Yeah, I saw the postings, too.
Personally, having played a major role in creating the current WKXL format - with its community shows, training people, coming up with ideas for new programs, seven hours of news, etc. - I like the idea of empowering individuals to perform "the art of radio," if you will. Obviously, I'm proud of the hard work I put into that place. There are a TON of things to talk about which aren't being discussed on syndicated programs. Many of those same topics are relevant to the community, too. And some of the hosts who are there do a good job.
But in order to succeed, it has to be programmed properly and I wasn't allowed to do that. Those "homemade" programs, for lack of a better term, are best for weekends. It is also good to get the hosts to become involved in selling the programs so that they can help support the costs. Lastly, you have to program what LISTENERS and ADVERTISERS want, and AM radio listeners what political talk. They don't want kiddie concerts. After all, you need listeners to survive. No listeners, no advertisers; no advertisers, no radio station, for most folks, at least.
The ad is also a bit disingenuous because if the applicant's passion doesn't match the owner's passion, you won't get your radio show. It's not like college radio or cable access, where just about anyone can get on. People should be forewarned that there will probably be a pretty heavy vetting process. Good luck though!
The concept of trying to branch out into other markets for advertising was one which was bandied about quite a bit in my 2.5 years there. But, unfortunately, with the programming so locally-focused, I mean, down to the reading of high school graduation notices during the lunchtime news, most of the out-of-Concord listeners have stopped listening. WKXL has historically been a local station but also a commuter station. Commuters listened to the news coming into Concord and leaving Concord. If you take all the state news off the air, for example, which the owner did, the commuters have no reason to listen anymore. They will get better headlines from the 'GIR trio or NHPR. So, it's going to be a tough sell.
I remember getting into an argument with the owner about Triple E and West Nile Virus alerts released by DHHS and put together in short reads by AP. He chastised us for reading them, saying they weren't local news because all of the infection activity was south of Concord. They can get that from Channel 9, he would say. We kept trying to stress to him that this was a medical emergency and a public service, and he would just swat it away. I don't want to hear it on my radio station, was his mantra. I mean, at that point, what is the point of being a "news" station? It was feudal. I tersely joked to him in an email that if my kid got West Nile Virus because I didn't know about the warning, because I didn't hear it on WKXL, the only station I was listening to at the time, I would hold him personally responsible for it. He didn't respond. I don't know if they have changed the focus of the news - I don't listen to the station anymore, I listen to WBZ - but if they have, it is going to take a good PR campaign and thousands in promotional money to get anywhere in the Lakes Region, where the competition for ad dollars is fierce.
Admittedly, back when Warren Bailey ran the station and Arnie Arnesen was on the air Noon to 3, WKXL cracked the Top 25 Arbitrons on a regular basis. But in the Spring 2005, the first book after Arnie was taken off the air, WKXL disappeared from the top. We had some good local zip code numbers. But outside of Concord, listeners were a rare commodity. In late 2006, I got some inside ball about our numbers and it was estimated that it was in the low hundreds, at best. Any smart business in the Lakes Region is going to look at the Arbitrons and laugh the new sales rep. right out the door.
