WNTK has to be lovin life these days

[nhradiochild]

With Imus gone, the actual talk station has got a big chance to boost those ratings and profits. Has anyone heard their morning show recently? And how much leverage do you think they'll have if the Q goes all music?

 

[NO DAG]

None, WNTK is what it is.. They have some good shows, Konrad Kane sounds professional.. Other than that, the overall sound of the statiion sounds no different than it did 10 to 15 years ago.. Sounds like low budget talker. The WNTK-FM signal doesn't even hit Lebanon, after Whaleback it's gonzo. The WUVR signal in Lebanon sounds subpar and weaker compared to other the other 1000 watt AM's in the area WDCR and WTSL. The Imus situation will not impact this signal in any way.

 

[nhradiochild]

I was speaking specifically of the morning time slot, not about the overall station quality. But I am impressed that they have been billboarding on the air that they broadcast on 106.5FM in Claremont. Talk about movin in on the Q!

 

[NO DAG]

I'd like to know how well anyone could hear that low power repeater well, when it's on a second adjacent channel to Q106 right in Claremont ?

 

[nhradiochild]

I wonder that myself quite frankly, but not in the area to hear first hand.

I do have a prediction though. Whenever Bob gets WQTH on board that's supposed to be 50,000watter daytime, I expect for WUVR to start simulcasting the Americana format heard on 1010 AM.

I'm just curious how the feed gets to Newport from New London, and I wonder what path he'll take to get the signal up to UVR. I'm guessing an STL shot from the tower in Springfield, NH.

LOL, I just keep adding to this puppy. ;D Probably will use the same path as he gets the talk radio up to UVR now.

 

[ebol]

Small Market radio lives on!

Cornball sponsor shill interviews, stupid contests (they were doing GOP Trivia for a chance to hang out with Mitt Romney and a roomful of stiff necked old white guys and their stepford wives from the NH republican Party at Mt sunapee...weeeeee!), no REAL news content, and the frakin astrology show on Saturdays!

Please. Give them a 50,000watt am and look out!

 

[nhradiochild]

LOL, I don't think for a minute that the station has ever strived to be exciting! ;D Merely informative and occasionally entertaining, and on a small market budget.

For what it's worth, I think that WNTK is still growing and that people thought that the station would take a major blow when Rush was swiped from their paws (or made intolerably expensive by competing Clear Channel who could give their own station the cash cow), but honestly I wonder if WNTK hasn't prospered somewhat after maybe a hiccup. There's one thing Bob Vinikoor is great at, it's sales. And as much as I don't think his voice carries well on the air, (he may think the same of mine, lol), I give him credit for being, like, the ONLY owner that actually broadcasts from time to time. (Dennis Jackson used to, but wonder if he still does.) Dan Ewald did too, when he built WEBK, but we all know that that station is out of his hands now.

Oh and the station is staunchly conservative. I think the only chance you're going to hear even a slightly democratic view is on the morning show and that's because the local talent pool (although the show sounds pretty darn good these days compared to when the Pete-monster was running solo) is a little slim in Northern New England. Can't say which way the current crew swings, haven't listened long enough.

I'm really excited to actually hear new liners done by a professional voice-over artist.

 

[ebol]

The current Morning Crew?

Konrad is an old Music Jock (WLNH,OLDIES 99 BIG 101.5) who seems apolictical at times.

His co host Bulldog sounds like a young Republican.

 

[radiogaga603]

Bob V. know has to sell?!?!??! LOL---OK NHRADIOCHILD.....at what rate? Its not hard to sell bottom barrel rates for mediocre content.

Try selling higher rates.....with added pressure....that separates the boys from the men in sales.

 

[nhradiochild]

OK, let me qualify that: Knows how to fill airtime with paying clients.

 

[radiogaga603]

Ok...regardless....however you want to say it....your opinion seems to be that Bobby V. is can sell his station.....well...yeah....he can get paying customers and fill stopsets with commercials. Thats good.

I think he has the luxury of being one of the last 'Mom and Pop' radio stations in a market full of corporate decisions.

That being said....he has x amount of dollars to meet every month to cover expenses....his goals are much much easier to meet then any of the corporate guys.

Here is why.....lets say that the Nassau stations are cash flow positive and these stations are making money....locally....ok....great.....but Nassau still needs to recover from the purchase price of these stations.

Corporate guys are never going to be happy with the Upper Valley bottom line until they LOCALLY have recovered from the initial purchase price.

