A community’s health is as good at its ability to communicate and engage with each other. Media focused on hyperlocal news, offering an open forum for interviews and engaging with fresh, novel entertainment is a perfect way to do it.
WCTR AM 1530/FM 102.3 is on track to be a leading forum for news and entertainment for Kent and Queen Anne’s counties.
Recognizing a kindred spirit, the Spy interviewed Leslie Sea and Brian Moore, partners at the reinvigorated WCTR, and talked about how their newly restructured radio station engages the region in the ongoing story of ourselves: our government, schools, sports and the arts, all the while entertaining us with more than the usual stock of music.
Sea and Moore discovered Chestertown last January after working with a media broker who suggested that WCTR might be a good fit for them.
“I was the first own to arrive,” Sea says, “and I had one of those OMG moments when I came over the bridge.” They knew intuitively that they were in right place.
“WCTR in Chestertown reminded me of my early days in radio when I worked in a small station on Ohio. I wanted to get back to that,” Moore says.
Moore was impressed by the interface between WCTR and the community. “I’ve worked in many market sizes in my 37 years, from this size up to Tampa and I like the fact that you can have a station made by the people for the people in the community.”
While there might be some nostalgia in making their choice, Moore and Sea are savvy when it comes to using the internet and social platforms to make WCTR only an app away no water where you are. You can be sunning in San Diego while listening to a live stream of Washington College basketball or keep track with the home-town news. Unlike satellite radio, local broadcasting offers a direct portal to local news.
A new morning show hosted by Moore and Sea expands the “live” format to mornings and afternoons with veteran WCTR talent Keith Thompson at the helm during afternoons.
Obviously, music is of paramount importance to the business partners. While many mainstream AM/FM stations resort to what seems like an eternal loop of stock music, WCTR looks for the 60s, 70s and 80s music that continues to ‘wow’ but has often been neglected. Much of the music is introduced by local personalities
And they do their homework, even transcribing vinyl to digital and offering a historical note on the evolution of an individual song, noting that programmers seem to have forgotten huge back catalogs of music.
“One of the things we’re proud of is a 50s show we run on Saturday mornings from nine to noon hosted by Bill Blake and Tim Sullivan who used to do “Juke Box Saturday Morning.” It’s now called “The Rock and Roll Review, ” and they give you the background on music, Moore says. Sea adds that Blake and Sullivan convert original 45s to digital to use for each history of a songs’ remakes.
“It’s surprising, “Sea says. “I keep discovering who first sang or wrote the music that has become classics.
Sea also notes that WCTR has upgraded their “live-on-site” equipment to be able to attend more community events. Sea says that live remotes from community events are one of her favorite ways to engage the community and for the station to gain more listeners.
“Our doors are always open,” Sea says. “That’s a what a community radio is all about. You can come here, talk to us, give us your ideas and make requests. We extend an open invitation and hope that you will give the new WCTR a listen.”
“We want to try serve everyone because I think we offer something for everyone. We offer something for the Millennials because they love retro music and we offer something to the community because we are so up to date on things going on right here, right now,” Sea adds.
This video is approximately 7 minutes in length. For more about WCTR go here
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