Re: AM Live, Local

[dan.Strassberg@att.net]

Isn't the owner of WSBS and the WMNB stations a guy 
named Harold Thayer? Or maybe he is retired or deceased 
and the stations are now owned by other members of his 
family. In any event, I believe that, 20 or more years 
ago, this archetypical small-market broadcaster was 
president of the NAB. These days, does the NAB even 
accept memberships from companies that own fewer than 20 
stations?

I believe that another broadcaster from a relatively 
small market not too far from here who was at one time a 
wheel in the NAB is a fellow named Shaughnessy or 
O'Shaughnessy. He owned (maybe still owns) WVOX AM and 
FM in New Rochelle, NY. Although part of the lucrative 
Westchester market, the WVOX stations (a 500W AM and a 
Class A FM) are local and are run as small-market 
operations. Apparently, though, the stations are quite 
profitable because a year or so ago, they relocated to a 
brand new studio and office building. The CE created a 
neat virtual tour of the very impressive facilities and 
made it available at the WVOX Web site. If you missed it 
and you're interested, try searching for the URL at, 
say, Google.com.

> WSBS-860-Great Barrington and WMNB AM-1240 & FM-100.1 North Adams are
> co-owned. The same family has owned the N Adams side since at least the
> 60's and WMNB (and I believe WSBS also) continue to be live local stations.
> It's interesting to note that WMNB AM plays top 40 & recurrents while the
> FM plays the standards! They also do local news.