It was a kick Election Day morning. I was at a polling place in Taylor, and a woman remembered that I was on the radio for a while. She has a great memory. I left full time radio in 1991.
You might ask why I spent so much time yammering on about WARM. First all, I grew up listening to the Mighty 590. I was lucky enough to hook on there in 1981. It was my first paying job, and it was the experience of a lifetime. I learned things there I still use today.
As I've noted here countless times before, it was one bad decision after another and the station was bungled into irrelevance. There was a brief uptick in the mid 80's, but it went down the slippery slope again. The station is a CBS Sports Radio affiliate now, and no one listens.
I'm a realist. WARM was an AM in an FM world. It's "big audience" days were coming to an end no matter what happened. However, if managed the right way, the station could have carved out a nice niche for itself and it could have remained the news and information leader in the market. There's currently a void around here you could drive a truck through.
I vividly remember the line up the day I walked in the door in 1981. Other than Harry West in the morning, I cannot remember who was on the air when I left ten and a half years later. It was that forgettable.
I am a broadcaster and a journalist, and I am proud of it. It's a great profession-- a science and an art. Let's lean to the artsy side. I truly believe there's a place for a traditional full service radio station, AM or FM. Hire a good morning personality, and one for the afternoon. You can go satellite or voice tracking the rest of the time. Find a couple of solid news reporters. Be active in your community. Aggressively cover news and issues. Your overhead will probably be a little higher than you'd like, but you would still make a few dollars and have a station of which you can be proud.
It will never happen, but I can dream.
