Didn't WTRO take over the WDSG frequency because it (1450) was licensed for nighttime broadcasting? Maybe I am mistaken, but I thought that 1330 was daytime-only. I never lived in Dyersburg, so I don't know. The fact that WTRO never continued programming on 1330 told me that even then, AM radio was in big trouble. It has only gotten worse since then.
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WCTA 810AM Alamo,TN Dark?
- Thread starter FUN
- Start date
Yes, you're right about what happened.
Their is no transfer of ownership on file at the FCC from the passing of the station owner. This was filed in 2012. Nothing filed since
Exhibits
Exhibit 9
Description: EXPLANATION
A CURRENT OWNERSHIP REPORT HAS BEEN FILED THIS DATE. THE LICENSEE AND PRINCIPLE OWNER HAD A STROKE IN 2010 AND THE STATION HAS BEEN ON AND OFF THE AIR SINCE. IT IS PRESENTLY ON THE AIR. HE HAS BEEN IN ILL HEALTH FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND THE CURRENT FILING OF THE OWNERSHIP REPORT SHOULD BRING HIS RECORDS TO DATE.
Attachment 9
Exhibit 13
Description: OPERATING SCHEDULE
WCTA WAS HIT BY A TORNADO LAST YEAR AND WAS ON AND OFF THE AIR FOR SEVERAL MONTHS ALTHOUGH UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2011 WAS NEVER OFF MORE THAN 30 DAYS. HOWEVER THE STATION'S OWNERE, BILLY HUGH WILLIAMS, SUFFERED A MINOR STROKE IN 2010 AND A MAJOR STROKE IN SEPTEMBER 2011 AND HAS BEEN IN VERY POOR HEALTH SINCE THEN AND IS IN REHAB CENTER. THE STATION WAS OFF THE AIR FROM SEPTEMBER 19 (ESTIMATED)2011 UNTIL APRIL 24, 2012 AT WHICH TIME A FORMER STATION OWNER AGREED TO OPERATE THE STATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE CURRENT LICENSEE UNTIL SUCH A TIME AS THE LICENSEE CAN RETURN TO FULL TIME STATION MANAGEMENT.THE STATION IS CURRENTLY ON THE AIR WITH PROGRAMMING.
Attachment 13
Exhibits
Exhibit 9
Description: EXPLANATION
A CURRENT OWNERSHIP REPORT HAS BEEN FILED THIS DATE. THE LICENSEE AND PRINCIPLE OWNER HAD A STROKE IN 2010 AND THE STATION HAS BEEN ON AND OFF THE AIR SINCE. IT IS PRESENTLY ON THE AIR. HE HAS BEEN IN ILL HEALTH FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND THE CURRENT FILING OF THE OWNERSHIP REPORT SHOULD BRING HIS RECORDS TO DATE.
Attachment 9
Exhibit 13
Description: OPERATING SCHEDULE
WCTA WAS HIT BY A TORNADO LAST YEAR AND WAS ON AND OFF THE AIR FOR SEVERAL MONTHS ALTHOUGH UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2011 WAS NEVER OFF MORE THAN 30 DAYS. HOWEVER THE STATION'S OWNERE, BILLY HUGH WILLIAMS, SUFFERED A MINOR STROKE IN 2010 AND A MAJOR STROKE IN SEPTEMBER 2011 AND HAS BEEN IN VERY POOR HEALTH SINCE THEN AND IS IN REHAB CENTER. THE STATION WAS OFF THE AIR FROM SEPTEMBER 19 (ESTIMATED)2011 UNTIL APRIL 24, 2012 AT WHICH TIME A FORMER STATION OWNER AGREED TO OPERATE THE STATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE CURRENT LICENSEE UNTIL SUCH A TIME AS THE LICENSEE CAN RETURN TO FULL TIME STATION MANAGEMENT.THE STATION IS CURRENTLY ON THE AIR WITH PROGRAMMING.
Attachment 13
There are some statements in this filing that I'll just say aren't totally accurate. This thread started in 2008 (Six years? WOW!!!) and the station had been on and off (Mostly off) for a year or more before that, and was totally off by the time this thread started until it came back on in 2012, unless they were on for VERY brief periods, and I doubt if that ever really happened. The extended or permanent periods of WCTA being off went on from at least 2007 until they returned in 2012.
