Less traffic, clearer skies, porpoises in the canals of Venice and old shipwrecks visible in the clearer waters of the great lakes are some of the reported changes due to the shelter in place orders worldwide. I’ve also been seeing a lot of evidence of a resurgence of radio listenership and a sudden spike in on-line radio; new listeners and new stations popping up all over the world. It’s not just anecdotal either, the BBC and others who track listener data have reported this as well.
Unfortunately it is coming at a time when most of the consolidated broadcast corporations have reduced their live presenters in favor of automation as cost cutting measures in the economic downturn. But, local stations are stepping it up. And they are being creative about it. Many are finding ways to do radio from home. Something the online broadcasters have been doing for years. The best part of it is that the corporate broadcasters who have local air talent are beginning to follow suit.
A good example of the latter is my fellow Columbia broadcaster Teddy Heffner. He recently moved his daily sportscast to a new station when the one he had been on for years was sold. After a short hiatus he started a slot on WCOS –AM, the same station where I started my commercial radio career back in 1965. When COVID-19 struck, the station cut his show off for safety reasons. To my joyous surprise, they worked out a way to do his shows from home. Now he is back on the air every morning. One of the reasons this could be done is that more cost effective technology which was perfected by the on line radio stations is here now. All that was needed was the demand and now that is here.
WXRY-FM here in Columbia is the quintessential example of local radio. They have always promoted local artists and indeed have a weekly show that highlights indie artists live. When the Coronavirus hit, Steve Varholy the owner of the station reached out to the local radio personalities for help during this time. He felt that the more local voices he could get on the air the better it would be for the community oriented station. I’m glad to report that I’m now doing the daily 4:40 and 5:40 PM newscasts there from the Main Street Newsdesk. And I can do it from my home studios in Southeast Columbia maintaining social distancing. Steve has been a pioneer of using new technology in remote radio broadcasting.
One of my favorite local station stories is a small town radio station in McMinnville, Oregon. The station has been around a long time, 70 plus years. My buddy Wes Simpson bought the station when it was about to go dark. Wes is putting his money where his mouth is, he is adding an FM translator and putting a lot of personal effort into the station.
The first thing Wes did when he took over the operation of the station was to reach out to some of the online broadcasters he has been working with for years. Now I’m the weekend DJ there with shows on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. All thanks to the technology that makes it all possible. I even talked my buddy Stu Wright who until recently was on WORG-FM in Orangeburg into doing the midday shift over there. Stu was really missing being on the radio and now he is in hog heaven.
But this is the thing about local radio. KCLA is the only radio station in Yamhill County Oregon and in the short time Wes has taken it over, the station is making a huge difference! A couple of weeks ago we started a KLYC Cares campaign to match able bodied young folks with the older citizens of the community who need to shelter in place. The young volunteers are running errands like grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions for folks who have no business being out of their homes. We are all talking about KLYC Cares in our shows and the campaign is taking off like wildfire. Just this last Friday, the local newspaper, The News-Register ran a story about KLYC Cares and our already busy contact line has gotten even more jammed. That is a good thing.
We also run a very popular daily community interest program called “KLYC In Touch” that discusses local issues in depth. And being in an agricultural region in Oregon, we have a weekly agricultural and gardening show called “To the Root Of It.” All we need now is a “Swap & Shop” show and a police blotter and we will be back to the way radio was back in the heyday! Heck, I even enjoy the commercials from the local restaurants and shops. BTW – the restaurants have NOT changed their spots from when they were full service instead of take out only. They are telling us to keep them running. They want to keep their customer base for when social distancing becomes just a memory.
I have noticed a definite upturn in the listenership for my online shows as well. All are now featuring public service announcements about the COVID-19 pandemic. The Monday morning Backbeat Show that normally runs on WUSC-FM is more oriented to the local audience with updates and news from the University of South Carolina for the students and the local community. These days the show sounds more like 50’s and 60’s radio than ever before. If she were still alive, I would bring Dottie Lloyd’s “Swap & Shop” segment back just for old time’s sake. Oh MY!
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