Re: WRGC
> I'm curious. From your comment, I assume that you think WRGC
> to be less than stellar. Share your detailed opinion...tell
> us what's wrong, and how would you fix it.
>
Well...I'll tell you what I know.
And...I should add...I used to work for the station. I won't say in what capacity--or under which owner (there have been only 2 owners of that station), but I am intimately familiar with the place (hell, it literally hasn't changed in 25 years--trust me). And I know many of the personalities that have come and gone by.
WRGC's "shining light" as an example of "good radio" was made a long time ago under the rule of Jimmy Childress. And by long time ago, I mean back around the time before 1980. Granted, many in the community still blame Uncle Jimmy for shutting down the Mead Corporation's plant in Sylva, but despite the fact that--yeah--he was big on the environmental cause, he was not the one that shut Mead down. The government shut Mead down because they were turning the Tuckaseigee River and it's related tributaries green. This should be mentioned only because--after Mead was shut down--Childress got a lot of the community backlash. People wouldn't buy on 'RGC afterwards...some still won't because of the call letters (named after Ronnie Childress, Jimmy Childress' son who was killed in a transmitter accident in the 70s...some people also think that the Childress family still owns the station). They would change the call letters, but...something tells me that they would have already done so if they could (could be a legal hangup with the Childress family).
During this time before 1980, the station was home to some really good people--people who went on to do great things in this area. Sherrill Barber, WLOS-TV reporter, worked there. Paul Turner, nationally known voice-over talent (if you watch CNN, you know his voice) got his start there.
After 1980, though, the station went into a rut...and it was compounded by the fact that, later on, Kiss-FM went country. That move dealt a blow to many stations around the area from a financial standpoint. And in that sense, WRGC became a joke in the community. The Childress' wouldn't change a thing to the station. Though the station did have a heavy "redneck" audience that consisted of older peoeple who just loved their gospel music. But no one would buy on the station.
For all the potential damage that the Childress family might have caused to the image of that station, they--at the least--knew how to run a radio station. They kept a live personality there during all dayparts (at least until the advent of their automation system--it should be added, though, that they were never satellite programmed under Childress), and necessary duties were put on the qualified individuals.
The Childress Radio Group more or less came to an end in 2002 when Art Sutton's Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting bought the station. Only a handful of people stayed on after the buyout (not that the staffing situation was ever phenomenal anyway at RGC, but I do know it was some sales people who also served as DJs, as well as one of the drive time jocks, and a couple of part-timers). Sutton changed the format of the station from country to soft rock (backed by--a first for the station--satellite automation [trust me, you could tell]), and gave the station a credible news department and credible local personalities. And for the first year, you heard nothing but good things from that station. It, honestly, was the best it had ever been in terms of sound and image.
But that changed after about a year. There were rumblings that management wasn't treating some of the staff well...and off they went. There have been one or two that have left the station and have been very vocal about their dissatisfaction with the owners...and that it is company-wide, not just at WRGC. And they were pretty specific about what was going on.
And then there's the stuff I heard on the station...the stuff that reminded me of the "Childress-era-in-a-rut days". They did something called a "radio auction" that practically gave me an acid flashback.
In fact, there was an ongoing rotation of many staff after that point. About every 6 months there was an on-air schedule change...or, we listeners got to experience the wonder of satellite automation (a station like WRGC has no need for an 800 number, by the way). The clincher for me was the departure of Tim Barrett, who served as morning host from about 2002 on until late 2004. He knew the area, loved the area, and accurately reflected the type of person WRGC was targeting. You could tell he had his quarrels with management, though...he made vague references to internal problems on several occasions. If a listener had a question that was sent via e-mail to the station, he would answer them on the air...and, to his credit, he was brutally honest.
The station has always been a good overflow station for people from Western Carolina University to get a good start. And, to station's and the university's credit, it has brought out some good people. And that seems to be the case today. That, however, isn't necessarily a good thing. And, I'm told, the station is still not in the best shape.
What would I do to the station, though? Put more money in, get all that 25 year old equipment out of there, switch the format to oldies (a format that would work out a lot better than soft rock), get more personalities, and have as much live programming during the day and on weekends as possible in an effort to foster new radio talent, and do insane outside promotion in both newspapers and on billboards. I would emphasize the format, locality and the dial position more than I would the call letters (the WRGC call letters have baggage...and not very good baggage), and do my damndest to get more sales from the Asheville metro area. I would have good local promotions (golf in Cashiers? sure...a free trip for four to Biltmore? yeah, baby...). I would pimp that station out so much that--well, I could make some sexual references there, but nahhh. I would also immediately move out of that ratty old cage of a studio that they have been at, too. And I wouldn't micro-manage. I would trust the people I hired to do their jobs. Sure, money is to be considered here, but in the first several years of what would be termed an upstart operation, you do it for the fun, not for the paycheck.
But of course, I don't own the station.
And the website...well...that thing hasn't changed in six months. It did have another layout before that, but it looked like it wasn't local, even though it did have a local news section. And it sorta lends credence to the idea things might still not be going well there if they aren't bothering to work on it.
Now, granted, I am not a consultant, but I know good radio when I hear it. WRGC needs to completely revamp its image before it becomes the station it once was.
And if you want my opinion on other stuff...WGVC needs to stay oldies, WQNQ in Asheville needs to be less "AC" and more "Hot", WFBC needs to quit speeding up their music, Air America needs to arrive in GSP (maybe on 910???), The Walk doesn't really suck, it would be really cool to have an all-news station around here, and 93.3 The Planet would do well by going slightly alternative, and the country music sucks on WKSF--it sounds better on WESC and WSSL, though. "Don and Mike" need to return to the Upstate and WNC airwaves. As far as the more local stations--WBHN in Bryson City is a joke, so is WCVP-FM in Robbinsville, WCNG in Murphy, NC needs to add some decent imaging and better music to its playlist, WNCC in Franklin, NC needs to drop country in favor of something better, WMXF in Waynesville really isn't all that bad, WHKP in Hendersonville is a good station, and any new station that comes into the area--whether it be metro or local--BETTER NOT BE COUNTRY.
Thank you and good day.