WNTK does not have this major headache. So instead of 'filling stopsets', perhaps he should increase revenue and use that surplus to put back into the station.....improve signal quality, better facilities, etc....

Stop the desire to be a 50,000 watt daytimer and concentrate on a product that sounds great and is worth charging more for. You can polish a turd....but its still just a turd.

 

[nhradiochild]

That being said....he has x amount of dollars to meet every month to cover expenses....his goals are much much easier to meet then any of the corporate guys.

Here is why.....lets say that the Nassau stations are cash flow positive and these stations are making money....locally....ok....great.....but Nassau still needs to recover from the purchase price of these stations.

Corporate guys are never going to be happy with the Upper Valley bottom line until they LOCALLY have recovered from the initial purchase price.

WNTK does not have this major headache. So instead of 'filling stopsets', perhaps he should increase revenue and use that surplus to put back into the station.....improve signal quality, better facilities, etc....

Stop the desire to be a 50,000 watt daytimer and concentrate on a product that sounds great and is worth charging more for. You can polish a turd....but its still just a turd.

I don't see how that can be true. Bob Vinikoor paid a price and assumedly took out a loan for said station and add-ons thereafter, just as any other radio owner/conglomerate does. What that individual pays for the station is entirely based upon what the buyer and seller agree that it's worth. So, if it's worth x amount of dollars and both buyer and seller agree to it, then the station is purchased and then the only thing that needs to pay for itself in theory is the overhead. Now, while a conglomerate might not be happy about a station not pulling its own weight to make the loan payment, the company won't go under because it isn't.

Not so with Mr. Vinikoor. If he/they (meaning the Inc.) cannot keep his station above water, that's it for him/them. If he's not savvy enough to sell at the right time before he goes under, it gets foreclosed upon and auctioned. (This is not to discredit any of the other fine folks on his sales staff. I'm sure they do alright too.)

As far as improving signal quality, he's been jockeying and been tied up in the court system for the last 10 years or more trying to get approval for improving his signal as he and the FCC see fit. There was once an idea the studios could be moved to Lebanon, but perhaps that had to be put on the back burner because *gasp* legal fees and overhead set him back. The station has undergone some improvements. Maybe not top of the line stuff, but they are digital media and maybe one of the first in the area to do so.

And how can you say "stop the desire" to be a 50KW stick? Who wouldn't want to have a 50KW stick AM or FM? I don't think you're being realistic either. It seems you want a major-market sounding station on a small-market budget. And I'd say Bob gives more opportunities to folks wanting a start in radio than many of the other stations in the area. I was going to say "not his fault they're inexperienced" but in a way I suppose it is because he hired them. But folks gotta start somewhere. And I don't see any big-name talent coming to little ol' WNTK (who in the past has actually been complimented on its studios for the market it's serving on more than one occasion). I might add that if you don't have the signal strength then the station isn't worth investing as much in because you can't sell a turd-like signal either.

I've had privy to some of the programming options back when I was there and there didn't seem to be too many options left over (at least given the desired scope of talk programming he wants the station to lean toward). His station has consistently sounded better than TSL in my opinion, at least range-wise... until he dropped the talk on the Newport AM signal, that is. :-\ But I am convinced he has a master plan it's just taking forever to get there.

 

[Oldbones]

For what it's worth, I think that WNTK is still growing and that people thought that the station would take a major blow when Rush was swiped from their paws (or made intolerably expensive by competing Clear Channel who could give their own station the cash cow), but honestly I wonder if WNTK hasn't prospered somewhat after maybe a hiccup. There's one thing Bob Vinikoor is great at, it's sales. And as much as I don't think his voice carries well on the air, (he may think the same of mine, lol), I give him credit for being, like, the ONLY owner that actually broadcasts from time to time. (Dennis Jackson used to, but wonder if he still does.) Dan Ewald did too, when he built WEBK, but we all know that that station is out of his hands now.

Well there's Ken Squier at WDEV.

As far as growth potential for WNTK...I really don't see much...their signal doesn't really reach any population centers. It is what it is...small market radio.

Oh and the station is staunchly conservative.

But then, so is the audience in their coverage area. As someone else noted, their signal peters out well before it reaches Hanover, ditto for Concord. I'm sure some of the commuters who live in New London and work in either Hanover or Concord may have more liberal leanings, but unless you're WBZ talk radio listening is miniscule after 6pm when these people are likely to be home. Conservative is a good choice for the available audience.

