larry Walters. Lou left a very bad taste in the mouths of many with his reputation of being very loose with the truth. In a phone call I had with him, he told me as long as it was beneficial to him he felt it was ok to lie. He reminded me of the Gentile version of Herb Scott.
 
DXDXDX said:
WKMC used to be owned by the "beloved" Lou Marhoffer or is it "Maierhoffer"...I never knew the exact spelling. It was, what he called "Town and Country" then. Out of those who worked there was a guy named Jack Sickle. He went to WEDO outside of Pittsburgh. Another was a guy who ended up buying a religious station up around Altoona...Larry Walters. Lou left a very bad taste in the mouths of many with his reputation of being very loose with the truth. In a phone call I had with him, he told me as long as it was beneficial to him he felt it was ok to lie. He reminded me of the Gentile version of Herb Scott.
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If Lou Maierhoffer isn't dead yet, he deserves to be. In my humble opinion, he was one of the most lying, cheating, immoral, unethical human beings ever to be handed a broadcast license.

Back in the late 60s and early 70s, I worked for Denny Bixler and crew at WVAM. Denny also happened to be a state representative. Denny had a two-way unit in his car that he used to communicate with the station when he was on the road. Heading back into town one day (in the middle of an election), he was stopped in traffic due to a raging house fire. He used to two-way to file a handful of short on-the-scene news reports. This happened mid-day.

Maierhoffer bitched to the FCC who ordered WVAM to give him "equal time," fifteen straight minutes in afternoon drive.

Lou had the huevos to show up in person instead of providing a recordfing, then proceeded to use the first half of his given time to lambast Bixler for every broadcast sin in the book. Among other things, Maierhoffer claimed during his rant that Bixler had mis-used his broadcast license and "illegally" transmitted news updates in order to further his political career.

Again, just my opinion, but as far as I'm concerned, Maierhoffer was one of the nastiest people to ever cast a shadow in Blair County.
 
There was a rumor which was circulated in which it was said LM originally worked at a bank and somehow convinced some of the original WKMC partners the place was on the verge of financial collapse but he, being such a nice guy, would be glad to buy them out and take control. There were some long time radio people there too. Like Jack Riley, a very large man who was a mainstay at WCRO in Johnstown. Riley was in sales at WKMC. Remember him?
 
Are you saying LM was also running for State Representative? Bixler was no stranger to FCC complaints. There was another complaint alleging unfairness in another election. Additionally, the FCC got involved in possible falsification of affidavits of performance. Some of the people involved in that fiasco are still active in the market. Whether or not the alleged falsification took place is another matter. Internally, there was a little boy with a brief case who was going around spreading garbage and trying to stir up trouble because he wanted to be PD.
 
dddddxxxxxx: if you don't have anything nice to say, why not post somewhere else. Like put some more magnets on your fridge!
 
SarasotaJim, apparently he is still alive. You can see a picture of him looking 174 years old on the ARC Federal Credit Union website, if you can stomach it.
 
If you do some research, you will find the illustrious voice of honesty, LM, got into trouble with the FCC for continuing to operate a translator without renewing the license! Was fined!
 
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