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WTPL "Live and Local"

S

splicer38

Guest
I recently was in central NH and had the pleasure of sampling some local radio. I listened to Peter and Ken on WTPL for a few days and found the show to be refreshingly locally focused. While the news portion goes for 10-15 minutes every half hour Ken and Peter have a nice flow to the remaining 15-20 minutes with local topics, set guests and features...local callers... a perfect hokey morning show for this part of the state. Transplant it into somewhere else and it likely fails. My initial reaction was they really need a program director. After listening to them a while I understood the success. How long have they been doing this show?

Bulldog is again locally focused, informed, opinionated, but loud and whiney. Stop yelling at the audience and guests. Surprisingly well done show outside of that.

Jack Heath (wasn't he the ND at MUR?) is a good show too. well connected guy with more of a national/regional approach than the others. Still good local programming!
I also head what I thought was some local programming on the weekend with a food and investment show. Don't know if they were local but they sounded like they originated from TPL.

I could not find another station doing anything close to the local stuff they were doing. The music stations are juke boxes. Does a "Dollar Saver" promo count as local programming? I didn't even hear a community happenings PSA on them. No, a promo for your "Local" Website does not count!

Even the Mancheser stations were lacking in a local focus.

Wonder what everyone IN the market thinks.
 
Ken and Peter are old school "local" radio guys.

Brian is a "newcomer" to doing his own show. He was a shor producer/call screener in Baltimore.

Jack is a fairly well connected local guy. The food show on the weekend is local.

WTPL does a lot of sports, too.

The other people kinda have to suck because they are told to.
 
Yeah, i listened a bit to the sox.

What do you mean they "...are told to". Do you actually mean they are told by managment not to sound good?
 
The other people suck because "they are told to"? Funny, I don't remember telling any of my employees anything close to that. While I generally don't make it a habit to comment on negative reviews regarding my station, this one made me laugh out loud! I do appreciate both positive and negative comments. I have very thick skin. Anyone in management reading this board realizes this board is littered with resentful, bitter ex radio employees. I realize some very good people have lost their jobs with many of these publicly traded companies. But some, clearly, don't have a clue of what they are talking about. Either way, thanks to both you and Splicer 38 for the comments .
 
I have a bad habit of writing my comments and not proof reading...the "other" people was a reference to the comment about other radio stations.

Sorry.
 
There's not a lot of emphasis on local content or personality these days.Not everywhere.

WTPL is not typical of the industry, at least in New England. The Mid-West seems to still "get it".

JimC...proofreading is a necessity. ;D
 
Jim C, I still don't get it. The other "stations" tell there people to suck?

Jim W, you have a quality operation. "Live and Local". I like it. Although I like Dennis Miller, I'd like to see your daytime lineup all local and fill nights and weekends with sports and national stuff. I know it's tough especially with rates being so low and advertisers being stingy with their budgets... Something to strive for I guess... By the way... what is a "moose lottery" and is it a popular thing? I recently had a neice explain "cow pattie bingo" to me (she's from VT). Is it something like that?
 
ALRIGHT..let's clearify..I personally think most radio stations in our Northern New England region, kind of suck.

The people running the sttaions don't foster an atmosphere that lends itself to NON-sucking.

I'm an old whiner so let's leave it at that.
 
Splicer,
Actually, it was the NH Fish and game "Moose Lottery". Very popular. I know it sounds weird, but we max out on our streaming, have sponsors annually lined up , and we broadcast the actual reading of the names of moose license winners live. It is a huge hit with that section of our audience.

And Jim C, I can whine with the best of them. I just tend to be informed about things I whine about. We(WTPL) have made a conscious effort to focus on all things New Hampshire. Trust me, I could lower my costs significantly by just going on the bird, and running the usual suspects of nationally syndicated shows. But that's not the way we operate. We fill a void that is missing in our market, and choose to operate with mostly local talent, talking about, (God forbid), New Hampshire! I am always struck by the people on this board constantly bitching about these huge radio groups boxing shows, laying off staff etc. We haven't had to do that. In fact, in the last three years that I have been running the station, we have done nothing but HIRE more staff.If you don't believe me, ask any of them you may know.
Hope this helps out your misconception of at least ONE radio station.
 
To be honest I like the station but I find Peter to be a turn off. He sounds like a know it all and seems like he has a big ego. Wonder how Ken would be with a humorous talent like Mike Murphy?

Bulldog sounds like a young kid who hasn't learned to stop laughing at his own comments. Maybe he'll learn.

Jack Heath has a quality show. Love it!

"J-Dog" is pretty opinionated for a producer. I'm kinda sick of his Love of everything Cleveland and isn't it time to get rid of that lousy sfx ( Yowsa) when someone says something fairly valid? He needs to find out that he doesn't have all the answers.

All in all the station is good. Certainly the best in the Concord area.

BTW...any chance 102.3 will become a WEEI or 98.5 simulcast?
 
I have no comment because if i Did their boss (who apparently reads this stuff) will beat me up.
 
Jim C
Say what you want. This is a open forum, right? It's just that management never defends themselves with all the crap that is written here. Isn't it ok for me to speak the truth from someone who REALLY knows what's going on , and not just spreading rumors like most of the resentful ex radio employees on here. As I said before, some very good radio people have lost their jobs due to the corporate mentality(or lack of it). However you and I know there are also a lot of bitter ex employees that love to start trouble. You know who I am. So, buck up and be a man--stop hiding behind initials. Say whatever you want!
Jim W
 
Come on ebol---lighten up yourself. Just cause someone in management has the stones to answer a hack who knows nothing about what he speaks, does that mean I have to be silent? I wasn't being mean--just open and truthful.
And to BSG, I appreciate your feelings on Peter and Bulldog, but they do have a pretty good following. And I can truthfully say I've never had an ego problem with any of my on air staff. We all really do appreciate working together. I agree on JDog, I am working on reining him in a little. Regarding your last question....no comment. But thanks for the words- both positive and negative
 
it was lighten up everyone. JimC does like to push buttons just to watch the lights flikcer.

I don't disagree with you. but sometimes these discussions turn into Northern Ireland or the Gaza Strip.
 
Good point..It's just not in my nature to put up with bullies...sorry if I was out of line. I just hoped you guys would like to hear from someone who actually "makes the decisions" instead of "making the accusations".
 
ebol said:
sometimes these discussions turn into Northern Ireland or the Gaza Strip.
Click to expand...

Probably because unlike what many people do for a living, people in radio are passionate about what they do. That's why you don't see www.ditchdigger-info.com or www. cashier-info.com or....well, hopefully my point's been made.

Yeah, things sometimes get a little heated here. Twice in the last month just here on the Northern New England board the mods have had to send us to the woodshed.
 
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