Audio technology has undergone a transformation in the past several years. The success of the iPod and, to a lesser extent, other digital music players, has changed the way people listen to music to a greater extent than anything since the compact disc supplanted the vinyl album two decades ago.The folks who used to spend most Tuesdays at the nearest record store to check out the new releases can now download their favorite tracks at home, and keep up with the latest news and views via podcast at the same time.
In the meantime, subscription satellite radio services now offer a stunning range of playlists that traditional FM and AM stations couldn’t begin to touch, all without having to worry about the Federal Communication Commission monitoring their content and without commercial interruption.
But with all that, the locally owned and operated radio station continues to thrive by offering what the bigger, more technologically advanced rivals cannot: The local perspective.
Although the last FM station in The Daily Home’s coverage area relocated to Oxford several years ago, there are AM stations still on the air broadcasting from Talladega, Sylacauga and Pell City.
WFHK 1430 in Pell City has been on the air since 1956, according to general manager and on-air personality John Simpson.
“Unless you really try to be local, you’re just not going to make it,” Simpson said. “WZZK (in Birmingham) plays country music, and we do, too. But they’re not going to provide an update on what the Pell City Board of Education did last night, they’re not going to cover Pell City High School sports, or Pell City news and obituaries. We make our money here, too. I’d say 90 percent of our clients are locally-owned businesses. I think it also says something that the station’s owner (Adam Stocks) is also the mayor.”
Simpson said he was not particularly worried about the growing popularity of satellite radio, either.
“If satellite radio really starts to take off, it’s probably going to hurt the big FM stations a lot more than it will hurt us. We offer our advertisers a monthly ad package for $200 or $300 per month, which might get you one mention during a traffic report on a bigger station.”
WFHK has also benefited from Pell City’s prolonged growth spurt. “We have a little older demographic, but as people move here from Birmingham; they find listening to us is a good way to get caught up on local issues. And we’ve got our decades old ‘Swap Shop’ that is still very, very popular.”
Simpson, Shonda Bowman and Teri Gagliano also host an informal talk show in the morning, covering pressing issues of the day.
“This morning, we were discussing the litter problem in Pell City, and we must have taken 20 calls,” Simpson said. “And I think that discussion really generated some good ideas.”
Simpson does not live in Pell City, but Bowman and Gagliano do, and both have children in school there, he said. “They really help keep me informed, especially on school issues. And the schools are a town’s soul.”
Betty Heacock, office manager for Sylacauga’s WFEB, has a similar philosophy.
WFEB has been providing local and syndicated news, sports and talk shows in Sylacauga for 40 years, Heacock said. “Our advantage is we can localize things. If anything goes wrong, if we have severe weather, say, we’re right here. We can bring the local news and the local sports that the others can’t, because we’re here and they’re not.”
WFEB starts the day with local news and obituaries, and also hosts a “swap and shop” type event, Heacock said. In the afternoon they switch to syndicated talk shows, including Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingram and others, and Ray and Kelly from WJOX.
They also broadcast Alabama football and Sylacauga High School football, baseball and basketball.
Talladega WNUZ also has a 40-year plus local history, although the station was forced to close for several months in late 2005 and early 2006 when the transmitter failed. The Gospel station carries live broadcasts from Alabama 21 during the day, then switches to a satellite feed out of Virginia at night, according to announcer and manager Louis Amerson.
“A lot of stations are just going automated right now, but we’re not,” Amerson said. “It’s a really good benefit for us to be operating in the community, because that’s how we’re going to reach the majority of people we will reach through our music and our ministry. But going to the satellite broadcast has advantages, too, since that can cover a much larger area than just a regular station can.”
