WVKO-AM 1580 is changing formats again!

[knowbetter]

Ohhh Artie- Take the highest number you can think of and triple it.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars plus a huge pita for WVSG.

agreed...

this whole thing makes little sense, except maybe to the people who really know what is happening...

speculation, at this point is worthless, because without knowing the driving factor, it's not going to make any sense. If you look back at the Fort Wayne thing a few years back, when WOWO (I think) powered way back to allow a NYC station the ability to add power and pattern.... Having the NYC station with an improved signal is obvious, there is a lot more money in New York, than Fort Wayne.

I don't know if there are any big markets around 1580 or so, I think there is something in Nashville, that could potentially benefit. I can't see Bernard with any kind of money to put into that site, lets face it, they built it a few years ago, it's a really nice plant. I don't see them spending any money on improving it.

So I would guess, it's not their money either!

 

[schmave]

Ohhh Artie- Take the highest number you can think of and triple it.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars plus a huge pita for WVSG.

agreed...

this whole thing makes little sense, except maybe to the people who really know what is happening...

speculation, at this point is worthless, because without knowing the driving factor, it's not going to make any sense. If you look back at the Fort Wayne thing a few years back, when WOWO (I think) powered way back to allow a NYC station the ability to add power and pattern.... Having the NYC station with an improved signal is obvious, there is a lot more money in New York, than Fort Wayne.

I don't know if there are any big markets around 1580 or so, I think there is something in Nashville, that could potentially benefit. I can't see Bernard with any kind of money to put into that site, lets face it, they built it a few years ago, it's a really nice plant. I don't see them spending any money on improving it.

So I would guess, it's not their money either!

It was WOWO, yes. They were bought by the company that owned WLIB, then neutered so WLIB's power could increase.

 

[KFodor]

Was listening to WVKO-AM this morning. The Rev. Mel Griffin said he mentioned the old
call letters of the radio station he used to work at by mistake. He said he used to work
at Joy 106.3. He said both he and Pastor Mike Reeves started in radio at WVKO-AM as a gospel station.

Here is the scheduled of the old Joy 106.3 website with Pastor Mike Reeves and The Rev. Mel Griffin:

http://web.archive.org/web/20090310170122/http://joy106.com/programming.asp

Believe it or not, The Columbus Dispatch did a story on the station last week:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/sto...or-returns-gospel-to-am-dial-in-columbus.html

The Columbus Dispatch Friday April 26, 2013 ‎
By JoAnne Viviano

An AM radio station that once had a long tradition of serving the central Ohio black community has been reborn under a 24-hour gospel-music format.

Pastor Mike Reeves, who operates WVKO (1580 AM), said offerings include music as well as live worship services and inspirational, health-related and call-in programming.

Will the format last? Pastor Mike Reeves said on the air couple of days ago that the ad agencies
are passing the station by. He said the ad agencies will typical not give the format and black
formatted station ad time. Also, the station uses "interns" as DJs according to Rev. Mel Griffin
this morning. He then went on to say they have "bloopers" on the air but he wants to give the
interns a start and chance because WVKO-AM radio gave them a start in radio.

You have to get ratings before you can get agency buys. Smart owners know that.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

You have to get ratings before you can get agency buys. Smart owners know that.

But what about ratings non-subscribers such as Saga and Dispatch locally, many Cumulus stations, and -- I would guess -- WVKO?

 

[KFodor]

You have to get ratings before you can get agency buys. Smart owners know that.

But what about ratings non-subscribers such as Saga and Dispatch locally, many Cumulus stations, and -- I would guess -- WVKO?

If I'm getting your comment right here...

If you buy the book, you get to see the numbers. The agencies can see the numbers because they get rankers from the subscribing radio stations. Those rankers MUST be accurate representations of the ratings, or a station will be penalized by Arbitron.

And, because sales pieces from radio stations float all over the place from time to time, it isn't all that difficult for non-subscribers to be shown, or get their hands on, sales pieces from other radio stations containing ratings information. It is, however, illegal for non-subscribers to use Arbitron numbers unless they purchase the book.

Theoretically, non-subscribers should not be shown information other than that which Arbitron chooses to release. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

 

[mxyzptlk]

You have to get ratings before you can get agency buys. Smart owners know that.

It's really that simple. With a rating of 0.0 and a cume of 3100 in adults 25-54, what agency is going to recommend that buy to a client. That will only be a direct sale to the most dedicated business owner.

 

[del_griffith]

There may be some agency directed minority owned/operated buys made by some of the institutions like banks, insurance and so forth.

 

[KFodor]

And, if that's the case, fine. No one should tell any institution how to spend their money.

But, if those cume numbers someone posted is correct, no station with those kinds of numbers can realistically expect to get agency business. That ain't racism, it's radio reality.

 

[del_griffith]

And, if that's the case, fine. No one should tell any institution how to spend their money.

But, if those cume numbers someone posted is correct, no station with those kinds of numbers can realistically expect to get agency business. That ain't racism, it's radio reality.

Just pointing out that there is some money set aside by larger corps who use agencies to buy from what are considered disadvantaged businesses. Right or wrong, it is done.

A mainstream business and format would be tilting at windmills expecting a buy with those numbers unless it was a market wide buy which seldom happens anymore or some niche programming that had an audience an agency client wants to target.

 

[knowbetter]

And, if that's the case, fine. No one should tell any institution how to spend their money.

But, if those cume numbers someone posted is correct, no station with those kinds of numbers can realistically expect to get agency business. That ain't racism, it's radio reality.

Just pointing out that there is some money set aside by larger corps who use agencies to buy from what are considered disadvantaged businesses. Right or wrong, it is done.

A mainstream business and format would be tilting at windmills expecting a buy with those numbers unless it was a market wide buy which seldom happens anymore or some niche programming that had an audience an agency client wants to target.

Considering, I think they are beginning to show some promise. Hopefully, the quality of their sales staff will improve over time... Overall, I think they are doing better than the last few guys...

 

[KFodor]

Well, at least this crew is dealing with a format that is fairly well understood as a "niche" format. So, hopefully, as knowbetter says, they'll get better as they go along. I wish them well.

 

[KFodor]

And, if that's the case, fine. No one should tell any institution how to spend their money.

But, if those cume numbers someone posted is correct, no station with those kinds of numbers can realistically expect to get agency business. That ain't racism, it's radio reality.

Just pointing out that there is some money set aside by larger corps who use agencies to buy from what are considered disadvantaged businesses. Right or wrong, it is done.

A mainstream business and format would be tilting at windmills expecting a buy with those numbers unless it was a market wide buy which seldom happens anymore or some niche programming that had an audience an agency client wants to target.

Absolutely true, Del. Just as true as the notion of a "no black dictate" is not supposed to exist, and yet, just like payola, it rears it's ugly head from time to time.

 

[gabigley1]

Listened to Charles Taylor on his Front Street show three Sundays ago. He said they are now managing WVKO-AM but the goal is to purchase the station. Just curious what the asking
price for WVKO-AM these days? The last I heard, Bernard Radio of Ohio wanted three to four million
for the station but that was about seven years ago.