And even from the very first page of this thread, the owner was in a nursing home, so that didn't bode well for the station, unless he had plans in place for family members to run it in his absence. I see this station going the way of the old WPFD in Fairview, that is, into oblivion. The out-of-staters can come onto this board and pontificate all that they want to about "history" and "heritage" and all that, but history and heritage do not pay the bills.
I see (from looking at an old Tennessee almanac) that both WCTA and WPFD (and for that matter, WQSV) were relatively "young" radio stations, coming onto the air in 1983 and 1982, respectively. Apparently, the early '80s were about the last time that it was ever economically feasible to put new AM stations on the air.
There was another factor. They had pretty well run out of vacant frequencies on the A.M. band. Someone could come back on that statement and say: "Oh, there were some frequencies still available, but they required directional (multi-tower) antenna systems, and some required that some consulting engineer drive a couple of highways for 200 miles taking readings every so often to prove that the FCC Ground Conductivity maps were not accurate for that area. If someone wanted a station bad enough in a larger market, they might be willing to pay the expenses of engineering studies and expensive to build and expensive to maintain antenna systems, but not in little county seat markets.
Looking back on it, we can say that there were small town stations that were built that probably never should have been built in the 1960s and 1970s. They were NEVER from Day One able to "afford the cost of living". But we didn't understand that, and when you found out your station didn't work for you, there was this line of dreamers standing in line who just knew that they had the "smarts" to make it work and to make money.
The roll call of stations you folks have listed in this thread for Tennessee that in essence die when their owners die is mind boggling. I wonder how many other states could come up with similar lists for their state.
Looking back on it, we can say that there were small town stations that were built that probably never should have been built in the 1960s and 1970s. They were NEVER from Day One able to "afford the cost of living". But we didn't understand that, and when you found out your station didn't work for you, there was this line of dreamers standing in line who just knew that they had the "smarts" to make it work and to make money.
The roll call of stations you folks have listed in this thread for Tennessee that in essence die when their owners die is mind boggling. I wonder how many other states could come up with similar lists for their state.
I would say that that is probably true, but I would also think that by the '80s, AM radio was declining in popularity to the point that anyone who really wanted to (and could afford to) could have bought an existing AM station, particularly in a small town. As for what you went on to say in the rest of that paragraph, do you really think that anyone would have gone to all that trouble to put a new AM station on the air, particularly in rural areas, anytime within the last 30 years? I still remember seeing WPFD Fairview listed in one of those free real estate magazines that you can find in front of almost any convenience store. This was around 1995. The (then) owner of the now-departed WIZO in Franklin told me that she considered buying WPFD. (Instead, she sold WIZO a year later, and it is now a hispanic station.)
Not only that, but stations even started turning up in non-county seat towns. Fairview was one, McKenzie is another. Most of the other non-county seat towns that have stations are the most influential town in their county. Martin, home of WCMT, is a college town. And Dickson has the best proximity to I-40 of any town in Dickson County, although WDKN predated I-40 by a number of years. But why a station (WQSE) in White Bluff? What is going on there? But hey, they have a McDonald's there, although not really good access to I-40 despite being relatively close to it.
Most of those were/are essentially de facto sole proprietorships, if not actual sole proprietorships. When the owner dies, no one in the family has any interest in continuing the station. This apparently happened with both WDSG and WHDM. Most of the stations that we mention here are in the smaller towns, because the big city stations get discussed on their respective boards. I would be interested in seeing similar lists, particularly for neighboring states. And I patterned one of my threads here (about defunct AM stations, I think) after seeing a similar thread on another state's board. It generated some pretty good discussion, as I recall.
There is a logical explanation for SOME of the little towns that have stations that make you ask: "WHY????". As it became harder and harder to find a place on the dial to put a new station to be the 2nd or 3rd station in a desirable town, my memory is that the FCC (in it's wisdom?) decided that communities that didn't have their own radio station should have first shot at any available frequencies. (Maybe even being willing to bend the rules a little bit to provide a "first service".
I'm not familiar with White Bluff. I see that it now gospel. Was it from the beginning? What makes it different than some of the other non-county seat towns you listed is that it is suburban Nashville. Had I been looking at the maps without this conversation, I would have simply assumed, "Oh, someone wanted to grab a bit of the Nashville market, and by claiming "first service" policy, was able to get this thing licensed." My second guess would have been: "Oh, someone wanted a religion station and they didn't care that there was no significant supporting retail market." (Or they knew so little about broadcasting they didn't know that retail is the life blood of small town radio.)
