[HCRA] Death of an AM station

[Rick Lindquist, N1RL]

WJDA was my grandmother's favorite radio station (she lived in E Milton
where my mother grew up), and I still have the radio listened to it on.
That said, if she were still alive today, she would be 125,
which--nostalgia aside--may say something about why the delightful
little local AM stations are silently slipping away--like at least three
of the AMers where I used to be on the air (owned part of one of 'em)
back in the day.

So, Jim, don't you like "Powwwer Doce Setenta!" (WSPR)? Back in 1971, a
fellow named Budd Clain, then the program director there, offered me an
on-air gig--my chance to break into a Top-100 media market. I was
working in radio--an AM/FM combo in coastal Maine--at the time, but
turned down his offer (an astounding $150/week--about what I was already
making) to go to gradual school instead.

The thing is, the face of broadcasting began changing looong ago. It's
indeed lamentable, as Donna points out, that local radio--and, more
important, locally originated programming and local personalities--is
fast becoming a thing of the past. But no one really objected when the
big media conglomerates convinced the FCC to "relax" (drop, for all
intents and purposes) limits on the number of AM radio, FM radio and
television stations any one owner could hold in a given market. 

The rationale was that only the media conglomerates had the wherewithal
to keep the stragglers and strugglers of the marketplace on the air,
thus allegedly maintaining diversity. The FCC, which heretofore had put
a premium on local ownership and true diversity on the dial, did a 180
and bought into the media owners' arguments. 

The public by and large sat by and watched it happen, perhaps in part
because the real shift in radio and TV was away from broadcasting as a
service (ie, serving the public, which owns the spectrum) and toward
broadcasting as a business that reaps enormous profits by entertaining
or titillating the public (and, let's not forget, making money for
investors). Money talks. Nobody walks. Once this shift began, the WJDAs
of the world never stood a chance. 

Now, with rare exceptions, a handful of very wealthy media corporations
such as Clear Channel, Cumulus and Sinclair own most of the broadcasting
outlets worth owning (and other media as well). 

The rest have gone dark.

73, Rick, N1RL 

-----Original Message-----
From: hcra-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:hcra-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Jim Mullen
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2006 5:14 PM
To: HCRA Mailing List (HCRA Mailing List)
Subject: [HCRA] Death of an AM station

______________________________________________
-------Hampden County Radio Association-------
-----------e-mail list (reflector)-------------
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Hey folks,

Last month's guest speaker, Donna Halper, wrote the following article
for
the Boston Globe this week. Thought all of us would be interested in her
story of AM and the rise and fall of a small AM station in Quincy. Sort
of
reminds us of a few local stations that have gone the same way. WSPR,
WREB,
WMAS gone or a shadow of their former self.

See you this Friday at the meeting - finish up those projects!

Jim, KK1W

=======================================================================

 From today's Boston Globe:

A farewell message to WJDA

By Donna L. Halper  |  February 26, 2006  Section:  Globe South, page 3

Most people don't think about a radio station changing format until,
suddenly, it happens. One day, you turn on your favorite station and
it's
not there anymore. It's playing programs you don't recognize, or maybe
has a
different name.

It's all part of a process that starts when the station is sold. The old
owner departs, and the new owner takes over. People who worked there for
years lose their jobs. Perhaps a small group of fans who liked the old
station will try to save it. They'll write letters and sign petitions.
But
the FCC won't step in, and the changes will proceed, whether the public
approves or not. And for those who loved the old station and can't
understand why it's gone, there is a genuine feeling of loss.

That is what's about to happen to WJDA in Quincy. And already a number
of
people wish it weren't so.

I've been a radio consultant for more than 25 years, and I've seen my
share
of format changes. In our conglomerate world where five big corporations
dominate much of broadcasting, it's getting harder and harder for
independent local owners to survive, particularly those who have only AM
stations. And yet, when I read the news that WJDA was being sold, it
made me
sad because this wasn't some abstract station in a distant city. This
was
our local station, the voice of Quincy for so many years. And soon that
voice would be silenced.

When WJDA first went on the air, in mid-September of 1947, AM radio was
still dominant and local radio really mattered. Quincy had not had its
own
radio station since the late 1920s, when Harry Sawyer operated little
WRES
from his Wollaston Radio Electric Shop. WNAC (today WRKO) tried to
maintain
a presence in Quincy during the 1930s, but an occasional show with
Quincy
performers was not the same as having a local station. So the arrival of
WJDA was met with great enthusiasm. For Quincy's many radio fans, the
wait
was finally over.

WJDA immediately made a name for itself. It was live and it was local,
and
it was devoted to covering Quincy. The owner was Jim Asher, and he loved
radio (the station's call letters were his initials, for James Dudley
Asher). He did a show called ''Breakfast With JDA," and under his
leadership, the station prospered. When he died in June of 1973, his son
Jay
continued the family tradition.

WJDA may have been a suburban station, yet it won a number of awards,
and
several of its personalities, notably Ken Coleman and Don Kent, went on
to
successful careers in Boston. Over the years, such names as Herb
Fontaine,
Roy Lind, and Win Bettinson entertained and informed audiences of all
ages. 
And proving it could adapt to changing times, the station even began
offering some programming in Chinese for the city's growing Asian
population.

But gradually, AM lost its influence. Soon, young people were listening
to
FM and then to satellite and iPods. The AM audience grew older. By the
1990s, many AM stations were being sold to owners who didn't seem to
believe
there was much future for live and local broadcasting. In Boston, AM was
still a force, as heritage stations like WBZ remained on top, but in
smaller
markets, the live and local AM went the way of the dinosaur. More and
more
AM stations were broadcasting only syndicated programming or using a
satellite service. Even WJDA had to cut back on live programming,
although
it continued to have some.

And then, one day, we learned that WJDA was being sold. The new owners
announced plans to turn it into a religious station, even though that
format
was already well represented by other stations. They also said after so
many
years of representing our city, WJDA was leaving. Once again, Quincy
would
have no station of its own, no local news staff, no friendly announcers.

In our modern world of instant communication, with so many choices of
media,
it may be difficult for young adults to understand what AM radio meant
to
people. Back in WJDA's heyday, people got to know the on-air
personalities,
most of whom lived in the community. Even the sponsors became familiar,
and
listeners could sing their jingle or recite their slogan. Radio was a
personal medium, keeping the community informed and entertained. When
there
was a crisis, you would turn your radio on, and the voice you heard was
reassuring. Perhaps you had a transistor radio that you took to the
beach,
or perhaps you listened while you were doing your homework, much to your
parents' dismay. But you couldn't imagine a day without listening -- you
might miss something important.

And maybe that is why many of us will miss WJDA-- we knew we could
depend on
it. We knew it would be there. And then everything changed.

Because I still love radio, I hope that Quincy will somehow get another
station. And it will be live and local, and it will ignore the
doomsayers
who think AM is dead or people don't care about radio. And somewhere, a
new
generation of listeners will emerge and they will love their little
radio
station.

But that's in the future. For now, I can only thank the Asher family for
what they did, and mourn the loss of one more local station. Goodbye,
WJDA. 
It won't be the same without you.

Donna L. Halper is a radio consultant and media historian. She teaches
at
Emerson College and is the author of three books and many articles about
broadcasting.  


------Hampden County Radio Association-------
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Address any comments to:
-Jim, KK1W  -  jmullen at rockys.com
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