Wednesday, March 4, 2015

WGPA Sold.. Mix, Stir, Repeat


Lehigh Valley.com: Buyer plans to veer from polka format. "the music format will focus on Ameripolitan, a genre described by some as "real" country music."

Déjà vu
When I was just 20 years old I worked at WHOL. It was a 500 watt daytime only radio station. We played country music back in the late sixties early seventies except in late afternoon (near the end of the broadcast day) when Jolly Joe hosted his polka show.

The station had two active partners who owned 50%. Jolly Joe and about 4 other silent partners owned the other 50%.


While I wish the new owners all the luck in the world I can't help but mention.. been there. Done that. The one thing consistent was we were always at the bottom of the ratings :-)

I can say things have changed a lot in the Lehigh Valley over the last 40 some years. Country music is now more acceptable. Will this format be successful? We shall see.


My Ole DJ Daz'.. (A 17 Minute Sampler)


5 comments:

  1. Jolly Joe is arguably the region's most beloved musician he defines the term impresario with the diversity of his holdings; radio, tv, the grove, music shop, and band.

    One has to wonder if the impending lawsuit regarding the Jim Gregory affair has anything to do with his decision, a lawsuit which probably won't go anywhere considering the disclaimer that was broadcast before Gregory's program.

    Frankly I found "The Mouth That Roared" to be riveting radio and sincerely hope the new owners give Jim the opportunity to have the balance of show time owed to him by Timmer he may be out in time for the fall elections and if there's anything Jim knows it's politics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This kind of trash talking hatred from JG's mouth deserves no where near the attention he's already gotten. "Disclaimers" doesn't mean anyone gets to say whatever the hell they want.

      This kind of crap is exactly what's wrong with radio and some of the blogs that deal in this kind of back stabbing, hate ya, gotcha kind of stuff here in the Lehigh Valley.

      Delete
    2. Jim was going through a rough patch at the time, it is very possible the time spent incarcerated has given him time to reflect and re-calibrate.

      Knowing Jim for several decades I can say his episode was out of character, AM radio COULD use variety on it's airwaves perhaps something like a local Coast to Coast AM (Art Bell, Noory) not sure if WGPA's policy of not broadcasting over night was due to legal restrictions or just cost....Imagine unpaid college kids at the controls of a radio station from 9-5 it would have potential for some innovative broadcasting and it's modest signal would reach a large group of people who do like to stay up late....

      Delete
    3. A couple of points... it's illegal to hire "unpaid college kids". This would violate the minimum wage act. The way employers get around this is by calling them "unpaid interns" only after making arrangements with a college that they receive credits. I've never been keen on this.

      As to WGPA's broadcasting FCC license.. it's doesn't allow them to broadcast at night. Nor ever a future opportunity to do so

      It's also the lowest power commercial license available from the FCC (only 250 watts). Since the amount advertising revenues are based on the number of listeners this station has little potential. About the only way they managed to be around this long was by charging DJ wannabes & talk show hosts to be on the air.

      Please understand I'm not trashing WGPA, but what this gentleman and his son paid for it was probably only what the equipment was worth, And I do wish them all the luck.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

All comments are under moderation. Meaning pending approval. If comments are disrespectful or do not address this specific topic they will not be published