Lee, you were right about my radio group not being one of the big ones. It
was owned by a local businessman who had other business interests but no
other stations.

The owner's philosophy was similar to that of Clear Channel, To him, it was
all about the bottom line, no matter what.

When I went to work for him, he owned the top station in the area. Then he
bought the competitor. And then he started dismantling both. He let all the
high-paid jocks go, automated the stations and hired minimum-wage baby
sitters to watch the computer and throw in occasional weather and liners.

Obviously sales dropped, but since expenses dropped even more, then he
remains happy. I got out on the way down, and I'm so thankful to be gone!

Oh, the stations are a joke now. There's dead air on any at any given time.
His son is the chief engineer, so no one is pressuring anyone for the sorry
sound and performance.

Back in the late Fifties, when I was the CE for an Arkansas AM kilowatter, the
station had a big book of ad copy. All one had to do was to fill in the blanks.

In return for my on call engineering service, I got a stipend and all the free
ads for my TV service shop they could fit in.

The DJs were students at the adjacent college. My favorite DJ, who had the best
voice, loved to cut commercials for me. They were great. And their results were
great, too! G

In recent years, I heard an ad on a mom and pop station that came out of that
book. It begins, "There's Spring in the air." So the book is still around.

Bill in SE Texas

I wrote: In recent years, I heard an ad on a mom and pop station that came
out of that [ad copy] book. It begins, "There's Spring in the air."

Oops! I meant, "There's MUSIC in the air!"

I had a special deal to repair a radio with each TV I repaired. Immediately
following the above pronouncement, the DJ put in a bar or two of lilting music
before continuing speaking out the ad.

Bill, K5BY