The Future Of Radio on The Mid-Shore: How one station has provided what was missing

The Mid-Shore area has always been an underutilized option for serving the community at large. For the past 30 years, the area was typified by the following stations: WCEI, WCEM, WTDK, and WAAI. WINX serves St. Michaels and Easton and is affiliated with WCEI.

Before the choices were broadened by a rising technology, most of the stations were institutional, all but set in stone and the allegiance was unquestioned.

In the past few years this has all changed with a maverick radio station in the heart of the Mid-Shore leading the charge. It had to happen….

A changing community brings different perspectives as well as expectations. This area is one of the most prosperous in the county and our diversity is growing everyday. That said, radio stations and what they have to offer often don’t reflect that but they will have to, to survive.

During the heyday of terrestrial Mid Shore radio, AC (adult contemporary) was the big genre in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the area, and of course, that made it attractive to certain demographics. In 1990, a town like Easton (the home of WCEI) had the following numbers to work from:

White: 73.1%
African American: 17.2%
Latino 9.8%
Native American: 0.2%
Asian: 2.1%

The median age in America in 1990 was 32. That was the perfect age to local playlists to be mainly AC as songs from the 60s to the ‘90s were on the same playlist.

During their heyday, WCEI and WCEM (which rocked a bit harder) were the go-to stations. WTDK, the Duck played “the oldies” that a station like WCEI only played during the “Oldies Lunch.” WCEI in particular had more interpersonal shifts when the disc jockeys’ distinct personalities, voices  and comments were entertainment in and of themselves.

By the late ‘90s, the AC format fell out of vogue and an aging demographic seemed to turn towards country from the ‘70s to the ‘90s. AC as a radio station format has failed to retain its 25–44 demographic and said simply the world and music styles changed.

By 2000 the numbers in Easton were as follows:

68% White
15% Black
10% Hispanic
2% Asian
4% Other

According to the 2000 demographics, The Mid Shore population started to change after the heyday of AC radio. The majority of the local radio stations acted like business as usual until the conditions became untenable. In a lot of cases, the Mid-Shore community stopped tuning in and consolidation had to be an option.

Since 2018 Draper Media has been scooping up well known stations in the area including WAAI-FM, WTDK-FM and WCEM-FM. Through these ventures, Draper Media often absorbs smaller like minded stations to create a monolithic corporate voice, for better or worse.

If local stations saved from their corporate reward due to consolidation entertaining enough, some stand-alone stations have actually tweaked the local radio paradigm and have created new fans.

In recent years WHCP has done the impossible, it has survived and become an essential and trusted voice in a short amount of time.

WHCP has been in business since 2015. Station founder Mike Starling worked at NPR in Washington, DC. Among his achievements are being named VP at NPR and later CTO. Throughout his career Starling gained a lot of knowledge working at the local and national level of radio. WHCP at its best offers that and more to its listeners.

The WHCP-FM 91.7 which used to be (WHCP-LP 1o1.5) started out as a 71 watt enterprise reaching a total of 10,000 people in the Mid Shore area. In 2022 WHCP got a FCC license and got the signal boosted to 14,000 watts. In comparison, WCEI has 12,000 and WCEM has 6,000.

Even at its WHCP has also practiced a lot of the eclectic sensibilities that are inherent in the region that other stations have ignored.

WHCP has content from NPR, freer playlists, podcasts, podcast like chats and discussions about local events and people. It’s not afraid to alienate a “monolithic” and most likely imaginary group of listeners.

In an era when a DJ’s voice and musical imprint has disappeared from a shift, WHCP is the opposite of that.

WHCP has shows including Lady Spins The Blues with Dr. Donna, The Morning Groove with Shane Walker, and R&B, Neo Soul, and Smooth Jazz sets with DJ Kurt Kut.

Woman Wattage with Anne Watts is another popular show and WHCP also plays the late Bill Wright’s Roadtrippin’ programs.The political commentary of the Spy’s From and Fuller and Well-known Spy writer Laura Oliver’s How The Story Goes is another regular feature.

WHCP’s flagship office is based in Cambridge, and it also has an office in Easton, another town that is changing by the minute. In the meantime, WHCP is raising the challenge of serving all segments of the Mid-Shore population. This is the lay of the land according to the 2024 census:

Cambridge

44.2% Black
38.7% White
7.5% Latino
2.1% Asian

Easton’s changes were similar:

73.1% White
17.2% African American
9.8% Hispanic or Latino
2.1% Asian

In recent years, a lot of the aforementioned Mid-Shore radio stations have also had a presence on the internet. Its Yourz Radio is an internet station that has been in business since 2015 and offers hip-hop, R&B, boom bap, classic soul and interviews.

All of those mentioned above well-known local AC and country stations have an internet presence, but WHCP’s app, accessibility, and streaming make it truly set for the times.

The Mid-Shore’s audiences have often been neglected and undervalued. The good news is that the times are changing, and all of our voices are beginning to be heard.

Jason Elias is a pop culture historian and music journalist