pontiac59 :

The only way I’d see a station like that working is if the owner was also the on-air talent – PD or engineer and a DJ shift (or even all of those things) – and could use an intern assignment, relative or spouse to cover a second shift.

This reminds me of a book written in 1988 by SUNY Oswego broadcasting professor Peter Hunn, who formerly owned WZZZ in Fulton. The book is called “Starting and Operating Your Own FM Radio Station: From License Application to Program Management.” I found it in the library once while working on a college paper, and inside, Hunn included a log of his daily work routine. He’d wake up, fire up the transmitter and sign on the station. Then he’d host morning drive. Whenever his shift ended (mid to late morning?) his wife would take over as host while he went out on sales calls. Later in the day, he’d return and host a few more hours before signing off the station and retiring for the evening. Without reading the entire book, I got the impression from the schedule, that he had his transmitter, the studio and his house all in the same building, so it was probably a little easier to manage such a demanding work schedule. But not many people today would be willing to undertake such a task — especially considering it offered little or no opportunity for he and his wife to take any time off.

Granted, technology has changed greatly since 1988, and if Hunn were to do it all over again, he could do more things he couldn’t do before — for example, some dayparts could be automated. The station could run on auto-pilot overnight rather than being shut down. But other good points still prevail: nearly any music format that could be devised is already being offered elsewhere in the market. Niche formats that superserve a subset of a given format (ie. classic country) typically don’t perform very well against established mainstream format leaders. Yes, niche formats usually do get a group of very devoted listeners, but it’s generally not a giant audience — which is why they’re called niche formats.

The only way I’d see a station like that working is if the owner was also the on-air talent – PD or engineer and a DJ shift (or even all of those things) – and could use an intern assignment, relative or spouse to cover a second shift. Or if the DJ could literally phone in his air shift from elsewhere, maybe from home, and work some other job as well. I mean the hourly would have to be pretty darn good to go in and work for three, four hours, especially if I had to commute very far to do it.

Let’s consider the fact that most of the AM stations in the Utica-Rome market are required to lower their power and/or change their patterns at sunset. During some parts of the year, we’re still in darkness during parts of morning drive and afternoon drive. So most AM stations are already at a terrible disadvantage compared to FM stations.

Next, let’s look at how much it would cost an owner to have a live/local station, regardless of AM or FM. If it’s a music format, you’ll need at least three (preferably 4-5) full-time weekday talent to cover the entire day. If you have 4 of 5 talent, they can double to fill other duties (promotions, programming, music, production) but if you have only 3 talent each working an 8-hour air shift, then you still need to hire additional people to handle those off-air functions.

Not only do you need talent — they would need to be pretty darn GOOD talent in order to capture enough of the audience to be a profitable station. So we’re not just talking minimum wage or even $30k/year.

And again, that’s assuming it’s a music station. If you’re thinking about a talk station, shifts would need to be considerably shorter. Good talk hosts can’t just crack the mic and sit in the studio for 8 hours. They need time to prep their show, and would probably begin to tire out after more than 3-4 hours of constantly talking.

Aside from your primary weekday air talent, you also need a stable of reliable part-timers who can do weekends, fill-ins and holidays. Add in sales people, an engineer, a traffic/continuity person, HR and whatever other back office jobs you need and you’re well into 6 figures for payroll. That’s before licensing music or buying whatever equipment you need to get the station mechanically running… vehicles to do remotes and so forth.

And if nobody’s around to hear your tree slamming into the ground, will anyone hear it? You’d need to spend a pretty penny on promotions. Granted, promoting a new radio station just within Rome only would be relatively inexpensive (compared to a full-market promotion, or a bigger market like Syracuse), but you’re still competing with a full host of FM stations in the Utica-Rome market, and a number of Syracuse FM stations that reach Rome clearly. Again, the programming will need to be pretty darn compelling to compete with all these other stations and turn a profit.

Long story short, sure, it’s possible… but an owner would need to have pretty deep pockets, and a LOT of patience. If the station is profitable, it’s likely those profits would be pretty slim, and the station could take several years to make back the initial investment.

fitnesscenter :It can be done with live local announcers. Take W-E-N-T, 1340, Gloversville. Nice set up with local live announcers, news, sports, personality, and the station is making money. Oneida has live announcers, and have been doing pretty well for a number of years.

Their success is likely because of the fact they are single stations located in communities that are in the “gray area” between two larger markets. WMCR does well with programming serving Madison County because no other radio station in Syracuse or Utica would bother. Likewise for WENT, being too far away from Utica and Albany to have any serious competition from programmers or salespeople from either market. People in these areas listen to these stations because there are no other stations right in their own backyard.

On the other hand, WUTI is licensed to Utica (soon New Hartford, if the new owner chooses to follow through with the construction permit obtained by WAMC earlier). Utica is already saturated with other broadcast media, and thus, saturated with competition for advertising dollars.

Also, bear in mind that WENT and WMC have always been live and local and everything else you mentioned. That ongoing momentum is arguably a big contributor to their success. But WUTI, on the other hand, has spent the last several years largely syndicated or automated. For most of the time it was owned by Regent (or Forever beforehand), WRUN was just a simulcast of either WIBX or WFRG. Near the end of Regent’s ownership, it had a standards format, and then it was back to simulcasting when WAMC bought it. For most people in this area, 1150AM is a long-forgotten has-been.

I’m not saying your ideas are impossible, but it would take a lot of time, effort and manpower (read: money) to put together a well-polished AM station with live, local talent (and remember, more experience equals more money) that would actually be generate enough ratings and profits to compete with the other players in town.

fitnesscenter :
Someplace on the internet I stumbled on idea of them using WDRE, which I think is now available. That surely beats Wonderful Urinary Tract Infection. Ooooh.

And the significance of WDRE would be….?