Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993 TAG: 9305310019
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Tune in to WYMY (106.9 FM), and it sounds like most country stations. But walk into the studio off U.S. 460 in Bedford County, and you'll find computers doing most of the work.
It's different, admits Ed Hale, WYMY's station manager. "It's not labor-intensive."
There's a full-time staff of four: Hale and Patricia Fox, who operate the computers and run the day-to-day activities, and salesmen Jerry Holm and Ed West. And six computers, including one at the transmitter on Flat Top Mountain at Thaxton.
What the listeners hear is a show recorded by announcers from top country station WSIX in Nashville, Tenn., and transmitted to Bedford via satellite from computer discs at Superadio Network in Boston.
What results is a "completely seamless" broadcast, said Superadio President John Garabedian, because instead of people pushing buttons the computers create smoother transitions.
Garabedian said that of the approximately 9,500 private radio stations in the country, about 2,600 are completely computer-operated. WYMY was the first of 40 stations that signed on with Superadio's computerized "Super Hit Hot Country" format, he said.
WYMY hit the airwaves officially in January, but Hale said he was testing the station in late October and got on line with Superadio in November.
The station's owner is J.R. McClure, a Greenville, S.C.-based businessman who also has stations in New York and Georgia. He started building WYMY last August. "I hope it'll skyrocket."
There was no doubt about the radio's format because of country's current popularity, he said.
But WYMY is facing tough competition from country stations, WYYD (107.9 FM) in Lynchburg, which is leading the way on the Roanoke/Lynchburg Arbitron ratings, and Roanoke's WJLM (J-93, 93.5 FM), which placed sixth.
Hale says he's not worried. The Vinton native was wowed by the concept of digital radio when he saw it for the first time at a radio convention in 1985.
The bottom line, he says, is being able to serve "mom and pop" businesses that can't afford to advertise with larger stations. With a staff of four, management problems are kept at a minimum, he said.
"If the toilet needs cleaning, I do it. Vacuuming, I do it." And, he can afford to offer businesses a low rate on advertising spots.
Hale says the average cost of a 30-second commercial on larger stations can range from $40 to $140. WYMY sells its spots for $10, he says.
Other stations "can't compete with what I'm doing. They can't meet me in the marketplace.
"I can operate the station for two to three weeks on the promotions that bigger stations" give away in a day, Hale said.
While Bedford County residents can receive most Roanoke and Lynchburg stations, WYMY is the first FM station actually licensed in the county. It's licensed for 6,000 watts. WBLT (1350 AM), which operates in Bedford, and WBLU (880 AM), which originates in the Moneta area, are the county's other radio stations.
Hale has a background in broadcast engineering and sales. As a senior at William Byrd High School, he started working at WKBA (1550 AM) in 1961 and was touted as the youngest DJ in the Roanoke Valley.
Hale, 48, continued to dabble in radio, doing consulting work while operating Investek, a specialized investigation company. He re-entered the radio business full time last year when he became sales manager at WJJS (101.7 FM) in Lynchburg.
At WYMY, Hale programs the computer to insert local commercials and announcements during each hour, but for the meantime "we're music-intensive," he said.
He plans to expand local news and weather coverage. Already, he's including announcements on road conditions from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
During the March blizzard, Hale stopped airing the satellite broadcast and played the station's own CDs so he could regularly update the listeners on the weather conditions.
But listeners with the need to call in a request should save their time. Hale tells callers, "We'll get to it when we can." Because the music is on a computer disc, Hale can't comply with requests.
That could create problems, says John Marino of the National Association of Broadcasters. "Localism is key to making a station successful," he says. Without a local personality, there is little "for the local listener to be in tune with."
But many small stations are using automated systems because of the financial gains, Marino said. According to the NAB, more than half of AM and FM stations in the nation are using automation. WFIR (960 AM) uses computers to air some of its talk-show personalities, including Rush Limbaugh.
It's the wave of the future, Hale says. But, unlike the scare of the 1960s when people feared that computers would take over the world, this isn't the case here.
"You still have to have [human] talent," Hale says. "With fewer people there's less confusion, but the people around you are the cream of the crop."
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