[IRCA] Re: OT: DXer Involvement in Commercial Broadcasting

["Terry Klasek" <evharben@xxxxxxx>]

This just about impossible now unless one purchases a station out in the 
middle of nowhere! This would be true back in the 1970s, but not now.

I sent a report to a CBC station in Ontario, and got a QSL card pretty 
quick. Six months later the chief engineer, and his wife, called, and came 
by my home. He saw his card plus the card I got from his replacement while 
he was in hospital 10 years previous. Different style card. It was 
impressive for an engineer to visit Dxers as he toured the US on holiday. I 
would have to go through a huge box of veries to pull the two QSL 
verifications several years apart if anyone game a care which station it 
was.

The station engineer was not DXer himself, but he was quite interested how 
far the station's signal could go. DXers frequently are not good 
businesssmen. The station exists to serve the public, AND to show a profit. 
A DXer may be just too involved with the hobby to pay full attention to good 
business.

Then too many Dxers are loners. They are single, and if they live by 
themselves there are chores. The living quarters need to be cleaned, food 
purchased and prepared, clothes cleaned and hung and bills paid. All the 
above takes time just like giving tours and the business of running a 
station. I do not think there are enough hours in the day for Eric's DXer 
Utopia to exist.

Terry Klasek
Saint Louis, Missouri

>From: N0UIHEric@xxxxxxx
>Reply-To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of 
>America<irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, WTFDA@xxxxxxxxxx
>CC: N0UIH-DXTalk@xxxxxxxxxx, ASWLC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,        
>amstereoonly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [IRCA] OT: DXer Involvement in Commercial Broadcasting
>Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 13:44:17 EST
>
>This is a true story.
>
>When I was pursuing a deal to purchase a radio station in the St. Louis 
>area
>fifteen years ago, I got a call from a DXer named Jeff Lewis, who was 
>residing
>in the Kansas City area at the time. He volunteered his time with several
>community-based groups who would support the purchase of this particular 
>station
>by a non-religious entity. Another subject he mentioned was DXer 
>involvement
>in the day-to-day operations of the commercial broadcast industry, 
>especially
>in the United States.
>
>DXers tend to be more knowledgeable about radio than any other group of
>people. In fact, most DXers are more qualified to own and operate broadcast
>facilities than several of the largest corporate media owners. Of course, 
>radio is
>not only a business, but also a service to the local community. While most
>corporate broadcasters have lost sight of that, I have never lost sight of 
>the fact
>that radio is a service to the local community, in addition to being a
>business. As both a one-time commercial broadcaster (I now work in public 
>radio,
>where I have a little more freedom) and a DXer, I have found that DXer
>involvement in the day-to-day operations of the commercial broadcast 
>industry is sorely
>lacking, especially since the industry was deregulated (without consulting 
>the
>Constitution) in 1996.
>
>(The following is my viewpoint: this does not necessarily reflect the views
>of everyone on this list.)
>
>DXer/broadcasters should definitely be more involved in station ownership.
>This is where their experience as a DXer would really benefit. For example, 
>what
>if a listener in, say, Seaside, OR, heard a Class C Regional station in the
>St. Louis area. If that station was owned by a DXer, then that listener 
>would
>receive a prompt verification from the owner or engineer. For stations 
>owned by
>non-DXers, the listener's results will vary. Some broadcasters have taken a
>very negative attitude toward DXers. Case in point: the true story another
>DXer, Gil Morgan, told me at the 2001 IRCA convention in St. Louis. Several 
>years
>ago, he heard KIND-FM (101.7 MHz) Independence, KS from his home QTH in
>Lebanon, MO. He called the station, only to get a denial from the engineer 
>on duty.
>This engineer said: "We don't get out beyond the state line" (in reference 
>to
>the Kansas-Missouri state line) and promptly hung up the phone without Gil
>getting a word in edgewise. This is the kind of attitude that U.S. radio 
>stations
>should never show toward the DX community. By contrast, if a DXer owned 
>KIND
>1010/101.7, then the engineer on duty would have shown interest in what Gil
>had to say.
>
>As a DXer and a broadcaster, I have the knowledge necessary to program a
>radio station to fill a number of voids in the market. First off, I don't 
>care
