Wednesday, January 31, 2007

"My 101.7"'s Lineup

OMW hinted a while back about the new local morning show on Clear Channel's new Canton market AC outlet, WHOF/101.7 "My 101.7". We now have the entire lineup.

Mornings will be "live and local" with AC veteran Gary Rivers handling wakeup duties.

Though we're told Rivers had a brief stint in the 1990's at WHOF's main competitor, now NextMedia-owned AC outlet WHBC-FM/94.1 "Mix 94.1", he's recently been doing radio in the Central Ohio city of Marion.

After holding down mornings at Clear Channel AC WDIF/94.3 "Mix 94.3" there (hey, it's only one channel off from his new competitor!), Rivers has been heard in the same time slot on a rather interesting low-power FM outlet that's competing with WDIF - WDCM-LP 97.5, where he's also been the station's program director.

WDCM promotes itself as "Marion's Community Radio Station", and is owned by the U.S. Open Drum and Bugle Corps organization.

From its website, it looks like it operates much like its commercial competitor, with many of the usual features you'd expect from a commercial outlet. And Marion is small enough in area that the WDCM-LP signal has no trouble covering the city itself.

Here's the rest of the "My 101.7" on-air lineup:

10 AM-2 PM - Daune Robinson (voicetracking in from the Clear Channel World Domination HQ on Oak Tree, where she is heard on country WGAR/99.5 and oldies WMJI/105.7)

2-7 PM - Jon Marochino (long-time swing/weekend guy for hot AC sister station WKDD/98.1)

7 PM-midnight - Sean Stevens (midday personality at Clear Channel Youngstown sister AC outlet WMXY/98.9 "Mix 98.9")

OMW hears whispers from Freedom Avenue that this new on-air lineup will begin on Monday, February 5th...

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow. what a powerhouse lineup.

I guess we were all a little too quick to judge the demise of Mix.

Anonymous said...

Certainly sounds like some new and fresh radio for Canton. yeah.

Anonymous said...

It does indeed sound like an exciting, fresh line up for Canton!

Personal congrats to Jon Marochino... I've known Jon since his high school days, and it's great to see him land his own time slot. He's alway done a terrific job on WKDD.

Anonymous said...

Wha....? A guy from eons ago, and 2 other voices already heard in the market...VTing from stations just a push button away. What's exciting and/or fresh about THAT?

Congrat's to the PT who moved up, though. He'll be VTing 3 other stations in no time, keeping OTHER part-timers from moving up!

Anonymous said...

Daune Robinson doing another
VT job? what's that make now?
5? 6? CC loves to save a buck.

Mike Dane

Anonymous said...

Daune Robinson doing another
VT job? what's that make now?
5? 6? CC loves to save a buck.

Mike Dane

Anonymous said...

How long will it be until CC screws these people?

Anonymous said...

as long as they will accept 25 buck per week per station to VT then CC will keep on doin the same old thing...

Anonymous said...

I'm upset that Giant Eagle doesn't have someone push my cart out to my car, and at BP nobody checks my oil and cleans my tires!

Those cheap companies are srewing lots of full and parttimers, and it's just a matter of time until they go out of business!

Anonymous said...

Well, there's truly someone with an appreciation for the art and professional craft of radio.

Anonymous said...

Channel 3 once had live announcers tell you what time it was and what was coming up next. Those guys were skilled professionals too, but somehow the Channel 3 has been able to survive many years now without them.

VTing makes sence on music intensive stations. Especially if the tracker lives nearby like Sean and Daune. Look at the Canton ratings. Mix in Y-Town and WGAR in Clev don't do very well, most listeners in the market won't know these two are doing shifts elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Right. No overlap on music (leads to overlap of demo) from MJI to HOF. Stupid listener wouldn't be able to figure out it's the same person anyway. Stupid listener doesn't care it's not a live body.

What an attitude.

But it's nice to see 2 jox from underachieving radio stations rewarded for their average-or-less work. Ain't that America?

And why do people think radio's dying?

Anonymous said...

Do the stupid veiwers of "24" know that show isn't live? Live or taped doesn't really matter...ENTERTAINMENT matters.

You know Fergie really isn't in the studio singing the song at the time you hear it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info OMW, Much appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Apples and oranges, man. Apples and oranges...and yet another example of the lack of respect for the intelligence of the listening audience.