 

[Oldbones]

I've had privy to some of the programming options back when I was there and there didn't seem to be too many options left over (at least given the desired scope of talk programming he wants the station to lean toward). His station has consistently sounded better than TSL in my opinion, at least range-wise... until he dropped the talk on the Newport AM signal, that is. :-\ But I am convinced he has a master plan it's just taking forever to get there.

I'm not so sure that 720 is anything more than his ego over-riding common sense. He has spent gobs of money on lawyers to try and put an AM station with a lousy pattern on the air. So what if it'll be the only 50kW AM in the state? It still will reach more cows than people, and he'll have a hefty electric bill each month to boot. Maybe he's independently wealthy & doesn't care, but sooner or later the bills will come due. My guess is that he enjoys being a maverick, even if it means shooting himself in the foot.

 

[radiogaga603]

Oldbones, exactly the point I was making with my colorful 'turd' statement. Sure, having a 50,000watt stick is great.....but shouldnt the order of things be....

1) Have good COMPELLING programming
2) Sell that and make it sound good....
3) Once there....go bigger.....if needed

NHRADIOCHILD - please excuse me....you seem very bias because you once worked for them. Truth be told....Bob V will hire just about anyone (this is a credit because he looks past experience and is more about giving people chances - IE small market).

Still, he has a long way to go....sound wise....before he can seriously think he can have a compelling sounding station on a 50,000 watt stick....

For example: "I'm Daaaaaaaaaave Morgan with a time check!!!" - please....where is the pepto....I'm getting sick.

 

[ebol]

;D

Acrually the weather. Dave Morgan used to do the weather in that interesting way.

WNTK usues a radio weather service these days.

And what ever happened to Gardner Goldsmith?

 

[nhradiochild]

To be precise, Dave Morgan had done both time and weather. However, the "talk radio time chimes" as they are affectionately referred to (or should I say not so much) are there for the simple reason of selling airtime. I'm pretty sure Dave could care less about announcing the time. I'm also fairly certain he does not address himself in that passage (of time :).

Hadn't known they used a weather service, that comes as quite a surprise to me.

I might add that when you've been at a station (particularly one that is not very exciting) as long as Dave has, you have to come up with ways of being entertaining with a very stiff guideline. There's really not much you can do to spruce up the weather, so I assume he embellishes so that he can be remembered for what little airtime he gets.

As far as being biased in support of the station, mmm well I've seen it come a long way, plus it was the home of my first broadcast. Don't think for a minute when I was working there that I wasn't bull**** about the equipment at the time. And I used to think like you all, where the quality of the programming comes first, but I guess I abandoned that idea when I knew that Bob would never really do a whole lot to positively affect programming so I focused on his quest for a larger signal, because then, at least, he could make what's becoming his cluster more attractive for someone to purchase and actually make better sounding. And many of his critics believe he is foolish for setting upon his goal and I suppose that there are some valid points, but the man has a dream and by God I'm glad someone does.

I apologize for being unaware of WDEV, my scope is fairly limited to the twin state valley and central NH.

As far as Gardner goes, he had some family matters that he had to attend to and couldn't make the commute from Amherst/Nashua anymore. There were talks about installing an ISDN line down in Amherst so he could do the show from there, but Bob didn't buy into it.

 

[lamont_cranston]

None, WNTK is what it is.. They have some good shows, Konrad Kane sounds professional.. Other than that, the overall sound of the statiion sounds no different than it did 10 to 15 years ago.. Sounds like low budget talker. The WNTK-FM signal doesn't even hit Lebanon, after Whaleback it's gonzo. The WUVR signal in Lebanon sounds subpar and weaker compared to other the other 1000 watt AM's in the area WDCR and WTSL. The Imus situation will not impact this signal in any way.

 

[lamont_cranston]

Actually WNTK is the epitome of what a home town locally owned radio station should be. All opinons that it is weak, old sounding, and so on are complete drivel and the opinions of competitors. Bob has survived while others have not. If you wish to make a suggestion, then call him, email him, or visit him. But as far as WNTK is concerned: Resistance is futile. Get used to it

 

[lamont_cranston]

With Imus gone, the actual talk station has got a big chance to boost those ratings and profits. Has anyone heard their morning show recently? And how much leverage do you think they'll have if the Q goes all music?

hello mark, how are you?