[BC] Small Town Radio

[Scott Bailey]

Larry, 

    WROX is in a good area for local, live radio to make it. My station, WMRO-AM is not. We are too close to Nashville and even too much competition from the Nashville AM's and heavy competition from the local AM's here too.

    I have contemplated about selling WMRO, due to I have found an AM station that is in a rural area that I could do more live and be more successful. WMRO came along too late to Gallatin, signing on in February 1994. WHIN is the heritage station here in Sumner County, and they have a terrific track record, being on since 1948.

    Since I now am disable, my wife and my mother want me to keep WMRO and not pick up, buy and move to another AM station. My Dad and I put this station back on the air, and we want to keep it in the family. We've done o.k., but WMRO is on a bad channel, 1560, interference from WLAC on 1510 going towards the south part of Sumner County, and we are a daytimer, with nighttime power that is a waste, 3 watts. Also, there is no way that this station will get an FM Translator, and even if I had one, it wouldn't do any good.

    I have tried a live, local morning show here, and even done it myself. There is just way too much competition here. I've played every type of music from Oldies, Country, now AC. I've done the "Swap-in-Shops, Obits, all the elements of morning drive, all live. It just doesn't work for this station, due to the other stations that surround me have done it longer and they have a stronger. loyal audience.

    I'm not going broke here, the station makes plenty of money to pay it's own bills, but we could do better. Being live all day long here would cost too much. That's the reason why I'm on Satellite with Citadel during the day, so is WHIN with their Real Country Format.

   Lots of people on this list do not understand, but I've tried everything, for Monday thru Friday Programming, and the in take revenue is the same. 

   My Sundays do terrific! We are Gospel all day long, from 6 AM to Sundown and I'm full with Sunday Morning Preachers, Southern Gospel Music on Sunday Afternoon, and the phone rings all afternoon. We have sponsors out the roof on Sunday sponsoring the Gospel Music. We make good money on Sundays! We take request, church announcements, and even contest. Sundays is my big day here.

   I know that there are few that are saying to themselves, I can do it better than Scott, but I'm afraid you're wrong. I've hired consultants to help me, and I've visited other small town stations to see what they are doing in the weekday mornings. I tried it all in the past 15 years, some of it work, some of it didn't. This is just a funny area.

   Please, don't call me about buying this station, it's not for sale. For now, it's staying in the family fellas! It is a sentimental thing to me, my wife, my mother (because of my late father), and other members of my family that don't own any part of this station, they just support me and memories of my late father.

Scott

--
Scott Bailey
WMRO Radio, Gallatin, TN
  
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Larry Fuss" <lfuss2 at cox.net>
>
> Kirk Harnack and I have a small-town radio station in Clarksdale, MS.  It's
> 1kw-U on 1450 and also has a 250-watt FM translator.  It is the heritage
> radio station in the area, on-air in 1944.  Over the years, it has suffered
> not from lack of attention by ownership, but from not having a dedicated
> small-town radio guy at the helm.  I've hired people who were, as they say
> in Texas, "all hat and no cattle."  I need a doer, not a talker.  Someone
> who can make things happen, rather than sitting around waiting on things to
> happen.  Someone who makes sales, not excuses.  Clarksdale is not the garden
> spot of the earth, but it is a city of 21,000 and there's enough ad revenue
> there to be successful.  If you or anyone you know is interested in being
> "Mr. Radio" in a small town, I'm currently looking for such a person to do
> the morning show, sell, and run the show.  The station is fairly well
> equipped for a small town station operation, including new BE-AM1A
> transmitter, Omnia 3 processing and STORQ automation.  Again, I need a
> hands-on "get 'er done" guy whose first love is radio.  Compensation based
> on results with potential future equity position for the right person.
> Please pass this along to anyone you know who may be interested.  The
> station website is www.wroxradio.com.  My contact info is
> larry at larryfuss.com.