Anonymous said...

Alright .. good discussion on the philosophy of the movement of radio ..

How about this?

Take the slice of pie out of the pan. Put it on the plate.

Pretty good pie? Does the pie suck?

Let's see what they got, judge it on it's own, see if it adds anything.

Give 'em a shot .. see if they stink, see if they are well-done.

-Just trying to be positive-

Anonymous said...

Why don't we do all the commercials live? Are we insulting the intelligence of our listeners by pre recoring our spots and promo's?

Anonymous said...

To the commenter about Giant Eagle. I think the people who work full time at Giant Eagle are getting paid twice what a part timer makes in radio. At least there is some job stability. Why is one DJ on from 10am-2pm at one station 2pm-7pm at another and 7pm-12am at another (Daune Robinsin) Have companies become that ridiculous that they can't afford to hire some decent on air jocks? Glad that I left radio in the late 90s.

Anonymous said...

Omigod ... enough already. We get it. You love voicetracking and think anything that predates it is a relic like the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast. Which was a classic, by the way. Hmmm... a classic. Think people will be swapping airchecks of time and temp VT shifts in twenty years?

We all know we're headed, sonny boy. But sometimes the old way is better and it doesn't make you an out of touch codger to think so.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Mike Benson available for the mornings?

Anonymous said...

iloveradio...
"But it's nice to see 2 jox from underachieving radio stations rewarded..."

Which 2 jocks? And for that matter, which 2 under-achieving stations?

Daune Robinson on WGAR, and WMJI? Majic may have slipped this book, but they still pull big numbers.
WGAR? Big numbers as well.
Mix 1065? OK, I'll give you that one.
Sean Stevens on WMXY?
Mix 989 was number 1 25-54 in Youngstown last I checked (may have slipped behind K105 or perhaps Y103, but they still own women)

Jon Marochino on WKDD?
Again, 98.1 is number 1 with women 25-54 in Akron. Who cares what your 12+ numbers on All Access look like.

Gary Rivers on the Marion station? Marion may be a small town, but perhaps Gary likes it in a small town. Less competitive, certainly more job security.
and he WAS the Program Director. Marion or not, PD ain't a bad gig.

Anonymous said...

He was a PD on a station that was an LP and contrary to what was reported, it did not cover the whole city.

Rivers hasn't done mornings on WDIF in many years. If memory serves me a right about a decade.

Anonymous said...

Just making sure the facts are straight. Never said anything negative.

Ohio Media Watch said...

A comment with profane language has been removed, as has one which quoted it.

It's not that we're prudes, necessarily, though it's certainly not the direction we want to go (and is indeed one thing in our mix when considering the future of this section).

It's that by leaving such language up, our little blog runs the risk of being filtered out by various web filtering software, particularly in the workplace.

So, please "watch your language", folks...and try, try to be civil! There's a lot of room to talk here (while the comments are still up in their current form, at least), and not everyone has to agree.

Some more specific comments on this item: We haven't picked up the WDCM-LP signal, since we haven't been to Marion since it went on the air.

From the Radio-Locator.com "for entertainment only" coverage map, it would appear the 45 watt WDCM-LP signal has a good shot at most, if not all of the city of Marion itself:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WDCM&service=FL&status=L&hours=U

It obviously lacks outside of that (in other communities in the county), but we don't know where the populated areas are in that city.

Our point was that Marion is a lot smaller in area than Canton, and an LPFM could very well cover virtually the entire city.

We agree that there are probably not a lot of WGAR/WMJI listeners or WMXY listeners in Canton, but it still seems a bit close to us for VTing. It's a little closer than WBBG/93.3 Youngstown sharing afternoon driver Don "Action" Jackson with his home base, WMJI, and even in the same time slot...

-The Management

Anonymous said...

In regaurds to WDCM-LP's signal in Marion; here is a link with the signal radius (which includes all of Marion and more) from the FCC.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FL1059811.html

Anonymous said...

To quote you, OMW:
"It's a little closer than WBBG/93.3 Youngstown sharing afternoon driver Don "Action" Jackson with his home base, WMJI, and even in the same time slot..."


