WCTR, 1530 AM “The Town” is changing for the new year. The station, which is the voice of Kent and Queen Anne’s counties on the radio, is moving to a new, all-talk format beginning the first week of January. WCTR, which has always included local and national news and some talk as well as lots of music, is making the change to keep up with the times.
According to Ken Collins, WCTR Station Manager, the transition is happening because they want to be more to the community than simply background music.
“We’re doing this to give our listeners something better for all the right reasons,” Collins said. “We want to give them something they can’t get anywhere else. We’ll be bringing in local people of importance, newsworthy to our listeners. We want to be as informative as possible for the community.”
Initially, the change will include a mix of local and national talk programs, but the goal is to eventually be all local programming.
The station’s website, www.wctr.com, will have live streaming and podcasts of what’s currently on the radio, as well as archives of all the shows for several weeks after they first are broadcast. And if you miss the music, according to Collins, the site also includes a variety of streaming music stations available any time.
“This change is being made with the knowledge and expectations that our audience will benefit from it,” Collins said. “We working hard to create something important for the community and our listeners.”
More information about the station and their programming can be found at www.wctr.com.
MBTroup says
I like having the classic rock and oldies option when I drive home, but I like this too. There are people I “know” on CTR in the middle of the day, but I don’t get a chance to listen. Perhaps if that moves to drive time…
Keith Thompson says
Troup…one of the things this move will allow us to do is be able to replay a lot of our local programming at different times. My “Shore Morning Show” from 8 to 10 will become local talk and will allow me to play back the best elements from “Today On The Shore” at noon (or even Friday’s Talk Of The Towns show) and look for us to air “Best Of” segments from both the morning show and noon show in the afternoons. I’m going to miss the classic hits/oldies format because of my background as a musician and because my radio career (until now) has always been on music formatted stations, but I’m becoming more convinced that my job chatting with local pols as well as local movers and shakers means far more than spinning records. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Carol says
I listen to the station all day at work and already listen to rerun programs. I liked the mix of music and talk shows and will miss the music. And if your “drive time” is after sunset, you won’t be listening to anything!
Keith Thompson says
Carol, we can’t do anything about drivetime after sunset since we can only be a dawn to dusk station per FCC regulations. As for the music…in this day and age when more and more people are listening to music on their i-pods, or portable CD players, or on the internet; its hard for a small AM station to be competitive and play music. We need to offer listeners what they can’t get anywhere else. You will still have the option of listening to music 24 hours a day on our website, and you can even pick the format you want. You’ll also be able to listen to podcasts on our website as well. Eventually I think the entire broadcast industry will be web based and we need to keep up with the times rather than become extinct.
Jack the Mailman says
Just hope that “national talk programs’ doesn’t mean Rush and his ilk, from either side of the spectrum. If you are ” The Town”, let’s keep it that way. Local and informative like it is now.
Keith Thompson says
Jack…the national shows during the week will be Dennis Miller from 10-noon and Gayle King from 2-4. We like both of them precisely because they offer an entertainment and informative quotient that you don’t get from Rush and his ilk. Weekends will feature specialty shows like “The Money Pit” (which we’ve already been running), car shows , outdoor hunting and fishing shows, etc.; things that should appeal to a wide spectrum of our listeners.
Jessica says
Please don’t stop the music. I listen to WCTR everyday at work, but if there is no music I will have to change the station.
Keith Thompson says
Jessica, you’ll still have the option to listen to music online at wctr.com and you’ll even get to pick the format you like, 24 hours a day.
Patty Stetson says
Keith,
Guess I am one of your extinct listeners. I don’t like listening to music online. I like to listen to it on the radio.
Patty
Keith Thompson says
Patty, the problem these days it that it is increasingly difficult for small AM stations (or even small FM stations) to survive financially by only playing music. We’re a business and we need to re-invent ourselves in order to survive. Because of licensing fees to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC; having a full time music format is expensive to do, even if you’re using an automated network and not paying local announcers. It’s an expense that medium or large market FM stations can afford because their programming is geared toward appealing to a certain advertising demographic that is rated by Arbitron. In our case, we’re not a station that gets rated by Arbitron and therefore we can’t sell ratings to advertisers; we can only sell programming. When we’re offering programming that listeners can also get on the internet, or through Sirius/XM, or on their i-pods or mp3 players, etc; we’re not offering many advertisers something that connects them to the community or to our listeners. If we can offer advertisers specific programming that allows them to connect their product or services with the community…like a seniors show, a financial planning show, or even shows that allow listeners to hear what’s going on in the community directly from the people making the decisions that impact their lives, then we’re offering advertisers something that they can’t get anywhere else. Shows like “Talk Of The Towns”, “Senior Class”, Homegrown & Green”, or the Election Profiles we did with the Chestertown Spy, etc. allows us to not only offer that kind of programming, but also enables us to fulfill our FCC license obligations to serve our community (something that playing music doesn’t do). Our new direction allows us to incorporate more of that into our regular programming, especially in the mornings, and it also means that I’ll have to work a whole lot harder to earn my paycheck We’re not taking the easy way out because it much harder to do these kinds of shows than it is to load songs into a computer scheduler and have it play them back (which is what the majority of FM programming is today). It’s worth it because community based programming is what is making us more relevant to the community and to our advertisers.
Finally, for years broadcasters have been lobbying Congress to do something about the increasing licensing fees that broadcasters have to pay to broadcast music and Congress has consistantly sided with the corporate music publishers and the major record labels. Our decision is somewhat related to those political decisions.
