Re: Article on WYAR

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

Peter writes:
>     You give me 10 or 100 watts, I could bring some good local
>programming to my community.  Sure it would NOT be number one.  But
>people will notice that somebody out there is listening to THEM (the
>audience), and not some hotshot consultant from 3,000 miles away.

As an essentially college-radio-self-taught radioboy, (not that that
is the best way) those who inspired me proclaimed the necessity of
focusing on that one listener out there.  Keeping that focus.  One may
be truly the ONLY listener.  Who really knows?!   We hope to do the
best that we can do because we believe there are _others_ (not just
one) out there who might like us.  More people drives local
excitement.  That makes spots easier to sell. That means some income
to offset expenses and maybe some profit. Local markets don't sell
spots based on ratings, they sell them on reputation and local
excitement about what a business partnership can do.

That one listener can't really take a station seriously, IMO, if the
big boy liner man is bragging about less talk (but talking to tell you
that very point.)  Sanitized 'de-localization' and 6 minute spot
breaks are further symptoms of poor business AND artistic judgment.  I
suggest a close watch at Scott's NERW reports on the potential for
change in the weather for the mega-broadcasters.  One may say that
inflated stock prices that are losing market buoyancy is unrelated to
programming quality, and that may be true.  BUT! you have to question
why major corps., finally with the strategic lockhold they have always
dreamed about, are evidently blowing the big game?  Perhaps it all
does go back to "one?"

Bill O'Neill

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