adios WARE

[Kevin Vahey <kvahey@megsinet.net>]

This is sad for a variety of reasons.

WARE was your classic "minor league" station, that would hire fresh faced
young turks to do everything for no money, have a few "lifers" who were
content with their lifestyle. They would cover the local issues that nobody
else would, maybe carry the Sox at night. They were a part of the community,
which was the whole idea in the first place (after making money of course)

Ware/Palmer is really Central Massachusetts, ignored by Worcester and
Springfield, probably one of the poorest areas in the state, as the
factories have all left. The fact that it had the license it has shows how
the area once could support a regional station of their own.

Look at how in 20 years the landscape has changed.....WAAB and WORC in
Worcester, WKBR in Manchester, WLOB in Portland, WICE in Providence, now all
but forgotten as people switched to FM. In someways Cable TV has eliminated
the need for a local radio station, where now people can see their local
government meetings, bulletin boards and whatever whenever they want. Local
merchants love to see themselves on TV, and what little advertising money is
out there is divided up into smaller pies.

But, what is bothering me more here is we are "lamenting" the death of a
station, WHICH IS NOT DYING. It is changing owners, format and LANGUAGE.
Isn't that what we are upset about? The station is switching to Spanish.
Who can fault the owners for selling at the price quoted???? Why Mega wants
it, I can't answer but it fills a hole that their money counters feel is
justified.

A few months back we mourned the "death" of WLLH, and again the long time
owner made a nice score, and he wanted out. Mega had the checkbook, nobody
else did. Did anybody cry when WPLM-AM simply became a satellite of WROL??

I am as guilty of this as anyone, so don't think I m throwing stones here.
When I was living in Chicago, I was there when WIND was sold by Westinghouse
to a Spanish operation. Oh, how the city mourned...yet WIND listeners had
long fled to WGN or FM. The last few days, staffers had a wake, for what was
at one time a radio powerhouse, but was a victim of changing forces in the
industry. WIND went dark for a weekend, and came back on with more listeners
than it had in years, serving a grateful public that up to then had nothing
but a mom and pop FM Spanish station in Evanston (WOJO)...which BTW had
pulled the plug on the AM signal long before I moved there.

Truth is WARE will probably have as many listeners under the new format as
before, and maybe more. Hispanics driving along the pike will have an option
when in that area.

Bob Bitner leases out WJIB on Sundays to pay the rent, and hopes his loyal
daytime audience comes back on Monday morning. That's how he covers his
costs, and I would do the same. WROL and WEZE made some nice change doing
religion. Don't really matter if nobody is listening, if someone is buying
the time.

Yes, I m sad about WARE, but it is another harsh reality of the way the
medium is going.


>
> It's quite a good signal.
> It has somewhere near 20 (beautiful) acres of land on a mountaintop
(Boston &
> Prov visible on a VERY clear day),
> ---but true, it is in the middle of nowhere. (or is that noware ?)
> --------jibguy