Heritage station calls itself a "heritage station" in ad!

[Howard Glazer]

Took in six frigid innings of today's Portland-New Britain Eastern League
game and had a bit of a chuckle at WDRC-FM's ad in the Rock Cats program.
The headline is "SWITCH TO 102.9 DRC-FM! SAY NO TO DISAPPOINTING RADIO!"

The subheads then read:

-- Make the switch!
-- Say yes to 102.9 DRC-FM!
-- Say yes to your favorite good time rock 'n roll!
-- Say yes to a heritage station with legendary personalities!

Five lines of copy about Jerry Kristafer's (the FM's most legendary
personality) morning show follow before the ad winds up with the following:

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
102.9 DRC-FM works with your existing radio!
Larry Wells, Doug Taylor and Mike Stevens, all at no additional cost!

I don't know about you, but this ad sort of reminded me of those cornball
ads that used to run in Broadcasting magazine back in the '70s and
earlier -- the ones with sparking, smiling microphones lifting barbells to
show potential time-buyers just how powerful WXXX's signal was. It certainly
stood out from the only other radio ad in the program: WTIC-FM's "Hit after
Hit after Hit" ad featuring a bunch of baseball's with "Daughtry" and "Gwen
Stefani" and "Sheryl Crow" and other Hot AC artists' names superimposed on
them. Do non-radio geeks really understand what a "heritage station" is?

Incidentally, advertising by all media -- in the program and on the outfield
fence -- is severely reduced from last year. Clear Channel's Hartford
cluster is not advertising at all, nor is the Hartford Courant. The New
Britain Herald, which used to be on the fence and in the program, is now
only in the program. The CBS cluster is represented with just the TIC-FM ad,
nothing at all for the AM this season. WCCC, a program regular for years,
has no presence this year. And WVIT, Channel 30, has gone from a big ad on
the fence and a full-page program ad to just a tiny ad alongside the clock
above the fence in right, where Clear Channel's WWYZ used to advertise. The
only radio ad on the fence is DRC-FM's, just the station logo. Recession is
hell, I guess.

Howard