>about ratings...they are often inaccurate, and the main reason why 
>advertising
>rates remain artificially high. Second, I would program a format to fill
>marketplace voids. For instance, St. Louis County and most of the Illinois 
>suburbs of
>St. Louis are missing out on suburban-oriented radio. There are only two
>stations oriented to St. Louis' far western suburbs, KWRE (730 kHz) and 
>KFAV (99.9
>MHz) in Warrenton, MO, owned from the beginning by the Kaspar family, and 
>one
>serving a small area of the Illinois suburbs (the Metro East); WBGZ (1570
>kHz) Alton, IL. There's especially a desperate need for a 
>suburban-oriented,
>locally-originated (24/7) News/Talk format in the area. Third, I also found 
>that
>several sources for new talent just weren't being utilized: the most 
>notable of
>which were the college radio stations. I would not hesitate to hire air
>talent from a college radio station. These people worked hard to earn their 
>chance
>at a job in commercial radio, especially in their home town. The attitudes
>shown toward college radio and so-called "homegrown" talent displayed by
>corporate radio has been nothing but negative (I should know...I've 
>experienced this).
>It is not because of friendship or relations that I would hire someone for 
>an
>on-air position; it's because that person has shown that he or she has
>potential, and that his or her experience and hard work would be beneficial 
>to the
>station. Most importantly, I feel that their hard work should pay off. I 
>also
>would not hesitate to hire a DXer, because of his or her value, not only to 
>the
>DX community, but to the community as a whole. Having a DXer working at, 
>let
>alone in ownership of, a commercial radio station, would be beneficial to 
>the
>station, not just in the short term, but also in the long run. This would 
>mean
>that the station in which a DXer works at or owns is very likely more
>DXer-friendly than a station run by a non-DXer. I believe that the DXer is 
>just as
>important a member of the audience than the local listeners.
>
>In sending out resumes to commercial radio stations, I always included my
>radio club memberships and my radio club award nominations to indicate the
>strength of my radio background. To some broadcasters, this may indicate 
>that one's
>radio background is too strong. That's one of the problems I saw. My
>involvement with the DX and ham radio communities may have intimidated some 
>corporate
>broadcasters. Another problem is the type of stations I worked for; mostly
>smaller, independent (non-corporate), non-commercial or not-for-profit
>broadcasters. I also have a major problem with programmer attitudes; 
>they've been mostly
>negative. A positive attitude that a programmer should display toward 
>hiring a
>DXer or a "homegrown" talent for on-air work is "Let's give this person a
>chance", and stick them in an overnight or weekend slot. The right attitude
>toward a DXer owning a station is "Let's give this person a chance", 
>especially
>when that person brings new ideas to the table, or proposes to add a new 
>twist to
>proven ideas. One idea I have is creating a more open commercial broadcast
>job market; making the broadcast job market accessible to more people. 
>Today's
>commercial broadcast job market is confined to the friends, cronies and/or
>relatives of station management. It is largely a closed job market. By 
>opening up
>the job market to more people, especially DXers, commercial broadcast
>employment would be more accessible, and it would give the DX community the 
>perception
>that this station is DXer-friendly.
>
>Besides my willingness to hire DXers, I would not hesitate to give a DXer a
>tour of any station I owned, nor would I hesitate to carry programming 
>aimed at
>that portion of the population as a public service. Carrying such programs 
>as
>"World of Radio" has the potential to get a person interested in the DX
>hobby. I wouldn't also hesitate to carry "Amateur Radio Newsline"; it has 
>the
>potential to get more people interested in Amateur Radio. In my current 
>position in
>public radio, I made the station I work for, with the approval of the 
>General
>Manager, the only station in St. Louis currently airing public service
>announcements for the American Radio Relay League on a regular basis. I 
>would not
>hesitate to do this if I had owned a commercial radio station.
>
>Unfortunately, deregulation has cut significantly into the number of DXers
>gainfully employed in the commercial radio industry; there are practically 
>no
>DXers owning commercial radio stations in the United States, as far as I 
>know.
>The commercial radio industry is losing out on a vital resource in 
>employment
>and ownership: the DX community.
>
>73, Eric (N0UIH)
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