WBBG has been on 106.1 FM since the fall of 2000. I'm sure you know that, it must have just slipped your mind! :)

Ohio Media Watch said...

OK, so we were about 6 or 7 years behind the times!

:D

Anonymous said...

>>We agree that there are probably not a lot of WGAR/WMJI listeners or WMXY listeners in Canton, but it still seems a bit close to us for VTing. It's a little closer than WBBG/93.3 Youngstown sharing afternoon driver Don "Action" Jackson with his home base, WMJI, and even in the same time slot...<<

Not to mention WAKS PM Driver Kasper who also VT's PM Drive on sister top 40 WAKZ/95-9 KISS FM in Youngstown. 96.5 is definitely listenable in Youngstown (whereas 95.9 is not in Cleveland)

Anonymous said...

For years Johnny Carson hosted the tonight show. It was a runaway hit because it was something fresh and new on late night. The entire show had a late night feel from the set design to the music, everything said..late night. Johnny would make comments about being up late etc. The audience ate it up.

Guess what?

The show was recorded at 4pm west coast time. In broad daylight. During the day. The audience was tricked! (yeah I know at one time it was live...why? The technology for videotape wasn't advanced enough..but when it was...everything was recorded and the ratings never faultered. )

Same today with Jay leno/Letterman. They even take the camera's outside for concerts and bits, and while the show airs at 11:30pm, it's broad daylight outside the studio. How many message boards/blogs are there with posts from disgrunted late night viewers calling a BS flag on that? um....Zero.

the average listener does not give two hoots if the shift is live or voice tracked. Fact.

Entertain me! Live or Memorex, don't care, just entertain me!

Anonymous said...

I have a feeling Clear Channel is all for cloning people....Just think, 30 "people" sounding exactly alike voice tracking every CC station in the nation all for peanuts! One of them gets laryngitis? No problem, no need for health benefits, euthanize him/her and pop another one out of the McFreezer! Boy, won't the shareholders be happy when their stock zooms! I've heard all of the "new" lineup elsewhere over the years; not one of them would make me want to listen to My 101.7.

Anonymous said...

I see no midnight to 5 or 6 AM person is listed...guess another CC station on autopilot during those hours.

Anonymous said...

It is pathetic watching all the Clearchannel types praise voice tracking. A process that has cost thousands of people their jobs. A process that has taken the local feel out of radio. A process that doesn't allow the listener to call and interact with the DJ. A process that makes requests a thing of the past. A process that has devalued talent and forced them to work for pennies on the dollar.

Other companies have phased people out in the past. That makes it ok for Clearchannel to be the leader in destroying the industry and taking the value of talent down the commode. Who cares if Big Rig lives somewhere else and pretends to live in Cleveland? Who cares if talent is forced to do a five hour shift for a fraction of what a full time local jock makes? Who cares if Clearchannel buys a station and throws a bunch of good people to the curb?

I don't know what they put in that Clearchannel water, but it must be pretty strong stuff.

Does Clearchannel have a "removing morals" class they teach to new hires?

Anonymous said...

..not only THAT, but they obviously teach them that radio=television, because that's what they base arguements FOR VTing on, forgetting that the immediacy and connection with the audience is what makes radio special. Oh yeah: that, and there's no moving pictures with radio either.
Hey, good luck to WHOF though, 'cause that's what this thread's supposed to be about.

Anonymous said...

As a former WJER 101.7 listener, I can say that VTing will immediately cause me to change the channel. WJER was not the greatest station, and most if not all the jocks were either HIGHLY annoying (FM morning/sports) or so syruppy (afternoon) it gave me audio diabetes. But here's the thing, I listened because they were people, reall live people, in a building I passed daily, talking about things happening as we listen. News came frequently, breaking news almost immediately, weather reports constantly, live in the field reports from local businesses, and many more things that gave it a very personal and involved feel. Almost everyone played this staion on their work radios and as hold music on their phones, and in their cars on the way to work, because we knew that if there was somthing we neede to know, they would tell us. That is gone from us now (I know AM is still there, but I know people in Dover/Phila corporation limits that can't even get in their own homes). And unfortunately, that is mostly gone from almost all broadcast radio stations. WHOF is another example of where rasio is going REALLY wrong, and a perfect reason that so many, myself included, would just rather listed to my Sirius radio than get the lame impersonal schlup something pretending to care about "My" community. Please!!! THe only thing CC is intersted in is "My" advertising dollars. The FCC may as well do away with concerning itself with city of liscense, since it's taotally meaningless anyway.

