WTHU

[jackandcoke]

Kind of sad to see Thurmont's 1450/WTHU fall into the hands of the Christians. Nothing against Christians--I am purportedly one myself--but the preachers and religious music types have gobbled up half the non-comm band and now they're swooping in on small-town stations like 'THU. Not that 1450 was much more than a jukebox this last decade under Charles Walmer. But back in the seventies and eighties--when Gary Jagow, Marty Madden and that bunch were running the show for Dean & Petrina Aubol, WTHU was really a model community radio station. Trading Post... fire calls... Sunday morning dedications to dead relatives (it was called something like "In Memory Of")--the kind of stuff you do in a town of 3,000.

Thurmont has doubled in size since then--probably tripled if you count the 'burbs--and could now likely support its own radio station if an energetic entrepreneur would have grabbed it. Instead, the Christians have one more spot on the dial to preach at us, in one fashion or another.

Well, let's give 'em a few years. Maybe when they run out of money Thurmont can get its radio station back.

 

[WTUX]

Yes, there are still a few of us who remember and enjoy small town AM radio. But we are really few anymore.

AM is for niche radio, as FM was in the 50's and early 60's. The tables have turned. The money is simply not there to support small market Full Service AM, except in some very rare circumstances.

 

[kevinob]

Yeah. Christian Radio is sort of funny. People give you money to put their programming on the air, AND they sell advertising too. Brokered time and they keep the rights to sell the ads. On top of that, PEOPLE SEND YOU MONEY IN THE FORM OF DNATIONS!!! (why don't people send donations to the local grocery store, hardware store of cr dealer?) Business wise, it's beautiful, Radiowise it really sucks! Programming so ad that you have to pay to get it on the air! Geez, how many times can you re-hash the Bible . What can be said that hasn't already been said The only ones who can possibly listen to it are those addicted to religion. I'd have a hard time contributing to that.

THU during the 70's was quite a success story. Dean, Petrina GaryJagow and Marty Madden put together a pretty good sounding product for such a small station in what was a pretty small market. (I understand it's a little more populated now) They always managed to attract some decent talent, and did well with a counry format when Shania Twain was a waitres and Toby Keith a Busboy at his grandmom's Tavern.

They always had a loyal advertising base and a very loyal listener base. It was a pretty well run operation and a fun place to work!

What ever happened to dean, petrina Gary and Marty??

 

[amfmxm]

Dean & Petrina are retired down in Tennessee. Madden spent many years with the FM over in Prince Frederick, Maryland and when it was sold went with the newspaper, I believe. Jagow did a decade or so with WFRE in Frederick and got blown out along with Tom Grunwell, Jim Titus & the rest when Clear Channel bought it; Jagow went to work for the post office up in PA. Erin is the Thurmont librarian. Mike McGough is a GM up in PA. Jim Riley became a GM down south and last time I heard was with Radio One (but that was years ago). J.J. Randolph spent years with WYCR and then went into real estate (also years ago).

D&P knew how to hire. They inherited Jagow, but surrounded him with a lot of smart, talented people. The on-air lineup with Jagow, Madden, McGough + Randolph and/or Riley in the late seventies was about as good as it gets in small-town radio.

 

[kevinob]

...and don't forget scott douglas and Terry kieffer. jim Scott from WPOC in baltimore and his rapidfire delivery didweekends and used to fill in ocasionally. It was always a pretty good lineup. And Fran Little the engineer always managed to get a pretty ggod sound on the air for a small AM