Open Letter to The Grateful Dead Station

[TC Talks]

To Whom It May Concern,

This is just a note to those who are programming WJML.

In the past 3 months I have had more people ask me about the stations both in Traverse City and Petoskey.

You have made a simple format decision that has created greater buzz amongst college educated Executive and Leadership types than any station in the past 10 years at least.

I know of several breweries, dispensaries and restaurants who would be happy to sponsor this glorious endeavor.

Keep up the great work and Happy New Year.

Your fans.

[Realist]

Short of stunting over a weekend or for a week, this is truly the best way to get people talking about a station…..

[TC Talks]

Short of stunting over a weekend or for a week, this is truly the best way to get people talking about a station…..

Really? Is that how it works? Cause the minute these stations move away from the Dead, they will loses every last person listening to Spotify.

No one expects it to last forever, but we're actually using the fm feature on our cars, aside from IPR and WNMC...

See, there is nothing wrong with the tech, it's the programming that is failing the industry. TSL on this station must be through the roof.

[Realist]

Short of stunting over a weekend or for a week, this is truly the best way to get people talking about a station…..

Really? Is that how it works? Cause the minute these stations move away from the Dead, they will loses every last person listening to Spotify.

No one expects it to last forever, but we're actually using the fm feature on our cars, aside from IPR and WNMC...

See, there is nothing wrong with the tech, it's the programming that is failing the industry. TSL on this station must be through the roof.

Don’t be a smart ass. I support what you’re saying. We had a station here in the Tri Cities (106.3 The Core) that flipped at the top of the hour from Hot AC to Alternative. Took quite a while for people to even discover them….

[TC Talks]

Short of stunting over a weekend or for a week, this is truly the best way to get people talking about a station…..

Really? Is that how it works? Cause the minute these stations move away from the Dead, they will loses every last person listening to Spotify.

No one expects it to last forever, but we're actually using the fm feature on our cars, aside from IPR and WNMC...

See, there is nothing wrong with the tech, it's the programming that is failing the industry. TSL on this station must be through the roof.

Don’t be a smart ass. I support what you’re saying. We had a station here in the Tri Cities (106.3 The Core) that flipped at the top of the hour from Hot AC to Alternative. Took quite a while for people to even discover them….

The stations have been dark for so long, they had to run some programming to keep from losing the licenses. I believe the engineer made the programming decision and it's the most brilliant thing that's happened. It's been running since august so it's not a weekend stunt.

[Ben Zonia]

Rumor has it that another silent group of stations will institute an all Moby Grape format, which will debut one morning soon at 8:05.

[Mega Hertz]

Call me when there's a "Iron Butterfly" format.

[TC Talks]

Rumor has it that another silent group of stations will institute an all Moby Grape format, which will debut one morning soon at 8:05.

Another rumor has it that the other silent group is a pile of dysfunction and have a greater chance of losing yet more licenses to the FCC.

The only way to top The Grateful Dead station would be to go all Swifty or all Phish.

[ftballfan]

Rumor has it that another silent group of stations will institute an all Moby Grape format, which will debut one morning soon at 8:05.

Another rumor has it that the other silent group is a pile of dysfunction and have a greater chance of losing yet more licenses to the FCC.

The only way to top The Grateful Dead station would be to go all Swifty or all Phish.

I'm surprised more of the Henderson group haven't lost their licenses yet (or be forced to sell at bargain basement prices in lieu of licenses being yanked).

[Ben Zonia]

Rumor has it that another silent group of stations will institute an all Moby Grape format, which will debut one morning soon at 8:05.

Another rumor has it that the other silent group is a pile of dysfunction and have a greater chance of losing yet more licenses to the FCC.

The only way to top The Grateful Dead station would be to go all Swifty or all Phish.

I'm surprised more of the Henderson group haven't lost their licenses yet (or be forced to sell at bargain basement prices in lieu of licenses being yanked).

I think both buyers and sellers need to be more flexible. Many of the facilities have good signal potential.

[TC Talks]

Rumor has it that another silent group of stations will institute an all Moby Grape format, which will debut one morning soon at 8:05.

Another rumor has it that the other silent group is a pile of dysfunction and have a greater chance of losing yet more licenses to the FCC.

The only way to top The Grateful Dead station would be to go all Swifty or all Phish.

I'm surprised more of the Henderson group haven't lost their licenses yet (or be forced to sell at bargain basement prices in lieu of licenses being yanked).

I think both buyers and sellers need to be more flexible. Many of the facilities have good signal potential.

But lousy revenue potential. That determines the value of a station, and these stations are burned.

[Ben Zonia]

The way I heard it, the selling prices are too high for what most are willing to pay. But a little (actually a lot) of Winter armchair technical consulting over the last few years, and combining stories heard from some of the biggest radio aficionados statewide reveals a lot.

"Messrs K and H assure the public their production will be second to none".

[TC Talks]

Just a note to the Grateful Dead Station programming....

It's Spring, maybe it's time to add new songs / sets to the rotation. I love that version of Athena, but it might be nice to replace it with one from the 90's. Dead and Company has some interesting stuff, if you want to get spicy.

[Colonel Flagg]

I wonder how many wannabe broadcasters have looked at Yob's stations? My best guess is "not many"

As for Roy's stations, yes, there was a time when the Benzie and Manistee stations were billing between $12,000 and $25,000 a month. However, a mild winter is all it took to unravel those numbers. Collections in Manistee were always a challenge, even in the 70's and 80's when my friend Chuck Hedstrom was there.

John Chickering, Chuck Hedstrom, Roger Hoppe, and Marc Rosseels were very wise to exit laughing when they did. I could say the same thing about Fabiano-Strickler (WCCW) in TC. I'm still a little mad at Hal Payne (R.I.P) for talking me into going up there. But hey, that's showbiz.