Old 97.7 The Bay Station

fuzzyng

New Member
Okay, I know they moved 97.7 over into the same studio as 98.3 and 102.1 (i think those are the nums for the contry station) so, are they just using the old 97.7 station on St. Andrews to boost the singal or is the old station KOed? I have noticed a HUGE difference, though, on St. Andrews, I can still get 104.1 (which I havn't found a place yet not to get it), but thats all I can usually get, anyway in this county... Anywho, my question is, does anyone know if the old station is up on the market?? :really: i mean... ya ever seen Airheads? :biggrin:
 

Snow Shovel

New Member
I thought 97.7 had been sold and the new owner changed format to "Oldies". Happened about a year and a half ago?

Don't listen to Oldies or top 40 country music, so I haven't tuned in the local stations for a long time.
 

jungleroom_x

New Member
Originally posted by chuckster
WMDM 97.7 and AM were sold to the Robertsons who own Star 98.3. They bought the signal and the real estate.

yeah, and rush went right along with 1690 being sold.

not that i agree with him (maybe half the time), and i never agree with his bombastic nature, but the show was always informative and really kept me on top of (at least HALF) of the politics and worldwide events.

i miss that gaseous windbag. :frown:
 

jungleroom_x

New Member
Originally posted by 2ndAmendment
Easy on my alter ego. The ONLY ties I will wear are from the Rush collection.

well, "talent on loan from God" and "because I am right 99.9% of the time" are things he says often.

but his show is better than G. Gordon Liddy by far, very entertaining, and kept me glued on the AM talk radio. So it was a love/hate kinda thing.

I still miss the show. :frown:
 

Tonio

Asperger's Poster Child
I remember when 97.7 carried Dr. Demento! At the time of the sale, the station was carrying a bluegrass show, which was cool, too.
 

Oz

You're all F'in Mad...
Originally posted by Tonio
I remember when 97.7 carried Dr. Demento! At the time of the sale, the station was carrying a bluegrass show, which was cool, too.

I've seen it all... Bluegrass and cool in the same sentence/thought.
 

2ndAmendment

Just a forgiven sinner
PREMO Member
I used to be on 97.7. I was actually the first voice ever heard over WMDM, which, by the way, was supposed to be WPTX-FM, until I convinced the owner that WPTX had such a poor listening audience with the younger generation that it would loose listenership just because of the call letters. We did top 40 back then.
 

Snow Shovel

New Member
Jay Armsworthy's bluegrass show was the only reason I listened to 97.7. Yeah, I thought it was cool.

Chuckster, if you know these Robertson people, why don't you twist some arms about bringing back the bluegrass show. That Oldies stuff is, well, getting old.:biggrin:
 

Oz

You're all F'in Mad...
Originally posted by Snow Shovel
Jay Armsworthy's bluegrass show was the only reason I listened to 97.7. Yeah, I thought it was cool.

Chuckster, if you know these Robertson people, why don't you twist some arms about bringing back the bluegrass show. That Oldies stuff is, well, getting old.:biggrin:

Yeah -Chuckster- twist some arms... Tell them they need to lose the oldies and put a bunch of hillbillies blowing into moonshine jugs on the air instead. :rolleyes: I reckon that they could get about ZERO advertisers on that! Send T and Shovel the bill...
 

chuckster

IMFUBARED
Originally posted by Snow Shovel
Jay Armsworthy's bluegrass show was the only reason I listened to 97.7. Yeah, I thought it was cool.

Chuckster, if you know these Robertson people, why don't you twist some arms about bringing back the bluegrass show. That Oldies stuff is, well, getting old.:biggrin:

I know Jay also. He did do a great job on the air. Bluegrass however is not my cup of tea.
As far as the Robertsons go, I doubt very much that they want anything to do with Bluegrass music or anybody that worked at the old WMDM. When they took over they fired everyone except one person in sales. It wasn't pretty from what I hear. Anyway, they have a winner for the most part with the Oldies on 97.7 and I hear that the ratings are doing well. Be nice if they got a DJ that was more in tune with the music and the people of Southern Maryland. Brian tries hard but there is something missing. I find myself tuning in to 95.9 for the Oldies and the on-air DJ's. Much better than WMDM.
WKIK still plays Country and that might be where you would have a chance for Bluegrass. That is also owned by the Robertsons along with 98.3 Call them and voice your opinion. Or call T-Bone and Heather and tell them.
 

chuckster

IMFUBARED
Originally posted by Nodnarb


Yeah -Chuckster- twist some arms... Tell them they need to lose the oldies and put a bunch of hillbillies blowing into moonshine jugs on the air instead. :rolleyes: I reckon that they could get about ZERO advertisers on that! Send T and Shovel the bill...
Jay actually sold advertising for his show and did well. Advertising on any of the stations down here now is only for the Big Boys with DEEEEEEP pockets. The Robertsons have raised the rates so high the small guy can't afford to use the radio to get his message out. 2 to 3 hour remotes with DJ that used to cost under $1000. are now $2200. and up. I hear that 60sec spots are now over $40.00 and if you want Heather and T-Bone to do live spots in the morning,,,,, hold on to you wallet. Now that they own ALL the radio stations in the area, they can charge what they want. I was sad to see the FCC approve the sale of WMDM because I knew this would happen.
 

Snow Shovel

New Member
I felt the community lost something of character when we lost Jay's show. Bluegrass would never be lucrative, but would hope it could survive in a small market like this.

Now all there is to listen to is top 40 crap, and for a little variety, music that used to be top 40. I guess that is good enough for many among us.

I am shopping for satelite radio.
 

2ndAmendment

Just a forgiven sinner
PREMO Member
Originally posted by chuckster

... they want anything to do with Bluegrass music or anybody that worked at the old WMDM.
I left MDM in the '70s and never looked back. Tripled my salery the first year. Being a DJ, except in the major markets (I've been there; D.C.) in the top of the "book" is for the "glory", not the bucks, and there is really very little of either.
 

Tonio

Asperger's Poster Child
98 Star/WKIK's ad rates were always so much higher than WMDM's. I never understood why, since the Robertsons were able to spread their facilities costs over two stations. Plus with two formats and a more powerful signal, they could reach more listeners.

My two cents about the current state of Southern Maryland radio:

WKIK is making a mistake by playing exclusively new country. As far as I can tell, the station has never heard of Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Ray Price or Jim Reeves. Many of the newer country stars, even ones whose music leans closer to pop, claim to be disciples of Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn. It's a shame that WKIK can't play old and new country together.

The distinction between WMDM and 98 Star is not clear enough. Both play music from the late 1960s and early 1970s. I believe I've heard the same Stones hits on both stations.

WMDM is the best of the three stations, because it sometimes plays lesser-known oldies that the radio industry hasn't beaten to death. 98 Star is the worst, because I couldn't stand a lot of those '80s songs the first time.

Also, T-Bone and Heather can be very annoying at times. Occassionally they have an insight. But most of the time they come across as not only ignorant, but arrogant about their ignorance.

I've considered signing up for satellite radio. I used to listen to NetRadio on the Internet, because I loved the huge playlists and lack of chatter. If you want to know why most commercial radio is so bad, check out Salon.com's articles about the radio industry. Radio lost something special when stations turned to research firms to determine playlists.
 

alex

Member
Tonio,

It isn't just the research done for playlists, it is that the radio industry is becoming a monopoly. Where a few large companies i.e, Clear Channel own so many stations that they all play the same songs no matter where you are in the country. They have just about squeezed out the independent DJs who created their own playlists. Now the DJs are located in one city and broadcast all over the country.
 
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