Patty Stetson says
Keith,
I understand the decision but I still like to listen to music on the radio.
Patty
billa says
keith,
i’ve always been curious, what would it take for wctr to go over overnight after sunset? why is it sunset when that changes so greatly throughout the year?
there isn’t a true strong competing signal on the frequency.
is it an antiquated FCC rule or is the cost just that great?
Keith Thompson says
Biila,
Certain AM frequencies called clear channel frequencies (not to be confused with the broadcasting conglomerate of the same name) have to be protected at night since the AM signal bounces at night. The 1530 AM signal is home to one of those 50,000 watt clear channel frequencies out of Cincinnati (and they come booming in here after sunset). In a way it’s a throwback to the early days of radio when there were networks of clear channel frequencies that carried national network programming and these clear channel AMs often have a signal range of thousands of miles. It would make sense for these stations to cut back power to only cover the region surrounding their city of license to lessen the interference, but once a station is granted a signal at a certain power, it is grandfathered in. Recently the FCC has granted permission for small AM stations to carry their signal on a very low power FM translator and it’s something we’re actively looking to do. Right now, we’re searching for the best tower we can get permission to use that will give us the best coverage area. An FM translator would only give us a few miles of coverage area, but it would allow us to broadcast 24 hours a day.
Carol says
I really am trying to like the new format. But if today’s Gayle King is any indication of what we have to look forward to, I am really disappointed. All she is doing is advertising the new Oprah Network! I listen at work and people kept coming in my work area this morning saying “Where’s the music?” I don’t have the option of listening to music on the internet. I know you can’t please everyone, and it makes me sad that our local radio station is no longer really local.
Keith Thompson says
Carol,
Welcome to lesson #1 of media cross-promotion! It’s rather coincidental that our launch of the Gayle King show coincides with Oprah’s new network. The network talk will die down once her show get settled in on the TV network.
As for local, I ask you…how is playing music local? The amount of locally based programming at WCTR is actually growing with the format change. While Dennis Miller and Gayle King are not locally based programming, they’re simply replacing the ABC Classic Hits network which was automated programming delivered by satellite. When we are adding shows like “Senior Class”, “Talk Of The Towns”, “Homegrown & Green”, “Frankly Speaking”, etc. they were actually replacing automated satellite driven programming. While it would be nice to have a full airstaff of jocks spinning the oldies, economics in 2011 doesn’t allow us that luxury. In fact, there’s a good chance if you’re listening to an FM music station on the Eastern Shore or even in Baltimore, you’re listening to a program delivered by satellite or being voicetracked out of another market. It would be easy for us to simply program our satellite receiver to deliver nothing but nationally based shows, but our owner Dick Gelfman has made a commitment to make WCTR a part of the community. I’d stack the quanity of our community based local programming up against most stations you hear on the dial.
Jessica says
We cannot do that at work. I will miss WCTR. I guess I will have to find another station. Thanks anyway.
Keith Thompson says
Jessica,
We do thank you for listening and we do realize that we can’t make everyone happy. Change isn’t always popular, but sometimes its necessary.
MBTroup says
I’m interested in what made former HoCo mate Dick Gelfman make the move from HoCo to Ctown. I didn’t know he owned the station. I remember him on WJZ’S “Get Gelfman.”
Keith Thompson says
Troup,
I don’t know all of the details, but Dick Gelfman purchased the station from former Baltimore radio personality Brian Wilson when Wilson put the station up for sale. The two of them had worked together and known each other for quite awhile. Gelfman is a true broadcaster and the station is a labor of love for him.
MBTroup says
Keith, I hope that conversation went like this:
Dick: Why are you selling?
Brian: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
Dick: mmkay, but can it make money?
Brian: SMiLE! Don’t Worry Baby! And buy my new Gershwin album (really, you should)
Keith Thompson says
Troup,
That’s funny! It wasn’t that conversation, nor the one with the FOX News guy.
By the way, that’s the Brian of “Brian & O’Brien” fame in Baltimore. He’s now runs a one man company called “Vacation Relief” where he does fill-in talk shows around the nation from his home studio.
JIM says
Dennis Miller??? Not funny. Not entertaining. Just another right-wing wanna-be. Should have gone for the other Miller: Stephanie Miller. Funny, edgy, informative. She would also fit in with Chestertown politics. Check it out at http://www.stephaniemiller.com.
Keith Thompson says
Jim, thanks for the link. We’ll check it out. Keep in mind, part of our programming is based our contract with Westwood One, so there are technical requirements as well as contractual ones.
As for Dennis Miller, we realize that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but we’ve had a lot of positive feedback on him as well. Yes we realize that he’s right wing in his politics, but he’s not a straight political talker like a Limbaugh or a Hannity. We also feel he is a nice contrast to Gayle King in that they bring differing and more diverse points of view. You can’t escape a political point of view on the air, but we don’t want to be pegged as a partisan political station.
MBTroup says
Stephanie Miller used to be on 3WT AM1500. She is every bit on the left side, what the staples of talk are to the right side. Dennis Miller has been a living pendulum, so he’ll either connect with everyone at some point, or perhaps no one at all. I haven’t found Gayle King to be great on any level, but I’ll say this: if you want Rush, you can find Rush. So kudos to CTR for going off the board in selecting their content.
Keith Thompson says
Troup, thanks for the kind words.