I could almost see "shoehorning" stations in, in the manner that you suggest (and it is now also happening here in Nashville on FM), but then the question becomes, what about when the small AM station in that town goes off the air, and there is no other remaining station with that particular town as a COL? Fairview is a fairly decent sized town (recently got a Wal-Mart, I think, or is about to get one), but apparently cannot support a radio station, no matter how small.
They came on the air (surprise, surprise) in 1982. I first became aware of them in 1993, when at that time, they were alt-country, playing a lot of stuff on indie labels. Their overnight programming was real high-tech: a six-CD changer on repeat all night! I believe that their owner-manager at the time wanted the station to be a place where up-and-comers could get some airplay and exposure. It must not have worked, because only a year or two after that, they became gospel, and I believe that they have been ever since. At the time I became aware of them, I had just left WDXN in Clarksville, so was considering applying at WQSE, but I seriously doubt that I could have ever made a living on whatever they could have paid me. Ironically now, they are the geographically closest station to me, with studios just 10-11 miles away from me at most, but I did not live here in 1993, and was in fact in the process of moving away from Clarksville at that time.
Why are you, living in Atlanta, so interested in radio here in the volunteer state? While WQSV was off, I briefly picked up a sports talker at AM 790 coming from Atlanta, and mistakenly (as it turned out) assumed that WQSV's new owners (who were going to change the calls to WJNA) had put the station back on the air. Meanwhile, an engineer from the opposite end of the county (Pleasant View) posted that he was receiving a sports talker at AM 790 from Louisville at about that same time.
Now I read (on the other board) that Chris Lash is taking WMAK-Linden back to his original oldies format. Must be tough to program an AM station (particularly in a rural area) these days. I don't recall any mention of sister station Hank-FM, so it must be remaining country.
If an A.M. goes off the air and the license is "turned in/cancelled" then there is no residue to sweep up. Your application for a new A.M. cannot claim: "There used to be one here, I want that same place on the dial." The rules may have changed since the original grant, and the existing station was allowed to stay (while bending the new standards). Buy the license and the FCC transfers to you the opportunity to keep bending the rules.
Little towns NEED rural population. Back 50 years ago, there were more people living in rural areas, and newspapers back then did not get good rural circulation in many cases. Merchants who really understood and preferred newspaper bought radio back then sometimes just to reach the rural folks. Newspapers today penetrate rural neighborhoods better, and there are less people living out there. The merchants say: "Who needs radio?"
Fair question. Before I moved to Georgia, it was no secret in the "cubicle farm" where I worked that I had my sights on maybe living in Tennessee. (Tired of Northern Winters!!!) I had this giant map of Tennessee on my cubicle wall. My supervisor offered me an opportunity to stay with the company and move to Memphis. With a twinkle in my eye, I replied: "No, not Memphis. I want to live in Tennessee."
I have some family in the Nashville area. I have driven through Tennessee to get to the ancestral home in the Ozarks since 1965. LOTS of trips through Tennessee. Lot's of overnight stops in Tennessee. I considered the purchase of a couple of different stations in Tennessee.
I aimed the catapult wrong when I left the North and landed in Georgia instead of Tennessee. (The same people who offered me Memphis later offered me Georgia, so GA offered me employment.... Tennessee didn't. Isn't that how life sometimes works?)
Yes, we here in south Cheatham County are served by a weekly paper (delivered to everyone who lives here) and several Facebook pages. WQSV (as I have said earlier) doesn't really cover us, so we don't need them, and we don't miss them.
Ironic since the wife and I want to move down to Pensacola because Tennessee winters are too cold for US! We never really got much snow here last winter beyond a few "dustings," but it was the coldest winter here in about 18 years! I saw on the news how Atlanta was crippled by just a couple of inches of snow; well the same thing would happen here, probably with even less snow!
while Nashville does not handle snowfalls very well...it's MUCH better here than in Atlanta during snow...where they go bat-guano-crazy
Thanks for that, Romer. Made me feel a LITTLE better! Of course, the upshot to this is that areas that don't know how to handle snowfalls are that way BECAUSE they don't get much snow! But then again, ANY snow is too much for me if I must drive in it!
Back to topic, I don't really think that we could consider towns like White Bluff and Fairview within the Nashville "metro" market, particularly for AM stations. Their signal just does not get out that far. Anything outside the 840 loop (or even close to it) cannot really be considered to serve "metro" Nashville, again particularly the AM stations.