Anonymous said...

It's not exactly rocket science. If you're in the talent end of the business, voicetracking is a threat. If you're in management, it's a way to cut costs. That said, I'm one of those (and I am not in the business at all myself at this time) who feels voicetracking is harmful by shutting off avenues for new talent to pursue in smaller markets, and fundamentally dishonest in that some guy in another place is passing himself off as being right here in town with you. (Think of the unfortunate who answers a blind ad for a dream gig in Los Angeles and ends up snowbound in a closet in Cincinnati, babbling about how "surf's up and we'll have a beautiful 90 degree day.")

As for WHOF and WHBC-FM specifically, it's not as though WHBC-FM were a haven for powerhouse personalities itself. If it were, there probably would be no contest.

Anonymous said...

Why does everyone seem to be blame Clear Channel for the woes of radio?

You can't blame one company for voicetracking or the way radio as an industry is changing. It's called TECHNOLOGY. Every industry is going through changes thanks to technology. If anything, blame Bill Gates who started Windows which is what NexGen runs on. Or ARPANET, the military computer network that laid the foundation for the internet.

I left radio well over a year ago to work full time in real estate. I hear nearly the same arguments that people make about voicetracking for real estate. Technology is changing the way we interact and people do their jobs.

Don't believe me?

You used to go to a real estate agent to find a house. They held the "key" to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). It's not that way anymore. We, as agents and brokers, offer listing information, the ability to search listings, community information, financial information and more on our websites. Our role as REALTORS and agents have changed. My job isn't so much helping you find the home if you want. My role as a negotiator, marketer of listings and advisor of the real estate market has become more important. Anyone can search for a house. It's helping you through the mindfield that the escrow process can be and helping you get the best deal is what I do. Helping you take that information you find online and understanding it is what I do.

You can say the same for voicetracking. This technology is allowing companies to utilize company dollar on staff better than ever. Is it different? Yes. But so is radio from the early days, when live radio stories were done on the air with live people. When musicians would play live in the studio all the time. Then came the ability to RECORD. I bet the industry was complaining about that, too.

Look at any industry and you'll see big changes thanks to technology. I've embrased it in real estate when many of my fellow professionals refuse to even use email.

Best wishes for a great new year to all of my fellow radio geeks!

Matt Hayes (that guy they used to call Jake Reynolds)
Keller Williams Greater Cleveland SW

Ohio Media Watch said...

An unverified rumor with the potential to expose Ohio Media Watch to legal liability has been removed.

Any future attempts to post this rumor will be deleted, and if it continues, comments on related items will be closed.

If it continues, all comments will be closed pending our previously announced restructuring.

-The Management

Anonymous said...

To the "CC intern" comment guy... Thanks for the important news flash. BTW... Who cares? And was it really neccessary to even put that here at all? Grow up and go do your job!

Anonymous said...

I get amused hearing people grumple about tecnology. The guys who made buggy whips hated the car, the guys who made 8 tracks hated to cassette, I used to be real good at splicing tape, now that skill is useless.

Ford doesn't need as many guys on the line because of robotics, Acme has self serve check out lanes, Radio needed live bands in studio at one time.

The world changes, old jobs are lost, new jobs are created. How many IT jobs did WTAM have in 1965? Bet there are several there now. How many web masters did WHBC employ in 1978? Bet there is one there now.

As long as people are entertained they will listen, if they are not entertained, they will stop.

Anonymous said...

Hey OMW, here's an idea -- instead of endlessly talking about something, hinting at it, foreshadowing it, mulling it over, thinking out loud about it, bringing it up again and again -- why not just do it already!

Ohio Media Watch said...

Re: "why not just do it already!"

You apparently missed our earlier announcement.

Something is "being done", but it'll be a little while before at least one item is able to be put into place.

In the meantime, we had to remove the comment, and had to signal that we won't allow it to be posted again for liability reasons. (That, unless you want to pony up to pay for legal defense for us.)

Our apologies for the "navel gazing" as it were. We're a bit on the "too open with our thoughts" side here, and we realize that.

--The Management