Infomercials on WCRB!?

[Dan Strassberg]

Another paid program that WCRB carried for decades (I'm pretty sure it dated
back to WCRB (AM) days) was the Friends of Armenian Culture Society program.
I don't recall the day or time at which it aired, but I think it was ah nour
long--an hour of some of the most boring radio (paid or unpaid) ever
produced anywhere. And I don't think the program was heard at times such as
6:00AM Sundays. (The phrase "was heard" suggests that at least one person
actually listened--that would include members of FACS. I'm skeptical that
anyone listened for more than a couple of minutes before falling asleep.
Since Armenians, as a group, have a reputation for being enterprising and
resourceful people, I am amazed that none of them thought of marketing the
program as a cure for insomnia. Worked great for me!)

--

Dan Strassberg
dan.strassberg@att.net
Fax: 1-707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Bello" <RBello@BelloAssoc.com>
To: "Ric Werme" <ewerme@comcast.net>; <bri@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: Infomercials on WCRB!?


>
> WCRB 1330 am and 102.5 fm ran a paid infomercial on Sunday mornings at
11am
> throughout to 1970s.  It was a church service from St Pauls on
> Tremont St in Boston.
> WCRB stopped when the church stopped buying the time.
>
>
> At 11:20 AM 2/5/2007, Ric Werme wrote:
> >I accidentally had my clock radio armed for 0545 Sunday and woke to the
> >non-melodious strains of a sale pitch for some dietary supplement.
> >I left it on and verified that the legal ID said WCRB and later found
> >that they had not completely changed their format from oft-played
> >classical shorts.
> >
> > >From their playlist archive, note 2 hour gap:
> >
> >7:26 AM: STANLEY: Trumpet Voluntary, Opus 6 #5 (ens.; Burns,
> >Stephen, trumpet) ASV Records DCA-528
> >
> >5:26 AM: PUGNI: Pas de Quatre (finale #8) (Cincinnati Pops/Erich
> >Kunzel) Telarc Records 80625
> >
> >One half hour spot was from the local AGO (American Guild of Organists)
which
> >included a request for corporate sponsorship so that their 48 year
presence
> >on WCRB can continue.  I guess they had a free ride until the new owners
> >decided that wasn't paying the bills.
> >
> >I don't think I ever heard an infomercial on radio before.  Does anyone
> >know what a half hour of early Sunday AM time sells for?  Apparently
> >I'm just behind the times, Google says there are hundreds and hundreds
> >of thousands of pages referring to radio infomercial.  Ah, only 720 if
> >I quote it.  A couple that might be worth following up:
> >
> >http://www.radioinfomercial.com/
> >This goes to a lame AOL hosted page.
> >
> >http://www.philkaplan.com/thefitnesstruth/the_media.htm
> >This page is at least entertaining.  Fellow is incensed about a live
sales
> >pitch while stuck in traffic and goes to the radio station and buys time
> >for his infomercials.  Or something like that.  If you can't beat 'em,
join
> >'em.
>
>