(At one time, a hypothetical north 840 loop was proposed which would have connected Clarksville, Springfield, and Gallatin. Ironically, this loop was proposed while I was living in Clarksville! Any station near such a hypothetical loop (again, the AM stations in particular) cannot really be said to serve "Nashville.")
I drove past the studio last night and saw a light on in the control booth which can be seen from the front window. Nobody was there but it's usually dark, so I think something is going on.
Almost 2 years later, same old stuff. I don't see how they're managing to stay on.
Were you able to go by there at night like you mentioned in your previous reply? Any activity on their Facebook page? (Yeah, right.) I will try to go check it out in the meantime.
I haven't seen anyone in the building again even on the night I saw lights on. They still have the MO phone number to contact on the door. No updates on the Facebook page since November.
So they have a Missouri phone number as their contact? Might just be someone's cell number, but could also be a sign of out-of-town owners!
I suspect for some of these AM stations, the ownership is up in years and children aren't interested in the station. They keep the station hobbling along knowing they're too old to do a career change and familiar and comfortable is preferred for the years they have left.
I once talked to a fellow that had a little daytimer with enough nighttime to barely cover the city limits. He did a 2 hour morning show with short interviews, local features and community announcements 6 to 8 in the morning. He repeated the 6 am hour at 8 and then sliced the programming up in to bites that rotated the rest of the day in a different order mixed with some music bridges from an production music library. For overnights and most of the weekends, he simulcast the NOAA Weather frequency in his area. He eventually dropped nighttime except in bad weather. Supposedly he made enough to pay the bills plus about $600 to $800 a month to supplement his Social Security. He and his wife converted part of the station into an apartment they lived in. I think most of his billing came from a few churches that bought time.
It was a far cry from the earlier decades when he had paid staff and decent revenue but his town had changed drastically. The school district consolidated, a major employer moved away and all the bigger businesses (grocery stores and such) closed down due to competition from national chains in nearby towns. The last straw was the local bank selling and the new bank owner eventually just leaving the town with an ATM.
The situation at WCTA is likely one that will not be determined anytime soon. I sort of wonder if the FCC might be sitting back waiting for everything to work itself out with WCTA, knowing they'll eventually vanish from the airwaves with all it's life depleted. My thought is if the FCC acts, it leads to plenty of hours of various filings they must peruse and render a decision. With their stretched budget, it might be best to take on more pressing issues than WCTA.
As a footnote, I saw where WPFD, mentioned earlier in this thread, applied for a license (renewal I suppose) that was rejected with the station deleted. Although I'm not in the area I understand WPFD may have been silent a good while before this filing.
I think the Missouri phone number is to the prior owner that is involved in helping WCTA keep going (if it is).
I once talked to a fellow that had a little daytimer with enough nighttime to barely cover the city limits. He did a 2 hour morning show with short interviews, local features and community announcements 6 to 8 in the morning. He repeated the 6 am hour at 8 and then sliced the programming up in to bites that rotated the rest of the day in a different order mixed with some music bridges from an production music library. For overnights and most of the weekends, he simulcast the NOAA Weather frequency in his area. He eventually dropped nighttime except in bad weather. Supposedly he made enough to pay the bills plus about $600 to $800 a month to supplement his Social Security. He and his wife converted part of the station into an apartment they lived in. I think most of his billing came from a few churches that bought time.
It was a far cry from the earlier decades when he had paid staff and decent revenue but his town had changed drastically. The school district consolidated, a major employer moved away and all the bigger businesses (grocery stores and such) closed down due to competition from national chains in nearby towns. The last straw was the local bank selling and the new bank owner eventually just leaving the town with an ATM.
The situation at WCTA is likely one that will not be determined anytime soon. I sort of wonder if the FCC might be sitting back waiting for everything to work itself out with WCTA, knowing they'll eventually vanish from the airwaves with all it's life depleted. My thought is if the FCC acts, it leads to plenty of hours of various filings they must peruse and render a decision. With their stretched budget, it might be best to take on more pressing issues than WCTA.
As a footnote, I saw where WPFD, mentioned earlier in this thread, applied for a license (renewal I suppose) that was rejected with the station deleted. Although I'm not in the area I understand WPFD may have been silent a good while before this filing.
I think the Missouri phone number is to the prior owner that is involved in helping WCTA keep going (if it is).
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